We all hear successful people speak of the importance of having goals but most people either don’t have goals or the goals they do have are vague, not written down or not followed. So I thought it would be fun and instructive for you to follow me and one of my goals. I want to lose fifteen pounds of “body fat” and do a “re-set” of my nutrition and training program. I also want to invite any of you who’d like to lose weight and get in shape to join me. To help me (and you) I’ve put together a team of experts and on-line tools to make this all easier. Visit www.UltimateFitnessQuest.com to get started.
Tips for effective goals
Effective goals all have a number of important and key elements:
- Begin with a compelling “Why?” Answer the question, “Why is it important for me to achieve this goal?” If you can come up with a great “Why”, the “How” will be much easier!
- Put it in writing. A goal not written is what I call a dream. By taking the time to articulate what you want to achieve on paper, something magical happens that’s hard for me to explain. It’s like you “plug-in” to the universe around you and the universe then bends over backwards to help you.
- Be specific. You want your goal to be very specific. You’ll know if it’s specific by asking someone to read your goal and agree that they understand what you intend to accomplish. I love “stretch” goals…ones that will really challenge me, but at the same time, your goals need to be realistic. By realistic, I mean something that can actually be accomplished by you.
- Set a time boundary. Setting a time boundary for your goal is an important part of being specific. You need to know your start and finish date. My experience is that sometimes accomplishing a goal takes a bit longer than you estimated. This is ok as long as you’re prepared to continue executing your plan until you succeed.
- Go bite size. Break your goal down into mini-goals…pieces that are easy to accomplish one at a time. Each day (or week), develop a short list of actions (mini-goals) you will take that will move you towards accomplishing your big goal on time.
- Get leverage on yourself. We all need help along the way and I’ve found doing things with others is more fun than being a lone ranger. Find someone or a small group who shares similar goals and have them join you as accountability partners. You’ll find that there truly is strength in numbers.
- Celebrate your success! Everybody loves a celebration and in this context it will provide encouragement. Come up with some way of celebrating when you accomplish your goal. It’s just as important to come up with mini-celebrations for accomplishing some of your mini-goals. This is a perfect opportunity to celebrate with your accountability partners.
Stewart’s Goal: “I will lose 15 pounds of body fat in 30 days beginning April 4th (ending May 3rd).” My compelling “Why” is that the pants for my suits have gotten a bit tight and I really don’t want to buy five new suits! Yes, I also want to look and feel better but I really don’t want to spend the money to purchase a new wardrobe. This is what motivates me…you must find what motivates you. My experts tell me that if I do everything correctly, I can lose a half-pound a day in a healthy way by eating right and exercising regularly. I intend to follow their plan and hope you’ll consider joining me with a fitness quest of your own.
You’re invited to join me
How about it, are you interested in losing some weight before summer? At the end of every day, I’ll post my daily results to the Private Group section of my Facebook page. You can simply do what I do or follow your own plan. All the tools you need for the program are free and available at www.UltimateFitnessQuest.com. In my column each week, I’ll report my progress. Get two friends to join you and let’s have some fun together.