Goal setting is the first step of your fitness journey and should be done regularly throughout the entire process, not just at the beginning. It starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve in a specific time frame and is then linked to an action plan followed by hard work to ensure you get there. It's great to be ambitious and set yourself a challenging goal to achieve but this must be followed up with the hard work, dedication and consistency. There is one important question you need to ask yourself before you set a goal - Is it realistic?
We have all been there time and time again telling ourselves "I will lose 10kg in 9 weeks" or "I will start training today to run a marathon in 4 weeks' time". Setting these huge, unrealistic goals for such a short time frame will leave us feeling down, unmotivated and disappointed because the goal wasn't achieved.
We are constantly bombarded with marketing and advertising suggesting we can drop 20kg in 12 weeks or look like a fitness model after following a 9-week program. Marketing and wishful thinking make us believe this is achievable when in reality results like this don't happen overnight and take years of hard work! Issue is the media doesn't show this, so of course when we have been working hard for 9 weeks and don't have a body of a bikini model we are left with low self-esteem and feel like giving up. Little do we know that girl on the cover has been training consistently for 5 years to build the body she has. That's where the next step comes in - Break down your goals.
Rather than setting an unrealistic goal such as dropping 20kg in 12 weeks lets break it down - How about 20kg in 9 months? This is much more realistic and not to mention better for your health. The slower you lose it the better it is for your body and the more likely you are to keep it off. Aiming for a weight loss of 5-6kg in 12 weeks is much more achievable and guess what when you achieve it you will feel more determined and motivated than ever to get off the rest.
Managing your expectations
- TRUST THE PROCESS - Weight loss isn't linear- Fluctuations will occur and no journey will be smooth sailing. Trust the process and stay focused on the end goal. If one week you gain a few 100g don't throw in the towel next week you might drop 1kg.
- DON'T COMPARE YOUR JOURNEY TO SOMEONE ELSES - Everyone is different and progresses at a different rate. No one fitness journey is identical. Don't let someone else's progress discourage you. Stay in your lane, follow the plan and focus on what you have to tick off each day to get you where you need to be.
- REFLECT ON HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME- It is so easy to get caught up on how much more you need to lose or tell yourself "I am not there yet" but make sure you take the time to reflect on where you started. It's easy to forget where we started our journey which is why I always recommend taking progress photos! Progress is one of the most motivating factors, take the time to look back on how your hard work has paid off.
This goal is your goal, and this is your journey, nobody else's. You set this goal and you're the one that wants to achieve it. Remember why you set out to achieve it in the first place. Set a goal, put your mind to it and go for it! You will be there before you know it.
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
