I'm slowly getting back in the saddle of training following my last race. I had a nice month traveling the world, allowing for some mental and physical rehab. Two weeks into December though and it is time to start looking ahead to 2016. With that in mind, I thought a post of goal setting would be appropriate. The below article was originally written for Carlsbad CrossFit's blog.
Well, we are approaching that time of year
again where some will shoot for the stars on resolutions only to be
disappointed by late January. I’m going
to offer three helpful hints today about how to go through the goal setting
exercise.
Framing
The first step is to do a comprehensive life
inventory. What are your priorities in
life: family, work, and/or fitness?
Whatever it may be, this should be guiding you in your goal setting. Having properly framed where you are can set
the stage nicely for assessing what your goals will be.
Organizing
The next step is taking this framed outlook
of your life and organizing your goal ideas into different categories. For ease of use, I typically lump my goals
into three general categories: Mind, Body,
and Soul. Each of these topic areas is
fairly self-explanatory. I’ve found it
helpful to have 3-5 goals in each of these categories for a well-balanced plate
of goals.
Conducting Research
One of the critical steps for developing
SMART goals (see insert) is to do some basic research on your goal. Trying to lose 10 pounds per week for 4 weeks
might sound great on paper and look feasible on The Biggest Loser, but it’s
definitely not safe, nor is it recommended.
As you are writing up some ideas for your goals, now is the time to do
some basic research and know what you’re signing up for. Having said that, some of those goals should
make you uncomfortable. Your goals
should drive you to take an extra focus on a particular area of your life and seek
to achieve beyond what you originally thought possible.
Now that you’ve gone through the above three
steps, write out your goals. It could be
on scratch paper, saved electronically, in picture format. Whatever fits for your personality, do it. It’s really up to you on how you want to manage
the process.
Other Thoughts
Below are some other helpful hints for being
successful while working towards your goals.
Plan your day/week around your goals – An
easy way to accomplish any goal is to set small milestones along the way. This
could be done on a daily basis to make sure you’re always moving forward.
(Think food prep for a goal of healthy eating)
Reassess your goals quarterly – Life
happens. Sometimes that means you need
to change things around or completely remove a goal.
Add an accountability factor to your goals –
Go ahead and publicize your goals (those you’re willing to share) and have the
community hold you accountable.
Do not fear failure – Even after going
through the process, you’ll likely bite off more than you can chew on some
goals. It’s OK. Keep grinding. If you come up short, it’s not
the end of the world. There are hundreds
of examples of people taking initial failure and turning it into success.
With this in mind, it's time for me to go set some goals for 2016.
