Unbreakable Mind & Body

57. Set Goals You’ll Actually Keep In 2026

• Tiana Gonzalez • Episode 57

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Ready to stop letting the calendar set your pace and start building momentum that lasts? We close the year with a straight‑talk blueprint for choosing one goal that actually matters, making it measurable, and committing to a plan that holds when motivation bails. 

You’ll get four clarity questions to reset your aim for 2026 and from there, we translate answers into specific metrics, so progress becomes visible and motivating.

Structure does the heavy lifting when inspiration disappears, so we design it on purpose. Whether your target is strength, energy, creativity, or a business milestone, identity‑based habits and consistent reps turn possibility into proof.

Share this episode with a friend who needs the nudge, and leave a quick review to help more people build an unbreakable mind and body.

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Email: info@unbreakablemb.com

Disclaimer: This show is for education and entertainment purposes only. This is not intended as a replacement for therapy. Please seek out the help of a professional to assist you with your specific situation.


SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Unbreakable Mind and Body Podcast. I am your host, Tiana Gonzalez, a multi-passionate creative, storyteller, and entrepreneur with a fierce love for movement. This is our space for powerful stories and actionable strategies to help you build mental resilience and elevate your self-care practice. Together, we will unlock the tools that you need to create an unbreakable mind and body. Welcome back to the show. I'm your host, Tiana. This is the last episode of 2025. And as you may have guessed, we're going to talk all about setting your goals for 2026. Now, my objective with this episode is for you to have an idea of what it is you want to accomplish and to set up those goalposts and then figure out a way to accomplish the things that you want. So that when you find yourself at the end of 2026, you can look back and say, Yeah, I did that. Now it's possible you might be feeling some mixed emotions about 2025. Maybe you didn't hit all of the goals that you wanted to. Maybe you're coming up short. Maybe life threw some curveballs your way and you're feeling a little bit down about it. But I'm here to tell you things don't always go according to plan. And even when we give something our best effort, sometimes we're left feeling like it still wasn't enough. But what I'd like for you to do is maybe revisit the things you didn't accomplish with a new lens. But right now, I want you to focus on the upcoming year. So yeah, it's important to revisit those things that maybe you didn't do, but we don't need to dwell on them. We don't need to sit in that pile of mud or shit. We can pick ourselves up out of it and we can change direction. Now, I want to share something with you that I accomplished in 2025 that was really scary at first. And I actually was planning on doing it three years prior. But then I put the idea on hold because imposter syndrome got the best of me and I was scared. Can you guess what that thing is? It's this podcast. Believe it or not. This podcast was a goal that I had set for myself years ago, and it scared the shit out of me. Because it meant that I would have to be vulnerable, and it meant that I would be putting a lot of my personal experiences and stories out into the world for anyone to hear. And it also meant it was a commitment. I show up every Monday for you, my listener. And so when I finally kicked myself in the ass, committed to doing the project, I bought a new microphone and a headset, and I went back and listened to the 13 episodes that I had recorded back in early 2022. And I realized, yeah, this stuff is good, but my storytelling is so much better now. And I'm much more comfortable being in front of an audience and connecting with my listener. So here we are. It's the last week of the year of 2025. This is episode 57, and I launched the show on March 11th. So that's more than one episode per week when you look at it week by week. And I'm very proud of that. Now, has every uh podcast episode really knocked it out of the park and had hundreds and thousands of downloads? No. But I keep showing up and doing the work. And every time I question whether this is worth it or not, I remind myself that somehow, somehow, there is someone listening to me yap. Someone is giving me their time. Someone is giving me their attention. Someone is coming to me for guidance and answers. And I owe it to all of those people out there. So yes, it is worth it. So today we're gonna get clear on what you actually want for 2026, and we're gonna make sure that it's something that excites you enough that you keep showing up for it, even when you lack motivation, even when you feel uninspired, unmotivated, and you don't want to, but you know that at the end of the day, it's something that will be worth your while. Now, here's the truth about goal setting. People set goals based on things that they they think they should want, not what they actually want. A lot of times people create these goals that are way too vague or they're too massive to accomplish without a concrete plan. The other thing which is important for me when I'm setting out to do something, I need to have an emotional connection to the outcome. I don't need to make it something that I live and die by, but I need an emotional connection because it has to be important to me. Maybe that's not the case for you, and that's okay, but I'm pretty sure if there's something that you feel passionate about, the likelihood of you being successful in that endeavor is much higher. The other thing that lends itself to people not accomplishing their goals or failing is that they're not willing to invest the time or money to truly make it happen. From a conceptual level, it looks really cool, but in the execution, it's pretty boring, it takes a lot longer than they initially thought, or it's a lot more involved, it's complicated, and it's not as straightforward. Remember, when you see someone at the professional level, or you see a thought leader or a podcast host or someone with a successful YouTube channel, you have to understand