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Goal Setting For Success

Organization is the key to accomplishment. This is why we budget money, write business plans and keep calendars. We need that plan of attack for success. Writing everything down will make it easier to see our progress, or possibly where our progress is being blocked.

Exercise Goals. Planning to exercise may sound excessive to some people, but it’s no different than planning a meal time. Even if you have the vague idea that you will be exercising at a certain time, you will be more likely to actually do it. But take that a step further and plan how to make use of your time. 5 minutes warming up, 10 minutes feeling a “4” on the Rating of Perceived Exertion scale, 20 minutes at a “6” and then cool down at a “3”—if you plan to succeed and stick to your guns, how can you fail? Keep a calendar with the days and times of your workouts marked. Keep an exercise journal so you can plan what you want to work on and write down how each exercise felt so that you can modify it for your next exercise session. Plan and act, and your goals will be within reach.

Nutrition Goals. The whole reason we’ve gained a few extra pounds, is because we haven’t been paying attention to what we eat. Do we know how much fuel we need? The first order of business is to figure out how much we need and plan meals around that fact. Exercise is great for helping to get rid of extra stored energy, but we can’t get rid of it if we keep eating so much that we continue to store more. We need to plan meals, incorporating each food group, and set portion sizes so that we can maintain or lose weight. The second step is to be mindful of what we eat. The best way to do that is to keep a food diary or better yet, a calorie budget. Budget your nutrition and your exercise like you would your bank statement, your income and your expenses. Again, success comes from being mindful, planning, and executing that plan.

Sleep Goals. The main reason people don’t get enough sleep is.....? Lack of planning! We set alarms, with little regard to how much sleep we will be getting. We need to plan a bedtime—including the routine like brushing, flossing and unwinding—so that we can get the full benefit from sleep! When we don’t get enough sleep we’re much less efficient, walking around like zombies in a fog for most of the day. Accidents happen when people try to go without enough sleep. People are just notable to work well on very less than ideal sleep.

We can’t allow the day to just float by unconsciously or allow exhaustion to dictate when we go to bed, especially since when we wake up is dictated by work and the commute to work. Keeping a schedule or calendar of times to sleep and wake and sticking to it will allow you function efficiently each day. Remember, be mindful, plan, and execute that plan. You’ll be unstoppable in conquering your goals!

Motivational Goals or Rewards. It’s hard to do things for the sake of doing them. Sometimes we need material rewards. We just have to remember that the reward comes after the work, much like saving up to buy something expensive. You have to have all the money saved before you can buy it. Write down your reward for your goals and when you have accomplished one, reward yourself. But be careful of your rewards. It might be best to purchase something that can serve as a reminder of your accomplishment as opposed to something that will disappear when it’s been used. Go for the new sunglasses you had your eye on, the new bikini, or even the new iPod. Don’t let food become your motivation for exercise, food is an enjoyable means to an end, not the end in itself.

Small Steps. Remember to keep your goals small. Twenty pounds is a large goal and a person could become frustrated on the way to that goal. Hitting several small goals of five pounds would mean more accomplishments and motivation. Break the large goals into small ones, take the smaller steps and you’ll find you’ve come a long way and it didn’t seem as hard as you thought. Smaller goals will inspire you to accomplish large ones and pave the way to success.

 
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Nicholas Henney • (757)739-2938 • nick@steponefitness.com