The importance of well-written goals

Posted by stickel on April 14, 2009

For the past few weeks, I've been coaching my friend Chris Fehnel while he's doing P90X. Chris is no stranger to P90X. He stopped before finishing the first two times he tried. With some help from me and others, Chris is more motivated and focused than ever to make it through the full 90 days.

Why did he fail?

There are a few reasons why Chris didn't make it through P90X when he first started. Some of them couldn't be helped. He has a history of some interesting—and bad—health problems. Health issues can pop up at any time and it is extremely important to get yourself healthy before doing P90X.

Health issues aside, I think the biggest reason Chris has yet to complete P90X is his lack of focus and motivation. He is extremely motivated to finish this time and asked for my help. The first thing I told him was, "You're weak-willed, dude. Just. Push. Play." I was right and he knew it. He needed to set some goals to help him get through it.

How will he succeed this time?

When I asked him what his goals were, he simply stated, "My goal is to finish the 90 days." This is not good enough because the goal is too vague. In order for Chris, or anyone, to reach his goals, specificity is key. My first assignment for him was to make a list of 3 specific goals. This gives him something specific to reach for. He made a list of 5.

Now he needs to hold himself accountable with these goals. I told him to blog about his goals. Specific goals can be reached by following specific steps. For example, one of Chris' goals is to be able to touch his feet. How does he make it to that goal? He has to stretch.

Already improving

Since Chris blogged his goals, he's well on his way to meeting more than one of them. Every time he does Yoga X, he pushes through the entire DVD. Chris is also more consistent with his stretching. Both of these actions bring him closer to his goal. A couple days ago, he mentioned that he's already seeing improvement in his flexibility.

Because Chris has a short list of very well-defined goals he can set up a plan of action to achieve them. After the plan of action is established, it's just a matter of following the plan. The same thing will work for you.

Set specific goals
Create a plan of action to reach those goals
Follow the plan
When you've reached your goals, set new ones