for all of the wins that that individual is showcasing, there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of losses and failures. But you don't see that part. So, what would make a goal worth pursuing? Well, it should make you feel a little nervous and scared. That's how you know that it really matters. You should be able to see yourself on the other side of it. Okay, you have to be able to visualize yourself at the end, at the outcome. That is going to be important, even if you don't know how to get there. You have to be able to see yourself in that future version of yourself. It should also align with who you're becoming and not necessarily just be something you want to have. So, a real common example of this is people will say, I want a six-pack, meaning, you know, sh visible abdominals. That's great, but for a vast majority of us, that's not something that can be attained and then sustained long term without a very strict diet and a sleep routine and a gym protocol. Not saying it can't be done, but the likelihood of accomplishing it and maintaining it is slim for many of us. So if you just want to have it, okay, but are you willing to do the things that are necessary in order to have it? Maybe, maybe not. So, what I want to do next is think about some questions that you can ask yourself. I'm going to share them with you, so that you can get clear on what it is you really want for yourself. Okay. Number one, what did I avoid this year that I knew I should have done? So this will reveal what's actually really important to you because the things that we avoid are often the things that we need the most. The things that we tend to put on the shelf, or maybe we start and then we stop. I don't know about you. I am notorious for starting projects. And then once I have like a lot of momentum going, I'll hit a roadblock or a wall, and I may put it on pause. And I'm not talking about just for a day or a week. It could be weeks, if not months. And then maybe when I go back and revisit it, I'm like, oh no, this is all wrong. I'm not interested in doing this anymore. Yeah, maybe you didn't know that about me, but it's true. Now, this podcast is a great example of that exact thing. I was invested in the process. I watched a ton of YouTube videos. I did get some equipment. I even recorded a bunch of episodes. I edited a bunch of episodes and I had them saved on my MacBook. And I got scared. I got scared of putting myself out there. I was afraid of what would the repercussions be if certain people heard my episodes? What would happen with my family if I shared certain stories? How would that affect my relationships? Would I be hurting somebody that I love in telling my truth and sharing my stories from my lived experiences? I don't know. In this instance, all of that research, all of those notes and all of that work that I put in in early 2022 didn't go to waste. It just went on the shelf for a little over three years. So what was really cool is that when I finally made the commitment, and this is an interesting story, a total side note. Uh, I was supposed to go on another podcast and be interviewed. And the woman who invited me onto her show, we went back and forth in our DMs talking about a lot of different things. We checked each other out and uh social media and on her website. And I had shared with her. I would was always interested in starting my own podcast. And I told her the whole thing, and she's like, you have to do it. Just hit launch. Don't worry about it being perfect. Just get yourself out there, make it happen. Between her and then me reaching out to one of my old mentors, uh, I got lit up and I said, you know what? Fuck it, let's do this. I had already had the name of the show. I already knew what the main topics were going to be, and I already had a lot of the groundwork covered. So it was almost like a light switch for me to go from the inception and the idea to the execution and launching a few episodes. In fact, I I launched two on the first day, and episode three was launched the very next day. So my first week of being a podcaster, I had three different episodes for listeners to tune into. And that would not have been possible had I not ventured into this quest in early 2022. So I will say that just because I avoided something, uh, it didn't necessarily mean it was never going to get done. I did circle back and revisit it, and it wound up becoming this amazing thing that I'm sharing right here, right now with you. However, if it's something that you're avoiding, I am encouraging you to ask yourself, is it really important to you? Now, question number two. What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail? So what would you do if you knew there was no way in hell that you were gonna fail? This would help you get past the fear, excuses, the lies. Remember, your brain and your nervous system are wired to protect you. They want to feel safe. So oftentimes, and this is relatable to anyone who's ever been in any sort of abusive situation or relationship and any kind of abuse, okay? Emotional, verbal, domestic, unfortunately. Your system becomes so accustomed to a certain vibe that sometimes your brain will lie to you almost. It'll say, No, no, no, no, no, we don't want that because that's unknown and that's scary. I'd rather deal with the devil that I know as opposed to get out there and maybe deal with the devil that I don't know. Now that might sound wild to some people, but this is why in many instances, when you hear stories about people being in abusive relationships, they don't leave and they don't leave for a long time. And a part of that is because they become conditioned and programmed in their survival mode. They can manage, even if it's a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation, because they know how to navigate that water, as opposed to being out in the real world and being completely on their own. Now, if you knew you couldn't fail, wouldn't that reveal what you're truly drawn to, what you're really interested in? I think so. Question number three What do I want to feel like by the end of 2026? This isn't just about how you want to look in your body, but how you want to feel. Do you want to feel strong? Do you want to be confident? Do you want to be pain-free? Do you want to have more energy? Do you want to