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Maxine's BlogGoal Setting

IN ORDER TO AIM, WE NEED A TARGET.

By June 19, 2013One Comment

You walk into you favourite shop, pick up your usual size and low behold, they have only gone and made the sizes smaller! You are late for your train and attempt a Usain Bolt style sprint to the top of the stairs in order to reach it but then have to rest at the top because your heart seems to be palpitating slightly. You have a day in the garden, mowing the lawn, digging and bending over the flower beds and by the evening your back is agony. Any of these situations familiar?
Then the sun comes out in spring (if we’re lucky) and we can dig out the summer clothes that were shoved into a bin liner and stashed out of sight to make way for chunky knit jumpers, onesie’s and if you are as cool as me your long johns! For men this stash normally consists of a pair of shorts or 3/4 length trousers, a vest (cringe) and some sandals (hopefully not worn with socks). For women this stash can be immense, a whole second wardrobe full of tiny, figure hugging and revealing items, flip flops, beach bags, sun glasses, hats……
If your household is anything like mine than I would strongly advise that any male stays right out of the way when the summer wardrobe comes out. I step into my shorts and let out a sigh as I slump my tummy forwards and make a vow to get into better shape, and then probably sulk for a little while!
All of these are signs that your body isn’t quite what it was, and can spark something in you to do something about it, turning your negative into a positive in the form of a goal.
Goals should be specific and measurable so that they can be broken down into bite size achievable chunks. Fitting into your old size 10 jeans or running 5k in under 30 minutes are both great examples of this, just being healthier isn’t. Define ‘healthy’, I’m sure this will vary from person to person. Wanting to lose weight or bulk up are great intentions but they don’t have a specific measurable target.
As human beings we react very well to praise, achievement and recognition of our efforts, whether that comes from others or ourselves. If we set a goal of a 10lb weight loss and in the first month you lose 5lb, it is easy to compute that we are half way to reaching our target and that the end is near! This is often enough  to motivate you to keep going. Being ‘thin’ can seem like a long way off and often unachievable, this is the point where most retire back to the sofa and think to themselves ‘oh well, there’s no point as I will never achieve that’. Break down a weight loss of 4st into a 2lb per week loss for the next 6 months and you have pretty much smashed your target! The same with a marathon, now that’s a loooong way to run, but slowly increasing your workouts and distance by a little each week will have you on the road to success in no time.
Take the time now to to decide what it is that you want to achieve and think about why it is important to you. Breakdown your ultimate long term goal into smaller, short term goals that don’t overwhelm you, not only will you feel a sense of achievement faster but it will also help you to track progress.
Once you have your goals, the true reason that drives you forwards, you have a direction. At Potential we believe that it is absolutely essential to set each member clear and concise goals to work towards.
So we invite you to submit to us your long term goal, we will evaluate it and then break it down into realistic short term goals that will take you step by step to the end result. We will hold you accountable for it by checking in with you at each set point to see how you are doing.
Make it easier on yourself by letting Potential do the hard work…..well, almost!

Join the discussion One Comment

  • Natalie Banbury says:

    My goal is to reach 9 1/2 stone & to be able to complete a 5k run.
    I need to be at my target weight by my 30th in February next year.
    I’d like to achieve the second goal by this time next year.

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