Why you aren’t achieving your goals

And how to easily fix it

Chances are you have set goals before, chances are you have also set them and then pretty much forgotten about them too.

Often when we set a goal we do it when we are in a phase of motivation, we experience some sort of pain, maybe we catch a glimpse of ourselves in the mirror and we aren’t happy with what we see, or maybe we feel like we aren’t progressing in the gym, and we feel stale or stagnant. 

We sit down and we think about what we want: 

You might come up with something like “My goal is to lose 10kg or my goal is to get a pull up or muscle up” or something along those lines.

• We then start going to the gym
• Take a bit of action and then life gets in the way
• Maybe you get sick, or there is a lockdown or holiday or work overwhelms you.
• Before you know it the goal is the last thing you have time to think about and 3 months pass and you are no closer to achieving it than when you started. 
• This leaves you feeling disappointed and you end up with a bit of a negative mindset; Telling yourself stories like “it’s not the right time” or “Maybe im just destined to be overweight, it’s who I am”

This is generally because you approached goal setting in the only way you know and it’s not your fault, with traditional goal-setting methods you think about what you want, come up with an arbitrary date that you want to achieve it by (usually a birthday or other significant date), and then get on your way.

The problem with this is that there are key things that are missing. 

Let’s break it down.

1. Results based goals 

This is what most people associate with goal setting, what I mentioned just before, and don’t get me wrong it’s an important part, but it can’t be the whole process, A results-based goal gives you a vision for what you are trying to achieve. It serves as the starting motivation. 

Next, you need to turn the results that you want into a series of actions or habits that will help lead you there.

2. Action goals 

This is where you convert the result you want into a series of actions or habits that will lead you to eventually actually achieving your goal.

When we are setting goals like this we like to break the goal into 3 separate parts; Training, Nutrition and mindset.

Each area needs a specific focus.

With each area, there are likely 20+ things you could do in order to help you achieve your goal, but the reality is that’s too much for the human brain to handle and focus on. So we want to look for the low-hanging fruit.

What’s the one thing that’s going to yield the biggest result for the least amount of effort? Start there, once you are regularly achieving that then you can add on other actions and higher-level tasks.

We call this layering.

For example:

Maybe your goal is to have abs,  that’s great, the list of things that you could do to achieve that is a mile long, but when you think about it, for you, you know that if you have healthy food in the house you will be far more likely to eat it than if you haven’t been organized and done your food planning and shop so we can identify that the most important thing for you to do is: Plan week’s food and do a food shop.  

You have taken something that could be very complex and made it a simple action.

Now that it’s an action you need to track your progress.

3. Progress tracking:

Progress tracking helps keep your goal in the forefront of your mind, it also means that you can objectively track whether or not you are doing the tasks that you have outlined as the most important.

Some people like to set themselves up with a spreadsheet some people prefer a handwritten diary, it doesn’t matter how you choose to track, just that you do it. 

4. Milestones or sub-goals 

It can be a very good idea for larger goals, that you know are going to take some time to set some milestones. These will help keep you motivated on your journey.

5. Accountability 

This is the most important part of the process. A lot of us like to think that we are super self-motivated and don’t need accountability with our goals but the reality is we do. Teachers, mentors, parents, bosses, have all been keeping us accountable our whole life, it’s ingrained into our society, but when it comes to health and fitness we seem to think we don’t need it.

Just like your parents made you brush your teeth when you were a child to make sure you hadn’t forgotten, and now it’s a regular part of your day, that is accountability at work, helping you make sure you do the thing you know you need to do, even when you don’t feel like doing it.

If you have someone who knows what they are talking about when holding you accountable they won’t just tell you off, you’re an adult you don’t need that, what they will ideally do is help you with actual solutions to the struggle that you are facing. 

This is where the magic will happen.

This is the extremely successful process we use for goal setting with clients at Renegade Fitness.  If you would be keen to sit down with a coach and work through this we are offering a free goal setting consultation.

We are limiting this to the first 10 people who book a time.

All you have to do is click the link and book a time that suits you. This can be done in person or over the phone/zoom. 

Click the link to book a time that suits you: 

East Tamaki click here to book with Zak

Auckland City click here to book with Callum or Click here to book with Heath