sleep better? Do you want to be happier? Honestly, I want all of those things. So think about that a little bit. Because maybe if this is related to a health and fitness goal, which obviously that's really where I'm the angle I'm coming from, it's much more than just about what you look like. Now, question number four. What am I tired of saying I'm going to do someday? Someday is not a day of the week. Someday is never going to come. If that keeps popping up, it's it's it's trying to tell you something. Your body, your brain, your mind, your heart, your soul, it's trying to show you signs that, like, hey, this thing is not gonna just happen by accident. So as you are listening to these questions, plus my little ramble, I want you to think about three things. Maybe you hit pause, write down three things that have come up for you. I'm gonna say these questions one more time, all right. Number one, what did I avoid this year that I knew I should have done? Number two, what would I do if I knew I couldn't fail? Number three, what do I want to feel like by the end of 2026? And number four, what am I tired of saying I'm going to do someday? So let's take your goal, your vision, and put it into action. Okay, we want to make this real. The first thing I want you to do is pick your primary goal. Pick one thing. I know that's gonna be hard for a lot of you, but you have to pick one thing that's going to be the primary focus. You can have other goals on the list, they're not gonna disappear, they're not gonna go away, they're gonna nag you, they're gonna bother you, but the one thing that is going to stay center stage right now, your energy will go where your attention goes. So it has to be your primary focus. Now, from here, I want you to think about specifically what would success look like? Here's an example. If you said to me, I want to get stronger, we're sitting in a consultation and your goal is to get stronger, I'm gonna say, okay, how will you measure that? How will you know that you have arrived? If you said something like, I want to be able to deadlift my body weight in six months, now that's measurable. If you said, I want to be able to do five pull-ups by the end of the month, that's something you can measure. Okay. If you said to me, I want to eat better, okay, too vague. Let's get specific. If you said, I want to become more proficient in the kitchen so that I'm cooking dinner at home most nights of the week. And by default, you would eat better. Now, that's something we can measure. Even if you said, I want to cook at home four nights a week, that's more than half, right? That's a better, more attainable, measurable goal. Now, the next step would be to identify what it's gonna actually take. Okay, what's gonna be the time commitment? What is the financial investment? What type of support do you need? What are you gonna need to say no to? Mmm, that's a good one. And then who needs to know about this goal? And the reason why I ask that is because you need a support system. It is really sad to me when I encounter someone who's looking to make a change in their life, and their partner is not supportive. Or they're looking to make a change in their life, which would then require them to prepare not one dinner, but maybe three different dinners each night, because the partner won't eat the healthy food and the kids eat something else, also. That is exhausting. So it's important to know up front who's gonna be on board with you, with your goals, and and will you be able to delegate some tasks? Because at times you're gonna need help. Now, the last part what's your plan for when things get hard? So you will want to quit at some point, and what will you do on those days? What will you tell yourself when things get hard? Who will you reach out to when you need accountability? See, as a fitness coach, One of the things I hear from time to time is people will say, you know, yeah, I know what to do. Well, if you knew what to do, why aren't you doing it? And the answer is because they need someone to hold them accountable. Even I have a coach. I've been doing this almost 30 years, lifting weights, dieting. I entered my first bodybuilding show. I got on stage in the year 2000, but I started prep preparing for it in 1999. And I've learned all about nutrition. Back in the day, I used to carry this giant book around with me. It was a nutritional almanac because we didn't have smartphones and we didn't have the internet in our pockets. So I had this Bible and I would look up the on the pages, the foods I was eating, and then I would add it up in a notebook to learn about the macronutrients I was eating. Times have changed, huh? All right. So now we want to talk about the commitment part of this. Okay. Because another layer, once we have the goal and we have what it's going to take, and we have our strategy as far as, you know, the time and money investment, if you need accountability, your support system. Now we need to talk about the actual commitment part and why starting matters so much more than getting it perfect. Diet starts Monday. My mom would always kid around with me when she was, when we were both younger, uh, and she was mentoring people. And sometimes, you know, she'd go off on a tangent with her own nutrition and then say, Diet starts on Monday. And that just became an ongoing joke between the two of us. But the truth is, you can start right now. It doesn't have to be on a Monday. It doesn't have to be at the beginning of the month. It doesn't have to be any sort of imaginary rules or limitations that you're putting on yourself before you even get started. What's more important is that you get moving. The person who starts messy will beat the one who plans for everything to be perfect but never actually begins. They're gonna beat that person, okay? Now, progress is not linear, it's cumulative. And what people don't understand about having that six-pack abs that shows is it's not just one thing. And it's not just one instance of eating clean or doing a certain type of workout. It is a lifestyle, it is a choice, it is a commitment, it is the things you do most days, more often than not. Every single workout matters, every single meal matters, every time you show up for yourself matters. Every night when you go to bed early, it matters because all those things