Goal Setting - Part Three

Read Part One Here and Part Two Here

There is a common thing that happens at the New Year, year after year. Resolutions are made and outcome goals are set.  The goal might be to lose some weight for that big fancy wedding that is coming up later in the year. A gym membership is purchased. By the end of January no weight was lost, and the threshold of the gym was only crossed a few times the entire month. Human nature seems to make us think that the gym membership is a waste and visits drop from a few in January to zero in February. One gym membership is purchased, no weight is lost, and the gym is abandoned. For many people the reaction is to completely throw out that goal and start with something else. Is this the best thing to do? The goal might not be the wrong goal and maybe shouldn’t be tossed aside. Reevaluate and adjust the goal before scratching the entire thing.  

Take the goal of going to the gym. Just going to the gym is not much of a process goal (there is no process). Tweak that goal to make it measurable over a time frame:

I will go the gym twenty times this month and exercise for two hours. 

Then evaluate the goal. Is going to the gym twenty times this month for two hours each time doable? Considering that big project at work is due, there are practices to attend for the family, and you are taking a week in Miami at the end of the month, probably not. Be real with yourself, what will make it more doable? 

I will go to the gym three times a week for at least twenty minutes each time?

How is that? Seem doable? If yes get to it. If not, adjust it again to make it fit your reality. 

Sizing a goal to be achievable is just one step of the process of setting a realistic goal that will lift you to your Health Vision. A health coach is an amazing resource in setting goals and helping you find ways to keep yourself accountable to your Health Vision.

Part Four Coming Soon!

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