Four mistakes people make when setting their fitness goals

Hitting your goals can be a tricky challenge. Have you ever set fitness or wellness goals that you struggle to meet? Lose motivation to keep them? Or even forget about them?

If the answer is yes, you might be making one of the following mistakes. Easily made, these mistakes may be getting in the way of you and your goals. 

Mistake 1: You have “should” goals.  

These are goals that you feel like you “should” have but come more from external pressure than genuine desire. Although we often feel motivated when we set a goal, nobody feels motivated 24/7. Therefore, when motivation dips, we need to be able to tap into a deeper desire to get up and do the work anyway, rather than give up.

DO: Remove any goals from your list that don’t genuinely matter to you and replace them with goals that are meaningful to you.

Mistake 2: You don’t have a plan

You may know a goal is important to you, but you are unclear on how you will achieve it. You might even feel overwhelmed by the size of the goal and as a result you don’t take action. 

DO: Get crystal clear on your plan – when, what, and how you will bring your goal to life. Simple, though sometimes forgotten!

Mistake 3: You’re going it alone 

If you haven’t shared your goals with anyone, you’re doing yourself a disservice by making yourself the only person who can keep you accountable. 

DO: We are more likely to meet our goals when we have shared them with people we trust – people who will encourage us when we feel like giving up and call us out when we slack off. Tell these people why, how, when and what you are doing to accomplish the goal. This could be a friend, coach, partner, or peer. 

Mistake 4:  You haven’t planned for obstacles 

When we set goals, we usually feel our most motivated and optimistic. Unfortunately, motivation fluctuates, some days are tough, and things don’t always go to plan. This is normal! However, when you haven’t planned for such obstacles, when they appear they can throw you off and leave you feeling disheartened.

DO: You can probably predict some of the obstacles that may arise on the path towards your goal. Write down a few and decide what you will do if that obstacle appears. If it does, you won’t be phased, and you’ll feel confident and prepared.

As always, stay fit, happy, and healthy!