Setting New Year Goals

With the New Year approaching many people use the festive period to start to think about setting fitness goals for themselves. Before we start to think about what we want to achieve over the coming months it is important to consider some factors for your goals.

Why?

Often when people are creating goals for themselves, they can create one but not with any real emphasis on why they are doing it. If you want to lose a few pounds or add some muscle you need to ask yourself why? For example when somebody wants to lose some weight it is because they want to probably do one of two things, look more attractive or to feel healthier and become fitter. So before you even start to decide what your goal is, ask yourself why you are doing it? Why do you want to do it? Why is it important to you? Why do you want to wake up every day and work hard? Once you are sure of why your goal is important to you then you will be more likely to go after it.

Throw the clock away

When we think about setting a New Year’s goal we are sometimes taught to set a time measured and achievable one. However, when we try to set our goal against what life throws at you those initial time targets can get thrown away. Instead of giving yourself a set amount of time to achieve something in why not take the pressure off and really give yourself a chance to be successful without the feeling of failure from not achieving it in a desired time. We cannot control time so to think that we can set a reasonable target against a set time would be unrealistic. Sometimes life can throw obstacles in your path that you did not see coming and have no control of so don’t try to beat these unseen circumstances and just focus on moving toward a better you and your goals.

Structure your goals

Having structure to your plan and goal will help massively with your personal progress. Without some form of plan or structure to your journey things could end up going off track and not be as productive as possible. Fitness can be looked at like society in the fact that without rules or laws there would be absolute chaos and riots. This can also be the case without laws or rules within your own fitness journey, so try to keep some form of order in your life and create a plan that can be achieved without it overtaking your life. Use time well and try not to have your plan take too much spare time up otherwise you can become bored and disillusioned with the reasons you are starting in the first place.

Have fun!

If you follow all the points above you should be some way to a successful New Year’s goal for yourself. It can however become a bit boring for some people who go to gym or the repetition of lifting weights. So when you set your goals make sure you include something in it that you can enjoy doing. There are so many ways to start a fitness journey and you don’t have to be confined to four gym walls or the same workout routine every day. Look at group fitness meetings, try new classes, train for a bigger event like a marathon or even try a new sport. Whatever you do make sure you are enjoying the process as much as you will enjoy the end results. Be adventurous and be willing to push yourself into new places and really enjoy the process of taking control of your goals!