Six Steps to Setting Goals that Last
One day I received a folder for a new client.* She only had a few weeks to achieve very specific (and drastic) fitness goals. I assumed she was somewhat fit already and just needed a trainer to kick her butt a little harder to take her to the next level.
I was so wrong.
She was several pounds overweight, had several children, and had a new baby that was only a few months old. I knew it wasn’t physically possible for her to meet her goals by the set deadline she’d given me, she didn’t have enough time to condition herself. But she hired me as her personal trainer to get her there, so we worked. Unfortunately, she was unable to get through the first workout without modifying almost everything. Even then, some things she just couldn’t do.
Two days in, she skipped her workout. A week in, she called and canceled her training sessions.
Her goals were attainable, the speed at which she was trying to achieve them, was not.
As a result, she quickly became discouraged and gave up everything. Not just the training, but also her gym membership, the diet, and the goals she’d set.
I had another client* that had quit working out and decided he wanted to start back up but needed someone to be accountable to, so he hired me. He was used to getting up at a certain time, but decided he wanted to fit the gym in before work. He set his workout in the morning, 3 hours earlier than he was used to getting himself out the door in the mornings. This guy didn’t even make it to the gym the first day, or the next. Instead, he skipped it altogether because it was too hard, and canceled his entire training program.
Can you relate to the struggles either of these people had?*
In my last blog post I talked a little about how to set goals that last. (If you missed it, here it is). Right now, we are going to dig deeper on how to go about making big, drastic changes in a way that allows you to maintain those changes, and accomplish your end goal.
I have met many people over the time that I have spent as a personal trainer, all of them wanted to change their lifestyle and got very excited. The problem was that not all of them learned to pace themselves, they made drastic changes too suddenly. I don’t know a single one of these particular clients that are still on their lifestyle change journey.
Drastic change is something a lot of us need and desire, but don’t know how to do successfully. That’s what I want to help you do in the following steps. I can tell you these things but I’m not there to help you stay on track like a personal coach or a trainer might be; I want to give you the tools that I have used in my own life to achieve my goals!
1. DECIDE AND WRITE IT DOWN.
The first step is to decide what your desired change or goal is. It can be huge, it can even seem unattainable. This is where you don’t hold back with your dreams! Write your ultimate goal down and visualize yourself in that place!
2. BREAK IT DOWN AND SIMPLIFY.
Once you’ve written down what your huge, drastic, life-changing goal is, back it up a few steps and break it down.Write down the smaller steps that will get you there.
For example, if you want to run a marathon, but haven’t been running in years, write down “marathon”. Then back it up and write, “10K” and again, “5K” and break it down even further, committing to 30 minutes of powerwalking or jogging, starting at 1-2 miles 4 days a week. Slowly build on this, working toward your first mile-marker goal. (Your 5K, etc.).
3. TAKE BABY STEPS.
Once you’ve written down your goal, and broken it down, decide where youbelieve is physically possible to start for you. Be reasonable. This is essential for making big changes in your life.This is where you have to be real.Now that you know what your end goal is, start at step one and focus on the small goals that will get you to your big goal.
4. PICK A START DATE.
Don’t decide to start today. Pick a Monday, or a date of your choosing, and mark it on your calendar. Commit to it.
5. TALK ABOUT YOUR DECISION.
Decide where you will start, and talk about it. Post your decision on social media; tell your friends, your coworkers, and your family. Tell them the date you are starting. Once you start to talk about it, it becomes a reality. No longer is it something you’ve personally decided; now everybody is watching to see if you actually do it. Now you’ve got a huge support group.
6. CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS WISLEY.
This sounds funny, maybe even a bit childish, but if you choose to hang around other people that are doing the same things you’re doing, you’re more likely to stick to your decision.
Believe in yourself and be patient with yourself. We live in a time of instant gratification. Nobody travels the world without first saving money, making a plan and packing his/her bags. It all takes time. Before you know it, you’ll be there, you’ll have succeeded in making your drastic lifestyle change, and before you know it, you’ll be making another goal.
Leave a comment below, I’d love to hear about your goals and how you either plan to accomplish them, or how you already did, and what you did to get there!
If you have any other questions, I’m here to help! Hit me up on any of the social media platforms you enjoy the most. I’m on (almost) all of them. . . Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest ,Linkedin, and balance8life.
*The clients actual experience/story has been altered to protect client privacy.
