Goal Setting 101

Today we are going to discuss the importance of goal setting in nutrition clients.  Whether it be gaining weight or losing it, having a specific goal is imperative to the client reaching their goals in an effective and timely manner. As a personal trainer, I deal with a lot of clients with a lot of different kinds of goals. The first thing we talk about when I meet them is goal setting. I explain to them if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Goal setting lays out the path in front of you by giving you an actualized end state. With a goal the client and coach can now plan on how to get the client to his or her desired end state within a specific timeline.

Types of Goals

There are 3 main types of goals that I am going to focus on today that are pertinent to health and fitness; those are physical, health and behavioral goals. 

• Physical - Goals that pertain to your physical attributes, like training to get bigger, leaner, stronger, etc. These goals are what most people think of when they talk about going to the gym to get in shape.

• Health - Goals that pertain to your current health e.g. lowering high blood pressure, getting a handle on diabetes, etc.

• Behavioral - Goals that pertain to your current daily habits such as choosing to do diet soda instead of regular or going to the gym 3x a week instead of 1. These are the kinds of goals that will help you SUCCEED in the previous 2!

I want to talk about behavioral goals for a little while because like I said previously, Those are what’s going to help you the most with your physical and health goals. Anyone can say they want to lose weight or put 100 lbs on their squat. but what systems are in place to make that happen? See, when faced with any situation, we rarely rise to the occasion, and instead, we fall back on our habits. and if your habit is to slack off or munch on every snack in the house, then chances are you’re going to keep doing that! It’s important to identify what kinds of behavioral goals you have and then take action in establishing those behaviors. Without that, your goals may as well be wishes… and if wishes were fishes, the world would be an ocean.

SMART Goals

Now that we got that out of the way, we’re going to go over HOW we make goals. Whether your goals are Physical, Health or Behavioral, it's important for these goals to be SMART! SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Lets go a little deeper shall we?

• Specific- What exactly is it you are trying to accomplish? The more specific the better. ex. I want to lose body fat!

• Measurable- Is this something you can accurately track? ex. How much body fat? 30lbs

• Attainable- Is this something that can be done? ex. Can I do this?

• Realistic- Are you being unreasonable with your goal? ex. Am I giving myself all of the right resources to get this done?

• Timely- What is the timeline for this goal? ex. I want to get this done by the end of the year.

Lets put it all together, “I want to lose 30lbs of bodyfat by the end of the year.” and there you have it, you have a SMART goal. Now that we have that figured out we can now dive into the goal setting process which will be detailed below…

Goal Setting Process

There are 7 steps in the goal setting process. They range from pre-planning to the maintenance of your goals. The steps are as follows:

• 1. Figuring out what you want to achieve.

• 2. Create a SMART goal.

• 3. Write it down.

• 4. Create a plan.

• 5. Establish a timeline.

• 6. Act.

• 7. Reassess.

The first step is always the hardest and that’s figuring out what you want to do! Without a destination to move towards, you’re kind of just stuck…I mean you could just start moving but, its scattered, all over the place and without focus. figure out what you want to do and we can move toward making that thing actually happen. The next thing you do is create a SMART goal. Creating a SMART goal is where you start to really materialize your goal. Here is where you figure out the specifics, you start to figure out how you will measure your progress, find out for yourself is it even attainable and realistic. Then, you give yourself a timeline to really put that fire under your butt. Writing down your goals makes it far more likely that you will actually get after it. When you have things in your head, they are fragile and intangible. Writing it down makes it REAL, so do that, put it somewhere you’re going to see it every day! Now it’s time to create an actionable plan. What steps can you take to reach your end state? Keep to that Timeline you established in your SMART goal, people who give themselves an end date are more likely to succeed in their goals than those that don’t. After that, it’s time to ACT on your plan, this is where you actually DO those actionable steps. And lastly Reassess, do some introspection and check in with yourself. Are you meeting your milestones? If so, do you keep going? If not, how do you readjust?

In conclusion, setting goals for yourself is one of the most important steps you can take to bettering yourself. It is about more than just saying you want to do something, and it’s going to require some deep thought and planning. that being said, the benefits of taking these steps are so worth it. So lets ACTUALLY set some goals and get after them!