We all go to bed on New Year’s Eve (or New Year’s morning…) vowing to lose weight, exercise and get fit – with or without a personal trainer. To exercise regularly, to eat more healthily. To quit smoking or to break up with sugar . Unfortunately, only a few of us actually follow through with these goals, beyond, say, the first month or two. Why do we fail to achieve our goals? Why do we lack motivation to go to gym?
1. We set unrealistic or overly difficult goals
We’re not saying you shouldn’t aim high but setting goals that are very far out of reach means that achieving them is very difficult. “The University of New Hampshire explains that goal setters can use the SMART acronym to develop goals. Goals should be specific, measurable, attainable and relevant. They should also have a specific time frame for completion,” says Leigh Ann Morgan.
2. We try to fly solo
Researchers have found that one of the single most important factors in the success of any long-term plan is your support network. So if your plan is to be able to run a 5km race, don’t take up the training alone – get a friend to join you or enlist the help of a personal trainer. Their support, motivation and encouragement will make you far more likely to make it to race day – and beyond!
3. The path toward the goal isn’t clear enough
Your resolution is to lose 5kgs by the time your best friend’s wedding rolls around but you don’t create a plan to lose the weight. So what happens? You eat salad for a week and go to every spinning class your gym offers, and then fall off the bike (so to speak) and the “plan” goes out the window. Any major goal needs a clear plan in place, outlining exactly what you’ll do, how, when and where to get there.
4. We don’t make the time
It’s the modern condition: being sooo busy… Shopping for healthy foods (and cooking them!) is time consuming. Likewise, getting fit means making it to the gym five (or six) days a week. The existing demands on your time aren’t going to disappear just because you’ve resolved to lose weight and get fit. You still have to fit in work, sleep, bathing the kids, socialising, traffic time, and so on.
Start by understanding how much free time you ACTUALLY have to dedicate to your exercise goals. Then make sure you aren’t trying to do too much in that time (because if you are, it won’t be long before you get frustrated and quit).
5. We get bummed out and give up when we hit a speedbump
Sticking to your fitness goals and committing to an exercise plan isn’t always easy. Life sometimes gets in the way and we fall off the wagon. This is when we get despondent and we give up. Even if we do try to get back on track, we find it very difficult to stay focused.
First, cut yourself some slack. Second, make sure you set a few milestones on the path to your goals; at each milestone, there’s a great opportunity to congratulate yourself (hello, new shoes!) for your achievements thus far. Take another good look at the goal – remember why you want to achieve it, and why it means so much to you. Stay positive!
If you think you have what it takes to be an amazing personal trainer – the kind that gets clients to their fitness goals effortlessly – then check out the Comprehensive Personal Training Certification from Trifocus Fitness Academy today. Follow this link to find out more.