Cheers can be heard around the world. Everyone is on a holiday high and people are sharing their new years resolutions with those around them. Are they the same or similar to last year? Did you fall short of your previous resolutions/goals and have you given it any thought as to why? Were you not serious enough? Did you lose motivation? Was it something completely out of your control (accident/injury)?

The new year is here and what a perfect time to chat about health and fitness goals and achieving them!

Even as trainers we can lose motivation at times (yeah I know, crazy, right?) but the one thing that keeps us coming back in each week is having a goal in mind and knowing we can achieve it, providing we stay consistent with our training and nutrition.

If you already have a goal in mind or you have thought about something in the past, are you being S.M.A.R.T about? After all, if you are serious about turning your dream into reality you will need to get serious about your dream and convert that into a goal using the S.M.A.R.T system.

How does that work? A S.M.A.R.T goal can be broken in the following ways. Ask yourself, is my goal:

Specific – Is your goal Specific? If you’re going to tick if off your bucket list you will need to be very clear as to what you’re aiming for. Your goal/goals should include exactly what it is you’re achieving with specifics such as ‘who, what, when and why’. For example, instead of saying “I want to lose weight” or “I want to get fit”, say “I want to lose 10kgs by the start of June this year” or “I want to be able to run 10kms in under 40 minutes by August”.

Measurable – Is your goal Measurable? If it’s to do with weight, how are you measuring it? Are you taking weekly or fortnightly measurements? If it is to do with getting fit, how will you measure it? Are you tracking kms ran each week?

Achievable – Have you set a goal that is Achievable? Setting a goal that is too hard or a bit too far out of your reach could leave you discouraged and wanting to give up. But setting one too easy could make you feel disengaged by not having a challenge in front of you.

Realistic – Is your goal Realistic? If you want to do a triathlon and smash it out in a good time, but you don’t have access to an area to swim or a bike to ride then it could make it difficult to practice and nail that fast time. Be sure to set something that is practical for your circumstances. Or put a plan in place to change these circumstances.

Timeframe – Lastly, make sure you set a Timeframe. You may set smaller goals in order to get to achieving your larger goal. Be sure to stay on track to the timeframe you set and make sure its specific. You can be a last minute person like myself or you can be organised and hitting your targets daily but either way, having a deadline is always very motivating, as long as you keep to it!

Set you goal. Focus and go about putting in small sustainable changes to your everyday.

So now you’re familiar with the S.M.A.R.T goal setting system, is the dream/goal you had in mind S.M.A.R.T and if not, how will you change it to make it one? Dream big, focus and if you are unsure about your dream/goal or you need some help with coming up with a challenge, then please don’t  hesitate to ask a trainer to assist with a S.M.A.R.T goal for the new year.

Leave us a comment below with your goal for 2019. We’d love to hear it!