Georgia State Games Commission

	Lighten Up Georgia - Weekly Tip 7 WWW.LIGHTENUPGEORGIA.ORG "Fighting Obesity - One Step At A Time" Georgia Sports Foundation * P.O. Box 2043 * Kennesaw, GA 30156-9100 (770) 528-3580 * (770) 528-3590 Fax * jseagra6@kennesaw.edu
Release: March 14, 2005 Look around you, everything, and I mean everything, in your life was at one time considered impossible. We are surrounded by miracles. We fly to the coast and the moon. Cars have Internet connections and are tracked by satellites. We have mapped the bottom of the oceans and our own DNA. Our daily lives feature computers, fiber optics, wireless communication and an innumerable quantity of wonders. All those miracles started as ideas in someone's natural miraculous brain. They became goals and were realized by individuals who created steps, learned from failure and kept their eye on their dreams. Goal Setting What is your goal? Have you set a goal for your weight loss or increased activity yet? It's awfully hard to keep on track if you don't have something to shoot for. Set reasonable goals and then break them up into easy blocks. Don't set out to run a marathon if you haven't been able to jog a mile. Don't try to lift 100 pounds if you haven't been able to hoist 50 yet. Don't try to drop 100 pounds in two months if you haven't lost 10 during the first month. Make your goals fun and along the way celebrate your smaller achievements. Before you start any fitness program you need a road map, a plan. You need to set GOALS. What is a GOAL? A goal can be very simply defined as an end towards which some efforts are directed. In a game of football, each team tries to put the ball beyond the opponent's goal line, using a team effort. Similarly, in fitness, the goal is to achieve a predetermined target by determining the objectives to achieve the desired results. A goal is not an objective or a mission statement. Very often goals, objectives and missions are mixed up, leading to confusion. Goals are specific and always measurable. Missions are a statement of intent. And, objectives are of a strategic nature. A goal should answer the following questions: What? Why? Who? Where? How? Goals are set to establish a direction, identify expected results and improve teamwork. A goal should be defined and written down. Post your goals where you can see them every day. They will help to keep you motivated. They should be measurable. They should be achieved in a specific time frame. They should be achieved at the lowest possible costs. Finally, setting goals is not enough. You should be geared up to achieve them. For this, you must implement an action plan and monitor progress periodically. Revise the objectives, tactics and strategy to achieve the goal as needed without changing the goal. Assuming the goal is realistic, it should never be changed. There could be cost and time overruns in achieving your goals due to various unforeseen hurdles in which case the goals could have been unrealistic. Many believe that goals should be realistic and attainable. Others believe that setting uncomfortable goals has its own advantages, because this approach stretches one to the maximum and rewards are very high. Make the target high, but not so high as to be out of reach. Research on goal setting tells us the following: People who set goals for themselves do better than those who do not. People who set specific goals do better than those who set vague goals. Difficult goals, if accepted, result in better performance. Successful goal attainment is found to be related to conscious goal setting, awareness of forces related to the goal, high expectations of success, high psychological safety, a concern for measuring progress and an emphasis on self evaluation. (Courtesy of Lighten Up ME! - Maine State Games) More on Setting Goals "KEY" to your success with exercise is setting goals (short and long term) and developing strategies to reach the goals. Below you will find help with both. Realistic Goals: Make your goals CHALLENGING, but realistic. Include something you think you can do. Make sure it's a goal you'd like to achieve. Ideas to include would be how far, how many minutes, or how many times each week that you want to exercise. Consider, also, how you want to look or feel. " I will walk for 20 minutes, 3 times a week in one month." " I will try to go to an aerobics class that I have always been intimidated to try." " I will walk in the Memorial Hospital walk that is in six months." Short and Long Term Goals: Be careful not to jump headfirst into an exercise program. Make goals for the short term and build on them. Start slowly and gradually increase your level of exertion. DON'T overdo it! As you get stronger and faster, challenge yourself with a few more minutes or a bit faster pace. Writing Down Goals: " I want to be able to ______________________ in one month." " I want to be able to ______________________ in six months." " I want to be able to ______________________ in one year." (Any changes in levels of physical activity should be discussed with your physician.) --END-- WWW.LIGHTENUPGEORGIA.ORG
Remember: March 18, 2005: Remember to turn in your teams weekly activity report. April 2, 2005: Georgia Games Cheerleading/Dance Championships May 7, 2005: Cobb Cup (Team Handball) July 8-17, 2005: Georgia Games Championships August 6, 2005: Run For Life (Road Race) September 12, 2005: Bandy & Bailey Golf Jam WWW.GEORGIAGAMES.ORG

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