I work with alot of clients – both online and in person. I assist my clients by creating safe and effective training programs and by designing customized nutritional plans that are catered towards helping them achieve their specific health and fitness goals. I teach people how to train and exercise properly in the gym and educate them on how to diet and meal prep efficiently in the kitchen. As a Trainer/Coach it’s my job to ensure that I do everything that I possibly can to help make sure my clients achieve the results they desire. This means having to troubleshoot when someone hits a plateau with their weight loss. Or having to come up with a strategy to help someone peak perfectly for a an upcoming fitness competition or special event. And sometimes it just means having to be there as someone who listens and offers support rather then a solution when that’s all that’s really needed.

The Doctor Is Not In

With that said, I’m not a licensed or trained therapist (even though some days it feels as if I am). I don’t know how to help someone who suffers from a mental disorder, nor can or do I offer advice to someone who is in obvious need of some serious counselling. My expertise remains in the field of exercise physiology. I know how to burn body fat and I know how to build muscle. I understand how the human body operates. I’ve learned how lower and elevated hormonal levels in both men and women can have significant impacts on the results they achieve with both their physiques and their emotional health. I’ve studied the biomechanics of human movement, I’ve researched the role that certain medications and supplements can play on a person’s mental state and wellbeing. I have acquired and in-depth knowledge of basic human anatomy and physiology through the years of experienced I have gained while working with both genders of all ages and from all different fitness levels. However when it comes to emotional distress, relationship advice, and career guidance, well….I’m fairly useless…….

Goalless Goals

So what does all this have to do with today’s topic? Well quite a bit actually. Lately within the past 2-3 months I have been receiving quite a few emails from people contacting me to assist them with their diets. Now ofcourse people contacting me for advice on their diet and training is not unusual. This is after all what I do for a living. However a common theme that I am noticing from many of my new clients who have reached out to me in the last few months for assistance with their diets, is that the majority of them do not have a specific goal in mind that they want to achieve. Telling me “I want to lose weight” or “I want to look good” are very open ended visions. And I truly believe that if you do not have a clear and precise goal as to what you want to achieve and a specific timeline in place as to when you want to achieve this goal, then you are only setting yourself up for failure.

Goal Setting 101

In my opinion setting a goal is one of the most important parts of the equation for a person to become successful at anything that he or she does in life. Setting SMART goals can be the difference between success and failure. However sometimes our goals can feel overwhelming and slow us down, especially if we don’t break them down into steps on how they can be achieved. If your goal for example is to compete in a fitness competition within the next year, then you need to break things down by one month at a time. This means you can see the shorter term goals in the distance and work towards them, make sure you have achieved them successfully, then move on the the next step. This is also a great way to help build up some momentum along the way as your smaller accomplishments are clearing the path to you achieving your ultimate goal.

Maintaining Momentum

As I always tell all my clients – when it comes to achieving your target training goals, momentum is what will keep you moving forward and allow you to achieve those goals on a much higher level, especially during the difficult times. One of the reasons as to why most people never achieve their goals is because they are in a constant internal struggle of stopping, restarting, and then stoping again. This is a common and vicious cycle that many people fall victim to and I believe the reason why is due to poor planning, improper execution, and unrealistic expectations.

To avoid this constant “Start & Stop Cycle” I always recommend to my clients from Day 1 to break down their goals and ask themselves the following 3 questions before they start down the long and bumpy road to success:

“What Is The Priority?”

“What Are You Willing To Do In Order To Achieve Your Goal?”

“What Is The Timescale That You Are Giving Yourself To Achieve Your Goal?”

I also recommend creating short term goals in addition to your long term goals and remain consistent to them, while ticking them off one week or one month at a time as you achieve them.

Weekly Check-Ins

To help my online clients remain consistent with both their training and their diets, I ask them to send me weekly check-ins every Friday morning. These check-ins hold people accountable for their goals as I ask for certain updates such as progress photos and weigh-ins on the scale. I also find these check-ins to be useful as it allows my clients to always remain conscious of what their bodies are doing and tells us if they’re getting closer to achieving their goals or not. Where as some people might find this to be unhealthy or obsessive, I actually find it to be an excellent strategy to use to help people remain on track and on the path to achieving success. After all, if you truly want to succeed at anything in life, then shouldn’t you become a little bit obsessive about achieving it?

“Obsessed is a word that lazy use to describe the dedicated.”
Anonymous

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance