With new year just around the corner and the resolutions soon to be set. What better time to discuss goal setting.
Now when it comes to goal setting there are a lot of tools and methods we can opt to use. However the first and most important factor when it comes to goal setting is to understand your “WHY”.
Time and time again do we meet clients who walk through our gym doors with a goal of what they want to achieve but when asked why they can become unstuck.
Most cases they’re why’s are extrinsic motivators such as ‘I want to look like … or I need to be in shape for my holiday. Which albeit can be effective in the short term but when push comes to shove and things become difficult most often these goals are not compelling enough to make actions stick and also don’t marry up well to making meaningful lifestyle changes. Instead they are short lived and in a large majority of cases end up experiencing some form of relapse to their old habits and behaviours.
Instead to help bridge the gap between intentions and actions we need to ensure goals we set are meaningful (come from intrinsic motivating factors such as wanting to be fitter and healthier to be able to watch their kids grow up… or to improve quality of life).
Once we have determined our WHY we need to ensure to keep a level of accountability to that goal. Writing your goals down and having them somewhere either around your house or office to remind you of your goals can be a great way of keeping us accountable or sharing your goals with a family member of friend and asking them to check-in with can be a great tool. Furthermore we want to ensure we set a realistic plan of action as to how we will reach our goals. This can be done by breaking down your goals into short, medium and long term goals. Setting short reachable targets helps keep us motivated and provides us with an all important structure and satisfaction when we reach each individual target.
