Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Summary
On episode 93 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan makes the case that goal setting is more than picking a target and chasing it. He walks through why a goal needs to fit your actual life before you’ll ever commit to it.
He introduces the SMART framework (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) and applies it to health and fitness goals, using his own example of losing waist circumference instead of chasing a fast 5K time that doesn’t fit his life goals.
He closes by pointing listeners to a free SMART goal worksheet to help them apply the framework to their own health and fitness goals.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- A goal only works if it’s congruent with your life, not just achievable on paper. Allan uses running a 5K in under 21 minutes as an example: it’s physically doable with training, but it doesn’t fit his actual life goal of being healthy and fit, so it wouldn’t get his real commitment.
- Goals act as a map that tells you what to include and exclude. Once a goal is set, like losing an inch of waist circumference, it clarifies training choices, food choices, and what to avoid, such as risking a repetitive injury.
- Meeting a goal creates momentum for a bigger one. Allan calls this the stretch goal effect: each accomplishment naturally makes you want to raise the bar further.
- Specific means the goal is definite, not vague. “Lose weight” isn’t a goal; “lose one inch of circumference off my waist” is, because it names exactly what and where.
- Measurable means you can track progress and know when you’re done. Allan says this is the piece people skip most often: without a metric to remeasure against, you can’t tell if you’re actually making progress.
- Achievable/attainable means the goal stretches you without being impossible. Losing an inch off the waist in two months is a realistic stretch; training to dunk a basketball at over 50 probably isn’t, no matter how much you want it.
- Relevant means the goal is tied to your real why, ideally an emotional one. Allan’s own relevance is being able to actively play with future grandchildren rather than watch from the porch, which is what makes the waist-circumference goal matter to him.
- Time-bound means the goal has a deadline, not an open-ended someday. Without a timeframe, a goal doesn’t drive behavior; a slip just becomes “I’ll get there when I get there.”
- A free SMART goal worksheet can walk you through building your own goal. Allan offers a two-page PDF at older.fitness/goal that walks listeners through applying all five SMART elements to their current health and fitness goals.
