Goals, Plans, and Dreams

A few months ago I decided to live healthier. I envisioned myself with six-pack abs, a chiseled chest, and definition than the dictionary. I set a goal of becoming a personal trainer by next June.

To start on my wellness journey I cut out cookies and other sweets. This was a very big deal for me because I love cookies. I also started eating more fruits and vegetables and exercising more. All the work was paying off as I began to slim down. I started doing Zumba, playing basketball every week, and even had a few yoga sessions. I felt great. One week turned into two weeks turned into one month turned into two months.

Then it happened.

I slowly but surely missed my gym time. I kept making excuses to not go to Zumba. I even when back to cookies. I’m on the path to full regression, and risk losing the gains for which I had worked so hard.

I wondered how this happened. Did I just lose motivation? Was my life more complicated now than in the summer? Maybe I just got busy? Or worse…maybe I’m just lazy? None of those things are true in and of themselves. The fact is that is that I had dreams of being super fit, but I didn’t actually make it a goal.

How is that true? you might ask. Weren’t you at the gym? Weren’t you going to Zumba and yoga and playing basketball? You gave up cookies! How could you say didn’t make fitness a goal?

I was missing something very important, something that separates dreams and goals. I was missing a plan.

I hadn’t actually planned what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. I was kind of just going along with what felt good at the time. So at first, Zumba felt good. Yoga felt good. Proudly stating that I gave up cookies felt good. Being healthier felt good. But when things got a bit complicated, eating cookies felt good again too. When I was tired, sleeping in instead of going to Zumba felt good. Missing yoga when I was tired felt good. With no plan in place my fitness dreams fell apart. In order to have lasting changes, you need to need set specific goals, and then develop a realistic plan to achieve those goals.

I’m still working on goals and plans. This is a minor setback that is just a step in the learning and growth process. I have a goal to be a personal trainer by June 2013, and I’m developing a plan to get there.

What are your goals? How do you plan to get there?