We all strive to become healthier, fitter, or maybe even thinner. We all want to look and feel great and have enough energy to conquer everything that life throws at us. But while we all have this desire to improve our health and fitness, only a few of us actually develop goals that will help us to get where we want to be. For some reason, the importance of goals is widely overlooked. Here are three benefits of developing a powerful goal:
1. Direction
The right goal is like a GPS. It will give you directions to lead you on the right path. Even Brian Tracy said: “Goals allow you to change the direction of change in your favor.” When you don’t have a goal, you might have a vague idea of what it is that you want, but you will be flowing around aimlessly without ever getting to where you want or need to be on your fitness journey. And you are much more likely to wander off the right path. Which leads us to the second benefit of powerful goals:
2. Strategy
When you create a goal, you will be able to develop a strategy that will help you reach this goal. You will only be able to develop an effective strategy when you know exactly what you want. For example, when you want to lose weight you will have to follow a different plan, aka strategy, as if you want to become the best female power lifter. But we don’t even have to go to these two extremes. Even more similar goals can require different strategies. You will have to have a different approach when you want to lose 10 lbs in 6 weeks then when you want to lose them in 3 months. With a specific fitness goal in mind you can break down this goal into smaller goals, create checkpoints along the way to track your progress, and you are able to make adjustments as needed.
3. Motivation
Last but not least, a goal serves as an amazing motivator. And this is why it is so important to spend a good amount of time on developing a fitness goal that really serves your needs. Simply saying “I want to lose weight” doesn’t sound very motivating to me, does it?! A clear goal has the ability to pull you. It gives you energy, keeps you on track, and helps you overcome obstacles and plateaus. If you don’t have a goal that doesn’t motivate you, you will have to push very hard to get to the finish line. That is a) not fun – at all and b) a battle that you can avoid by spending a few minutes thinking about what you want to achieve.
To help you develop a powerful goal that will pull you in the direction of your dreams, I created a Fitness Goal Setting Worksheet for you. Click the link below to download this FREE worksheet and bring your goals to a whole new level!
Written by: Jen
(The Online Personal Trainer for Women)
