Six ways to reach your fitness goals in 2018

So, I am going to share some of my top tips that’ll put you in the best position to achieve your goals in 2018.

1. Write down your goals

The average human being has an average of 50,000 thoughts a day.

The whole point of goal setting is to help you gain clarity, focus and direction, which gets thrown out the window when you have all these thoughts going on in your head.

The power of writing your goals down on paper is it forces you to focus your attention on what’s important.

2. Get specific

If your goal is to “improve fitness”, that’s not defined enough.

To have any chance of achieving your goal you need to give it some clarity.

Why do you want to improve your fitness? Do you want to be able to run a marathon? When do you want to achieve your goal? In a week’s time, or by the end of the year?

A clear goal of “I want to improve my fitness so that I can run a marathon by August 14, 2018” is much more likely to be achieved.

By being specific you automatically increase the odds of achieving your goal.

3. Tell someone who cares

The journey towards achieving your goals is always going to be challenging.

Doing it on your own and maintaining that self-belief can be tough at times, so that’s why it’s important to have help along the way.

When you share your goals with someone else, it makes you both accountable and gives you an avenue for support.

4. Surround yourself with like-minded people

Having other people around you working towards the same goal is inspiring and motivating.

Find yourself a boot camp or a running club where you can join in with other people.

If you’re going to the gym on your own your motivation is more likely to dip!

My boot camp started up again this week. There’s 12 new starters signed up so far.

I’m really excited to get them started because I know they are going to be blown away by the enthusiasm and motivation of the group.

There’s still a few places open, for more info go to www.eastcoast-fitness.com/90DayFreeMonth

5. Take consistent action

Now that you know what your goal is and how you’re going to achieve it, the next and most important part of making it happen is by taking action consistently.

For most people, they set their goals and get super excited and take massive action in the beginning, but then an obstacle pops up and they give up or fall back to taking minimal action.

The trick is to get into the habit of taking consistent action day-in day-out. This is where accountability comes in again.

You’re more likely to stay on track if you have someone to help, support and motivate you through the workouts.

6. Celebrate your progress

Goal setting should be fun and something to get excited about. Far too often we are too hard on ourselves in the process that we forget to celebrate the progress we’ve made.

So, remember to acknowledge big and small wins along the way – life is short and it’s always much sweeter when you celebrate the journey.

Good look with your goals in 2018. Here’s to a happy and healthy year. All the very best.

Your trainer: Graham Low, owner of East Coast Fitness, is an award-winning personal trainer based in Seaham. The ex-professional footballer was nominated for the Small Business of the Year and Leisure Awards at the Sunderland Echo Portfolio Awards last year. Graham won the Leisure Award at the North East Hotels Association Awards while working as gym manager at Seaham Hall in 2012. For personal training, boot camps, small group training and online programmes email [email protected] or visit www.eastcoast-fitness.com