5 Tips to Crush Your Long-Term Fitness Goals.
We all want things in our lives. We all want to grow and be better as we get older. That’s why we set long-term goals.
Long-term goals are essential for improvement in any area of life, and fitness is no exception. No matter what you want your healthy lifestyle to look like, you need to set some long-term goals.
Accomplishing these goals can be difficult; however, it takes endurance to get to the finish line. Here are five things to keep in mind when setting your long-term goals:
- Prioritize one goal – When you start thinking about changing your life for the better, it’s tempting to get overwhelmed by all the things you want to do. Maybe you want to lose 20 pounds, squat 200 pounds, and run 20 miles. All of those are great goals! But it’s going to be tough to accomplish any of them if you stretch your focus too thin.
Instead, focus on one goal at a time. Which one do you want most? Let’s say you want to lose 20 pounds. Put the other goals on the back burner while you focus on that (the process of losing 20 pounds will probably make those other goals a little easier anyway). Take that goal, set a target date to reach it, then…
- Break it into smaller ones – This is important for many reasons. One of them is that this will make accomplishing the big goal a lot easier. It is difficult for your mind to grasp progress when you’re still so far away from what you want.
Losing 20 pounds will take several months if done in a sustainable, healthy way. Several months is a long time to conceptualize. Instead, focus on a goal for each month, week, and day. For the month, aim for 4 pounds lost. Lose one pound per week. Your mind will be able to understand what it needs to do a lot better.
- Break down the smaller one into daily habits – Even those smaller goals can be difficult to grasp sometimes. Even when you have a monthly goal, what should you shoot for during the week? How about during the day? Therefore, it’s so important to plan out daily steps for your goal.
To lose 20 pounds, you must commit every day to live a healthier lifestyle while maintaining a calorie deficit. To keep that weight off, you must have built healthy lifestyle habits. Make a daily routine for eating, exercising, and planning for the next day. Those habits will form, you’ll stop thinking about them, and you’ll find yourself 20 pounds lighter in no time.
- Tell somebody about it – Accountability is always the key. You’re way more likely to reach your goals if you have somebody holding you accountable. Knowing somebody knows when you’re slacking is excellent motivation for when you want to call it a day early.
Find somebody you trust and respect, tell them about your goal, and ask them to check in on you. Better yet, set specific times to meet with them and discuss those goals. This is another excellent way to break your smaller goal into steps that ensure you reach the big one.
- Stick to it! – This one you probably already know. You must stick with it and be consistent. Otherwise, your dreams will never come true. There will be times when you want to give up or take a day off that you shouldn’t.
You’ll be tempted to cheat and reward yourself when you haven’t earned it.
In these moments, remember what you truly want. Then get it!
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