write down and achieve your goals

​So…my MSU-Billings freshman son announces after a recent run that he wants to log his weekly running miles.  His revelation feels to me like obvious proof that he’s finally noticed all my years of faithfully logging running workouts into a trusty training journal--he finally wants to follow my lead and achieve goals and dreams!  As I proudly show him a fresh journal that I dug out of the desk drawer, he gives me a confused and sideways look:  “What’s that funny little book for Mom? Can you show me that app that I’ve seen you use for your cycling class.”  I’m bummed that he’s found another thing to keep him glued to his phone instead of interacting with his family…but hey…at least the kid’s motivated to achieve something.

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Pencil and Paper or Fitness App?

​According to statistica.com, 29% of U.S. adults age 18-29 use a fitness app regularly. That's the highest percentage of any age group, but it’s interesting that almost half of adults over 40 that aren’t using a fitness app can at least imagine doing so.  Does digital influence on culture mean that wall calendars, appointment books, spiral planners and journals are only good for the recycling bin or campfire fuel?  Not so fast…plenty of solid research shows that writing things down packs plenty of power in helping us achieve health and fitness goals.

As I dig deeper into a goal setting tip from my January post, I'll show you three big benefits of writing down your health, fitness and training goals:

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1.  Writing Down Goals and Dreams Reminds You of Them Often

I talked about New Year’s resolutions last month.  Did you want to start losing weight?  If it isn’t happening, did you set-out with a written plan?...probably not.  In order to lose 5 pounds in March, here’s a bullet list of must-dos:

• Buy a spiral planner.
• Brainstorm at least 3 new smart eating and 3 exercise habits you want to begin and write them boldly in the notes area of your planner each week--the more specific you are, the better.  An example of each might be:  “I will not eat after 8:00pm” and “I will do at least 30 minutes of vigorous cardio exercise 4 days per week.”  If you want some help setting smart habits, get on my e-mail list and I'll send you some free ideas.
• At the end of each day, log what you actually ate and did for exercise.  Be brutally honest by writing down your successes and your failures.  Seeing these in writing will motivate you to continue to do well and avoid slipping-up.
• At the end of the week, review your performance.

2.  Logging Your Activities Enables You to Visualize Your Progress

In your journey toward reaching higher level goals (losing 5 pounds), a major benefit of writing down your daily activities is that your successes and failures along the way will be right in front of you to see.  Purchase different colored highlighters and assign one color to positive accomplishments (not eating after 8pm) and a different color to missteps (missing a planned workout). High level goals can be yet another color.  Finally, write your weight in the corner of each page and highlight it a new color.  Don’t be discouraged by early results, because the best part of this process is that you get to flip the page and anticipate more success and less failure in the new week!

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3.  Keeping a Written Planner Empowers You to Sift Priorities and Reduce Stress

You can use a daily planner to manage every area of your life:  household chores, personal appointments, kid’s activities, recreational activities…you name it.  You have a lot going on, and it can all be very stressful.  Getting your daily activities into a planner allows you to literally put your day before your eyes and avoid too many commitments.  If you've had a stressful day or week, you can regroup with your planner and make healthy changes for the next week.  The pattern looks like this:
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• Determine your high level priorities.
• Commit to specific activities that support those priorities.
• Evaluate successes and failures.
• Expect improvement in the future.

The research proves it...people who write goals down are far more likely to achieve them than people who don’t…check out the results of this recent study.  Maybe you've been thinking about partnering with a personal trainer or joining a group fitness class?  Check-out my home and training pages for opportunities offered by ONE Fitness.

By the way…while I do love to write in my journals and log books, I also love fitness apps.  I use the Strava app for my cycling class.  Check-out the various FitBit fitness trackers for motivation to keep you moving.

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