Rules of Effective Goal-Setting

A few weeks ago I decided that my afternoon workouts were lacking. There is so much distraction in this house, and while I usually don’t mind, it was cutting into how long and how hard I was able to work. So I came up with a few small fitness goals, and began to plan. I decided to add an extra, quick, 15 workout in the early morning before the kids woke up.

When you set goals, not matter what size, there are a few principles that make your success more likely to happen.

They need to be specific; “I want to be able to do 50 push ups” instead of “I want to do more push ups.” Start with the big picture, your macro goal, and proceed to set intermediate and micro goals. When you’re through, you’ll know what needs to be done tomorrow for you to reach your goal next year.

Your goals need to be measurable. If you keep your goals performance related instead of outcome related, you will be able to keep account of where you started from and receive encouragement along the way by reviewing your progress “so far”. View and modify as you progress, to keep you moving forward.

For beginners, the biggest factor for failure when it comes to fitness is setting goals that are unrealistic. I can’t expect to do 50 push ups today if I could only do 20 yesterday. Week one was 10 push ups, 25 half push ups, then 15 more push ups. I still did 50, but I took into account my current abilities without berating myself for not being where I wanted to be. Once you’ve achieved a few victories, challenge yourself. Become okay with being uncomfortable. Failures at the outside can damper your motivation, but failure once you’ve got some faith in yourself, is just another stepping stone. Set realistic goals and increase the challenge gradually to make progress a little at a time. Be patient.

It is very fulfilling to work hard for the people you love. But for your goals to be relevant, they must contain a strong element of being important to you. Be honest with yourself and answer whether your goals are issues you would choose for yourself. If you don’t have the freedom to change what you are being asked to accomplish, try to find an aspect of the task that you can make your own. Setting goals and accomplishing tasks rarely gets an A+ unless you “own” the task and make it yours.

Keep each phase of your plans under some kind of time restraint. Make your macro, intermediate, and micro goals time-bound so you don’t get stuck on your micro goals for a year. It's important to give yourself the necessary time to accomplish each task; be generous. It will take me 8 weeks to go from 20 to 50 push ups, but my slow progression doesn’t come with side-effects like sore muscles, stress, or time-consuming weight sessions. I am confident that I will reach my goals, and when I get there I’ll set new goals because, to be successful, one must never settle. There is always another mountain to climb.

There are many aspects of our lives that we may want to improve but don’t know how to begin. Consider areas of your life that need to be upgraded:

1. Relationships
2. Professional
3. Fitness
4. Financial
5. Health
6. Artistic

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that other people have had overnight success. Everything we do leads us to the moment we are in. There is no such thing as quick success.

“The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That's the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!”  George C. Patton

Define your fears, game-plan possible outcomes, and prepare to defy the barriers that may keep you from reaching your goals.

What are these actions going to cost you? What is the cost of staying where you are? Keep in mind that almost no problems are solved in comfortable situations.

Keep your plans to yourself. Telling your plans to others brings a social satisfaction that you simply have not earned yet, and it tends to take the life out of your motivation.

In conversations such as this, no one will have the answers for you, and your failure will be no one else’s fault. You say go, and the outcome is on you. You're the boss, stop laying blame outside of yourself.   

The only real value is found in the journey. Crossing a finish line or reaching the peak of the mountain would have no value if the journey, itself, wasn’t arduous and difficult.

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Seneca

Categorize the things you cannot control and the things you can. Put the issues that are out of your control out of your mind and focus only on those things you, yourself, can influence.

Everyone has dreams and visions of things they think they want to accomplish. The line that divides us is the ability to set effective and coherent goals, and the will to pursue them to the end.