Setting a goal is one of the first steps anyone takes in losing weight, building muscle or any other physical goal you might have. Your goal should be what get’s you through the hard times or moments of weakness and it forms a majority of your motivation. There isn’t anyone I know who starts a training program without a clear goal in their mind.
But even though having a goal is essential to your success there is one thing that’s more important and that’s your happiness. If you aren’t happy with the process, or what you’re doing you’re dooming yourself to fail.
Achieving the goal is important, and don’t ever forget that, but don’t let the goal get in the way of enjoying the process that leads up to it.
It’s actually proven that you are happiest when you are in the process of achieving a goal because you have a target, you have something to aim for, you have some kind of purpose. As soon as you reach your goal you have those few days of elation, but then you get really depressed. You get really depressed because you’ve reached the top, and you’ve achieved your goal and now you don’t have anything to aim for. You’ve essentially lost your motivation to keep going.
As they say once you reach the top the only way to go is down.
Moving away from the negative, here are some ways that I stay motivated. The first thing I always do is make sure my ultimate goal is something far beyond my reach. Not something that’s unattainable but something that will take a very long time to achieve. This acts as my main goal, and something that’s always there to fall back on. The second thing I do besides setting my main goal is to set some key milestones, and use them as short term goals. Having these short term goals is a great way to stay motivated through the process, but you still get that feeling of accomplishment when you finish one without any of the depression.
There is a book called “The Happiness Hypothesis” by Jonathan Haidt that applies psychological ideas from big thinkers of the past like Buddha and applies them to our modern lives. The books main focus is on the keys to happiness, fulfilment, and meaning, and covers a lot of what I’m talking about here. In chapter 10 Haidt talks about the meaning of life and how love and work give a sense of meaning to life. The topics he covers in this chapter can all be brought back to what I’m talking about, and I recommend if you have time to check it out.
What you need to take away from this is to make sure you don’t let your goals get in the way of your personal happiness. If that means having a cheat day every week where you can have a small portion of your favourite food every week then that’s ok. Don’t be afraid to move and change your goals around either. Your goals are there simply to act as motivation and to give you something to aim for. They aren’t there to stop you from having fun and enjoying yourself.
So remember stay happy and don’t be afraid to change what motivates you.