G O A L S
They are everywhere! Everyone has them, or at least, is supposed to have them. And it’s often one of the first things a trainer will ask you – ‘so what are your goals’ and it’s hard to know exactly what to say because we get so many mixed messages – ‘you shouldn’t care what your body looks like, only what it can do’, ‘you should want to be strong not skinny’ (I can still get behind that one tbf) and then in the next breath, we are encouraged to sign up for ‘Bikini Body Bootcamp’ or ‘Christmas Party Challenge’.
Goals are great, they help us achieve things, keep us focused, help us to measure our success. Except when they don’t. Recently, I have seen lots of posts about ‘unrealistic goals’ and how having them is basically a recipe for failure. We are all ‘supposed’ to have goals but NOT goals that seem too far reaching. But my question is – too far reaching for who?? Your goals are YOUR goals! If you are not currently training and have never run except to the checkout when you look at your watch and realise it’s 9.58pm and you have a bottle of wine in your basket and your goal is to win the Olympic 100m gold, well then, we might need to have a chat. Honestly though, that’s rare. Big goals are not a bad thing, you just have to make sure you allow yourself to be patient. Think about what you would tell a kid who said she wanted to be the president when she grows up. Most likely, it would be something like ‘you’ll have to work very hard and do your best at school every day and be kind to people etc etc.’ So can we do the same for ourselves? I think it’s time to allow people to seize the excitement and enthusiasm they feel at the start, when they decide to make a big change in terms of their health, whether it’s to move more, run a marathon, sort out their dodgy back, move to eating an unprocessed, whole foods diet or all of the above. We know that initial burst of enthusiasm will only get anyone so far – that’s when your support system, be it a trainer, a friend, or even a sticky note you write yourself and stick in your purse kicks in, reminds you of where you started, why you are doing it, what you have achieved and what you are on track to accomplish. And that might be just waking up on a random Tuesday and feeling good in your own skin, setting a better example in terms of health priorities for your kids, breaking a cycle of good/bad foods and an all or nothing approach to exercise, improving your skin, your sleep, and yes – looking hot af in your jeans. And if someone dribbles all over your goals parade, smile, remind yourself that that is their poor outlook, not yours and drive on. And if your goal changes? Doesn’t matter, it’s your goal. And if you decide you actually don’t care about it anymore and you are not driven to achieve it? Doesn’t matter, it’s your goal. And if you think ‘oooh maybe this was too big, I don’t know if I can do this’? Take a second, take a breath, remind yourself that you are tough af and you can. And drive on.
The other thing we see a lot is people who don’t think their goals are valid – we have all possibly felt this at some point, that in the scheme of putting a man on the moon and achieving world peace, your goal of looking great on a random Tuesday isn’t worth talking about. Let me say it again – it. is. your. goal. Nobody gets to tell you what goal is right or wrong or too big and unrealistic or too small and insignificant. They will probably still try so just remember to perfect your smile that says ‘thanks but noone asked you’ and carrying on with your day!
