Destination Unknown?

Training without a goal is common. Poor adherence to exercise is also common. Maybe there's a link...

People start exercising for many reasons but most of them are vague 'I really should start exercising' sort of reasons. Two or three tough training sessions later, a nasty case of DOMS, and suddenly carpet bowls or zumba seems like a more pleasant option. Those who continue training long-term, often throughout their lives, tend to be training for a reason. It might be to perform better at a sport, to change shape, to make work or life easier, or to improve health. So take a leaf out their book and set yourself a goal.

You may have heard of the SMART acronym, meaning goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timeframed, or some variation of this. One example would be to run a 10k race on 10 June 2012 in under 1 hour. Or lose 21 pounds of fat by 30 April 2012. Or gain 6 pounds of muscle by 30 April 2012. I would need to know more about your personal circumstances to say whether these goals are achievable but they are certainly not unrealistic for most people if they truly commit to them.

You might think that being so precise with your goals is unimportant, but it is all too easy to fall off the wagon or accept substandard results if you don't go through this process. For example, if you simply say you want to 'lose weight' then by losing 2 pounds you can technically say you have achieved your goal even though it's a pretty unimpressive result. Likewise, simply saying you want to 'do a 10k' means you can walk half way, do it in 2 hours, and still say you have been successful. If you set an ambitious but realistic target then you will have to work hard to achieve it but the rewards are much higher at the end.

Another worthwhile strategy is to tell as many people as possible about your goal; this makes it much harder to back out of it as you would need to admit your failure to a number of people!

Finally, it's also worth setting mini goals along the road to reaching your main goal. For example, if your aim is to lose 6 inches off your hips by 31 March 2012 you could set mini goals of 2 inches by 31 January and 4 inches by 29 February. This helps to keep you motivated by ticking off these mini achievements along the way, while stopping you from being tempted to leave things until the last minute. It also means that if you miss your first mini goal you still have time to adjust your plan to achieve the overall goal on time. For example, you might set a goal of losing two stones by your wedding on 26 May 2012, with a mini goal of 1 stone by 1 March. If you have only lost 10 pounds by this stage then you have plenty time to make adjustments to your training and eating plan and still achieve the overall goal, much better than being disappointed to find you've only lost a stone by the time your wedding comes round.

So over the next week or so think about something you'd really like to achieve next year, something which is challenging but achievable given the time and resources available to you. Write it down along with a start date and a completion date and then phone 5 people to tell them what you have written down! Or be brave and tell us your goal in the comments section below so we can provide encouragement along the way! Next arm yourself with the tools and information you need to achieve your goal, enlist any necessary help and expertise you need, then go get it!