How setting goals will help you get fit

January is traditionally the month of new year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, most of these resolutions do not make it to the end of the year. The problem is that most people don’t set concrete goals for themselves. How are you going find out if you succeeded in your mission if the goal isn’t clear? Some common new year’s resolutions are: I want to lose weight, I want to gain muscles or I want to eat healthier. While in and of itself, these are not bad resolutions to make. But when are you going to celebrate that you met your resolution goals? The secret to meeting your resolutions is to formulate attainable goals!

Why you should set goals

Goals make progress tangible

One of the main reasons that new year’s resolutions fail is because people do not see progression fast enough. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are you! If you set small, actionable goals progress will seem in reach. This is what we call: “milestones”.

Set goals to motivate

Everyone has to deal with lack of motivation from time to time. It is a normal part of life. But if you keep inching closer to your goal, you’ll be more motivated to keep on going. And once you reached your goal, you will feel very satisfied, and proud, that you kept the promise to yourself. Which will motivate you for next goals as well!

Goals give insights in the progress

Goals make the efforts that you make measurable. “Losing weight” or “getting fit” is very intangible. But if you set the goal for yourself that you want to run for 5km without walking; you will see that every time you go for a run that you are able to go a little bit further. And each time you set a new goal it will not seem impossible to reach.

Goals make workouts more efficient

Exercise works best when you are focused. If you exercise without any particular focus you will not see any progress. With the right goals you can hone in on the things that you want to improve. Which ultimately makes your exercise more efficient.

How to set goals

Now that we have discussed the importance of setting goals, it is important to discuss how to set these goals. Make your goals SMART!

• Specific: Your goal should be very clear in what you want to achieve and more importantly, why you want to do it.
• Measurable: Make sure you can measure the progress of your goal by adding a number to it. For example: run 5km in 25 minutes.
• Achievable: Set realistic goals for yourself. Your goals should be above your current abilities but still remain possible. This will not only help with keeping you motivated, it will also provide safer exercise.
• Relevant: Ensure that your goal matters to you. In exercise you can mainly do this by choosing goals in sports that you enjoy.
• Time-bound: Every goal needs a target date, set a deadline for yourself and you will find that you have more focus on your goals.

Following these steps in setting your goals will ensure that you stay motivated and will reach your goals!

Reward yourself!

Once you have reached your goal it is important to celebrate and reward yourself! This gives you an extra boost of motivation when you’re close to hitting your target. A common mistake with setting goals is not rewarding achievements, which is detrimental to your motivation.

Luckily Fitter can help you with that! Fitter keeps track of your progress and rewards you with FitTokens once you reach your goals. These tokens can be used to save up for cool gifts. Not only is Fitter a fun way to keep track of your progress, it rewards your achievements and the achievements of your colleagues!