Goalsetting From a Coach's Perspective
January 24, 2023
Setting goals can be an intimidating thing. There can be a lot of things swirling in your mind that you want to tackle and be able to achieve.
If you have no clue where to start, try SMART goals. This tool helps create an effective and precise outline and gives us building blocks. Any time you are making change, you want to start with small actionable steps. The small achievable goals build on top of each other over time.
What are S.M.A.R.T. Goals?
Chances are you learned of SMART goals in grade school, but that does not mean the concept itself is elementary. This framework is the foundation with which coaches, therapists, and even C-suite execs plan for their clients (or businesses), and you can use it just as easily as well.
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound.
These five categories help build a strong and straight forward game plan and to help guide your goal setting.
Specific:
Well defined and clear (Ex. "I wanna look good on my wedding day")
Measurable:
Has a metric to it, which helps track progress. (Ex. decrease body fat by 5%)
Achievable:
Something you can achieve within a time frame (Ex. Drop body fat by 1% each month)
Relevant:
Should have to do with your overall goal, on a much smaller scale (Ex. goal of 3 workouts per week)Time Bound:
Realistic time frame in which this can be accomplished in. (Ex Wedding day is in 4 months)
The MOTIVNY Way
The SMART goal approach is a great way to figure out your goals and how to be actionable on your own. This tool is used to get the mind flowing and to break it all down. But when it comes to our training and what our bodies need, coaches bring a different level of expertise to the table. Whether your goals include returning from injury or hitting strength PRs, we ask questions designed and curated by the entire MOTIVNY team to get to know the person in front of us.
Your program and your goals are specifically unique to you. Learning about your life, what you do for work, and what drives your motivation are all key parts that help us fill in the gaps around the goals we are working towards.
Once we understand your goals we take you through our movement assessment to document exactly how your body moves, have data points to refer back to, and a starting point to build on. This is part of the goals process, especially when a goal is strength or performance based. If your goal is to reach a 215lb PR, this means we must determine where you are currently working and how we must proceed to reach your goal. An example of how to test that baseline is a 10 rep max goblet squat. Other forms of assessing your movement and testing to reach your goals can include force deck jump tests, airdyne bike sprints, or a VO2 max test.
We follow science backed protocols and testing services that are chosen specifically to fit you. Whether your goal is to lifting a certain weight, changing your body, or playing with your kids, a coach can help you build a specific plan/roadmap to reach your destination more efficiently.
Book a phone consult with a MOTIVNY coach today to chat about what we can help you achieve in 2023.