How do you determine your FITNESS goals?

We are all familiar with the idea of “goal setting” and making new fitness goals. But did you know that the TYPE of goal you set determines if it will continue to motivate you and lead you towards success, OR knock you down which leads to discouragement and often a sense of failure instead of accomplishment?

The most common goal when it comes to fitness has something to do with “weight” or “size”. Over the years, the most common thing I have seen is people who set goals which revolve around hitting that ‘magic number’ on the scale or at the jeans shop.

The problem with this type of goal is that it can be tough to measure, slow going, frustrating, and down right discouraging. The issue for most people is they have a ‘number’ in their head that isn’t realistic. I have talked with people that had great energy, their clothes were fitting better, their friends were noticing….BUT the scale wasn’t moving! And THAT was wrecking their day and their motivation.

All these positives, but ‘that number’ was negating it all. Look, nobody is walking around with a balloon over their head with their weight on it. So let’s stop using that as the ‘goal’ and look at something positive we can do that WILL lead to SUCCESS!

What does learning a new skill have to do with achieving your fitness goal?

What if you dropped that goal “number” for good? What if you DECIDED to have a shift in your goal making?

Here is what I decided to do a while back and it works like a charm and I hope by sharing this with you it will encourage you to try!

I FORGET ABOUT the size and the weight and I challenge myself to PROGRESS at a skill. Why? For a few reasons.

1. PROGRESSION changes your body. Stop progressing and you stop improving.
2. Because by working towards a SKILL, you have something to MEASURE. You get better every time (that is a positive!) and you inevitably get fitter working on your new skill.
3. Not only does it force progression, but it distracts you from the negative things you DON’T like about your body and helps you focus on STRENGTH and the amazing things you CAN do.
4. The most important part – working on a new skill can be super fun and allow you to meet MORE supportive and like minded people. Talk about a SCORE!

A little over a year ago I had set the goal to be able to do 10 pullups in a row and a handstand pushup. At the time I couldn’t even do ONE pull up and I certainly couldn’t do a handstand, let alone a handstand pushup!

BUT, through progression, determination and consistency practicing allowed me to surpass those goals. THAT gave me the encouragement to challenge myself further. Not only that, but in the process of changing those goals, my BODY CHANGED dramatically! It was so bad before this, that a GOOD friend of mine called me a “chiseled marshmallow“! Can you believe that!

This year I am challenging myself to learn some advanced YOGA moves, improve my flexibility, and some other cool skills I will be sharing as the year goes on.

What skill are YOU working on? What are YOUR goal? Please comment below I would love to know!

Be Happy... Be Healthy... Be FIT!

- Natalie Jill