Whenever I start working with someone the first thing I ask is, “What are your goals?” I want to know if they want to loose weight or gain weight, how much weight, are they looking to tone up, to gain muscle, etc. Their long term goals along with their level of fitness helps me determine which program to put them on. So you definitely need long term goals. However, I have seen them hurt some people as well.

Whenever you begin a health and fitness routine, it’s important to focus on short term goals as opposed to your overall long term ones. For example, say your goal is to loose 50 pounds. You finish one week of your program and you’ve only lost 1 pound. That can seem pretty discouraging if you’re comparing it to loosing 50. This is how most people end up giving up. They don’t hit their goals fast enough and then they stop altogether, go back to their old ways, and gain more weight on top of the weight they were trying to loose. However, when small, more realistic goals are made for each week, it is much easier to stick to a program. If that same person had short term goals of loosing 1-2 pounds each week, then it will feel more like an accomplishment to loose 1 pound.

And remember, short term goals (or long term for that matter) don’t always have to do with weight. Maybe your goal is to gain more energy to keep up with your kids or to be able to cut down on your coffee intake. Or maybe you want to develop better eating habits so you automatically order smarter when you go out to eat. Or maybe your goal is simply to be able to go to a party or barbecue and not overdo it.

Regardless of what your goals are, it’s important to have big, overall goals, but remember that you will be more likely to stay on your health and fitness journey by setting smaller, more realistic goals within a short time frame.

If you need help setting goals and making a plan to crush them, click here.