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SHEEX Athlete Sleep Ambassador Brad Walker, the American Record Holder in the Pole Vault, shares his tips for healthy goal setting that will benefit you all year long! Follow Brad on Twitter  for more updates and exclusive deals on SHEEX!

By Brad Walker

Goal setting seems easy enough, but I see people over and over again struggle on how to set realistic goals. The most common problem…they shoot too high. Yes too high, and this is coming from a guy who jumps as high as the average house for a living and who claims his next goal is the world record.

Setting clear attainable goals keeps me focused, determined, and satisfied. There are many people in my sport who talk about the world record, yet haven’t even jumped 19′ which is a far cry from 20 feet 2 inches (the current world record). Setting the bar unattainably high at any given time makes it feel like more of a dream. If a goal seems so far out of reach it can become less motivating because of the mountain of work you know you must accomplish to come anywhere close to it.

While not everyone is shooting for the world record, many people set high goals for themselves regarding either losing weight or getting into better shape. Many people believe that they need to make a super drastic lifestyle change: change my diet, no more junk food, no more beer, no more sleeping in, get up early and go to the gym before work, eat salads for every meal, etc. etc. What happens? It becomes a mountain of work that is so drastic from your daily life, it lasts for a week and nothing sticks. Time to set some new goals, ones that are easily attainable, and satisfying.

Here are three health goals Brad uses to stay on track that will help you achieve better health and your personal goals too!

Goal #1. MAKE….IT….FUN. You can get exercise by playing ball, hiking, kayaking, swimming, playing volleyball, cross country skiing or a million other things. Don’t get up an hour before an already dreadful alarm and try to pump out weights before breakfast. Enjoy what you choose to do. I try to get people who are short on time to wake up to their morning coffee on an exercise bike for 15 minutes. It will not only stimulate your metabolism for the rest of the day, it will even make your coffee more efficient. And don’t think it isn’t enough, 15 minutes of exercise is better than 0 min of exercise. Remember, small attainable goals.

Goal #2. Want to change your diet? Stick to unprocessed foods. If it comes in a box, and has words you can’t pronounce, put it down. Stick to the outside edge of the grocery store and pick up fruits, veggies, and meats. If that’s too hard, just do that for a couple of days in a row. Two pieces of advice for the non cook: one, spend as much money as you would for an entire knife block, on one good chefs knife. You won’t regret it. Two, buy a veggie steamer and a rice cooker. They are “do-it-yourselfers”–put in your food, push a button, out comes perfectly cooked fresh food with minimal effort and cleanup.

Goal #3. Sleep more! We’ve all seen the studies about how the average person is sleeping less and less. All sorts of good things happen while we are deep asleep and recovery is at it’s absolute highest. Good hormones are being pumped out to deal with the days stress and rejuvenate us for the next morning and countless other body processes. Get comfortable. There is no better way to do that then with SHEEX which help regulate an optimal body temperature for sleep! I am very serious about how nice it is to jump into a cozy, comfortable bed to end the night, and SHEEX does it better than any other bedding I have tried. It really does make a difference. Finally, my last piece of advice, if you have to wake up to an alarm, make it a peaceful one. Over Christmas I overheard my dads alarm (the ridiculously aggressive nuclear bomb alarm on the iPhone) and almost jumped out of bed swinging!! Lets keep the stress and dread of that awful wake-up to a minimum.