Goal Month: 5

Let’s review.  Here are the kinds of goals we learned about over the month.

 

1.     SMART goals

2.     dumb goals

3.     rubrics

4.     process goals

5.     outcome goals

 

Choose your favorite or mix and match!

Goal Month: Mix It Up

All right:  we are nearly at the end of the month.  Let’s put stuff together.

We know we need to figure out why we want to do what we do to keep ourselves showing up when stuff gets real.  We know we need both strategy and tactics to reach our goals.  We’ve considered SMART goals, dumb goals, rubrics, processes, and outcomes.  What should we do?

 

Good news!  We can use ALL the tools.  We can go through the process of making a SMART goal and use that as our outcome goal.  Then we can create process goals that move us in that direction, maybe even process goals that are dumb goals so we make it easy on ourselves to make progress.  We evaluate how we’re doing with rubrics.

 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

As we practice with the various kinds of goals, we’ll learn which kinds work best for us.  Hint:  the right kind of goal is the one that gets us closer to where we want to be.

 

Still need help?  I’m a wellness coach, personal trainer, and Pilates instructor.  In other words, I’m an expert.  Poke me!

Goal Month: Motivational Fuel

At this point, everyone should have a fair idea about different kinds of goals.  What more do we need?  Fuel!

Motivation is the fuel for goals.  All motivations are not created equal, however.

 

The first rule of motivation is that it has to be ours.  Change is hard and we really need to plug into what motivates us to do the work.  We may have other people in our lives who want us to change—their motivation is not going to work on us.  We may be a little embarrassed about what really motivates us, but if blowing your ex’s mind at child pickup is what you want most, you do you.  When we lie to ourselves and others about what motivates us, we just set ourselves back.  We may, on some level, want to be healthy—who doesn’t?—but if we really want to be in shape because the Zombie Apocalypse is coming and we want to outrun those brain-eaters, we need to tap into THAT motivation when it’s a question of going to the gym or rolling over and pulling up the covers in the morning.

 

All that said, science says that there is a hierarchy of motivations in terms of effectiveness.  The most effective motivation is intrinsic enjoyment.  In other words, if it’s fun, we’ll do it.  This is why I spend so much time encouraging folks to find fitness activities they like.

 

The next level down, but still really useful, is doing something because it’s the right thing to do.  Working out because it is good for us gets a lot of us to the gym.

 

Below that, we get into the territory of “I have to” and “So-and-so told me to.”  These are the folks who show up at the gym because their doctor or their spouse threatened them.  As soon as the external pressure lets up, they vanish, unless they discover that they like working out in the interim.

 

Sussing out our motivation can be tricky, but it is entirely worth spending a few minutes thinking or writing or talking through what gets us ready to work out.

Monday Workout: Short

We’ve got a lot going on in a short circuit today.  Choose the step up to reverse lunge for more challenge.  Four rounds.

 

1 min cardio
step ups or step up to reverse lunge	30
pushups	10
flies	20
squat raise	30
renegade row	20
V sit press	10

Goal Month: Try 4

Rubrics we can try:

 

1.     Do x minutes of cardio x times per week.

2.     Complete x weight workouts per week.

3.     Eat x different vegetables this week.

4.     Drink x glasses of water today. 

Goal Month: Process & Outcome

Another way to think about goals is to consider process goals and outcome goals.

Process goals are the kind where we commit to an activity.  For example, when I say I am going to do two weight workouts a week, that is a process goal.  Outcome goals are about what results we want, like wanting to bench press fifty zilliabillion pounds (imaginary units again, because some of us get too attached to the numbers and ignore the words).

 

Obviously, the two are connected.  If I do two weight workouts consistently every week, I’m going to get closer to bench pressing fifty zilliabillion pounds.  And if I want to hit that bench press goal, I’m going to have to do weight workouts.  The difference is in the focus.

 

Much like Deion Sanders in that old ad, we want both.  The outcome goal gives us the distance perspective and the process goal gives us the to-do list for today.

Goal Month: Rubrics

Yet another way to approach goals is by using rubrics.  When we use rubrics, we decide in advance what an acceptable level of performance is and then we check our behavior against that.  This is a useful way to keep ourselves honest when we have maintenance-type goals.

So, for example, if we are feeling pretty satisfied with our general fitness, we might use a rubric to keep ourselves that way.  We might target something like five cardio sessions of at least 30 minutes per week, two weight-training sessions, and some balance/flexibility work.  At the end of the week, we can compare what we actually did with what we thought would be good.  If we hit most of our rubric most of the time, we’re doing just fine.

 

Note:  nobody is perfect.  When we acknowledge this going in to our goals, we are automatically extending ourselves grace as members of the human community.  This doesn’t mean we always let ourselves off the hook, but we don’t beat ourselves up for occasional lapses.  Love works better than guilt.  I promise.