Why Are Short Term Goals Important?

The other day I was having a conversation with a student who was feeling uninspired. It always breaks my heart a little to have these conversations as it makes me realize we don’t talk about why goals are so important enough, which means I have not been doing my job.

As a coach and fitness enthusiast, I am one of those weird people who loves to train hard, sweat a bunch, and get better every day just because I want to be lean (forever and ever and ever). That is enough drive for me to get it done and stay excited about it. But not everyone is weird like me!

A huge reason to train forever and ever and ever is because we want to age more gracefully and stay out of a walker for as long as possible. We want to maintain our independence and get up and down off the floor and stay on our own two feet. While that is an important life goal- it isn’t enough for everyone to stay motivated. So how do we get excited about training every day?

Well, for starters we try to create an atmosphere that gets you PSYCHED to get here and make this the best hour of your day, but more than that you need a goal. A goal has an end date otherwise it’s just a hope and dream. It needs to be something important to you. Something that will drive you. Something that will make you REALLY happy when you achieve it!

When we set our goals, we go 4 weeks at a time so when setting goals don’t go too crazy! Sometimes you have to set smaller goals that are working up to a BIG goal! Here is an example of a goal that is too big for 4 weeks, but can break down into smaller goals.

Goal: To screen out of my red band.

October: I want to lose 6 pounds so I am going to focus on eating 3 meals/day.

• Being able to screen out of the red band could just mean you do not currently have the strength to push the excess weight from the floor. So, let’s work on getting some of the excess weight off. Also, that means you have to keep up with your training, because you won’t get any stronger by not training.

November: I want to lose another 6 pounds so I am going to get my last meal in before 7:30 PM.

• Assuming you nailed your other small goal, then let’s add on another step while keeping the other goal in place.

December: I want to screen out of my red band so I am going to spend 10 minutes on my personalized exercises every day.

• There are more personalized exercises that your coach can teach you to help you achieve this goal.

This is just an example. Your coaches are here for you to help you identify a goal and break it down 4 weeks at a time. It is about building habits, being consistent and working toward something that matters to you!

We can help you make it happen,
Coach Meagan