| Hi all, I see that several people are working on writing good, clear goals. Nice work! I don't recall if I already shared these tips for goal setting with all of you or not, but just in case... Vision and Goal Setting Here's what you need to build a great foundation for change and then actually see that change occur. Keep in mind that you can jump in at the "later" steps, but it is equivalent to only building the penthouse of your building without the foundation in place, or perhaps with the foundation on shaky ground! Step 1: What's your vision? If you look into your crystal ball what do you see as your ideal self? This vision is not bound by a certain timeframe. Make your picture as clear and emotional as you can. Say what it is you want, where you want to go, how you want to live. This is much more powerful than saying "I want to be toned" "I want to be healthy". Those are dry and textbook and leave you waking up one morning saying "Who cares". Instead, your vision might be “I want to enjoy an unforgettable trip to Europe and see it on foot with no restrictions from my health or physical condition”. Step 2: What are your 3 month goals? What can you commit to doing consistently 3 months from now? These are behavioral goals that are designed to lead you to your vision. And they are SMART: S - SPECIFIC - For example, I will exercise morethis week or eat better isn't specific. Specific would be, “I will walk 4 times for 30 minutes this week and eat 4 servings of vegetables each day”. M - MEASURABLE - This means that you can measure what you've done and keep track of your progress. “I will exercise hard 3 days per week” is not completely measurable. “I will exercise on the treadmill on 3 days each week for 30 min at an effort level of 15 (on the RPE scale)” is very measurable. A - ACHIEVABLE - Keep your goals within reach. Avoid setting goals that require TOO MUCH to achieve. Sometimes we sabotage ourselves by setting impossible goals. R - REWARDING - Will it feel good to accomplish your goal? If we make our goals too easy, they are not inspiring. Set goals that you feel great about reaching. T - TIME-FRAME - Establish goals that are both short-term and long-term. Your 3 month goals are set far enough in the future to allow enough time for a meaningful change and be motivating, yet not so far that you lose interest. Weekly goals (below) are more focused on what you can change NOW. Also consider using goals with RANGES. And avoid setting goals that require you to exercise EVERY DAY. “I will walk 10 minutes every day” sounds reasonable, right? The problem is that if you miss one day you may feel like you’ve failed to reach your goal for the week. This zaps your motivation. A better goal would be “I will walk 5-7 times per week for a total of 70 - 90 minutes”. See how this gives you a little room for life to get in the way? Step 3: What are your weekly goals? This is what you can commit to doing THIS WEEK. They are also SMART. A good example is "This week I will check into buying exercise DVDs and find at least one I like and purchase it". And goals with ranges can work well for weekly goals too. For instance, “I will walk on 4 – 5 of the following days this week (M, T, W, F and Sunday) for 30 min each session”. This allows you to plan on walking on the days that are best for you and makes you accountable for exercising on particular days, but still allows you some flexibility. These are small, manageable steps to your 3 month goals. They are challenging, yes, but you're confidence level that you can achieve them is at least a 7 out of 10. Along with this step comes planning for strategies to overcome any obstacles that you think might hold you back and solutions to getting past them. For example, if your weekly goal is to exercise on the treadmill for 30 min on 3 days, M, W, and F and time is an obstacle, then possible strategies are to do a shorter session or to use T, Th, and Sat as back up days. I hope that helps out! Happy Holidays, Michael Biggest Loser Club Fitness Expert |
Monday, December 28, 2009
Setting Goals
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