Stop Setting Goals Until You Read This | Lucky 13 Fitness

Why most New Year’s resolutions are doomed from the start — and the one shift that actually works.

Okay, I’ll admit it — I’m a little late to the New Year’s resolution conversation. Most coaches flood your inbox in January with all the goal-setting tips. But here’s the thing: I’ve been watching, and I have a feeling that if you set goals in January the way most people do, you may have already made a critical mistake.

And I’m not willing to stay quiet about it. Because the fitness industry has been setting people up to fail for years, and it’s time we talk about why.

Better late than never, right? So let’s course-correct before too much time goes by.

The #1 goal-setting mistake in fitness

Here’s what I see all the time as a personal trainer and behavior-change coach: people set outcome-based goals. They sound great on paper. They feel motivating in the moment. But they’re quietly sabotaging you — and here’s why.

Outcome-based goals look like this:

✗ “I want to lose 30 lbs.”
✗ “I want to lose this belly fat.”

These aren’t bad desires. Wanting to feel better in your body is completely valid. The problem is that outcomes aren’t fully within your control. Life happens. Hormones fluctuate. Stress spikes. You can do everything “right” and still not hit a specific number on a specific timeline. When the outcome doesn’t arrive on schedule, most people conclude that they failed — and quit.

That’s not failure. That’s a flawed goal structure.

What actually works: action-based goals

As both a certified personal trainer and a licensed social worker, my whole methodology is built around one truth: your body can do it if you put your mind to it. But your mind needs the right framework first.

What you do have complete control over is your actions. And action-based goals — repeated consistently over time — are what actually produce results.

Here’s what that shift looks like in practice:

✗ Outcome goal: “I want to lose 30 lbs.”
✓ Action goal: “I will work out for 30 minutes, 5 days per week.”

✗ Outcome goal: “I want to lose this belly fat.”
✓ Action goal: “I will track my macros and maintain a 15–20% calorie deficit.”

See the difference? One goal puts you at the mercy of variables you can’t control. The other puts you in the driver’s seat — every single day.

How to know if your goal is action-based

Here’s my favorite gut-check: can you put a checkmark or an X next to your goal at the end of each day or week? If yes, it’s an action-based goal. If you’d have to wait months to know whether you “achieved” it, it’s outcome-based.

Pro tip from Lucky 13 Fitness

Your goal should be measurable in the short term — daily or weekly. Consistent checkmarks over time are what create the outcomes you’re dreaming about. The body follows the behavior.

This is the behavior-change science I bring into every coaching relationship, whether I’m working with a first-time runner training for a 5K or an athlete preparing for an Ironman. The process is everything. The outcome is the reward.

So if your January goals have already started to feel heavy or out of reach, don’t scrap them — reframe them. Swap the outcome for the action. Give yourself something to check off. Show up for that checkmark, day after day.

That’s how change actually happens. And that’s what Lucky 13 Fitness is all about.