When was the last time you had a goal that you really wanted to get done? Working your tail off until finally one day you got there.
Think about the moment you actually got to that point.
How did you feel?
How did you feel directly after that moment?
Happy? Excited? Sad? Underwhelmed?
Let’s use money as an example.
You have a certain dollar amount you are aiming for. All year you put in LONG days of work to reach that target. Doing whatever you have to do to get a step closer each day.
You are waking up early, going to bed late, maximizing your efficiency at any given hour. It might be some of the most productive times you’ve ever had, and all because you “need” to hit that goal.
Changing your spending habits, your investing, even the presents you give out for birthdays (people might not forgive this one).
FINALLY!
Then it happens, you reached your goal! You’re proud of yourself and take a sigh of relief for finally getting there.
Looking back at it all feels rewarding but not exactly how you thought it would go. No crazy party has been planned or thoughts of retirement. More or less, it’s right back to work.
Things don’t stop just because you hit your financial numbers for the year.
All that determination and effort builds up until that final point where you realize you hit your goal. It’s not all for nothing, you did some great work over that course of time and accomplished something big!
But now what?
I hope we know that I am not going to continue on about finances here because I am definitely not qualified for that. So let’s reel this back into fitness. Instead of thinking of a financial goal, let’s move to a weight loss goal. Everything else can stay the exact same.
- You set out to lose “x” amount of weight
- You work your tail off doing whatever It takes
- You reach that number on the scale!
How do you feel?
Some people feel excited and then want to reach for even more.
Others get a sense of an unsatisfied feeling as if they should have gotten there faster or done even more.
Either way, similar to the money example, the work doesn’t just stop. To keep those results, the wheel has to keep spinning.
So, Where Do You Go From Here?
Now, you could make another lofty goal and go through the same process of putting in MASSIVE amounts of work just to feel that same way.
OR… you could take a different route.
What if instead of having just one big objective goal, you make another, deeper, longer term, goal?
These new goals can differ enough from the original goal where you are not just chasing the hamster wheel.
For example, the first goal wouldn’t be lose 10lbs and the new goal be lose another 10lbs. This will just keep me feeling the exact same way every time the point is reached.
In most cases this longer term goal will be more subjective. That could be something along the lines of increasing strength or improving mobility. You will know if you are on the right track for these goals but there is no real “end point”.
Just because you can touch your toes doesn’t mean you beat the mobility game.
Let’s Take This A Step Further
Along with being more subjective, that longer term goal can be a bit more LOFTY. Something that you can pursue for a LONG TIME. It’s always on the horizon, and always keeps you striving forward.
Now, with that lofty goal, you can use the short term, objective goals, in two different ways.
First Method:
Use It for things you want to achieve with your body.
- Hitting a certain body weight
- Being “x” percent body fat
- Improving your bone density
Things that you can achieve AND have a set end point.
Second Method:
Use it for things you want to achieve with your performance.
- Split squat “x” amount of “x” reps
- Be able to do “x” amount of push-ups
- Be able to do a chin-up
Both of these types of methods are quantitative making them objective. Either you did/got to that point or not. But having these two types of goals that differ from body and performance can make a BIG difference, especially if you find yourself obsessing over one compared to the other.
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If you are someone who is always chasing a certain body weight or body style goal, flip the script. Try putting your focus on your performance with your short term goals and leave your body out of the equation for a while.
Do what you can to avoid looking in the mirror or stepping on the scale. Let yourself work and be honest with how you think things are going based off how your feel over how you look.
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Long Term Goals
As we said above, these long term goals can be LOFTY. Something that you really want to make happen, but know deep down that It will take some TIME. Hence the “long term” portion of this goal.
It’s not something you are going to achieve this month.
This year.
Hell, maybe even not this decade.
But it’s there, in the background of your thoughts, driving you forward day over day. Let’s take my long term goals for example.
- Be as mobile as possible
- Get stronger
- Get to the best health as possible
What’s my end point? I have no clue.
How do you know when you made It? I never will.
So why the hell are you doing It? It keeps me going.
What’s the point?
This comes up in my mind a lot. What is the point? Why make goals that I will never truly be able to reach?
This goes back to what I say often–
”It’s more about the process than It is about the end result”
These goals will keep me chasing new heights, but because they aren’t going to be technically “reached” I will stay in the process the majority of the time.
- I can always be MORE mobile than I am today
- I can always be STRONGER than I am today
- I can always be IN BETTER health than I am today
You can think of someone who plays video games or someone who likes jigsaw puzzles. Actually playing the game or putting together that puzzle is always more enjoyable than the end result.
The end result is just something that happens as a product of doing the actual activity.
This is why I love subjective, long term goals. You are always chasing improvement instead of just that end result. There is no let down from getting better.
But there can be a great deal of let down when you finally reach the end point of something objective.
Going back to my three goals, knowing that I have the ability to be better than I am right now keeps me wanting more, always.
Can the same be said for something that has an objective end point?
In my eyes, no. But I have been wrong before (and I will be wrong again).
When I work with people who have a clear cut set destination, I love trying to flip the focus like we discussed above. Not necessarily changing their goal but diving deeper to uncover a subjective matter behind the objective goal.
Long term goals vs short term goals
Objective goals vs subjective goals
Performance goals vs quantitative goals
Not one is better nor worse than the other, they are just different. The bigger difference between these goals is how you apply and use them to propel yourself forward. If It works for you, then keep on going!
The purpose of this article is to get you thinking differently about how you are planning your goals. Our goals are something that drive us to get to a certain point within our lives. They give us direction, purpose, and reason behind our actions.
It might not be true for everyone, but for me and the people I work with, goals are more than important. How will I know where to focus our training and nutrition if I don’t know what you are looking to accomplish down the line.
Away from that point, I also don’t want people feeling dissatisfied if the only thing driving them forward was a certain number on the scale. We try to find a way to utilize these different types of goals to keep us working hard for a LONG TIME.
Your goals don’t have to be specific. They don’t have to be broad. What they can is help you get to a place where you feel happy each day trying to get better.
In good health,
Jeff
