A goal is a dream with a deadline. - Napoleon Hill

It’s almost the start of a new year and it’s time for me to start thinking about my goals. I don’t call them New Year’s Resolutions because I want to be able to set my goals all throughout the year. I don’t want to set a resolution or goal and then a month or two later realize that I am off the mark and then just forget about it. I see these goal-setters every January at the gym. You know the people who set a resolution to workout and then a month later because they missed a few days just fall off the band wagon. I don’t totally mind, since the gym gets empty again and then I can get the equipment when I want it. But I digress and must get back to my point…
I must confess, I have not been as disciplined as I should be right now. There are all these temptation around me, Christmas parties, vendors sending you cookies, brownies and chocolate and it is difficult to resist. My excuse to myself right now is that some of my clothes are still too big and I want to fit into them so I have been indulging. But I am going to start thinking about my goals for next year because I don’t want 2009 to sneak up on me and I haven’t even thought about what I want to accomplish.

First and foremost, I have to write down my goals, just thinking about them isn’t good enough. Since my competition I’ve been saying that I want to gain muscle but I have not actually written this goal down so I don’t feel that I am getting anywhere.

Second, my goals are going to be specific and measurable. Just saying that I want to gain muscle is pointless since this is not specific enough. I am going to have to start taking my measurements again and decide how much muscle I want to gain and in what time period.

Third, my goal needs to be realistic. If I stated that I want to gain 10 pounds of muscle in 2 months that would not be realistic. I often hear people set unrealistic goals which just causes them to fail. For example, someone will state that they would like to lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks. This may be unrealistic for fat loss, a good rule of thumb is to expect 0.5 to 1 pound of fat loss per week.

Fourth, both short-term and long-term components should be used when setting goals. So if my long term goal is gain 10 pounds of muscle by Jun,e then I will have to break it down and create a short-term component/goal. My short-term component will be gain 2 pounds a month.

Finally, tell someone about the goal. Once you set specific goals that you’re committed to sticking to, tell someone about them. If a goal is a secret, it’s easy to blow it off. For example, during my last contest preparation I thought about cancelling, postponing, basically quitting, because I didn't feel like I was ready. I basically couldn't because I told so many people and even had my contest prep on this Blog. So now my next goal is out there and I have to be accountable!