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Good goal setting is an important part of training, and of life!
 

The simple reason is, if you can set  and track their progress, you'll make achieve them quicker and easier!

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Spending a bit of time thinking about your goals helps to both get a long-term view of where you want to go, and keep up motivation in the short term. 

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Goal setting should never be about hating the person you are. No matter what goals you pursue make sure they aren't tearing down the person you are. Cause lets face it, you're great!

Goals should be about adding notches to your belt, achievements that can be unlocked, learning new things and enjoying the people and environments around you that help along the way.

It can be very tempting to make a giant spreadsheet with 700 goals. But it's not the best way to take action in the short term, and can be confusing. So, even if you've got several (hundred) goals, always limit your focus.

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Aim to focus on a single goal for each area, and only up to 5 at a time. 

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So for example, within training you could have a Strength goal, a Cardio/ endurance goal, a Skill goal.

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(and we know training isn't the only thing in your life! You could have reading/ language learning/ dancing/ writing/ professional/ family goals as well! The key is to make sure you're managing your focus, and prioitising what's most important to you!)

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You might have encountered the SMART goal setting system before, but just in case you haven't, here's an example specific to physical goal setting:

 

SPECIFIC

If your goals are vague and ill-defined, how will you know if you have achieved them? 

So, rather than "Get good at push ups", have a goal like "Do a full push up." In this case, you'd specific about form: Elbows in, straight line from shoulders to ankles, chest close to the floor, etc.'

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MEASURABLE

Some goals will be measurable in the binary sense: Did I do a pushup? If yes, success! Others will be measurable using numbers: Can I do 10 pushups? Can I run 2km in 10 minutes? 

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ACHIEVEABLE

This is vital. You could have a long-term strength goal like "Do an inverted Maltese cross." But considered that that was long thought to be an impossible move, is it realistic to aim for? Ambition is great, but if you aim for things that are too far out of reach, your motivation will likely suffer. 

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You want to find a sweet spot, where your goals are challenging, but not impossible. 

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RElevant

Does this goal fit with your lifestyle and current training routines? If the goal needs significant investment (in time or equipmment) that you can't afford right now, reframe it to be more relevant. 

Does this goal align with your values? (CN for weight loss mention here) Some people have goals like "Lose 5 kilos". But if you value body-positivity or anti-diet-culture, is that the best goal for you? Perhaps reframe that goal around your values (even if that makes it harder to measure or specify).

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Time-bound

Set yourself a deadline!  The deadline should be achievable too. If you miss the deadline, that's okay!

But we all know how important dealines are for motivation and achievement. 

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Some people like to tell everyone their goals, so they have some form of social accountability to keeep them on track. That doesn't work for everybody, but concretising your goals in some way can help set up accountability and keep you on track. 

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Some suggestions for accountability

- Write them in your diary or journal (including your deadlines)

- Write yourself signs or notices that you can stick up on your bedroom walls or in the loo. 

- Tell your your goals to training buddies or your coach (including your deadlines)

- Comment on this post in the Melbourne in Motion Community Facebook group

- Make any kind of social media post (if you don't want to make it public, you could use the Close Friends feature on Instagram, or make a group chat with some of your friends to share goals.) 

How are you going to approach the goal? Do you know what you need to improve achieve it?

A good way to start is to break the goal down into smaller, easier chunks.Depending on the goal, there are several ways to approach this. 

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- Make a timetable.

Most goals will involve spending more time doing the thing (as well as relevant accessory work and recovery) So, If your goal is to run 5kms without stopping, you can start with commiting to going for a run 3 or 4 times a week, for example.

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- Build foundations

A lot of strength, endurance or other fitness goals will require you to build up strength, cardiovascular capacity or mobility. Identify what you need to improve to progress towards your goal and avoid injury in the process. To get to 5km of running, you'll hit your goal quicker and more comfortably if you include some leg strengthening sessions each week, as well as some foam rolling and stretching for those calves

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- - Look up other peoples plans and programs

Sticking with the 5k example, there are hundreds of Couch-to-5km programs, and even apps. 

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- You can ask your coach or someone knowledgable in the field. 

If you find someone who can do the thing you're aiming to do, ask how they got there. Ask what program they followed, or how long it took them. If you can, ask several people. (Don't expect them to write you a personalised program for free though!)

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Keep track 

You've made your goal time-bound, and that's wonderful. 

You can now work backward from your end goal, and set some smaller deadlines. 

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The easiest one is to have a half-way check in. If your deadline is six weeks away, make a note of the three-week point. On that day, check in! 

If you're aiming for a 5km run, can you run 2.5 kms now? If not, you now know that you have to either a) change your deadline, or b) change your approach to the goal. 

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Make sure to check in with your values and motivations too. Sometimes, after working on a goal for a while, it becomes apparent that it's not as important to you as you thought. Do you need to change or reframe your goal? 

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You can set as many smaller deadlines or sub-goals as you like! Again, though, aim for a 'sweet spot'. You want to get the feedback and sense of achievement that helps you, without making too much boring paperwork for yourself. 

Always make sure to celebrate your achievements

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Be proud of what you've achieved. Tell your friends! Take a video or a selfie and post it on insta! Jump up and down and dance about!

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Always remember, your progress is just as important, amazing and worthy of celebration as anyone elses. 

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You might feel shy about celebrating your first pushup or 5km when around people are doing handstand push ups or marathons or whatever. Don't be! Every one of those people will remember how hard it was to get to that first milestone, and will do a celebration dance with you! (If they don't, they're jerks. Immediately email Kel directly and she'll send you a celebration dance vid.)