Questions To Ask When Goal Setting.

In my 5 years as a personal trainer and coach, I've seen it time and time again. People come to me with wildly ambitious goals. They tell me all of their targets, things they want to achieve and some even have exact numbers they want to hit. Which is fantastic. I love it when people are driven, passionate and have something to get stuck into. However, when I ask them to dig a little deeper, most people get stuck.

1) Why do you want to achieve this? 2) What do you do, know and have currently that will make this more achievable?

3) Is this goal realistic for you right now?

4) Is this your goal, or a goal you think you should have because the internet told you so? Most people haven't thought beyond the surface level goal. They set it with all of the best intentions, but then once we get stuck into the 'why' part, it turns out that goal wasn't as well thought through as they thought. Which is understandable and completely normal; you don't know what you don't know. But it's also the reason why most people sack off their goals and give up. Not through lack of motivation or wanting it bad enough [despite what Instagram hustle culture tries to tell you]...

But because of mis-alignment from the get go. The expectations, knowledge and goals never synced up. So here are some questions to ask yourself when goal setting, if you’re looking to make change or start something new (particularly fitness related ones). These are tried and tested [by yours truly], in real life consultations with real life people who might be looking to make similar changes to their own life ➡️➡️➡️

Get ready to have an honest conversation with yourself before you do anything else

These are questions that help me as a coach, ensure my clients feel heard, goals are respected and we work towards things that matter

1) WHAT'S THE PURPOSE & REASON?

Why are you doing this? What is the meaning behind it? Why does it matter to you?

2) HOW DOES THIS MEET YOU, WHERE YOU'RE AT CURRENTLY?

Trust me, you'll thank yourself for asking this later down the line. Focus on you and only you. Not copying someone else's targets, routine and life without context. 3) WHAT ELSE'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW?

What other responsibilities or factors do you have to consider, when planning training into your week? 4) DOES YOUR CURRENT ENVIRONMENT SUPPORT YOU? If not, how can we amend that, or make it more fitting? 5) WHAT IS YOUR TRAINING AGE? Be honest. Training experience and knowledge are huge components of training. They influence your ability to train, confidence and competence. To a certain level, skills, fitness and capacity also come from skin in the game and practice over time. 6) ARE YOU AWARE OF THE COMMITMENT, TIME & RESOURCES REQUIRED? Expectations need to be corect from the get go. Rather than under estimating, setting the bar too high and realising you were overly ambitious from day one. 7) WHAT HAVE YOU TRIED BEFORE? This might be your first time taking on a new challenge, lifestyle change or putting yourself out there. But it’s still important to know what makes you tick, how you learn, things you might have tried before andddddd how that worked out for you. 8) ARE YOU PREPARED FOR DISCOMFORT? Not just physical, but the mental and emotional side that comes along with any change. It’s demanding and can involve sitting with uncomfortable thoughts as well as challenging a lot of past beliefs [a lot of which are really familiar]. An honourable mention to the question about enjoyment too....

What do you enjoy doing? Of course there are going to be things you have to try or to do that don't fill you with excitement and you don't love. But, enjoyable actions, things you don't despise and ultimately, stuff you want to stick at breeds consistency. Which is the most important thing when it comes to meaningful long term change. The more you enjoy something, the more appealing it is andddd the more you can add elements of play into it.....the more you’re likely to stick at it long enough to see notable improvement. These questions help me as a coach, because they're open, require a person to get curious and dig deeper than the surface level goal. A consultation is my chance to learn more about the person in front of me for the first time. To watch how they move, the way they respond to me, the language they use. To ask questions. But mostly, to listen (this is one of the most important things, I’ve learnt since when I first qualified as a PT). Baby PT Adele went in armed with a bazillion questions and so keen to help.

But even the best questions, fall short if you aren’t actually listening. I have learnt and realised that my role isn’t to ask the questions it’s to listen to the story and answers unfold in front of me. A few good well thought out questions, mean I get to listen more; which is where the true gold lies! That applies to you, when you ask yourself these things too! Ask the right things now, to save you time later down the line.