YOUR DESTINATION: FITNESS GOALS

We somehow suspect that achieving our fitness goals could truly deliver a deep sense of satisfaction, not just mentally but also physically. However all too oft en our new year’s goals have swift ly slipped by the wayside in preference for longer work hours or the convenience of take-away meals.

The goals were genuine, desirable and exciting. And for many of us they were even SMART: (specific, measureable, attractive, realistic and timed). But what went wrong?

As our understanding of human psychology improves we may find that fitness goal setting in the future will routinely have us firstly asking ourselves some of the following key questions:

“It’s a fact that the majority of fitness goals will only ever be achieved if they are consistent with our deepest values.”

1 DO YOU HAVE A BAD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORD – GOALS?

“Ok – now let’s do some goal setting”. This is a common conversation starter in a personal training session between a trainer and a client, or within a sports team between a coach and his/her athletes.

Years of working in fitness has taught me that many people have a strange relationship with the word “goals” and may even cringe a little when the word is mentioned. Why? Simply because historically many of us find that past goals have simply not been achieved and therefore when new goals are set, the underlying thought tends to be “I probably won’t achieve this one either.”

Try replacing the word “goals” with the word “promises” and we may be able to shed light on the problem. For example if “My goal is to strip 5kg of body fat in the next 3 months”, can I confidently replace the word goal with the word promise? – “My promise to myself is to strip 5kg of body fat in the next 3 months.”

Most of us take our promises seriously and tend to have a very positive relationship with the word. Some would go so far as saying they always keep their promises. If this “fitness promise” sits well with you emotionally and seems truly achievable then there is every chance you will fulfi ll that promise to yourself. If, on the other hand, it is challenging for you to “make the fi tness promise” then you were probably never serious about achieving the original goal or, at the very least, already had serious doubts about your ability to achieve it. So try replacing the words and see how you go.

What are three health and fi tness promises you intend to keep over the next 3 months?

2 DO YOU SET GOALS/MAKE PROMISES THAT CONFLICT WITH YOUR CORE VALUES?

We all carry with us, through our adult lives, a set of core values. These values underpin much of our decision making in our daily lives. How we treat ourselves and how we treat others stems from our core values and desires. What do you stand for? Freedom, independence, security or self-respect?

It’s a fact that the majority of fitness goals will only ever be achieved if they are consistent with our deepest values. A young mother with triathlon competition goals who has committed to purchase an expensive bike and spend hours away from home for training may find her goals seriously sabotaged by conflicting core desires for conservative financial security and maximum time with her family. A football coach embarking on an attempt to perform in a body-building competition may find this somewhat self-absorbing endeavour is destined to fail due to his deeper values of teamwork and socialisation.

We must always be cautious that our goals and self-promises are not in conflict with our core values.

“The truth is that emotion drives our choices.”

3 DO YOUR GOALS/ PROMISES CONFLICT WITH MORE BASIC NEEDS?

The renowned psychologist Abraham Malsow suggests that human beings have a predictable hierarchy of needs. Personal growth and exploring your physical potential will only be actively and successfully sought if our more basic needs for love, relationships and a sense of belonging are already met. Furthermore, belonging and affection will only seem important and worth pursuing if our very basic needs for air, water, food and shelter are already under control.

Pursuing fitness goals and promises could be seen as reflective of our complex and advanced human need for self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement. So the individual who is struggling with an absence of meaningful relationships (or simply lacking a sense of social support) is not meeting more basic human needs and therefore will typically find it hard to prioritise fitness goals.

More-so, if your goals and promises actually compromise the pursuit of more basic needs, then those goals are destined to be dropped. For example, a young man who joins a gym to reshape his body soon becomes intrinsically motivated to attend the gym daily due to a new-found enjoyment of training. However his relationship with his girlfriend starts to suffer due to a dramatic reduction in time spent together. Maslow suggests that our deeper desires for affection and love will ultimately win out over any needs for self-improvement.

Do any of your fitness goals or promises conflict with your relationships, sense of belonging or basic physiological requirements?

4 DO YOU HAVE AN EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO YOUR GOALS/ PROMISES?

If not, why not?

Even armchair psychologists are well aware that we only make changes in our lives to ultimately change the way we feel. No one ever came to me as a personal training client because they had no desire to change or because they were totally happy with how they felt about themselves. The truth is that emotion drives our choices.

Spend extended periods of time deeply thinking about how your life will be diff erent when you have achieved your new fi tness goals. Most importantly – how will you feel? Think long and hard about your feelings, write them down, think deeply on them, try to experience the emotions now, as if you have already achieved change. Now you’re in a great position to write down all the reasons you can think of to explain to yourself or convince another why achieving this goal or making this promise is highly important to you. Convince me and convince yourself why it ranks 10/10 in importance and not just 3/10. Passion for achievement comes from emotions.

If you are not emotionally attached to your goals it will be very diffi cult to feel passionate about working towards them.

“Our deeper desires for affection and love will ultimately win out over any needs for self improvement.”

5 CAN YOU ENJOY THE PROCESS NOT JUST THE OUTCOME?

A common issue with goal setting is that we focus so much on the destination that we forget to enjoy the journey. In fitness the journey is half the fun.

Fitness is not just about achieving goals and ticking boxes on “to-do lists”, it’s about getting involved in the process. All fitness goals and promises will be much easier to achieve and may oft en just fall into place, if we can immerse ourselves fully in simply appreciating the exercise, the training and the good nutrition. Live in the moment a little and learn to love the journey. Enjoy the tastes of quality nutrition in the moment you are consuming it. While exercising, focus on the incredible feeling of moving your muscles and joints with power and grace. Develop an appreciation for the awesome machine you spend your days moving around within, the amazing human body.

Successful athletes find satisfaction and excitement in the day-to-day requirements of a training program and while still having an eye on the prize, they can truly say they enjoy the process not just the outcome.

The journey is truly as exciting as the destination.