The Feed My Health Podcast

Questions You Need to Ask Before Setting 2026 Goals

• Rosalind Tapper

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Before you rush into setting goals for 2026, I want you to pause.

Because most women skip the most important part of goal setting - reflection.

They jump straight into fixing their body, tightening the rules, or trying harder… without ever looking at what actually happened the year before. And that’s why January ends up looking the same every single time.

In this episode, I walk you through how to reflect on 2025 properly - without guilt, without spiralling, and without beating yourself up.

I talk about:

  • Why your results last year weren’t random
  • The patterns that keep showing up when life gets busy
  • The questions you need to ask yourself before setting new goals
  • Why consistency beats perfection every time
  • How to set standards for 2026 that actually survive real life

If you’re capable, self-aware, and quietly frustrated that you keep starting again, this episode will help you see exactly what’s been missing and how to move forward calmly, confidently, and on your own terms.

👉 We don’t just help you lose weight - we help you keep it off for good. If you’re serious about breaking free from quick fixes, my team and I will transform your daily habits so your results last a lifetime.

JOIN Feed My Health Today!

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SPEAKER_00:

Before you rush into setting goals for 2026, I want you to take a pause because most women skip the most important part of goal setting and that is reflection. They jump straight into fixing things that they feel are broken, fixing their body, fixing their habits, and fixing themselves. And if you don't stop and look honestly at what actually happened this year, you will carry the same patterns into the next one, just with new intentions. So today I want to walk you through how to reflect on 2025 properly, without judgment, without spiraling, and then how to set yourself up for health and fitness success in 2026 in a way that actually is going to stick and is going to be enjoyable. If you've ever thought I'm capable of more than this, then this episode is going to be for you. So here is the truth. They were not random. They were a reflection of your habits, your standards, and how you responded when life wasn't perfect. And that's not a criticism. Actually, knowing this is very, very empowering because if you can see the patterns clearly, you can change them really calmly and intentionally. Most women do not fail because they lack motivation. This is a massive misconception. They fail because they don't stop to ask why things didn't work. So instead of asking, what do I need to do differently next year? I want you to ask, What actually happened this year? So let's start there. I want you to genuinely think about these. I want you to write them down if you can and to be honest. Be brutally, brutally honest. So the first question is when was I most consistent with my health this year? And when I say consistent, I'm not talking about perfectionism. I'm not talking about ticking that box every single day. I'm just talking about when were you most consistent with it? And what did your life look like then? So that's another question within that category. What did a life look like for you then? How busy were you? How were you eating? How were you moving? How were you sleeping? Because whatever was happening is a clue. It didn't happen by coincidence. Okay. The second question that I want you to ask yourself and write down is when did things usually start to slip for you? Was it when there was more stress at work? Was it when there were more social plans? Was it when you were more tired? When you felt overwhelmed, when you felt unsupported? All of this stuff matters because most women don't fail randomly. They fail at the same moments over and over again. The third question: What did I do when I quote unquote fell off? I hate this terminology, but it's such a well-understood term that I'm going to use it in this context. Did you try to be stricter? Did you say, I've ruined it? Did you stop doing the things until, you know, the next week rolled around? Did you decide you'd start again next month? This is a huge question. Because the women who get long-term results aren't the ones who never slip up. They're the ones who know how to recover without drama. The fourth question that I have for you is what rules did I create that I couldn't sustain? So I want you to be brutally honest here. Did you cut things out that you enjoy? Did you set unrealistic expectations? Did you expect perfection during busy periods? If your plan only works when life is calm, it's not a plan. It's just a pause button. And then the fifth question, and this one's really important, is what did I learn about myself this year? So, not what went wrong, what you know now. Maybe you learned that you need more structure. Maybe you learned that you need more accountability. Maybe you learned that you struggle with your all-nor-nothing mindset. You don't actually need extremes to feel good. Maybe you know that now. And this is really, really powerful and really valuable information if you use it to your advantage. So let's talk now about how to use this reflection properly. So you will have gathered all of your answers, hopefully, in detail on a piece of paper. If you haven't, I would strongly recommend that you take some time, 30 minutes, an hour, put on some great music, maybe have a drink or two, and just reflect and go through those questions in detail. 