Have a Goal? Write it Down!

It’s hard to believe, but we are nearly one third of the way through 2019. New Year’s Day feels like it was yesterday, but for many of us, the motivation that we felt on January 1st has probably started to wane.

If you set a fitness goal on January 1st, are you still working toward it? Do you remember what that goal actually was? Have you made the necessary progress for you to call 2019 a successful year regarding your fitness? Whether you are working toward a specific fitness goal, striving to lose weight, or to simply schedule your days more efficiently, your best first step is to write it down!

When it comes to making progress toward a goal, it is important to know where you are starting and where you are going. I like to think of documenting goals and progress in the same terms as taking a road trip with a map. Without a map, you might get there, but did you take the most efficient route? In much the same way,, when I talk with my clients about weight loss and tracking their nutrition, I equate this process to managing money. You would not manage finances without a written budget, similarly you cannot expect to see weight loss if you have no idea whether you are staying within your nutritional/caloric budget.

You have probably noticed our personal trainers lugging their clipboards around the gym, meticulously recording each client’s workouts. These notes are critical to ensure that each client makes tangible progress toward their specific goals. Recording workouts is useful for the trainer to see continued progression of weights, repetitions and perceived difficulty of each exercise. As the client, if your motivation starts to dwindle, you can look back at your workouts from a month ago and see just how far you have come.

If you are not sure where to start, pick a specific goal. There are many useful apps for recording workouts, tracking nutrition, monitoring sleep and so on, but I recommend that you first purchase a notebook, and start by writing your goal down. Here’s a basic example: if your goal is to lose 15 pounds, write it at the top of the page. Once a week, record your weight and use your notebook to monitor progress and to troubleshoot speed bumps along the way. The same can be done for the number of workouts in a week, nutritional planning, and hours of sleep each night.

If you are not recording your goals and your progress, you’re simply taking a guess and hoping for progress. Likewise, if you are not recording your meals throughout the day, you can’t expect to magically hit the mark in terms of your calories consumed. Your gym membership and the time that you spend working out are investments, so make your investments work for you.

A useful tool for writing down goals and sticking with them is known as SMART goal building. This process helps you refine your goal to make sure that it is Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Tools like SMART can be utilized outside of personal training sessions and even outside of the gym.  If you would like to learn more about the process of writing SMART goals, schedule a session with one of the trainers. We are happy to help.

Stop guessing and start progressing!