Let me start the article off with some stats for you.

Studies show that less than 25% of people keep their commitment to their resolutions. Only 8% of those individuals actually accomplish what they said they would.

New Years resolutions suck. Plain and simple. Why, you ask?

They are not goals.

People give up on their resolutions because they are the furthest thing from real goals. They are mere statements, and nothing more. “Lose 50 pounds.” That is a resolution, a statement and a shit one at that.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in fresh starts and setting out to accomplish things. But in my years of coaching in the fitness industry, I know that accomplishing things can only happen if goals are put in place.

You see, the difference between a resolution and a goal is a plan. Proper goals have plans. They have a path. They are detailed, planned out, and progress-oriented. They are not mere statements.

But people set out goals all the time, and they still don’t achieve them. That’s because they didn’t do a good enough job of breaking down their goal into action items that can be measured and completed. That is what we’ll be doing today. In this article, we are going to work through steps to making a proper goal that way you can finally complete what you set out to do at the beginning of the year.

No more falling off the wagon.

STEP #1 : Create a Basic Outline of Your Goal

Odds are you’ve heard of SMART goals millions of times. If you have, I will spare you the extreme details and take you through the basics of the acronym.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Oriented.

Your goal must be specific. For example, “I want to lose weight” could be much more specific, such as “I want to lose 20 pounds.”

Your goal must also be measurable. 20 pounds is specific, but how are you going to measure that? “I want to lose 20 pounds of body fat” is more like it. You can measure that through body fat testing each month or every two weeks.

Achievable. In my opinion, this is the same as Realistic. Your goal must be achievable and realistic. You MUST be honest with yourself. Have you ever lost 20 pounds of body fat before? If you haven’t lost more than 5 pounds in your life, you may want to reconsider. Set yourself up for a challenge, but not complete failure.

Lastly, your goal must be time-oriented. It must have a deadline. If your goal is not time-stamped, you will procrastinate like never before. Put a deadline on your goal.

STEP #2: Format Your Goals Based on Your Lower Levels of Motivation and Inspiration

This ties in with the A and R in SMART. You’ve gotta be real with yourself.

Too many people make goals while they are in a motivated, inspired, and hyped state of mind. There is nothing wrong with that, but it can be easy to believe that’s how you’re going to feel all the time. And let me tell you now, you will NOT feel that motivation, inspiration, and hype all the time.

Let’s say you are green to fitness and you haven’t really exercised before. You may think that it’s a good idea to workout five days per week when you’re motivated for this goal. But what happens when you’re not? Do you really think you’re going to go to the gym five days per week when you just don’t feel like it, especially if you’ve never exercised consistently in the past? I’ll answer that for you. No, you won’t.

Set your goals based on your lower level of motivation. Ask yourself what you’d be willing to do if you didn’t have any motivation and be extremely real with yourself. If you know you could only muster up enough will to go on a 30 minute walk when you’re not motivated, then that is a part of your goal. If you know you would still go to the gym when you come home completely drained from work, then go ahead and set out to accomplish it. Whatever it is, be real. Because motivation does not last.

STEP #3: Create Behaviors and Make Them the Focal Point of Your Goal

Goals are nothing without behavior. Behaviors are everything. Your behaviors are the actions that make your dream come to life.

In order to accomplish your goal, you need to set out clearcut behaviors that will get you to your goal, and focus on them.

If you have never worked out before, and your goal is to lose 20 pounds, you know you can do so by exercising more, and improving your diet. Two behaviors that you can focus on are walking 30 minutes per day and eating one big serving of greens every day. Let’s say your goal is the same, but you have experience training. Your behaviors can be strength training in the gym 3 times per week, and meeting your protein goal each day by having a certain amount of protein in each snack/meal.

You get the point. Create behaviors and make the execution of them your new goals. You may have your big goal, but your tiny goals are to execute your behaviors each day.

STEP #4: Establish Metrics to Measure Your Success

Whatever your goal may be, you must find a way to measure it, because adjustments may need to be made along the way.

If your goal is to lose body fat, make a point to get your body fat tested every month. I recommend having mini goals set up to make sure your behaviors are keeping you on track. If your goal is to deadlift 200 pounds, tell yourself you want to be at 160 pounds, 180 pounds, then 200 pounds by certain dates.

These metrics and measurements serve as great feedback. They will likely be a direct reflection of your behaviors. If you get your body fat tested and you are short of your mini goal, you may need to change your behaviors in order to get back on pace for your big goal.

TAKEAWAYS

If you want to hit your goals this year, you need to take these four steps.

Create (write down) a basic outline of your goal, using the SMART method.
Format your goals based on your lower (maybe average) levels of motivation and inspiration.
Create behaviors and make them the focal point of your goal.
Establish metrics to measure your success and make sure you’re on track.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.

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