Last week, we talked about the importance of setting a goal. This will fire you up for a challenge and give you a reason to add a boost of motivation to your regular old routine. But setting a goal is easy – the challenge is, of course, actually following through.

There are some common obstacles to look out for when you sit down to set an exciting new goal, and we have some solutions:

1. First of all, you want to be realistic about your aims. If you’ve only been running about 10 miles per week, you may not want to sign up for a competitive 50K.
2. Second, you want to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. If someone else is pressuring you to achieve more, you may wind up resentful toward your efforts rather than feeling good about them as you should.
3. Third, you have to be honest with yourself about your limitations. If you’re a procrastinator or someone who gets in their own way in other areas of life (like at work), then it’s possibly that you can set a goal only to become frustrated when it doesn’t seem like you’re going to achieve it. To counter this, you can enlist a support team or personal trainer to help keep you on track and make your dream more realistic. But other people can’t do it all for you; you’ll need to make a strong commitment as well.
4. Fourth, the idea of fulfilling your ambition is going to be very appealing, but you want it to be more than a fantasy. Make the entire process more concrete by breaking down the process in advance. You’ll want to come up with specific mile markers and time frames, figuring out how much training you’ll need and how long you’ll need to accomplish it. If you can’t get in enough conditioning in one month to bike a 20K, then you might need to look for an event that’s coming up a little more down the road.
5. Fifth, you may become discouraged if you have any setbacks or if the goal at hand seems so far away that it may as well be a mirage. One way to counter this unsure attitude is to build in a system of rewards along the way, so it’s not just about the big final payoff. Get creative – maybe you’ll buy yourself a treat each time you hit a new marker, or maybe you’ll make a bet that you can do it and enjoy the satisfaction of being right. Maybe loved ones will treat you to healthy meals or your significant other will owe you a massage for your hard work. Pulling other people in to witness and support your accomplishments can certainly help. The important thing here is that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, the journey should definitely be part of the fun!

Got a specific event coming up? Want to set a goal with a group? Feel free to share your story with us or reach out to others to join you at our Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym.