Goal Setting

Goals. We’re all told we should have them. We should have a big picture goal of where we want to be and how we’re going to get there. I’ve been fed this message constantly since my first years of high school. “Where are you going to go to college? What are you going to major in? What do you want to be doing in 10 years? What position do you want in the company? How are you going to get there?” While some of this planning is helpful, there’s a fundamental flaw when it comes to long term planning; reality overrides many of our plans. We can have the best laid plans in the world, but when life happens plans change. This isn’t just true in business and academics, it also applies in the fitness world. One of my favorite things about working in the fitness industry is hearing people’s goals and why they want to achieve them. It’s motivating and inspiring when you meet someone who wants to exercise for the right reasons and have the honor of watching them get there one small step at a time. It’s a joy like no other. Yet many of us don’t experience that joy. We get caught in the daily struggle of “Do I have time for this? Is this really important? My goals seem so far away, will I ever get there?” These questions threaten to drag us down and suck the life out of us. While these questions are important, here are a few strategies to get yourself out of these funks.

-Do what you can do

Sometimes we set up monumental goals that can only be achieved through a mountain of work. Eventually something happens that puts us off course. A mental freak out starts. “I only have so much time to achieve this and since I’m already behind I have to work that much harder to get where I want to be.” This leads directly to burnout. We focus so much on what has to be done we forget we are only capable of doing so much each day. By focusing on what we can do each day, and letting each day take care of itself, we make progress to our goal without focusing on how much time it takes to get there. This kind of thinking sets us up for success in the next strategy.

-Challenge yourself against yourself

Find at least one thing each day and focus on it. Do it to the best of your ability. When you know what you are capable of, and you push yourself to meet your capacity, you grow in a healthy way. This kind of growth is sustainable, it looks internally for motivation based off personal experience. It’s not motivated by someone else, it’s motivated by a knowledge of self.

-Celebrate small things

There’s nothing wrong with throwing a big party every once in a while, but everyday needs to have some joy in it. Even on the worst of days, we need to look back, pick something out and say, “I got better at this today,” This keeps us from focusing on the negatives and helps us to see the positives. We grow every day, we don’t always stop to recognize it.

-Listen to your body

The body is a sensitive psycho-mechanical instrument. When the body doesn’t feel good something is out of place. Search for the out of place things, those things that suck the life out of you. Try something different in those spaces. Physically these would be adjustments in form or technique. Mentally they would be adjustments in attitude. Linguistically a change in words. Learning to operate healthfully makes a world of difference. It’s the difference between running with nagging injuries and running pain free. There’s no reason why we should continuously run in pain. Running is supposed to be fun. A few changes here and there just might make it pleasurable again.

Achieving goals is not about suffering. It’s about joy. About making small adjustments. Given time these adjustments create results. It’s not about forcing a result, but allowing your body to change and grow so those results can be achieved on a regular basis.

Goals are good things, but if all we do is spend time focusing on how great the future will be, instead of making little adjustments each day, we will miss out on the greatest joy of life. Setting a goal isn’t the goal, it’s how we enjoy the journey that makes a difference. When we start with our own hearts, we start in the right place. I think this is what Solomon meant went he said “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”