By: Hyla Conrad
So you have decided to join a gym or compete for the first time. Great! Or maybe you decided to join Julie Lohre’s Team Fitbody. Great! So many opportunities lie ahead of you. New year, new you right? But where do you start? You might go to the gym, or attend the first Team Fitbody meeting and think to yourself-this is going to be easy. Everything will be laid out for me; my programs from Julie or my personal training at the gym will do the goal setting. I don’t have to set goals. That is why I am part of the team or that’s why I hired a personal trainer. It will fall into place, and I don’t have to think about it. WRONG!! Three weeks into your training you realize the newness has worn off and now you are stuck choosing between going to the gym or sitting at home folding laundry, watching TV at night eating the chocolate your swore off. So many people fall into this trap. What stops us from being successful?
Goal setting is something that sounds easy, but in reality it can be confusing. It is difficult to break the oldie but goodie typical goal-I want to lose 20lbs by spring break. You might think this is a long-term goal, but it’s not. This is an outcome. Losing weight is an outcome of changing behaviors and writing successful goals. You are probably thinking I am crazy, but read on.
Goal setting-Part 1-Looking at the big picture
Let’s take a moment and sit, relax, and close your eyes. Focus on your life, and where you want to be. Ask yourself and answer honestly- What is my ideal life? My ideal self? How do I feel? Get into the details of this ideal self-visualization. Where am I? Who is around me? What am I doing? What am I wearing? How does my body feel?
These are all important questions we must ask ourselves, to get the big picture, to figure out the large goal in life. We must always keep this visualization of our ideal self close to our hearts. This creates a positive image of our life, and staying positive is one of the biggest challenges we are up against.
So now your thoughts might be-I can’t reach that ideal life. This image is so far off from where I am today. What do I do now? This is where monthly and weekly goal setting takes place.
Goal setting-Part 2- Breaking down the big picture
This is where the fun starts. You get to set smaller achievable goals. Now that you know where you want to be in the future, you take small goals and apply them to the months and weeks ahead. These goals are a direct path to your big picture goal.
Sample Monthly Goal- I will compete at the Northern Kentucky Show on March 16,, 2013.
Sample Weekly Goal- I will lift weights on Monday (legs and core), Tuesday (chest and back), Thursday (plyos and core), and Friday (biceps, triceps, and delts) at 6am at the gym.
Goals have to be specific. I will run 3 times a week is NOT specific. I will train on Tuesday and Thursday is NOT specific. For example, when you write a goal for exercise, it needs to have the time, place, duration (if applicable) and day written in each goal like the sample weekly goal above. That goal is successful and specific. This type of goal setting creates a successful completion.
Goal setting-Part 3- Play on words
You might think words are just words, and you know what you really mean when you write your goals. Choosing the right words is very important and will either help or hinder your success. The golden rule of goal setting and writing is the use of the following words- I WILL. Will is the most powerful word that can ever be written, when it comes to goal setting. The use of the word WILL creates determination. I WILL do this, means that you actually will. Reading the goal out loud to yourself is pretty powerful when you use the words I WILL.
Negative words will hinder your success. For example, you might think you can write this goal-I WILL NOT eat chocolate at night. Yes, you are using the words I WILL, but in the wrong context by placing the negative word NOT after it. This creates a negative thought. To re-write this goal it would look like this- I WILL replace my nightly chocolate with chocolate UMP pudding.
So a for a quick review-
1.Make sure you have the big picture in view, and hold it close to your heart.
2. Break down the big picture into smaller, achievable monthly and weekly goals.
3. Stay positive and use powerful words to give you that extra boost of confidence.
Sometimes what you plan in your weekly goals doesn’t really work. So remember what works for you and what doesn’t. Learn from your mistakes, and change it the next week so you can become more successful along your journey. Your ideal-self is just around the corner, take positive steps to get there and before you know it, that big picture of your ideal self will become reality.
Hyla Conrad
NPC National Figure Competitor
