I had a coaching call with a client yesterday.
They all get them, in addition to their weekly check-ins and video feedback.
And we have a good chat about what’s going well, what isn’t and to check that goals haven’t changed.
Because they do.
Sometimes we set out with one thing as a goal, but as we progress on our journey, realise that in fact it’s changed.
So this client in question started with me around a year ago, with the goal of losing a dress size.
She did spectacularly well, dropping a dress size, learning new exercises, getting toned, perfecting her technique and increasing strength.
But then all of a sudden, nutrition adherence stalled, some sessions were missed and she admitted she felt she was in a “slump”.
After a bit of reflection, this client realised that she tends to put her all into reaching her goals, but when she’s about to achieve them, stops for no reason.
She said “It’s almost as though, because I know I can do it and I’m nearly there, I just lose interest, stop and settle for ‘almost there.’"
So we had a good chat as to what her goal actually was.
And it was to “look in the mirror, like what I see, and for others to like what they see when they look at me too.”
Now the first thing to note is that her original goal of "lose a dress size", had changed.
So we can pretty much say that that wasn't the original goal at all, she just thought that losing a dress size would lead to liking what she saw in the mirror.
Interesting stuff!
But back to the goal of liking what she sees in the mirror.
Is this a good goal?
In some respects, yes.
But in others, absolutely not.
Why?
Because it’s not measurable.
How many of us can honestly look in the mirror and say that we’re happy with what we see?
Most of us will never be happy with what we see, even if our reflection is a stark contrast to what we saw a few months back.
Because we tend to strive for perfection.
A perfection that just does not exist…especially for those of us who are modest.
So how was this client going to regain her motivation to train and improve her nutrition again, when we can’t accurately track progress towards her overall goal?
We can’t be objective with “like what I see in the mirror”. We can't measure it. We will never know it's been achieved until it is. It's a feeling and not tangible.
But what we can do is set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely (SMART) goals, which will ultimately lead to the unmeasurable goal, even though we won’t know how close we are to it until we actually achieve it (which may be never when it comes to basing everything solely on aesthetics!)
At first glance, it seems it's impossible to make this goal SMART.
But in actual fact, it’s simple for this particular client;
She needs to continue in a calorie deficit and training three times a week.
So on the nutrition front, her goal is skipping breakfast three days a week (on non-training days).
Achieving this goal then leads to having 1,000 calories spare for an upcoming function at the weekend.
Which in turn will allow the goal of adhering to weekly calories to be achieved.
(Whilst enjoying life and not becoming a deprived hermit!!!)
That in turn will lead to the overall goal being achieved…one day… someday…
So same thing, huh?
The goal will be achieved, after all!
Well no.
Because when we focus on something far off in the future, one we can't really track progress towards, then that’s when focus and motivation start to disappear.
But this client now has very clear goals. Three times a week. And will tick them off on each of those three days, once lunchtime rolls around.
That’s a mere 4-5 hours after waking for said goal to be achieved.
This will be further reinforced at the weekend when she goes out, has a few drinks and a three-course meal, but stays within her weekly calories.
It’s small steps like these that lead to big changes and goals being reached.
But more often that not, we’re not capable of figuring out why we’re behaving in a certain way, or of setting ourselves SMART goals which will consistently lead us to our goals.
And that is why, for many of us, enlisting the services of a Personal Trainer and Health Coach, who not only knows how to coach you to squat properly, but is qualified in behaviour change to help you figure things out, really pays off.
Helps you see the wood amongst the trees, so to speak.
If you're ready to get started on your journey to "stronger, fitter, healthier and happier", then click below, book in for a consultation call, and we'll have some solid SMART goals set up by the end of it.
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