YOUR FITNESS COACH
For advertising information call 859.368.0778 or email [email protected] | February 2016
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What Are You Aiming At?
Set specific goals, write them down,
create momentum – succeed!
By Willie B. Ray, Personal Trainer,
Art of Strength Kettle Bell Gym
1301 Winchester Road #129
Lexington, KY 40505
Zig Ziglar once said, “If you aim at nothing,
you will hit it every time.” And each of us
knows from our own experiences that he is
right. The general flow of human life tends to
be toward ease and comfort. One day flows
into the next, and many of us never quite get
around to turning our good intentions into
reality.
Those “good intentions,” while no doubt
admirable, tend to remain unrealized mainly
because they are too vague. Vague ideas are
impossible to focus on and aim for; they are
moving targets.
Do you have moving targets in your life?
Perhaps you want to eat a more healthy diet
or lose the winter weight that has crept up
on you. Maybe you just want to establish a
regular workout routine and stick with it this
time.
The keys to your success are two-fold:
steady the target and create momentum.
How to Stop a Moving Target
Imagine a target shooter trying to hit a
small bull’s eye on a distant target. He begins
to aim, but then the target suddenly moves to
the right, and before he can position himself
to aim again, the target darts to the left. Will
he ever hit that target? Not likely.
Without setting specific goals, your good
intentions are exactly like that moving target.
You would like to lose some weight, feel a
little better, make a change in your diet – but
without clearly defined goals and methods,
you can’t focus and make it happen.
The way to steady the target so you can
finally hit the bull’s eye is to define your goals
and write them down:
• How much weight do you want to lose?
• What kind of changes do you want to
make in your diet?
• How many days per week do you want to
exercise?
• Which article of clothing do you wish
would fit your body again?
• How much weight would you like to lift
while strength training?
Once you know where you want to end up,
you are much more likely to get there. But
you have to start moving toward your goals.
That is where momentum comes in. Create
momentum to reach your goals.
In his book, “Eat that Frog,” Brian Tracy
discusses the Momentum Principle of
Success. In Tracy’s words:
“This principle says that although it may
take tremendous amounts of energy to
overcome inertia and get started initially, it
then takes far less energy to keep going.”1
There is much wisdom in his words.
Sometimes the hardest part of reaching a goal
is just getting started. That first day of doing
things differently or the first experience of
bypassing an unhealthy treat in favor of a
food that will give you more energy can be
daunting. It isn’t easy and it certainly isn’t fun.
So how do you get that momentum? How
do you