The 7 Simple Steps for Better Fitness Goals

Did you follow these simple steps the last time you set a goal?

Often times people make goals for themselves and but fail to reach them, not because a lack of ambition, but often times a lack of clarity. Below are the seven simple steps that we use to clarify our fitness goals and achieve the results that we want. Get your pen and paper ready and plot your next goals while you read along!

#1  – Get Clear About What You Want

Precise goals are better than abstract general goals. Example: Lose five pounds vs Lose weight. Now getting more exact, do you want to lose five pounds a day, a week, a month? When you start to have the numbers, your goals start to become based on tangible outcomes rather than abstract ideas. At that point the path starts to reveal itself. How precise, clear, and exact can you be about what you want?

#2 – Set Yourself Up to Win

Do you have the right equipment? Have you gone to the grocery store for the right foods? Did you schedule some time to set yourself up for success? In other words, have you taken the next step and to reach your goals?

#3- Allow Yourself Adequate Time

Since you’ve gotten precise on your goals, get precise about when you want them accomplished and work backwards to plan accordingly. Example: If you take an annual vacation to the beach every year and you want to be the person everyone gawks at, start with your vacation date and work backwards 30 – 90 days to find a starting point. That starting  date is when you begin your workouts. It will also give you the right amount time to get fit in a healthy manner rather than starve yourself a week before you go to the beach. (Been there. Done that. Hated it. Never again).

#4 – Measure and Adjust

You’ll never know where you are if you don’t measure yourself. You can use a basic tool to check body fat, get on a scale, find the pants you want to fit into, or take a picture on the same day of the week. Constant measurements make you aware of your progress. This is how you attain that precise goal from earlier. You measure regularly along the way and make adjustments accordingly.

#5 – Show Up Everyday

No way to get around it. Action is always the necessary ingredient to turn an idea into reality. Are you showing up for yourself daily?

#6 – Reflect

The date that you set for yourself has finally arrived. Continuing our earlier example, you’ve made it to the beach. Did you reach your goal? What would you do differently next time? During reflection, we bask in our triumphs and learn from our mistakes.

#7 – Now Start Over

Fitness is something we should do until we aren’t capable anymore. It’s a cycle. Have a goal. Obtain a goal. Pat yourself on the back. Have another goal. Obtain the goal. Pat yourself on the back again. And on and on it goes. Exoneration is not the path to better fitness, routine maintenance is.

Final thought:

I was foolish enough to think that I could radically change my life in many areas at once. Become fit, get straight A’s, stick to a diet, meditate for half an hour a day, wake up at 5:30 a.m., Drink less coffee. the list goes on of the radical life transformations I wanted to attain at once. Trying to do everything at the same time lasted maybe a week. If you’re trying to change too much you’ll probably end up like me and fail at most. Start with one great, simple goal. Then use these steps and go from there!