Goal Setting and Competition

Continuing on with my motivation seeking quest, last week I discussed Becoming a Role Model and how it is has helped me. Now I'd like to discuss goals and competition. Each of us has different drivers, usually we're pretty close to the same. Some people will try to win at any costs, while others will give up if they feel they don't have a chance, and most of us lie somewhere in between. The same thing can be said for goals, if they are set higher than you believe you can reach, you may be the type of person who doesn't try at all.



Fortunately, as far as getting fit is concerned, you can set your own goals. Notice, I said getting fit, I'm really trying to remove "weight loss" from my vocabulary - its really immaterial, if you lose 10-15% body fat, but your weight remains the same then it is a huge win; however, we have been so programmed to think in terms of the results on the scale that we are disappointed. I know, weight loss is a huge business and we have a lot of marketing to overcome. But, if you reach your goal of becoming skinny fat and stop dieting, research proves you are just going to become fatter than you were before you started dieting - the yo yo affect. So for this discussion at least, I am focusing on "getting fit".



As a coach, I like to help people experience the feeling of winning a few before stretching them past a point that they believe is attainable. Logging each workout's results is a great way of doing this - How many push ups/pull ups/sit ups did you do last week? Let's beat that number by 1 or by 2 or by 10. Weekly progress builds confidence and helps overcome the frustration which leads to the end of the fitness quest. Many of us expect to see 90 day results in one week, we feel sore, so this must be working. It didn't take one week to get we were/are in the first place. Goal setting needs to be viewed in the long term as well. Where do you want to be at the end of the program? I had a goal of getting below 10% by the end of the program. This was by definition a great goal - it was an actual measurable number, it was attainable, and it had a set deadline. Try to make one for yourself. I strongly urge against weight loss goals, only because it can fluctuate with so many variables - water weight, etc. Fat % is great, but instead it could just be inches off the waist. Incidentally, I did miss my P90X round one goal by one week, yes, I had a really great excuse Disaster Relief, but still I know I could have done better.



My current goal is to do 160 pull ups in my Friday Legs/Back routine by the end of this round of P90X. A good goal - attainable, measurable, and time constrained. However, it may be light and therefore may not push me - after week 2 of 12, I'm already at 146 pull ups. I'm at that point where I need a new long term goal - I'm starting to consider something like "Be at this % body fat on my 44th birthday in November". I'm not sure though, how motivating a maintenance goal will be for me, but I have realized that deep down I am starting to struggle with the future of my fitness. I came to this realization last night while shopping for new shorts - the old 36" to 38" shorts that I was wearing last summer won't work. I went to the dressing room with a pair of 32's just for fun, figuring okay these won't even be close to buttoning. I'm wearing them now, however, they are really too big!! I settled for a long term result that I thought I could maintain. Yes, I'm a little upset with my lack of confidence. I fit into 30's, so why shouldn't I be wearing those today? The answer is that I should be, but I'm starting to doubt my motivation; hence, this blog.



Competition is what I really need. I happen to be one of those people that has to win. In round 1, I had a great competition going with fellow first timers, I don't have that group at the moment. Beachbody has a great competition going all the time, but I haven't bought into it yet for some reason. If I felt I could win it, I would! But I still don't understand it enough. So that is where I'm going to force myself to go next, and to do so, I need to, like a goal, have a finish line and a timeline, as well as believe it is attainable.



So what is your motivation - are you self-driven, do you need somebody pushing you, or like me, do you need to win or need to push others?