How to Achieve your Fitness Goals
The following are three sure fire strategies for staying the course in your journey of optimal fitness.
1. Identify Your Personal Vision for Being Fit: So you’ve decided to commit to regular exercise. How come? Your answer to this question is a key to your success. If you were to get exactly what you wanted out of keeping your body moving on a regular basis, what might that be? A healthier body? More energy? Strength? Weight loss? Get really clear on what you are aiming for, and make sure it sounds and feels good to you. This will greatly increase your chances for success.
Key: Instead of thinking in future terms, i.e. “I want to be fit and strong. I want to be slimmer” Describe what you want in the present tense: “I am fit and limber. I am fast. I am strong. I look great in my clothes. I am healthy and radiant. I have a lot of energy. I am confident.”
Create your own description of your fitness goals and what you are moving towards, let it energize you. After all, it’s not just about the habit of because it’s good for people. What makes it important for you specifically? What is your vision of a fit lifestyle? Get clear on this and claim it as your personal right.
2. Going for Benefits Will Help You Maintain Your Goal:
There are so many benefits to an active lifestyle, and some of them will appeal distinctly to you. Start off on the right track by identifying why this commitment is important to you personally. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and make two columns:
Column 1- If I do
Column 2- If I don’t
List all of the things you expect to gain if you do exercise regularly. List what will happen if you don’t.
Keep this sheet posted where you will see it daily. Remind yourself of what is important to you about this commitment and it won’t be as easy to slough it off. Take it one step further by using a pad of post-it notes and writing one benefit per sheet. If you are artistic, draw little pictures of you enjoying the benefits. Post these benefits around your office, your washroom, or wherever you will be reminded most, and your motivation will be sustained.
3. Create Grand-Scale Accountability –Tell People.
There’s nothing better to lock in a commitment than accountability. You may have made this promise to yourself, but if you tell others about your fitness goals, you are more likely to stick to it and save face. Once you have identified your vision for fitness, share it with people who want to see you happy. Tell people about what your choice to make this change is all about, what you are moving towards. Share your vision for positive change with others, and invite support.
Prepare the people who are in your daily life (work or home) by informing them that you will be making a change. Change can disrupt the people around us, so give them a heads up, and explain why this is so important to you.
Be sure to keep others focused on your progress, rather than pitfalls. Asking others to help you ‘stop’ doing something can create a breeding ground for rebellion and resentment, however, share a positive vision with the people who care about you, and they will be naturally inclined to encourage you, rather than ‘police’ you.
Remember: encouragement and positive feedback add fuel to the fire of momentum. If you are feeling good about your progress…share it with someone who cares about you!
When we are willing to create conscious intentions around our goals, magic happens.
Employing these 3 big strategies will strengthen your commitment to do what it takes to achieve your fitness goals.
