Today I thought I’d talk a bit about motivation and goal setting. Lack of motivation is the reason why 99% of people do not achieve their muscle and fitness goals. Some people are naturally motivated, driven towards reaching goals whether it be in fitness or otherwise, but most of us aren’t.
One of the keys to reaching your goals successfully is goal setting. Most of have an ultimate goal, but usually that goals is a long way off. If you just focus on that goal you’re setting yourself up for failure. Here’s some tips on how I set goals to stay motivated.
Goal setting for success:
- Set small, reachable goals
The key to staying motivated is setting smaller goals and reaching them regularly. You should set yourself a goal that you can reach every 2 weeks or so. It can be anything, weight gain/loss, running time, squat, bench press etc. - Improve 1 thing each workout
You should aim to improve at least one thing every training session. It can be absolutely anything, doesn’t have to be weights, could be anything. Just one thing! - Evaluate your goals regularly
Constantly be your own critique, work out where you weak points are and focus on them. Set goals to bring up your weak points and change your diet and workout to match.
Keeping motivated:
- Take pictures every month
Nothing keeps you motivated like seeing your progress in pictures. Pictures are a great indication of how far you’ve come. - Get talking about training
Participating in online forums and talking to your buddies about working out and training is a great motivator. If you’re surrounded with like-minded people you’re much more likely to reach your goals! - Cheating is ok
Sticking to strict diets is one of the hardest parts of bodybuilding and weight loss. Having cheat days is ok, allow yourself 1 cheat day per week. - Take your measurements
The tape measure doesn’t lie and it’s a great way of seeing where you’re growing/shrinking and where you need to work on. It also lets you set size goals, like add 1in to your arms! - Keep a training log
A training log is your ultimate training partner. You can see where you’ve made progress and what areas you need to work on. If you’re trying different workouts, diets or supplements you can also use your workout log to help gauge if the new changes are working.