Why Is Goal Setting Important?

Dreams only ever remain dreams without clear and precise goals, regardless of whether this is in reference to your health and fitness or any other aspect of life. In fact it can be very easy to find yourself lost without them. By definition a goal is “the object of a person’s ambition or effort, an aim or desired result”. Plain and simply they are your purpose. Let’s discuss why goal setting is crucial to your success and what strategies you can adopt to best succeed at setting and attaining your goals.

Why Is Goal Setting Important

Goal setting is important for so many reasons. Goals give us direction and allow us to focus in on what we want. In the gym, having focus and direction allows us to optimise our time and maximise our results. If you find yourself wasting time floundering around on the elliptical machine watching your favourite TV show, then setting new goals will keep you locked in and undistracted. Appropriately set goals have the power to both motivate and inspire you, they are the reason you keep going when things get tough. Goals allow us to discover the things that are important to us and make us commit to attaining these things. Some of our goals may seem too big or even a little out of reach, however with good goal setting we can plan out the appropriate steps that will lead to our success. This builds confidence and self belief. Goals are also a good way to track progress and can allow us to recognise if further change is required. Don’t fret if your goals change from time to time, this is normal as our goals are often closely aligned with our priorities.

Set SMART Goals

SMART is a goal setting strategy that helps to make our goal setting effective. SMART goals are:

Specific- clearly define what you want to achieve

Measurable- set out clear numbers (ie. run 10km or lose 5kg)

Attainable- set goals that are realistic and manageable

Relevant- goals should be relevant to your individual needs and desires

Time Based- identify specific time frames in which you want to achieve your goals

Taking the SMART approach will keep you focused on the end result however far off that might seem. Once your goals have been outlined you can start breaking them down into more manageable tasks.

Tips For Meaningful Goal Setting

The biggest contributor to your goal attaining success is making sure that from the outset your goals are your own and based on things that are important to you. It’s all well and good to have others who motivate you and support you, but at the end of the day you need to make sure you are doing things for yourself and not just to appease the needs and priorities of others. When outlining your goals dig a little deeper to figure out the source of your motivation. Maybe you’ve set out to lose 10kg but what you really want is for it to be easier to run around after the kids. Identifying your purpose is crucial as this is what drives your success. Lastly make sure to set short, mid and long terms goals. These are the stepping stones that lead to your end goal. This keeps you on track but also reinforces the progress that you are making.

Not only do goals set you up for success but goal setting also helps to overcome set backs or plateaus in your training. Whether you’re just starting out on your fitness journey or a seasoned trainer now could be a good time to step back and reassess where you are at and make a start on some new goals.

xx Tara

Have you set any fitness goals lately? Let me know what they are in the comments section below.

#Goals #results