The SMART Way to Fitness

It is not so much about the destination as it is about the path to get there and how setting goals can transform anything from a fleeting fantasy into something that is imminently feasible

Set some goals for yourself! This is what you will be advised if you wish to achieve something worthwhile. And this golden rule applies to your work life, your financial reserves, and pretty much anything else that is important. Even when we are young, there is a part of us that is predisposed to have a natural and unconscious reaction if we come across something that we want very badly.

Now if you are looking to improve your health, you may set a goal as straightforward as reducing the amount of fast food you eat or as lofty as running a marathon. However, that purported "ultimate destination" is in no way relevant to the subject matter of this discussion. It is not so much about the destination as it is about the path to get there and how setting goals can transform anything from a fleeting fantasy into something that is imminently feasible. The journey is more important than the destination. It requires a certain amount of motivation, a certain amount of focus, and a certain amount of visualisation of the steps leading up to the objective. And if you do it well, it might be the deciding factor in whether you wind up becoming the healthy version of yourself that you see in yourself or not.

Imagine for a moment that the culmination of your trip is to "improve your health and physical fitness". To get there, you are going to need to divide that objective into a series of steps and more manageable goals, such as "start exercising" and "eat better". This will make you reach the goal more smoothly. And as for those goals that are more likely to be accomplished, let's have a conversation about how to create SMART goals.

The S.M.A.R.T. technique is a goal-setting strategy that has acquired appeal among a broad variety of professionals, including life coaches, sports psychologists, and business mentors, to name a few. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. If you follow these five steps while planning your health goals, you will put yourself in a position to achieve success far more quickly.

Specific (As a result, it ought to come as no surprise what it is that you have in mind to carry out)

When you are in a better financial position, setting goals becomes much easier. It will make it easier for you to concentrate on the task at hand and assess how far you have progressed towards achieving the goal. The directive, 'start walking', covers far too much ground to be of any actual use and should be eliminated. Before you head out to work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the next ten weeks, you are going to take a brisk walk around your neighbourhood for twenty minutes on each of those mornings. You will do this walk at a moderate pace. You should now shoot for this target because it is not too broad for you to cover.

Measurable (So that you are able to recognise when you have reached your destination)

Finding out whether or not you have already completed a goal is the first step in the process of really achieving that objective. You won't be able to accomplish that until it can be determined how the outcome will be measured. It is hard to assign a numerical value to the phrase "eat better". The advice to "consume five servings of vegetables every day" is uncomplicated and straightforward, and it is also straightforward and easy to calculate. You need to be sure that any goals you establish have some kind of measurable criteria linked to them before you can consider them accomplished.

Achievable (Something that is within your reach and within your skills)

It is exhilarating to start a brand new fitness programme, and it is simple to get caught up in all of the incredible opportunities that are in store for the future. That is really impressive, but you should check to see if the goals you are setting for yourself are genuinely feasible before you get too excited about them. If "getting fitter and healthier" is part of your plan for the month of January, then it is wonderful that you plan to take part in a charity walk that will cover five kilometres. If running a marathon within the next month is one of them, then you may have set the bar too high for yourself with regard to this objective. Bear in mind that while the goals should be difficult, they should also be reachable. Start with something straightforward; then as you gain experience, move on to challenges that are progressively more challenging.

Realistic (Something that is relevant to you and the circumstances you find yourself in right at this moment)

It is always rewarding to accomplish anything you set out to do. Not accomplishing a goal is not precisely the best possible outcome. Before you commit them to the piece of paper that you keep on the refrigerator for such purposes, you should first determine whether or not it is possible for you to carry them out, taking into account the amount of time and resources that are currently at your disposal. The recommendation that you walk around the neighbourhood for twenty minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning before going to work for the next ten weeks probably won't work out very well if your job needs you to travel quite a lot. You can accomplish what you set out to do without letting reality get in the way.

Timely (Set a time-frame)

If there is no specified amount of time to accomplish a goal, the objective will not be nearly as useful. 'Someday' has never been successful in persuading anyone to forgo a second helping of chocolate cake or to go for a walk at 5:30 in the morning. Nor has it ever been successful in convincing anyone to reject the possibility of 'someday'. Giving your goals a sense of urgency can be accomplished by setting a deadline for their completion and keeping yourself accountable for meeting those deadlines. Just keep in mind that you need to make an effort to base your schedules on something that is genuinely possible.

These are the five aspects of your health that should be prioritised when formulating your goals for your health and creating the conditions in which you will have the greatest chance of achieving them. If you have experienced difficulties in the past, there is a possibility that this is the answer you have been waiting for all along. Why don't you just get a piece of paper and a pen and give it a try? It might be worth it then.