Goal Setting Effective Techniques to Achieve Your Dreams

By Dan Niko

Why do we do what we do? The answer is we a have reason. Everything we do in life is for a reason, you might not equate what you are doing with a reason, but if you think hard enough about it, you will figure out the reason why you are doing something. You will all have a reason for reading this article, think about it, the reason is there somewhere.

The same holds true with fitness and nutrition. We exercise and eat well for a reason, the reason usually involves wanting change. If you didn't want to change anything about your life, you wouldn't have a reason therefore you wouldn't do it. Some of the most common reasons for exercising and eating well are:

• To lose weight.
• To feel good.
• To look better.
• To gain muscle.
• To get stronger.
• To improve fitness.
• To improve health.

In order to achieve in our health and fitness endeavors, you need to know exactly what you are working towards. For each person the reason will differ, once you figure out your reason, use it as your motivating factor. Think about your reason. Are you tired of being overweight? Over being constantly tired or stress? Not happy with your reflection in the mirror?

Identify Your Reason For Change

If you are currently involved in a fitness regime or healthy eating plan and you don't have a reason, then you will fail. How do I know you will fail? Because if you don't know what you are trying to achieve, you don't have a finish line. Before starting a new exercise routine or eating plan, you must know what your reason for change is. Once you have identified your reason, you can set about deciding on how you are going to make the change. You cannot simply float through an exercise routine or eating plan without commitment. If you haven't identified the reason for you change, how on earth can you make a commitment. If you are currently involved in a fitness regime and eating plan, you need to ask yourself: 'Is it working?'

If the answer is no, then you need to make a change. This doesn't mean go out and change how you train or go on a new diet, it means you need to change your way of thinking. You need to make a commitment to change, stop making excuses as to why your training or diet is not working. STOP SETTLING FOR LESS!

In order for you to change your body you need to change the way you think. Too many people in our society are quick to blame genetics, as a reason why their fitness regime or eating plan isn't or didn't work. This reason is crap, there is only an extremely small percentage of people in our society that can blame their poor results on genetics, the rest of us are just using excuses.

Think about it, there are thousands of training programs and eating plans available. With each of these training programs or eating plans, there is always success stories, with testimonials from happy clients. For each of those success stories, there are countless numbers of people that have tried the same training program or eating plan and have FAILED.

What separates the successes from the failures, MENTAL ATTITUDE.

I will guarantee you the people that have succeeded made a commitment to themselves to change there lives, and not stop until they achieved it. You must make a commitment to change your way of thinking, then your body. With the correct mental attitude the changes to your body will come.

So how do you change your mental attitude and make a commitment to change your life? Discover your driving force, what it is that motivates you, your reason for change. This reason for change needs to come from within. It cannot be at the suggestion of a doctor or spouse, it needs to be something you want or desire. Once you have identified your reason for change, make a list of all the benefits that the change will bring to your everyday life.

SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY

Now the power of the mind begins. Start to believe you are fit, you are energetic, you are no longer tired. Once you believe it, you will start to see the results, through the power of the mind you will start to be all of those things. The same can also be said for negative thoughts. If you constantly tell yourself you are fat, you are tired, the training is too hard, the eating plan is too strict, you will fail.

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal, nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong

attitude" (Thomas Jefferson)

Think about your attitude at the moment. Is it a positive or negative one? If your attitude is negative then your results will be a reflection of that attitude. So let's go about changing your attitude and change you life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOAL SETTING

''Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.'' (Brian Tracy, Eat that Frog)

To start the process you will need to think your top 3 things you want to achieve with you training and nutrition plan, these reasons are your goals. Without goals you cannot make a commitment to something. If you don't have something to achieve how do you measure your success, how do you quantify your effort?

When selecting your goals make sure they are difficult but not unachievable. There is no point in setting goals that are too easy, likewise, there is not point in trying to achieve the impossible.

Once you have thought of you goals, write them down including when you want to achieve them by, and put them somewhere that you will see several times a day. Some people place there goals on their fridge at home, other on a wall in there bedroom, some put them on their phones and other in their purse or wallet. It doesn't matter where you put them, you just want to reinforce them to yourself several times a day.

"It's a dream until you write it down, and then it's a goal." (Anonymous)

To give you an idea of goals setting here were my 3 goals when I started my journey:

1. To bench press my body weight

2. To run 10km in under 50 minutes

3. To reduce my waist size by 8cm

My goals were specific, all were difficult but achievable and all had a deadline. I went on to not only meet those goals but surpass them. I now bench press 110kg at a body weight of 80kg, I ran 10km in September 2010 in a time of 49min 36sec and my waist has shrunk from 92cm to 82cm.

As well as writing your goals down here are some other ways that I maintain my motivation levels when striving to reach a goal:

• Make yourself accountable, tell your friends, family, spouse ect... what you are trying to achieve. I find when I tell people that I am going to do something I will do it.

• Before you start your journey take a picture of yourself in just your underwear and look at it every time you feel you motivation dropping.

• Also before you start take measurements of you body parts. When you can't see the results in the mirror, measure your body parts again, you will be surprised at the changes.

• Only weigh yourself once a week first thing in the morning before breakfast. The scales are not the best indicator of your progress, as you weight can fluctuate day by day.

• Keep a record of the goals you have previously achieved. Use them as inspiration to prove to yourself what you can achieve. I know now when I look back at my initial goals I take great pride in knowing that I have not only achieved but have surpassed them significantly.

This process is the beginning of your journey, the first step towards making a change in your life. The process will be hard, if it was easy everyone would be in shape, but hard work does pay off. The fun comes when you reach your goals and know that you have achieved what you have set out to do. Once you achieve your goals, re-evaluate where you are at, go through the same process again and set yourself new goals.

Good Luck!

My name is Niko. I'm a 34 year-old happily married, shift working, father of a two and four year old boys. I am not a bodybuilder or fitness professional; I am just a regular guy who likes to stay in shape.

Visit my website at http://www.noexcusefitness.com.au to follow my daily fitness sessions or for any further information required regarding training, nutrition, motivation or supplements.

You can also contact me at noexcusefitness.com.au@gmail.com

Good luck with your efforts and remember: 'There is no such thing as a good eXcuse'

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