Goal Digger

Happy New Year!!

Growing up (and still to this day), my mother always encouraged me to make plans and set goals. She says, successful people write things down. I attribute a lot of my success to being goal oriented and a planner. I was once told that if I was in charge of planning a trip to the moon, it would be done, complete with an itinerary of activities to do while there! The majority of my actions are deliberate and premeditated (good thing I am not a murderer lol). I am not terribly spontaneous and jokingly have said I plan my spontaneity. This works for me… 🙂 As we begin 2014 I figured it would be the perfect time to share some information on goal setting that can be applied in all aspects of life. I hope you find this helpful!

The end of a year and the beginning of a new year is always the perfect time to reflect on accomplishments of the past year as well as set new goals for the new year. Many are making plans to get healthier and work out more. Every January the gym is jammed packed but this usually fades by March. For those reading this post, looking to get healthier in 2014… I encourage you to set SMART goals this year and stick with them!

SMART goals are:

Specific: Goals should be clearly defined with the who, what, where and why.

Measurable: To hold yourself accountable and ensure you are moving in the right direction, there needs to be a way to measure your goals. 

Attainable: Goals should be challenging, not too simplistic but also not too extreme.

Realistic: Goals should be something you are capable of completing and willing to work for.

Timely: Goals should have realistic due dates

An example of a non SMART goal vs a SMART goal:

Non SMART goal: I want to look better in a bikini by the summer.
SMART goal: I want to reduce my body fat by 10% within the next 6 months (24 weeks) by eating clean, strength training 4 days a week and performing cardio 3 days a week.

I want to stress the importance of making your goals realistic for a moment. I think this may be the downfall for some resolutioners and other goal setters. For example, if you are sedentary and currently do not monitor what you eat then the above SMART goal would likely not be realistic. A more realistic goal might be, I want to stop drinking soda, drink more water, join a gym and commit to working out 1-2 times a week for the next 3 weeks. At the successful completion of those 3 weeks, a new challenging goal would need to bet set. Small gradual changes are more likely to turn into a permanent lifestyle.

So now what? You have a page, document, spreadsheet of goals— how do you go about accomplishing them? You will need to map out a plan of action and hold yourself accountable. If you plan to go to the gym twice a week, set specific days of the week and times on your calendar with reminders. If you have a list of many goals, prioritize your list otherwise you might become overwhelmed. If you do not accomplish a goal by your due date, do not be discouraged… be determined! Do not give up… find another way. Failing does not mean you are a failure. Failing means, now you know what doesn’t work for you!

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

~Albert Einstein

Personally, 2013 was an exciting, busy and productive year for me.. perhaps the busiest to date. A high level list of some of my fitness related goals for 2013 are below, I can happily say with hard work I was able to achieve all of these. 

High Level 2013 Goals	Status
Obtain NASM Personal Training Certification	Passed the exam!!
Sub 25 Min 5K (avg pace 8 min/mile)	2 of 3 5Ks I ran were sub 25 min (24:50 and 22:50) The 3rd was 25:01 🙂
Top 3 Placing in 5K Race (Home Front Run for Hope)	Placed 2nd with a time of 22:50
Compete in a Body Building Competition	Competed in 3!
Place in the top 5 of a BB competition	Placed 2nd in my 3rd BB competition

I am working on my goals and plans for this year and I am really excited to see how everything unfolds. I have goals for my competition season, services as a personal trainer, this website, personal fitness levels and I am planning on adding more certifications to my resume.

I used to blog years ago and was reminded of a post I made one new years. It was written during a particularly low point in my life, coping with the loss of someone extremely close to me. When/if you read it, you will see how different I am now. Anyway, the message I had, is still relevant. Click here to read my post “You 2.0“.(Bonus: there is an original poem at the end to drive the message home 🙂 )

I hope this encourages and motivates you to set some goals and make 2014 better than great! I firmly believe you can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it– and get to work! Don’t wait for handouts… if you want something… be a goal digger and go get it!!! Thanks for reading!

<3
Nikki

“A goal properly set is halfway reached.”  ~Zig Ziglar