add up. It's millions of little pieces put together, like a mosaic that yields the result. Now, in the previous episode of this, I'm sorry, two episodes ago, we talked about time versus money and that reality check. And it's important for you to always check in with yourself and think about how much time you're wasting trying to figure it out versus getting the help of a professional. Sometimes investing, even if it's stretchy, it feels uncomfortable, or you're maxing out your credit card. Think about how your life will change because of that investment. And here's the thing oftentimes people will say it's so expensive. Well, guess how expensive it's going to be when you're a senior citizen and you have medical bills? Because you either decide to take care of yourself now and do preventive care, or you're going to have to react to illness and disease with medical bills. So you get to choose. I know I'm being as proactive as I possibly can. My 47th birthday has just passed a few months ago, and I'm trying not to look my age and feel my age for as long as possible. Now think about what a real commitment would look like for you. You're not going to be motivated every day. You're going to have to do things when you don't feel like it. You're going to need to ask for help when you're stuck. And you're going to have to be honest with yourself. When you fuck up, when you know something's not working, when you're missing workouts, when you eat off plan, maybe your goal is not related to health and fitness. I'm bringing it back to that because that's really where I'm speaking from. But even if it's a career goal, a business goal, a personal goal, maybe you're writing a book. Well, guess what? You're not going to be inspired every single day. So what are you going to do on the days when you don't want to? How will you make it happen for yourself? So here is your 2026 goal setting plan. Let's lay it out for you. Okay. First, I want you to write down what your primary goal is. Make it specific, make it yours, make it a little scary. Then I want you to schedule your first action step within the next seven days. You do not need to wait until January 1st or 2nd or 3rd to start. You could do something this week leading up to January 1. Next, I want you to tell someone about it because now you're on the hook. Now you've got some skin in the game. You're going to be held accountable. And then lastly, decide what kind of support you need and then go out and get it. Take it from the conception to reality. Do not waste another year spinning your wheels. Invest in yourself. You know you're worth it. So if it's a task like writing a book or launching an offer, then commit to doing something every single day. That will help you move the needle forward. Think about 365 calendar days from now. Where do you want to be with that thing? All right. So I'd love to hear from you. You can send me a text, check the show notes to see how to do that. Or you can DM me on Instagram, tell me you listened to this podcast episode, and you have your goal in mind. You have your first action step scheduled, and you know what kind of support you need. I will be checking in with anyone who reaches out to me throughout the year to see how they're doing with their 2026 goals. This has to be the year you make it happen. I do not want another year to go by and you're kind of like wishy-washy or disappointed in yourself or wondering what if. Fuck that. The days of wondering what if are done and over with. We are entering into a new phase of life. Business is changing. The way people learn is changing. The way we do things and create things is changing. In fact, it's already changed. So if you're still doing things as an entrepreneur or even as a user and posting and creating content or connecting with your friends and family on the internet, and you're doing it in a way that you did three, four, five, six years ago, you're behind the times. Because we keep moving forward, because things keep changing. So you want to keep up with the Joneses, okay? And if you're finding that your goal is related to your health and wellness, your body, your physique, the way you look, the way you feel, and you haven't done anything about it in 2025, well, you better fucking start moving your ass. Let's go. 2026. Be intentional. The difference between where you are and where you want to be is in the work that you're willing to do. So you don't have to have it all figured out, but you do have to get started. And remember, you're not just building a better future or a better body or a better business or a better offer. You're creating something unique, specific. Hopefully, it's unbreakable to you. Now listen, I'm here to support you and help you. Okay. I want you to either text me or DM me on Instagram. Tell me what you're working on. Tell me what your plan of action is. If you need help or support, I'm happy to answer your questions. I'm here for you. This show wouldn't be possible without you. I wouldn't have showed up every single week since March 11th if you weren't here listening to me yap. But because of you, because you keep showing up, because these episodes are helpful, I will keep showing up for you. Now, I want you to share this episode with someone you think needs to hear it. Maybe somebody you know who's important to you, who's been sitting on a goal or who has a vision or a dream, and they just haven't made it happen yet. Because I'm sure with just a little gentle nudge, with a little push and a little love, they can take action. Thank you so much for being here with me. Thank you for your time and attention in this episode and in every episode you've ever tuned into. I couldn't do this without you, and I appreciate you more than you will know. Remember, I believe in you. I know you have it in you to do anything you've even had a flicker of a thought or a notion or an idea or a twinkle in your eye. That means it's possible. Your future self is giving you those ideas, those little nudges, those little pushes, and saying, Hey, try this. It could be amazing. So that's it for the year 2025. We've done great work, but there's always more to do. And I'm here to do it with you in the trenches every week on the Unbreakable Mind and Body Podcast. Thank you for making 2025 the most amazing year of my life. I'll see you in 2026.