Are your goals holding you back? How to set fitness goals?

Are your goals holding you back?

Goal setting is closely aligned with our psychology - driving motivation and behavior in pursuit of achievement, personal growth and development. But what if the goals we set are hindering these outcomes? Are all goals created equal?

I recently looked over my past and present health and fitness goals – lose a certain amount of weight, run a certain distance, lift a certain weight, etc. What I noticed was that at some point, they all seemed to recur. I soon came to realize that although I achieved these goals at the time I’d made them, progress wasn’t maintained, and personal growth and self-development weren’t achieved; what’s worse, this cyclical notion left me feeling a sense achievement, when in reality I had achieved very little.

Sound familiar? If so, what’s happening here?

Empty goals

Empty goals are a bit like empty calories: they provide energy but little to no value. A lot of the time, we set goals without thinking about what they really mean and, more importantly, what they really mean to us.

Common examples of this are result-based goals, such as weight loss – lose 10 KG in 10 weeks, weigh 80 KG by May - it’s everywhere. If we stop to think about such goals, you will soon realize that they are not entirely within our control. Where do these numbers come from anyway? What do they mean? And do they really satisfy a person’s true intent?

A number in itself provides no value. Once achieved, are we even happy? And how long is it maintained? What provides value is not the achievement of these goals, but what behaviors are formed in the pursuit of them. We are not defined by a number, but by the behaviors and the attitudes that get us there.

Instead:

Choose action-based goals which define a commitment to a behavior - for example, committing to the gym 3 days a week, preparing healthy meals at home instead of eating out, educating yourself on nutrition, etc. As you can see, these goals are more likely to be within your control, and a commitment to such goals will likely still lead to the weight loss you desire. More importantly, these goals provide personal growth through the requirement to reflect, plan, prioritize and commit.

You need to master your mind before you can master your art

The success of our goals and our growth are all dependent on our perception. This is a powerful notion that is often neglected. People surrender to the fact that the way they think is….well…the way they think when in fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The way we think is shaped by our environment and our experiences. To a degree, we as a society have become paralyzed to overcoming obstacles, be them emotional, financial, confrontational etc. We live through a sense of entitlement rather than earning what we desire, therefore leaving us waiting for things to change instead of putting in the thought, work and commitment to change it ourselves. We spend so much time and effort on fad diets, quick fixes and extremes, when all we really have to do is be consistent - and the way to do that is to confront the obstacles we face and learn to use adversity as an opportunity.

Instead:

Spend some time reflecting on the things that you avoid. Why do you fall back into old habits? Why do you feel you have no time? Why do you feel discouraged? Coming to the realization that this is just a strategy to justify avoidance of a task or situation is hard, and often requires you to step out of your comfort zone to overcome it. That’s why we usually don’t.

Reward something worth rewarding

Ever seen someone spend more time writing a ‘to-do’ list then actually doing what’s on it? Writing things they have already completed earlier in the day, or adding irrelevant tasks such as ‘write a to-do list’ just so they can tick them off?

Dopamine is an organic chemical released by neurons. It feeds a distinct pathway in the brain playing a major role in reward-motivated behavior; so when you achieve a goal, dopamine is released in the brain and it makes us feel good. This biological reaction is important for us to get things done! Frequent short term goals are therefore recommended when goal setting. The reason is so that this reaction occurs often, compounding to give you the motivation and ‘feel good’ reaction, so that you continue the same behaviors.

But is a reliance on such a mechanism making us complacent? What happens if we fall short on one of our goals? Is that when self-sabotage, disappointment and discouragement kicks in? Are we creating a false sense of security by feeding this feeling of reward with non-meaningful outcomes?

Instead:

Focus on a sense of achievement that is meaningful. Combine these achievements with behaviors instead of goals that don’t allow us to evolve. Learn to control your drive out of discipline rather than reward, so that it becomes innate as opposed to requiring a stimulus.

In summary, it’s important to have an honest reflection on your goals to determine if you are actually moving forward, are stationary, or in fact moving backwards. Re-evaluate your goals and determine their importance, their meaning to you and more importantly to your life. Goals create motivation, but motivation only takes us so far; after this, discipline, will and consistency take over. That’s where you want to be.

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