What Type of Fitness Goal Setter Are You?
The sun is back (almost) and the light evenings have arrived. The winter excuses are fast disappearing and it’s time to come out of hibernation and put your stamp on 2016. Now is the time to get serious about your summer and autumn goals to make sure you thrive in the coming months.
We all know that setting smart goals is important for success, but do you really know what type of fitness goals motivate you? Are you repeating the same old diet, run route or exercise class? If so maybe it’s time to think outside the box and relight the fire and propel your health, confidence and well being to a whole new level.
2016 is a New Year, for New challenges so let’s see what fitness goal is going to inspire you to success.
What Type of Fitness Goal Setter Are You?
The Special Occasion Goal Setter
This individual has a big event coming up like a wedding or family reunion. Looking and feeling your best is important to you when seeing family and friends, posing for photographs and buying that killer outfit. This individual’s motivation truly comes from a desire to look and feel confident.
Understanding good nutrition basics will be important and the emphasis should be on Fun and engaging training that should not be an additional burden to preparing for the big day.
The Summer Holiday Goal Setter
This individual wants to make the most of their down time and feeling sluggish and uncomfortable in the sun just isn’t going to cut it. Some will crave a beach or bikini body, but most are looking for the energy to explore their surroundings, look and feel confident in their summer clothes and enjoy some guilt free down time after training and working hard for their break.
A solid nutrition plan and a training program that takes into account your holiday activities is what’s needed for these individuals. If you’re looking for a beach body it’s time to up the intensity of your cardio to strip away excess fat while creating definition using a structured resistance and core stability training plan. If your looking to hike, walk, cycle or climb your way through your holiday then a training plan that delivers the right fitness is essential to make sure you get maximum your enjoyment without coming home still needing a holiday to recover.
The Milestone Birthday Goal Setter
A very noticeable trend I see with people celebrating a milestone birthday is their desire to set themselves very big challenges. Often known as the 9’ers in the fitness industry, these individuals are on a mission to prove they can still push themselves to new levels. The milestone birthday is often the tipping point that spurs them into taking action, usually on a long held dream. This might be running a marathon, taking part in a sky dive, or for many its addressing their long overlooked health status and the risks it poses for the next stage of their lives.
These individuals need help defining goals and creating a realistic road map to achieving them. Motivation is often not a problem, but a guiding hand will help stop them picking up an injury or hitting the buffers when trying to run from a standing start. These individuals benefit most from structure and coaching until they are either ready for their chosen challenge or to be self-sufficient.
The Event Goal Setter
This individual doesn’t thrive by looking at the scales and instead seeks out a firm date in the calendar to kick start their motivation. This could be a Race for Life, 10K, triathlon or an obstacle event such as Tough Mudder. While all event goal setters want to perform at their best what ever their ability level, it’s not the specific event that is the real motivator here, it’s the fear.Entering an event is set point in time and it requires you to take action. It cannot be moved or refunded and when people raise money for good causes it adds another layer of accountability.
I always say that if your goal does not make you nervous then it’s not going to be challenging enough to engage you during training. Embrace the Fear!
These individuals need someone who can remove the confusion around the event and give them clear direction on what they do and don’t need to do to be successful. A specific training program will be required for best results based on each individuals needs. By training smart and removing the confusion event goal setter can then focus 100% on quality training allowing them to get more from their fitness and the event itself.
Summary
Knowing what truly motivates you is vitally important when setting meaningful goals. We have all set empty and shallow goals that are forgotten before we even started. The key to success is being specific, choosing the goal and then working back from the end destination. This gives you a much clearer understanding of how you are going to move from where you are right now to achieving your goal.