Unlock Your Potential
Author: Megan Williamson, BA, CPT
Ten ways to achieve your health and fitness goals, including proper planning, measuring progress, being consistent, and having fun.
In my 14-year career as a fitness coach, I’ve had the privilege of working with a wide range of clients, all striving to achieve their health and fitness goals. Whether you’re a competitive athlete or a wheelchair-user soccer mom, the successful habits for achieving your goals are remarkably similar. Here are 10 key strategies to help you succeed.
1. Write Down Your Goals... Goals are just dreams until we write them down. Learn how to turn your dreams into actionable objectives.
2. Assess Your Goals: Are They SMART?
Learn how to transform vague aspirations into clear, actionable objectives using the SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Explore the significance of each of these and how they guide you toward your aspirations.
Specific… “I want to get into shape” is an example of not being specific. Take this further: What does “shape” mean for you? What does this look like in your daily life?
Measurable… Can you measure it? Is it a distance, a weight, a repetition amount, a time? Make sure you have a way of tracking your progress.
Attainable… Is it realistic for you? If unsure, start smaller. Then, set a bigger goal once you achieve the first one!
Relevant… Is this a goal that comes from what you want deep down? Or is this a goal that is influenced by others? If we aren’t intrinsically motivated, chances are that we won’t have the motivation down the road to continue working toward it.
Timely… Have you given yourself a timeframe for achieving the goal? If you haven’t, set a due date. This makes the goal real!
Try and ask yourself how your goal fits into each of the above categories of SMART. If it doesn’t, then re-evaluate or rephrase your goal so that it does fit. Need some help outlining your SMART goal? Get expert guidance and support on your health and fitness journey.
3. Build a Support System
I can’t stress this enough. It really does take a village. Whatever that looks like, utilize that support system! There are so many modes of support now: partner, family member, coach, trainer, friend, workout buddy, social media, weight loss groups, boot camps, phone apps, etc. Why make the path harder for yourself than it has to be? Remember, everyone needs help and that is OK (we’re human after all)! At the end of the day, all that really matters is achieving your goals.
4. Maintain a Progress Journal
This allows us to know what works and what doesn’t. It’s all in the details. Our lives are busy, and we will forget week to week if X amount of cycling was too much, or if eating X before a workout really did make a difference with joint inflammation. Take out the guesswork.
5. Plan Ahead for Success
Planning is essential for achieving health and fitness goals and it keeps you on track. One week, one month, one day… it doesn’t matter! I love the cliché quote that says: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” I couldn’t agree with this more. Goals require 100% attention, especially at the beginning when the biggest changes happen.
Learn how to transform vague aspirations into clear, actionable objectives using the SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Explore the significance of each of these and how they guide you toward your aspirations.
Specific… “I want to get into shape” is an example of not being specific. Take this further: What does “shape” mean for you? What does this look like in your daily life?
Measurable… Can you measure it? Is it a distance, a weight, a repetition amount, a time? Make sure you have a way of tracking your progress.
Attainable… Is it realistic for you? If unsure, start smaller. Then, set a bigger goal once you achieve the first one!
Relevant… Is this a goal that comes from what you want deep down? Or is this a goal that is influenced by others? If we aren’t intrinsically motivated, chances are that we won’t have the motivation down the road to continue working toward it.
Timely… Have you given yourself a timeframe for achieving the goal? If you haven’t, set a due date. This makes the goal real!
Try and ask yourself how your goal fits into each of the above categories of SMART. If it doesn’t, then re-evaluate or rephrase your goal so that it does fit. Need some help outlining your SMART goal? Get expert guidance and support on your health and fitness journey.
3. Build a Support System
I can’t stress this enough. It really does take a village. Whatever that looks like, utilize that support system! There are so many modes of support now: partner, family member, coach, trainer, friend, workout buddy, social media, weight loss groups, boot camps, phone apps, etc. Why make the path harder for yourself than it has to be? Remember, everyone needs help and that is OK (we’re human after all)! At the end of the day, all that really matters is achieving your goals.
4. Maintain a Progress Journal
This allows us to know what works and what doesn’t. It’s all in the details. Our lives are busy, and we will forget week to week if X amount of cycling was too much, or if eating X before a workout really did make a difference with joint inflammation. Take out the guesswork.
5. Plan Ahead for Success
Planning is essential for achieving health and fitness goals and it keeps you on track. One week, one month, one day… it doesn’t matter! I love the cliché quote that says: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” I couldn’t agree with this more. Goals require 100% attention, especially at the beginning when the biggest changes happen.
The act of revisiting your goal when it’s written or typed brings our mind back to that visualization and creates space for our goal to take its place in our routines and mindset.
6. Visualize Your Success
Studies show that the best visualization techniques include all five senses (touch, taste, feeling, hearing, and seeing). Try imagining what it feels like as opposed to observing a version of you going through the movements. It’s these details that create a successful embodiment of energy for a beneficial visualization practice. I suggest doing this once a day.
7. Consistency is Key
The best results come from those who work on one habit at a time, a little bit every day. This is so important to understand, because otherwise we can be very hard on ourselves.
