Goal Setting

No matter what it is that you want to achieve, you are going to have a better chance of achieving it by setting goals. Whenever I help students with their goals, I talk to them about the best way to go about it. These simple rules have helped hundreds of students I have taught over the years. 

They really work! I hope you find them useful. 

Six Simple Rules for Setting Goals

Rule 1: Keep it Real

Choose goals that reflect something that YOU actually WANT to achieve. Key words here: "YOU" and "WANT" If you are trying to lose weight because someone else told you that you need to, but your heart's not in it, there's a good chance the goals won't mean anything to you personally, and they will be just words on a page or thoughts in your head. You have to make the decision for yourself. If you can honestly say to yourself "this is what I want", the goals will be meaningful and purposeful, and ultimately, positive results will be much more likely. 

Rule 2: Set SMART goals

S - Specific

M- Measurable

A- Achievable

R - Realistic

T - Time specific

Goals should be as SPECIFIC as possible. Avoid vague generalisations like "I want to get fitter" or "I want to lose some weight soon" Use specific amounts in time and units of weight. e.g. " I want to lose twenty-five kilos by March next year" or "I want to bench press 10 kilos in free weights with three sets of ten reps."

Goals need to be MEASURABLE. The words "some" and "soon" can hardly be measured. The more specific the goal, the easier it will be to measure.

You need to make your goals reflect something that you are capable of achieving. It must be ACHIEVABLE. Don't focus on your limitations too much, but be sensible. I know for a fact that I will never be a size 6 jeans and I'm not going to set that as a goal. It just isn't achievable for me. I did have a goal to fit into a size 10 and I made it. Felt great too. 

Goals should be REALISTIC. I would love to be entered in to the Female Body Building Championships later in the year, but this is not going to happen. Not realistic for me! This may, however be a realistic goal for you and if it is, congratulations! One goal I do intend to achieve is to run in the annual Round the Bays fun run next summer. Can't wait.

Having a TIME SPECIFIC goal will keep you on track much better than having a vague, "I will lose some weight soon" type focus. Make your time limits realistic too. Rome wasn't built in a day, and losing weight too quickly just isn't that healthy. A good rule of thumb is around half a pound or 500 grams per week and there will be weeks where you don't lose or you might even gain. Give it time.

Rule 3: Break it Down

So you have decided to lose some weight. You have decided on a specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time specific goal. Mine was to "lose fifty kilos by the time I was fifty" This is a pretty big goal and I had given myself a long time to achieve it. In order to avoid losing sight of what I wanted to achieve, I broke my goal down into smaller, more manageable chunks. These became my small goals. It was great to have my next small goal in my mind the whole time and not have to wait all year to achieve the big one. My first small goal was to lose five kilos. I have included all my small goals at the end of the blog. These include weight loss, exercise and size fitting goals. It was a lot of fun to tick them all off one by one.

Rule 4: Write it Down / Plan it Out

You should also have a plan. This will determine HOW you intend to achieve the goals. Goals are just ideas without action, so include specific actions that you will take to achieve your goals. Some actions include: Menu planning, gym timetable, walking times, weights, strength routines and so many more. Use a calendar, diary or log book to plan what you are going to eat, or when you intend to work out and stick to it!

Writing your goals and plans down will also make them seem more real. This is a great way to make sure you don't lose sight of what you want to achieve too. Write down your big goals and your small goals and leave them somewhere that you will see them often. Stay positive and keep reminding yourself on how far you have come and how much you have done so far. Every small achievement is worth celebrating!

Rule 5: Share

Telling your friends and family about your goals makes you so much more accountable for them. You just know that your friends are going to ask you how you are doing with achieving those goals and you will want to tell them you're doing well. It works! Share them.

Rule 6: Revisit

Every now and then, you should revisit your goals list. Make sure they are still achievable and realistic. Have you given yourself enough time to achieve them, or perhaps too much time? Are the small goals small enough or do they need to be broken down some more? Is your big goal still what you want to achieve or are you happy with the weight you have reached? Reevaluating goals often will make them more tailored to what you actually want.

My goals

I set myself these goals along the way and revisited them often. Even the big one changed after I reached it!

The big one: Lose fifty kilos before I turn fifty years old.

The small ones:

• Lose 5 kilos
• Lose 5% of my total body weight
• Run for five minutes on the treadmill
• Lose 10 kilos
• Run for two minutes on the road * not as easy as it sounds!
• Lose 10% of my total body weight
• Wear size 18 jeans
• Lose 15 kilos
• Run for ten minutes on the treadmill
• Lose 20 kilos
• Get down to double digits (99 kilos) * very happy moment!
• Run for five minutes on the road
• Lose 20% of my total body weight
• Lose 25 kilos (half way mark)
• Wear size 16 jeans
• Run for 15 minutes on the treadmill
• Lose 30 kilos
• Run for 10 minutes on the road
• Do a proper push up
• Lose 35 kilos
• Run for 20 minutes on the treadmill
• Lose 30% of my total body weight
• Wear size 14 jeans
• Lose 40 kilos
• Run for 15 minutes on the road
• Lose 45 kilos
• Run for 25 minutes on the treadmill
• Wear size 12 jeans
• Run for 20 minutes on the road
• Lose 40% of my total body weight
• Wear size 10 jeans
• Run for 30 minutes on the treadmill
• Lose 50 kilos

... and I am happy to report that I achieved them all. I've actually lost 60 kilos now and am able to run for over an hour on the road. I set new goals all the time and am constantly reevaluating my progress. I need to know where I am going to make it easier to get there!
Without goals, we are just aiming at nothing.

I hope you have found these rules useful. Please let me know how you're doing by commenting below or on the "Anything is Possible" Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/liz.ross.collier/aip

Happy Goal Setting!