Over the last few articles we’ve touched on making lifestyle changes that go against our cultures, resistance training and the different disciplines that exist therein and a short education on sugar and how we should be aware of the ingredients present in the foods we consume.
Today is a good day to talk about setting goals that are achievable and realistic. Now goal setting is easy enough, it’s the commitment to see the goal through that’s the difficult part. Sometimes we lose courage and become despondent when we don’t see the results we want quick enough or we take a break that’s too long and then it becomes more difficult to resume from where we left off.
I am without a doubt a goal setter. My goals are set daily, weekly, monthly and annually. I do not set five-year goals because truth be told I lack the patience and foresight for that period of time. However, I get a real thrill from achieving my daily and weekly goals. Since these are the basis of my monthly and annual goals, I tend to achieve about 90% of the bar I set for myself.
My daily goals are usually focused on my diet – getting a sufficient calorie intake, mostly with proteins, vegetable, and some fruit. Drinking two liters of water a day is also part of the daily measures.
My weekly goals are based on my training times – I try to make five hours a week at the gym. Sometimes I go over 5 hours a week and sometimes I’m an hour or two behind but it is rare for me not to reach this target. This is also time for myself – where I can de-stress. Whatever tension may be present in my mind is worked out through exercise – I am happier when I have trained and find that my thinking processes are elevated, problem-solving becomes easier and I thoroughly enjoy physically challenging myself.
Sometimes there are days when I am unable to achieve my daily or weekly goals but I am not discouraged – I allow myself the time to tend to things that move up my list of priorities because I know that it is not the norm. My lifestyle is based on a spirit of excellence, not perfection that means that everything I lend myself to is part of my own greater good. If I need to attend a function during my gym time, I don’t stress – I will make up for it tomorrow. If I didn’t pack sufficient lunch, I most certainly do not starve myself – I go get something from the canteen – it doesn’t happen every day, so it’s ok.
So what am I trying to say? Don’t aim for perfection when you begin to set daily, weekly and monthly goals. There is no such thing as perfection. Planning your routine in a spirit of excellence allows you to do well whether you miss a target or not – it is about working towards a positive, long-term outlook, with bite-sized achievable and realistic goals that allow you to be flexible and most importantly – happy.
So what does an unrealistic goal look like? When I began my career in bodybuilding I was bent on competing within six months – that was totally unachievable and unrealistic. Had I gotten on stage at that point, it would have been a complete failure and I would probably never had gotten back on stage again. My trainer, Charmaine Howell from Team Chaz in Randpark Ridge, urged me to reconsider, train diligently, follow the requisite diet and then revisit competing in a year. I am so glad I listened to her advice.
My first time on stage was not perfect. I had no personality, I was so shy I wanted to hide behind the other athletes LOL – my confidence was so low plus I was completely star-struck by the other ladies on stage! Not a good combination for my first time but I was brave even when the audience and judges paid absolutely no attention to me. I was what people call a ‘cold fish’. I stank really bad LOL. This was the first time I had ever been to a bodybuilding show, ever! I hadn’t even attended one as a spectator. I had worked really hard to get to this point and I was not perfect which was ok. I had competed with a growing spirit of excellence – I needed to know what it was like on stage so that I could prepare myself for the next show. I adapted my goals to fill the gaps I had identified through that horrifying first time on stage.
If attaining perfection was my intent at that point, I would’ve been sorely disappointed and ashamed – I am grateful for that very humbling experience because my spirit of excellence began to grow the moment I stepped off that stage. I wanted to get better and I knew it was going to take time, consistency and determination.
So what’s the point of this scary story?
Being receptive to the guidance of others who are more experienced than you, is way better than having to go through something that will ruin your motivation forever. It is good to ask the advice of others – we don’t know everything. Remember this when you are lacking in an area. Why make mistakes when you can learn from others? Also, do your own research. Be it on nutrition, different types of exercise, the cost of having a personal trainer, even on the ins and outs of joining a fitness club – a little homework will go a long way.
Here are seven things I’ve learned about setting achievable and realistic goals:
1.Set daily and weekly goals that will contribute to your monthly and annual goals.
For instance: Setting a goal to run 50 kilometers a month would mean running about 12,5 kilometers a week, which would mean making the time to run about 1,7 kilometers a day. Your annual goal could be losing and keeping off 5 to 10 kilograms of bad weight – adjusting your diet and keeping your weekly goal will contribute to that.
2.Be consistent and manage your time
A healthy lifestyle requires planning. Set time aside to prepare your meals. Preparing meals the night before is very time efficient especially when you have a family to cater for. Block out an hour a day for your choice of activity – I personally know a very busy.
married professional with two small children who gets up at 4am every day to get her hours’ worth of sweat – at home!
3.Be patient and kind to yourself
If you don’t make your targets, don’t stress. There are worse things than not going to the gym for one or two days. Not going to the gym ever is far worse. A spirit of excellence allows for adjustments and flexibility – our needs and circumstances change and we must respect that.
4.Don’t let your lifestyle goals become your idol
You might lose sight of other things that are just important, like time with family or promising work engagements. Also, don’t let this be the only thing you talk about –
it becomes boring and often a put-off to those who do not share the same beliefs as you.
5.Seek the company and advice of others that share the same lifestyle vision
It is awesome to find those special people who share and give off their knowledge without asking anything in return. Be humble enough to admit your uncertainties and lack of experience and you will probably gain more support and loving advice than you will know what to do with. Then in time, you can support someone else on their journey.
6.Celebrate your victories and the victories of others
Don’t compare yourself to others – your journey is not the same as theirs. A socially competitive person is a lonely person. Who wants to be friends with someone who is always looking at them sideways when they’re together? If you’re fortunate enough to form a relationship with a great training buddy, you can swop training programs, even enhance each other’s goals and routines. Collaboration is a beautiful thing.
7.Perfection is a lie
Nurturing a spirit of excellence is by far the most rewarding element of any development plan. To love, to be gentle, to be humble, to be kind, to be determined and learn to persevere, learning to be honest with yourself and others, to be trustworthy when someone asks your advice, to be brave and have integrity even when you’re faced with the scariest situations – these are the things we must aim to achieve. Everything else that comes with this is a bonus.
Come learn more about setting goals that are achievable and realistic at my boot camp every Saturday, 7am in Randburg. Check out www.fellowshipfitness.co.za for more details. It’s free by the way.