The Art of Goal-Setting: Four Critical Steps
Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life. - Les Brown
There is little doubt that setting goals is the first step when setting your course towards any given achievement. When it comes to aspects of fat loss and health, many are stuck in the starting blocks due to shoddy goal-setting. Putting in the extra groundwork in the goal-setting stage will boost your chances of enjoying long-term success. So grab a pen and let’s plan for action with these 4 crucial aspects of goal setting.
- Be specific:
Is it weight you want to lose or body fat? How much do you want to lose and WHY? When would you like to lose it by? Want more energy? How much more? Rate your energy on a scale of 1-10 now.
- Be realistic:
How much time and effort you are able or willing to dedicate to your endeavor? Consider every aspect of your lifestyle you can think of. If your goal is weight loss, consider the lightest you have ever been as an adult, and how long you were at that weight for.
Remember that it takes time to make substantial physical changes.
- Be intrinsically-focused:
When considering goals, try shifting the focus towards attitude, mindset and lifestyle goals. Building positive thoughts about yourself and your thoughts on exercise is crucial for long term success. How do you want exercise to feel? How are you going to attach joy to it so it will become a pleasurable experience?Try using guided imagery daily. Construct 2-3 positive thoughts or bank a couple of personal “highlight reels” in which you picture yourself eating healthfully and/or exercising. Repeat these early and often.
- Be prepared:
There is no such thing as a perfectly seamless journey towards reaching goals. Life happens. What’s important is creating an action plan to keep you on track.This means mapping out situations which may pull you from your exercise and healthy eating plan and penning out solutions to those potential problems. This means jumping back on the wagon quickly. It means figuring out why it happened and learning from the experience. This is a vulnerable time in which it is easy for a lapse to become a full-on relapse. And remember, be forgiving of yourself.
So set your course and away you go!
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I'd add another, especially for weight-loss: Make sure you are prepared to change some habits... what are you prepared to do?
P.S that last sentence 'be forgiving of yourself' is one of the most important things to remember to do... and often overlooked
ReplySMART - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound. ;)
ReplyI find "specific" to be deceptively difficult. When I started getting myself in shape, it was easy to set a weight loss goal, but as I progressed, my focus became less on weight loss, and more on things like "get stronger", "run with more ease", "have energy". How do we set specific goals around these hazier pursuits?
ReplyMonica: these seem more like the 'outcomes' of your overall goal.. all seems to be going well - well done. Having said that though you can easily create a goal around your endurance level during exercise. Such as "I will run 1 mile twice a week until it no longer hurts the following morning..." or "until i feel I can increase the distance easily"
ReplyI appreciate the post today because I haven't been really focused on goals. I'm so focused on the healthy lifestyle that my goals were left behind. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyThis is the first thing I ask my personal training clients when we first meet. What are your goals and how can I help you achieve them. Great post!
ReplyAwesome post! I especially like #3. Many people underestimate the power of visualization (the process of creating pictures in your mind). Spending some time every day envisioning yourself at your goal is a very valuable tool for helping get the results you want. Make the scene as real as possible and imagine it is happening NOW, not at some time in the future!
ReplyGreat tips-these steps work for goals in any area of your life. I also encourage my clients to consider these steps when setting goals for treatment or other pursuits!
ReplyThanks
ReplyGreat tips!
The second tip - Be realistic, seems to be the hardest for me to follow
Some more tips to stay focused can be found here 5 Tips of Staying Focused
It's also important to break your goals down into to long and short term. By breaking difficult goals down into smaller steps it becomes managable and more motivating. It's also important to reward yourself when you reach your goals. The process needs to be made fun!
ReplyAs a once again dieter, I'm taking a different approach. Don't want to lose the 50lbs. overnight, but want to educate and motivate myself using the e-medium. Tips and comments were a great start to this much slower, more focussed, more educational road to my goals. Thanks.
ReplyAlso, be prepared to change your lifestyle. It's not just about food and diet, but it's a way of life. Too many times I have met people who aren't willing to change their life style. As for me, I naturally lost weight when I got married (opposite the norm, I know)... but that's because my wife does all the cooking now and she cooks japanese style. Smaller portions, healthier choices.
There are products just coming into the market that help with that life change (get you used to eating less food) but in the end, if you're not prepared to actually change, you can't expect any product to do wonders. Saying that, I've also had success with PGX in maintaining the weight loss.
ReplyThe rewards of goal setting is brillent if you set realistic goals and throughout the process monitor your goals on a daily, weekly and yearly basis. Some people have goals written down for 5 and 10 years from now.
One tip I found works well is to write the goal down in a goal book with pictures. I list a date I want my goal by and then I view it daily as though I have already received my goal. By placing trust and faith on the desired goal allows the universe to deliver my goal to me much quicker.
I also use affirmations and creative visulisation to assist me reach my goals, when you combine words and action plus faith you can reach any goals you desire.
ReplyI would add that a person should list at least 10 deeply personal reasons why you must make the healthy changes in your life.
Your why must always be bigger than your challenges and obstacles.
Allow yourself to imagine your new life as if you have already achieved your Goals.
Live Your Dreams,
Jill Koenig
Author, Coach and Motivational Speaker
ReplyAs a once again dieter, I'm taking a different approach. Don't want to lose the 50lbs. overnight, but want to educate and motivate myself using the e-medium. Tips and comments were a great start to this much slower, more focussed, more educational road to my goals. Thanks.
Replythanks you
Reply