Wishing for Success?
Although today’s post centres around fitness goals, I will invite you, shortly to think about how this goal setting application can work for many life goals as well. It is easy to draw a parallel between what personal training does for your fitness goals, to what life coaching can do for any and all of your life goals. Whether it be improving relationships, finding a new job or writing a book: the possibilities are endless! So, lets dig in to creating achievable, action-oriented fitness goals to kick start your 2020!
When you set a goal that is centered around your health, what does that sound like? Perhaps something like “I wish I had more energy” or “I wish I could lose some weight”. One of the reasons people don’t see success here is that the goal isn’t properly defined. In fact it isn’t a goal at all, but rather just a wish like the one made when we blow out the candles on a birthday cake.
Yes, it is true we can attract success and positivity in to our lives, but let’s not kid ourselves here. Just stating that “I am going to have more money” and then going back to bed, isn’t going to get you anywhere. People that you see that have achieved success, they have created the right mindset, surrounded themselves with the right people AND have gotten to work! The hard work is the key. Change doesn’t come without some kind of challenge (and the biggest challenges can see the most growth!). I am sure that you’ve heard one of my favourite quotes from Thomas Edison:
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”.
Ready to work? Take your goal and do this:
1) Make it something to which you can add numbers (e.g. I want to improve my treadmill time from 15 mins to 60 minutes).
2) Decide what you’re willing to do to achieve this. If we consider the above goal as increasing a treadmill walk from 15 to 60 minutes and you’re only willing to get on the treadmill once per week for 15 minutes, you can easily see how that is not going to add up to progress.
3) Set a date that you will begin work on this goal (today is a good day!).
4) Set an end date by which you will have achieved this.
5) And finally, make sure that your goal is realistic. Again, referring to the above treadmill goal, if you are setting 2 weeks from today as a date for goal achievement and you’re currently struggling to complete 15 mins, you can see how this isn’t realistic. Always consider where you’re starting. For example, if you’re currently doing 15 mins on the treadmill twice a week, a safe overload here would be to add a third 5-10 min walk this week. And then the following week, take that to 10-15 mins, so that now sees you doing 15 mins three times per week and so on from there.
There are many more factors and numbers to consider to break down and then build so that you can easily reach the goal you’ve set. Working with a personal trainer is definitely a way to help you with this.
As for writing that book or changing jobs, connecting with a life coach is a difference maker. And in fact, adding coaching to your fitness plan is also a game changer. What does coaching do? Not only helps create an action plan and road map to success, but creates a mind set for success and a plan for you to get out of your own way so that you can see all of the possibilities that await.
Best of luck with all of your goal setting and achieving! Reach out if you need some assistance. I can help.
In health,
Deanna