New Year, New Goal!
As I have been pointing out, this is a big year for Tadda’s Fitness Center. We are celebrating 15 years in business, so I am trying new things for the center and establishing new goals. I am also hoping with your “Dear Me” letters to put you all in the mindset of setting new goals for yourself. Not a resolution but a GOAL!
First let’s make sure we are all on the same page with the meaning of the word goal.
When you don’t understand what goals are or what they are meant to be, you might scribble anything on paper and call them goals and then get frustrated when you fail to achieve them. I am suggesting a better way to look at goals; in a way to use them as progress markers rather than yardsticks for measuring success or failure.
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. Goals represent the decisions we make and the commitments we take in order to reach attainment, break some bad habits, adopt useful habits, or achieve more in different areas of life.
Goals enable us to achieve focus in life by helping us to determine what we want. They keep us motivated and propelled, constantly putting us in a state of action. Goals, when properly conceived and pursued can help us to maximize the one and only life we have to live.
Goals are action-based. Goals stretch us and help us to achieve results. Our dreams can only be actualized by setting realistic goals and working diligently to achieve them. Goals are the specific actions we set to accomplish in order to satisfy our desires.
Many people have the wrong motivation to set goals. They might have been genuinely inspired by what they see other people achieve, however, such goals may not connect with their deepest ambition. This might lead to a lack of the required motivation to pursue and achieve the goals. Genuine goals must connect to a bigger and broader life vision for yourself. Goals are not an end in themselves, they are supposed to be stepping stones to achieving something bigger.
By writing your Dear Me Letter you are establishing that you are a priority, and you intend to commit to making sure you treat yourself as a priority. You have jotted down some answers to questions that can help you see your way to a better healthier you.
Now I am asking you to go one step further. Pick one thing you have always wanted to do health wise, climb a certain mountain, start a meditation practice, run a 5K, do a certain number of pushups, or pull ups, complete a number of steps daily for a certain number of days… there are so many things. And there is one that is uniquely personal to you. So, pick one, it really can be “I want to do 5 pushups, in the right form in 2 minutes by December 31, 2023.” But it can also be so much more. Pick something that does not necessarily feel reachable right now but does not feel impossible by the end of the year. And don’t make it about weight or inches, make it about maximizing your life. Think of how proud of yourself you will feel once you accomplish something you once thought of as impossible.
This morning I praised Casarah, a client that came to TFC struggling with her health & fitness. She started off on our blue team. Casarah could barely do a sit up and couldn’t think about doing any push ups, her flexibility was extremely poor and her eating habits made me cringe. Casarah walked most of her run days in the back of the pack. After a couple bootcamps she was promoted to the green team. I started to see her confidence grow, her run and PT test improve, she started to make healthier choices in her meal plan, and now she is on the yellow team.
I also praised Kerry. When Kerry first came to me she had a lot of weight on her frame, she always complained about her “bad knees”, although she would work hard and give 110%, she was in extreme pain, so she started to see all kinds of ortho specialists. Kerry trusted me and the process of strengthening her quadriceps and after 7 consecutive 6-week bootcamps, Kerry no longer complains of knee pain, nor does she wear any knee supports and today we celebrated her being able to do a full lunge all the way down to the ground. Casarah & Kerry did amazing at reaching their goals. Now it’s your turn!
Pick your Goal, write it down on a big piece of paper and post it on a bulletin board somewhere you can see if often and then start putting into plan how you can achieve it by the end of the year. I know you can do this and at the end of the year you will be able to check this off as a completed Goal. And next year you will think even bigger. No Mess!
