How To Use Proper Goal Setting To Stay Motivated

Before you dive into your new fitness workout and diet plan, you must make sure that you're taking the time to set some proper goals. So many people start out on their plan thinking they know exactly where they're headed but don't really have that solid picture in their mind of what they want to obtain.

Instead they set goals such as 'I want to lose weight', 'I want to firm up my body', 'I want to boost my energy levels', and so on. While these goals are valid, they aren't really going to help you achieve the type of results you're looking for.

In order to really push the barriers of success and become the best you that you can be, you need to have proper goal setting in order.

Let's take a quick look at what's necessary so you can make sure that you're starting off on the right foot.

Be Specific

The very first thing that's going to be an absolute must as you go about setting your goals is making sure that you're being as specific as you can with them. If you're someone who is setting a goal like one of the ones mentioned above, you should rework this goal immediately.

Rather than stating that you want to lose weight, define that. Do you want to lose 10 pounds? 15 pounds? Maybe you have a lot of weight to shed and want to lose 40 pounds?

Whatever it is, be as specific as possible.

Likewise, if it's a performance oriented goal like you want to increase your strength, here again, make a solid strength gain. Perhaps you want to increase the amount of weight you can squat by 20 pounds or you want to be able to curl a set of 30 pound dumbbells.

Whatever your goal, be sure that you can easily define what it is. The more specific, the better.

Set A Proper Time Line

Second, also make sure that you have a good timeline in place. Those people who don't set a timeline with their goals often find that they continually push it off further and further. If procrastination is something that often gets you down, having a timeline will be vital.

Be sure the timeline allows for a few slip-ups here and there as expecting perfection is never a good idea but don't allow yourself so much time that you begin to get lazy and put off those workout sessions.

Make Sure It's Reasonable

Third, you should also check over any goals you set and make sure that they're reasonable. For example, let's say you want to lose 20 pounds. If you set a timeline to do this in a week, is that really reasonable?

Obviously if you hope to maintain the weight loss, it's not. Instead, set a goal to lose the weight over 3 months. That will be a much more reasonable time period to achieve this goal.

If the goal isn't reasonable from the start, you're going to find your motivation seriously taking a nosedive once you get going.

Double Check It's Attainability

Next, along with the goal being reasonable, you also need to check that it is in fact attainable. Using that goal to lose 20 pounds, let's say you currently stand 5'1" and weigh 115 pounds. Now, is that goal attainable?

Going down to such a low weight is likely not attainable, nor would it be healthy to try.

Similarly, if you're more interested in muscle building and currently weight 140 pounds, don't set a goal to be 180 pounds in 3 months. That just won't happen. It takes time to reach lofty goals and you must allow yourself to do so.

Take Measurements Regularly

Finally, the last thing that's going to a must to keep yourself motivated is making sure that you're taking measurements of your progress regularly. This will allow you to look back over time and see just how far you've come so you can ensure that the effort you're putting in is in fact paying off.

Those who never measure their progress often find they just don't stay motivated after a few weeks because they aren't seeing the big picture.

Take measurements of your progress once every two weeks for best results.

So there you have everything you need to know to set some smart goals that will keep you motivated. If you do this, you will take one giant step forward towards seeing success.

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