Goal Setting for Better Results

“The hardest goals to achieve are the ones you never set.”  - Unknown

I have a lot of conversations with people/clients about what their goals are, and most of the time the answers are similar. “I want to lose weight,” “I want to gain muscle,” “I don’t want to have pain.” The list goes on, but they all have one thing in common, they are extremely vague. Most people know WHAT they want, but can’t voice WHY they want it. If you’ve heard of SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time sensitive), not being able to voice your why is similar to lacking specifics.

In my experience, if you want to achieve something (weight loss, strength gainz, career accomplishment, etc.), you need to know the WHY behind doing it and specifics of what you would like to achieve. Otherwise you will most likely end up hitting a plateau or failing altogether. I’m not saying you have to develop SMART goals every time you want to lose a couple pounds, but it’s important to make sure you set yourself up for success. 

My goals are often related to endurance, strength, or overall fitness level (although a year ago I did a weight loss competition with the goal of losing 15 lbs to prove to my co-workers that I could). The last six months my gym goal has been to become more athletic. More specifically, I wanted to be able to show up to any class/workout and perform at a high level no matter what the exercises were (in a sense like the crossfit athlete). That may not seem specific to you, but for me it required a lot of variation in my programming and a methodical process of performing high/low rep schemes, olympic lifts, bodybuilding, metabolic conditioning, cardio, and so on. The end result has been exactly what I wanted… I’ve walked into kickboxing, CrossFit, heavy lifting, bodybuilding, and cardio-based workouts with the ability to perform at a fairly (let’s be honest I’m no pro athlete) high level. 

What I’m really trying to say is put some meaning behind your goals. Insead of “I want to lose 15 pounds,” say “I want to lose 15 pounds so that I can fit into those pants I used to wear a year ago.” If you want to gain strength, set a goal with a specific weight you want to lift and why you want to do it (new PR, powerlifting competition, etc.). Or what I hear many times from my physical therapy clients, it’s to reduce pain while being active so that they can run/play with their kids. 

Establish your what, know your why, and crush your goals! Don’t forget to track your progress (journaling or simply keeping track of improvements) and watch those results pile up as you become more specific with your goals and fend off those dreaded plateaus.

Let’s Get Stronger!