Goals at the Gym

goal "gym"

Define the Goal

The goal that I am setting for myself for the next three-four months is to go the gym regularly. I feel that going to the gym and getting exercise is very important for one's health. I have seen the impact that going to the gym has made on some people in my life, and want to have the same positive experience. I know that inherently, exercise is a part of being healthy. The healthier that I am, the better my quality of life will be. To support having a better quality of life, I want to start regular exercise. Further, I look at the next four months as being important because that will take me into summer. In the warmer months, you wear less clothing, and I want to feel good, fit and confident to just go out and look great, and not have any reason to be self-conscious about my appearance. So there are two powerful goals in mind -- vanity being one and a deeper concern for my own quality of life being the other, that are driving my decision to begin regular exercise. To quantify this goal, I want to go to the gym 3-4 times per week for the next four months.

How I Will Achieve my Goal

I will have to undertake three key steps to undertaking my goal. The first of these steps is to change my frame of mind with respect to exercise. I have to admit, I have had a love-hate with exercise over the course of my life. At times, I have been pretty fit, but other times not so much. So for me, I have to remember what it is I like about the way I feel when I am fit. I believe that this is an important component of the behavior change. As they say in marketing, you sell the benefit, not the features. If the feature is a thinner, healthier me, the benefits are what I can do with that. I can enjoy the outdoors more, I can feel more confident and I will know that I am going to enjoy a longer, happier life if I commit to getting into shape. That is the mental perspective I want to have, rather than thinking that exercise is some torturous sacrifice that I am making, because that negative mindset will inevitably lead me to just not wanting to make that sacrifice -- I have to keep focused on the positive.

The second way that I will commit to achieving this goal is to join a gym. This is a bigger deal than it seems. First, it represents money out of my budget, and I need to be cognizant that when I commit money to this, that is a sign of commitment to myself. Second, the wrong gym creates a bad atmosphere for working out, but the right gym is going to encourage me more, and ensure that I look forward to the experience. So I need to do my due diligence, not just pick the gym that is the cheaper or closest. Finding the perfect gym might take time and effort, but it is an investment that will pay off in the long run.

The third way that I will commit to achieving this goal is to set aside a specific time for exercise. I might do this by taking classes, but I might just do this on my own. The key to having set times for exercise is that it is a form of discipline. In order to this to truly become a habit, I need to create the habit and that means breaking out of other habits. Instead of watching television or getting online, things I might do if left to my own devices, I can instead focus my effort on meeting the obligation that I have made to myself. Initially, classes might help, but that sort of depends on the cost. I do want to create a certain amount of internal discipline in order to cultivate this habit. I will not blow off exercise if I do it at the same time. If there is no fixed schedule, I might "reschedule" my exercise, thereby cheating myself. This is not the right way to create a positive habit.

Conclusion