Bullet Proof Goal Setting 101.

We have a goal, we have a desired outcome, and we get excited. MOTIVATION is emotional energy. It gets you going. It doesn't necessarily have a great deal of staying power, but it can get you going. What's helpful in addition to MOTIVATION on our journey to better fitness is a concrete REASON why you are doing it.

"I want to lose some weight," is not a REASON. It is a desire. "I want to lose some weight because I want to be in better health to see my grand-children marry," is the REASON that will keep your MOTIVATION going when the going gets rough. Find a REASON.

Now, no amount of MOTIVATION and REASON will do you much good without a well informed PLAN. A PLAN will ground your goal in reality. Think of the PLAN as laying down the tracks from where you are now to where you want to be. The MOTIVATION will get you going and the REASON will keep you going. Wow, this is great. What could stop us now? Answer: LIFE. Life can stop you. A serious injury that stops your work outs altogether, or the need for a second job crowds exercise out of your schedule. Life happens.

So there's one more important component to getting to your fitness goal: RESOLVE. You see, no one plans to make unrealistic goals, but any plan that doesn't include the possibility of serious set backs is unrealistic. RESOLVE is that commitment to get back on the tracks when you are thoroughly derailed. Count on the real possibility of something seriously interrupting your plan. RESOLVE that whatever happened to interrupt your plan is only temporary at worst, and you will get back on your well laid plan ASAP.

Just don't quit. Re-evaluate your goals if you have to. Find another REASON if you need to. Get MOTIVATED again. Adjust your PLAN if you have to, but RESOLVE to get as close to your goal as you can. No matter what. Include in your plans the possibility that a serious set back may happen and, at worst, it will only TEMPORARILY derail you. More likely, you will find a way to work around it.

So in review, setting goals and having bullet proof motivation should look like this.

1. Get excited and set a goal. (MOTIVATION)
2. De-emotionalize the goal and find a real reason to stay on track for when the going gets rough. (REASON)
3. Ground your goal in reality by making an informed plan of how to get there. (PLAN)
4. Resolve that WHEN serious set backs rear their ugly heads you will have a plan to handle them, and not give up on your goal. (RESOLVE)

MOTIVATION REASON PLAN RESOLVE. Bullet Proof Goal Setting 101.