I’m sure you’ve known or heard about people who try to overhaul their entire life on a Monday? By the time the weekend rolls around, they are reverting to old habits (the Yo-Yo mentality). This person may say something like, “I tried everything and nothing seems to work to get my weight off…” Well, until you try it for at least six weeks consistently, then you’re not really “trying” anything.
So, do yourself a huge favour and think small. Over time it will become a habit, and then you can add the next goal or target.
8. Strive for Better, Not Perfect
Perfection isn’t the goal; progress is what you want. Embrace small improvements as essential steps towards your ultimate achievement.
You skipped a workout today, but you ended up doing stretches at home. So, you split a dessert with someone after you planned to not have any at all. It wasn’t perfect, but ask yourself this: Were you better than last week? “Better” is progress. We are not going for perfect because it is unachievable. Better is what we are striving for. Celebrate that!
9. Make It Fun and Exciting
Maybe you aren’t stoked about having to lose weight or drop your cholesterol like your doctor recommended. But, we can try and make it fun!
Grab a workout buddy, join an online fitness subscription, or try making new, healthy dishes for dinner with friends or family members. Make your actions towards your health and fitness goals exciting and new. This will help keep your interest in the journey.
10. Forgive Yourself Along the Way
It’s really important to show yourself compassion during your journey toward your goals. We are our own worst critics. I too am terribly hard on myself with my fitness pursuits.
Back when I was competing in fitness shows, I always thought I could do better. I would compare myself to other competitors and I would feel terrible about myself, discrediting all of the hard work I had put into achieving my goal. At that time in my life, it was one of the biggest feats I had achieved, mentally and physically! I now believe it to be so sad to not have celebrated those accomplishments because I was so caught up in things I thought I could have done better.
In your quest to achieve your health and fitness goals, remember that success is a journey, not a destination. By implementing these 10 habits, you can set yourself up for long-term success. Be kind to yourself on your journey. You won’t always clearly see all of the hard work you’ve done while you are pushing through, but when you look back on it one day you’ll be happy that you enjoyed the process.
For exercise ideas, workout programs or a consultation, visit oceanrehabandfitness.com. Follow Megan’s programs with an Ocean Insider Club membership subscription.
About Ocean Rehab and Fitness... Megan Williamson is a certified fitness coach through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the head coach at Ocean Rehab and Fitness. Alongside her team, she offers adaptive training for clients living with disabilities.
Studies show that the best visualization techniques include all five senses (touch, taste, feeling, hearing, and seeing). Try imagining what it feels like as opposed to observing a version of you going through the movements. It’s these details that create a successful embodiment of energy for a beneficial visualization practice. I suggest doing this once a day.
7. Consistency is Key
The best results come from those who work on one habit at a time, a little bit every day. This is so important to understand, because otherwise we can be very hard on ourselves.
I’m sure you’ve known or heard about people who try to overhaul their entire life on a Monday? By the time the weekend rolls around, they are reverting to old habits (the Yo-Yo mentality). This person may say something like, “I tried everything and nothing seems to work to get my weight off…” Well, until you try it for at least six weeks consistently, then you’re not really “trying” anything.
So, do yourself a huge favour and think small. Over time it will become a habit, and then you can add the next goal or target.
8. Strive for Better, Not Perfect
Perfection isn’t the goal; progress is what you want. Embrace small improvements as essential steps towards your ultimate achievement.
You skipped a workout today, but you ended up doing stretches at home. So, you split a dessert with someone after you planned to not have any at all. It wasn’t perfect, but ask yourself this: Were you better than last week? “Better” is progress. We are not going for perfect because it is unachievable. Better is what we are striving for. Celebrate that!
9. Make It Fun and Exciting
Maybe you aren’t stoked about having to lose weight or drop your cholesterol like your doctor recommended. But, we can try and make it fun!
Grab a workout buddy, join an online fitness subscription, or try making new, healthy dishes for dinner with friends or family members. Make your actions towards your health and fitness goals exciting and new. This will help keep your interest in the journey.
10. Forgive Yourself Along the Way
It’s really important to show yourself compassion during your journey toward your goals. We are our own worst critics. I too am terribly hard on myself with my fitness pursuits.
Back when I was competing in fitness shows, I always thought I could do better. I would compare myself to other competitors and I would feel terrible about myself, discrediting all of the hard work I had put into achieving my goal. At that time in my life, it was one of the biggest feats I had achieved, mentally and physically! I now believe it to be so sad to not have celebrated those accomplishments because I was so caught up in things I thought I could have done better.
In your quest to achieve your health and fitness goals, remember that success is a journey, not a destination. By implementing these 10 habits, you can set yourself up for long-term success. Be kind to yourself on your journey. You won’t always clearly see all of the hard work you’ve done while you are pushing through, but when you look back on it one day you’ll be happy that you enjoyed the process.
For exercise ideas, workout programs or a consultation, visit oceanrehabandfitness.com. Follow Megan’s programs with an Ocean Insider Club membership subscription.
About Ocean Rehab and Fitness... Megan Williamson is a certified fitness coach through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the head coach at Ocean Rehab and Fitness. Alongside her team, she offers adaptive training for clients living with disabilities.
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