Fitness goals are tough, and often result in you taking undesirably long breaks away from the gym or strong feelings of frustration. In this article, we are going to break down how to set an attainable fitness goal and achieve it. We are going to divide the goal setting process into 3 elements.
1. Identify your specific fitness desires, why you desire them, and how you will track your progress towards it.
2. Discuss your current lifestyle, including your responsibilities and leisure
3. Find the perfect blend between 1 and 2
Before I break down the steps, I want you to get out a piece of paper and a pencil so you can act on these words.
Identify your specific fitness desires, why you desire them, and how you will track your progress towards it.
Your fitness desires can be anything you want, but they should be specific. Your desire needs to be something that can be tracked. If you desire to lose fat, think of how you will measure that. You could use the scale, a monthly waist measurement, monthly progress pictures, or clothing sizes to measure it. Also, think about why you want to do that. There is no wrong answer here. If you want to lose fat to feel more confident in your body, nobody can judge you for that. I advise you to be confident now and not let shame by your driving factor, but this is simply my opinion, and it could be wrong. If you want to lose fat to put you at low risk for certain diseases, that’s a solid reason as well. You want to figure that out, because your “Why” can drive you on days where you don’t feel like getting the job done. So, figure out what you desire, why you desire it, and how you are going to track it. This concludes step 1.
2. Discuss your current lifestyle, including your responsibilities and leisure.
This is a crucial step. There are 168 hours a week, and you probably have at least a couple of them to spare for fitness. The issue here isn’t how much time you have, but it’s more so how much energy you can dedicate towards fitness. There is only so much you can get done in a day, and so much you can focus on in a month. If you have multiple priorities over fitness, you must consider that when designing your fitness goals. If you are trying to get a promotion at work, and all A’s this semester, and start up your own business, it will be extremely difficult to put a huge effort into your fitness goals. It’s not impossible, but it makes sense to be a bit more moderate with your approach towards fitness during this time. If fitness is your focus, and you are not trying to excel in many other things at the same time, maybe it’s best to push the pedal with fitness. Listing out what you do in your free time will show you what must be limited for this to work. You need to have a good understanding of your time and your responsibilities.
3. Find the perfect blend between 1 and 2
This is the tough part, and you may not get it right the first time around. If you want to be in tip top shape, fitness better be on the tip top of your priority list. If not, be reasonable. Finding the balance here is tough, but necessary. This is where you may have messed up in the past, I know I have. You may have overestimated what you were willing to do by a long shot. It is way better to underestimate and adjust later than the opposite. Overestimating will typically result in burning out, feelings of frustration, and hatred towards your body and the gym because “it’s not working”. Underestimating will lead to delayed progress. However, you will build confidence, consistency, self-efficacy, and a positive outlook on the gym because you will see results and not feel overwhelmed by the workload. I’ll give you an example. If you currently are aiming for straight A’s this semester and working part time, I suggest you stay moderate with your goal. If your goal is to lose fat, I would suggest shedding 2-3lbs per month. This way you can work towards that goal, but it won’t overwhelm you and cause you to burn out nor will it take priority over other things that matter more to you. It’s a harsh reality, I know. And I know you want to get there as fast as possible, but you can be realistic and successful or delusional and unsuccessful. Those are ultimately your 2 options. Find that balance and understand it’s better to underestimate here.
I hope this helps, and I would love to discuss with you if you have any questions. Feel free to shoot me an email through the site, sign up for the 2-week challenge in the link below, or a DM on social media.
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