We are finishing up our first week of February, which for a lot of people can be the time of year that they are falling off the wagon with their New Year’s Resolution fitness goals. I get it, 2020 was a tough year for everyone, especially as it relates to personal health. Getting in shape and being healthy was at the fore front of many people’s minds going into this calendar year. However, life always seems to feel like it is getting in the way and your valuable time gets occupied very quickly. It’s easy to push aside your workouts and just say, “Oh, I’ll just do it tomorrow.”
Often times I see this issue arise when the goals that people are setting are centered around working out for a certain period of time or a certain number of days per week. I find the success rate of reaching your goal when it is performance oriented to be much higher. For example, setting a goal of doing “x” amount of weight on your squats or “y” number of pushups in a row is more beneficial. I believe the reason for this is because of the mindset you put yourself in is much healthier with specific performance goals. Working towards being able to perform a specific task will allow you to set up smaller goals that act as wins along the way to your larger goal. I refer to this as having a growth mindset. As you accomplish these smaller goals and see yourself working towards your larger goal, your confidence will rise and start to build momentum moving forward because you are being reassured with the progress that you are making along the way.
In comparison to the vague goal that I mentioned earlier of working out a certain number of days per week, if unforeseen things come up in your life it can leave you feeling defeated and unmotivated. The chart below demonstrates what we think success looks like vs. what is actually looks like.
I see this struggle often when athletes finish their playing careers as they get older. Athletes grow up always training for their sport and once they are done playing, they become lost. Their workouts aren’t as important to them because they don’t have a performance goal in mind anymore. They just know that they need to work out to be healthy. I know this because when I graduated from college and was no longer playing hockey, I went through the same thing. I found my motivation in the gym diminishing because I didn’t have a goal. It has taken me a while to find a new goal to work towards, but ever since I have found it, I have been much more consistent with my own workouts and am seeing progress much quicker. I say this, not to make this article about me, but to show that even as someone who works in the fitness industry, it’s easy to get off track and lost about what you should/want to be doing in the gym.
In conclusion, if you are someone who is struggling to keep up with the goals that they set for themselves this year, try rethinking your goals and make them more performance based. Work on building up your growth mindset because that is the key to always moving forward and improving.
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