Wednesday, January 4, 2012

GOALS-They are MORE THAN just DREAMS!

The differences between goals and dreams are that goals are specific,  focused, and measurable,  have clear time-frames or target dates for achievement,  and most importantly,  goals are written. Goals are dreams put into action and brought to life!
Goals provide you with long-term vision and short-term motivation. Setting goals, working towards them, and ultimately achieving the goals you envisioned helps build self-confidence.

I like to break down goals into two initial categories:

1) Long-Term or Life Goals

2) Short-Term or Smaller Goals

Goals can be set in many different areas of your life and it is wise to set goals in a variety of areas of your life to maintain balance.  Specific areas in life to focus are as follows:  

Family and Home

Physical/Athletic and Health

Mental and Educational

Social and Cultural

Spiritual and Ethical

Career and Financial


For example, a long-term physical/athletic goal might be to run a marathon within one year. It isn’t very wise to just say you’re going to run a marathon tomorrow (especially if you’re a “couch potato”); however, it is wise to say that you will give yourself one year to start training, devise a training schedule in four three month phases including specific types of runs for every week with a target mileage, speed, recovery days, cross-training, etc. You might also join a running group or hire a trainer if you need more guidance, buy proper training shoes, learn proper hydration, and practice healthy nutritional habits.

Take a few minutes to brainstorm as many goals (big or small) in as many areas of life as you can imagine. From there you can begin to break each goal down into smaller steps (yearly, monthly, weekly, daily) that will help you achieve your goals. I also find it beneficial to make a list of possible roadblocks, obstacles, and setbacks you might encounter and how to avoid them, as well as a plan of action to bounce back and move forward if you do stumble or get off track.

Make sure that you continuously review your list of goals and smaller steps to help keep you on track and reassess as needed. “Checking in” with yourself will help keep you accountable and focused and is a great way to provide continued motivation as you see that your smaller steps and daily/weekly/actions are leading you toward achieving your larger goals.

The acronym “SMART” has been helpful in the goal setting process.

Specific-

Measurable-

Attainable

Realistic-

Timely-


Specific-

-Who?             Who is involved?

-What?           What do I want to accomplish?

-Where?         Where will this take place? Establish a location.

-When?           When is the achievement date? Set-up a time-frame or achievement date.

-Which?          Which requirements and constraints do I need to consider? List all possible steps
                         toward achieving this goal as well as roadblocks and obstacles.

-Why?             Why are you setting this goal? List specific reasons, purposes, or benefits        
                         of accomplishing the goal.

Measurable-
-Establish a set of criteria for measuring your progress toward each goal. Measuring and evaluating your progress will help you stay on track.

-Ask yourself -“How Much?”  “How Many?”  “How will I know when I’ve accomplished my goal?”

Attainable-

Identifying goals which are significant to you will better help you focus your time, energy, skills, abilities, attitudes, resources, and finances toward goal achievement. Attaining goals takes focused and consistent planning and the ability to see opportunities as they arise. As noted earlier, setting goals increases self-confidence; as you build your self-confidence, you increase your ability to see yourself as someone who is worthy of these goals and you begin to develop the traits, attitudes, and personality that allow you to achieve them.

Realistic-

In order to qualify as realistic, a goal must representing something that you are both will and able to work toward.  You should set your goals high, but not so high that they might be unrealistically unattainable. If goals are set too low, you might have the tendency to exert less time and energy toward achieving them because they seem easier to reach. Contrary, sometimes the most difficult goals can seem seamlessly effortless because your love and enthusiasm.

Timely-

Goals should have predetermined and specific target dates of completion and time frames. If no time frames are established, there is no sense of urgency, no desire, no motivation to make progress and the goals most likely will never see successful completion.


10 Key points to remember when setting goals:

1.     Make sure your goals are things you really want to achieve, things you feel passionate about, not just stuff that sounds good. Make sure you are setting your goals for yourself and not trying to live up to someone else’s idea of what/who they think you should be or do.

2.     Make sure that your goals do not contradict any of your other goals.

3.     Try to set goals in multiple areas of your life to help maintain balance a more balanced life, setting both long-term and short term goals in all possible areas.

4.     Think positively and leave behind any and all negative thoughts and self-talk.

5.     Write your goals down, in detail.

6.     Set the bar high, but not unrealistically high.

7.     Remember to make your goals “S.M.A.R.T.”!

8.     Review your progress and make adjustments as necessary.

9.     Take responsibility and hold yourself accountable.

10.  Reward yourself for your achievements.



Stay tuned for a glimpse into my my life and some of my personal goals I have set for myself in the next blog post.


Sunday, January 1, 2012

January 1, 2012-A new blog

Happy New Year!

It's the first day of 2012 and a reminder that it's a new day and a fresh start at new beginnings, setting goals, working to achieve them, making better choices, learning from failures, and celebrating successes! It's also a reminder that we all start somewhere! My journey in this life so far is much like that of a roller coaster filled with anticipation, exhilaration, steep climbs, rapid falls, and twists and turns while trying to celebrate my successes and learning and growing from my failures. While I am an adrenaline junkie at heart and I love nothing more than heart thumping, chest pounding excitement, there's that sweet spot during the ride where all these great things come together in a way that's euphoric and balanced. That euphoria is what I feel when I workout, when I train clients, when my body is physically moving and when I am eating healthfully and mindfully and I love it! I hope that I can motivate and inspire you to push beyond your physical and mental limits and accomplish things you never imagined by sharing my knowledge, expertise, and personal experiences. We all live such different lives and have our own unique talents and experiences and it's such a thrill to not only share my own with my clients, but to also learn about my clients and grow not only as a trainer, but as a human being. I have a few handfuls of people whom I have met throughout the years that have touched my life in such profound ways, in ways that I see things differently, more clearly, more compassionately and am wiser because of them. If I can make a difference in just one person's life, I will consider myself a success.

I hope you will join me in my journey and allow me to follow you in yours. Let us all learn, grow, motivate, inspire, and rekindle our inner spirits, fires, and passions-physically, mentally, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally.

High Octane Training-Fuel Your Inner Athlete. Fuel Your Life!

I want to end this post with one of my favorite quotes.

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~Albert Schweitzer

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