2026 doesn't need to be a new you, but it does need to be an intentional you. Instead of setting goals like, I want to lose weight, I'm gonna be stricter with myself, I'm gonna be more disciplined. I actually want you to set standards. And standards sound more like this. So you'll might say things like, I eat protein at most meals, or to make me happy at every meal. Your standard might be that you move your body every single day. It might be that you don't allow yourself off the hook when life gets busy, you just find a different route. It might be that you return to routine without punishing yourself. Standards don't ever need to rely on motivation, they will rely on your identity and who you identify as. This is absolutely key. So, how to actually turn this into action? So, step one, decide what non-negotiable looks like for you. So, we're not talking about perfection again. Please let's let that go. We're not talking about trying to impress people, we're not talking about, you know, doing things because somebody else is doing it. I want you to talk about what something is that you can commit to consistently and is going to be your non-negotiable in 2026. And what are the two to three things that if you did the most days would change how you feel in your body? That is going to be your foundation. I'm going to give you an example of what one of my non-negotiables is and has been for now for several years, and that is a daily walk. Step two, plan for disruption. This is absolutely critical. And a lot of people might see this as being very, very negative, but you are going to have disruption in your life, regardless of whether you want to or not. Plan for it. So, not if life gets busy, when life gets busy. Ask yourself this: what do I do when I'm tired? Because you are going to be tired in 2026. What do I do when I've overeaten? Because you probably will overeat in 2026. What does good enough look like in a day? Clarity will remove your negotiation. Okay, so really don't skip this part. Step three is to focus on self-trust and not speed. So confidence doesn't come from fast results. I know people love a great result and they love a quick result, which is why everybody's jumping on their injections, all the crazy diet fad bandwagons, right? Confidence doesn't come from fast results, though. It comes from doing what you said that you would do. Every kept promise builds a karma, you a person that is more in control, somebody that respects themselves. That's where real confidence lies. And then section three, section three, section five. If T25 taught you anything, I want it to be this. You do not need to try harder, you need to stop setting yourself up for failure. This is a massive learning curve that I had prior to me losing five stone. I thought that I needed to try harder. I thought I needed a new shiny object. I didn't. I needed to stop setting myself up to fail. And I set myself up to fail because I expected myself to do really extreme, unenjoyable things every single day perfectly. And it just wasn't realistic, especially when I had three young children. Totally, totally unrealistic. You do not need extremes. You need structure that fits your life, and you don't need another January reset, detox, dry January, whatever. You actually need leadership over yourself, especially when life isn't perfect. And 2026 can be completely different for you. It can be more calm, it can be more intentional, and it can be more aligned. And now, if this episode made you realize where maybe you've been going stuck and you want more clarity on what your next step should look like, I've made it really, really simple. I'm there's a quiz actually. I tried to link it in the show notes of this of this episode, but I just cannot figure out how to do it. Once upon a time, I had a brainwave and I put loads of amazing links in the show notes, and now I can't find out where I did that. So the link to my quiz is on my Instagram bio. There's a little two-minute quiz there. And what I will do is once you've completed that quiz, I will get an email that says you've completed the quiz, and I'll go through it with a fine-tooth comb and I will personally send you a clear action plan based on your life, your body, and your goals and what you're struggling with or what you have struggled with. And it can be the next best step for you, honestly, because it I'm going to basically lay it out like a blueprint of what your next steps can be or could look like for you. Remember this: no matter what is going on for you right now in your life, you're not behind, you are not broken, you're just one aligned decision away from a very, very different year. And I really hope that this episode has helped spark some motivation to really, really set the great foundations for a fantastic new year because you deserve the absolute best. You deserve to feel your absolute best, you deserve to look confident and healthy. And I know that that's what you truly want if you're listening to this episode. That's what you truly, truly want. And rather than layering on more expectations and more goals on top of our already chaotic, perhaps crazy lives, let's really just take a moment before we do that to sit back, relax, reflect, and take that information and use it to our advantage so that we can all have an amazing 2026.