Goals: How to Have Better Success without giving up

Let’s talk goals! 60 Days ago, I started the Insanity Fitness program. I wanted to give up after day 1. It is literally the hardest workout program I have ever done. Even many of the Beachbody coaches admit it is their least favorite program. It just sucks!

Monday through Saturday, I was waking up at 6:15 to get my workout in. I literally only missed 2 workouts earlier in the program, due to being out of town one day and having an early meeting the other day. Other than that, I kept going, despite wanting to quit working toward my goals EVERY SINGLE DAY! There are three things that kept me going.

How to Avoid Giving up

1. Keep Looking forward to your goals. Each day I completed a workout, I thought about the possibility of achieving the “summer body” I have wanted since giving birth to my last child. I knew that if I gave up, I would be missing out on what could be. I had to look beyond the hard part.

2. Tell others about your goals. My husband played a big part in keeping me motivated. On the mornings I didn’t want to get out of bed, he would simply tell me not to give up. My friends who knew also kept me going. It really helped that others knew what I was doing, because they helped keep me accountable and often said encouraging things to help me stay motivated.

3. Talk to yourself about your goals. This was major for me! Throughout the workouts, I would literally talk out loud to myself with affirmations, “you can do this”, “don’t give up”, “you are strong”. One day, mid-workout, I was about to hit the stop button and give it all up. I somehow found the strength to tell myself to keep going and when I tried to walk inside, I just couldn’t. I felt like I would be letting myself down. So, I kept at it.

Now, here I am at day 60, with only a fit test left to complete. I figured I would weigh myself and take my “after” pics before eating, working out and drinking water. Daily, throughout the program, I was weighing myself and honestly got discouraged most days. I then remembered many people saying that the scale can be deceiving and to consider other factors such as body fat, muscle gain, measurements, etc. So, remained hopeful I would see great results in some of the other numbers.

I stepped on the scale, then took my pictures. Nope. Didn’t happen. All my numbers increased: weight, measurements, body fat, and no drastic change in my body appearance! At this point, I was in a state of pure disappointment. The tough part is that I still needed to finish the very last fit test. I battled with the idea of not doing it, but I just couldn’t do that to myself. My commitment to finish was strong.

I talked myself into finishing it and did just that. However, I didn’t end up with the results I dreamed of. I shed a tear as I was doing the final stretch because I realized I did something that I don’t often do. Even though it was tough, I didn’t give up. I didn’t give up when I didn’t see immediate results.

Sometimes the journey is about more than the endpoint.

How to keep working toward your goals

(especially after a setback)

1. Celebrate unexpected wins. I just told you that I completed the final Fit Test, despite the disappointment of not achieving the results I wanted. For each Fit test you track your numbers, with the goal of getting faster and stronger. After this last test, I unexpectedly realized that I doubled my repetitions for almost every exercise! I was shocked. When working towards your goals, it is important to give yourself credit. Maybe your goal had 4 tasks and you completed task 2 months earlier than expected. Celebrate that!

2. Celebrate small wins. Although my body is not drastically different, I can see a slight change in my leg, back and arm muscles. Slight deserves a celebration! Maybe your goal involved staying within a certain budget and you saved $1 on an item. Celebrate that!

3. Celebrate non-conventional wins. Most people work out for physical results. People don’t typically start a super tough workout program with the goal of improving their overall mental strength. Apparently, God knew that I needed some work in the perseverance department and He decided to use a workout program to help me out. Maybe your goal is to start your own business, and you are still not there, but you have learned some amazing time management skills along the way. Celebrate that!

Whatever your goals, I really hope that you can also find the will to keep going, even if you face some disappointments along the way. Sometimes the journey is about more than the endpoint. If it wasn’t clear, this was a really hard lesson for me. I just knew I would be walking around with abs after these last 60 days of workout hell haha. But here I am…no six pack, but I am healthy, strong and my determination is now on point! I’ll take that and continue working on getting this body in shape!

Consider THIS MINDTOOLS resource for info on setting SMART Goals:

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