{Day 3} Gotta Have Goals!!!
Every client I work with I always ask what are your goals. What are we working towards. I typically get 2 types of response. They either know their goals and can rattle them off 
or they look and me and say hmm what do you think I need to work on. When I hear the lather response I’m always taken a back. My feeling if you are seeking advice from a fitness professional you must have a goal. I can certainly help you fine tune them, but I’ve found that when you work toward a goal that isn’t yours you aren’t as passionate achieving it. Setting goals sometimes requires you to deep dig look in the mirror and really ask what you want.
So. today’s challenge is about setting SMART goals. I want you to think of goal setting as creating a road map for where you want to go. Imagine if you wanted to go to California. Would you get in the car and just drive, no.. you’d make a plan. You’d figure out do you drive, fly or some other mode of transportation. You’d map out where in California you were going and then you’d figure out when you’d want to go and for how long. I want you to keep this analogy in your head as we dive into goal setting.
When clients set goals I typically experience two things.
1. They aren’t measurable, I hear something like this
- Tone up
- Get cut you know shredded
- Lose my tummy
- Firm up my J Lo (okay that’s my goal =))
2. They aren’t realistic
- I’m going vacation in 2 weeks I want to drop 20 pounds
- I want to put on 5 pounds of muscle while I’m training for a marathon
- I’m going eat less than 1000 calories to drop weight fast
So.. when you set goals it doesn’t have to be this HUGE over the top goal. Now I’m not saying don’t set challenging goals, but set goals that you will be able to see and have some success.
We all have goals that we are trying to achieve, but are you setting SMART Goals. When you set SMART goals you are more likely to achieve them. SMART goals are written in such a way that anyone who reads them can see what you are trying to achieve.
Here is what I’m talking about:
| Specific | What do I want to accomplish’ | |||||||
| Measurable | Criteria for measuring progress toward your goal | |||||||
| Attainable | Goals are realistic and can be achieved in a specific amount of time and are reasonable. | |||||||
| Realistic | You are both willing and able to work toward achieving this goal. | |||||||
| Timely | Goals have a clearly defined time-frame including a target or deadline date. | |||||||
| Examples | I will be able to do 10 pushups from my toes by January 31st. | |||||||
| I will bring my lunch 3 days on Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays for the month of February. | ||||||||
| I will do cardio for 30 minutes 5 times/week on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. | ||||||||
Is this starting to make sense” So.. Day 3 Challenge as you can image is to set goals for this 30 day challenge.
- They should begin with I will……
- Now if you are feeling aggressive let’s set some goals for the next 60 and then 90 days.
- I write a lot about goals so here are some additional reading about goals that may help you.
- If you are stuck reach out! That’s why I’m here.
Don’t forget Leave a comment below. Write a facebook post on the Fabulous Fit Squad. If you have a personal blog, write a blog post. Make sure you link back to the site so we can cheer you on and hold you accountable.
Just joining now” Don’t worry you can catch up.
Day 1 — Intro the challenge
Day 2 — Getting your mind straight
Stay tuned.. tomorrow I will give you the building blocks of good nutrition.
Resources:
Hold Yourself Accountable
5 Ways To Successfully Reach Your Weight Loss Goals
Excuseville
Hairy Eyeball of Truth
OK my SMART Goals are:
1. I will do my food prep 2x’s/week for the month of October every Sunday & Wednesday night
2. I will follow the 90/10 rule of clean eating each week for the month of October -having my reward meal on either Friday or Saturday
3. I will lose 1-2lbs/week 🙂
4. I will make sure I have enough healthy snacks in my office for the week -restock on Monday’s.
Jenn–these are awesome goals!! I look forward to helping you achieve them.
My goal is all about slimming down…I know I need to focus on my eating habits and working out!! I want to get to the gym 3-4 times a week and continue my 4 mile walk/jog on the weekends…no excuses!!
@Janet you’ve taken a first and written down some goals now let’s firm up this goals. How are you going to measure “slimming down” are you losing inches, fitting into a pair of pants? Let’s get specific on the eat and working out. Right now you say “I want to” can we can we change that to I will and put some days that you will workout??
My goals. I will set aside 5-10 mins a day to go over my challenges. ( if I don’t please scream my name lol ), I will prep my meals and write out a menu for the week ahead, I will schedule my workouts on my calendar for the week ahead just like booking a hair appt. I will complete my 30 day challenge here and my 30 day Hip Hop abs challenge as well as stair climbing for 30 mins once a week.
@Michele – love those goals. You are so true, workouts should be put in your calendar and treated like an appt you can’t break. What’s the Hip Hop Abs challenge?
I’m a little late:
I will prep my food for the week by preparing on Sunday.
I will workout 3/4 days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday)
I will complete my daily goals (responses in a timely manner)!
@christine — love these goals