You may be surprised to know that quite a lot of clients that come to see us for the first time, arrive without really having thought through their goals. When they arrive for their first session we hear things like, “I want to lose some weight”, or “I want to gain more muscle” or they simply say they just want to “tone up”. Here’s the thing, you’ll have a slim chance of getting very far without clear goals and measures of how you intend to achieve them.
So before any of our clients begin their body transformation programme with us, we ask them to set some targets through the process.
This may seem unnecessary if you haven’t done this sort of thing before, but our ability to help someone change their body shape depends on them doing this first step correctly!
The Outcome
An outcome goal is the main outcome or objective that you aim to achieve as a result of the whole process. So someone may have to lose 10-12 pounds or to fit into a size 32 pair of jeans. Now, just by stating this as your objective isn’t enough, you need to look at the steps and changes you’ll need to start making along the way.
Behaviour
These are the steps and the behaviours that you have to take in order to accomplish the weight goal you have set for example.
It’s not as simple as saying things like, “I’m going to cut out eating bread” or “I need to make sure I get a gym membership”. You need to be clearer and make statements like, “I will lose 1kg per week” and “I will walk 20 mins extra every day on top of my 3 gym sessions every week”.
Being very specific is one of the points that must be considered when you write down what your goals are at the beginning, below is a list of the other essentials parts of good goal setting:
1. Goals Must Be Measured
Simply saying things like, “I want to lose some weight and tone up” are not goals that can be measured. If you use body fat goals for example, you can have your body fat percentage taken and recorded on a regular basis.
2. Goals Should Have a Timeframe
Without having a timeframe in place, you’ll always hoping your goals will just happen. If you have a timeframe in place, you’ll know exactly when you should be reaching your goal. You can place interim goals along the way to make sure you’re on track and make small adjustments where necessary. Using timeframe can be a very motivational tool to keep you focused.
3. Being Realistic
It’s very important that the goals you set can realistically be achieved within the given timeframe. This may sound like a no brainer to most people, but saying that you’re aim is to lose 10kg in less than a month is not a realistic goal! Saying that your aim is to lose 7lbs in 4 weeks is a more realistic goal and one that can be achieved.
4. Goals Must Be Set In Writing
For a goal that really needs to materialise, you need to record it. When you write goals down you can place it somewhere for people to see it (on your desk, or on your fridge). This also helps keep you accountable on your journey.
You must be fully committed to reaching your new goals, if you aren’t you’ll be sure to fail. Enjoy the process and stick to it, then see how your body shape and many aspects of your life take a turn for the better in the weeks to follow.
If you need help with goal setting and keeping accountable towards your new goals, get in touch about our personal training programmes and book your FREE consultation with the Lean Body Training team today.
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