How to Get Started With Your Health Goal for 2013

Earlier this week I joined a gym to help me work on my health goal for 2013. I had previously been working out in my garage after I purchased a bench press. There is only so much one can do in a garage with limited equipment and I have a very specific and measurable goal for my fitness which I have committed to achieving.

I remember when I was back in University in the midst of wanting to look and feel my best. All the University slogans, posters etc... had urged me to start working on my fitness. The truth was I was not COMMITTED to these goals, I was only interested in them. I started off with the best of intentions, but over time I stopped working out on a consistent basis and only did it when I felt like it.

A couple of years ago (slowly but surely), I started to become more COMMITTED to work on my fitness... and my life! That only happen when I started to attend business seminars (or life seminars as I now call them). When I saw the way successful people looked after their health, I wanted to become a role model for this within my own circle of friends.

I have almost been working out (weights three times a week, football at least once a week and jogging at least three times a week) for three years now on a CONSISTENT basis and here are 4 lessons I have learned to achieve your fitness goal faster, more easily and better than ever before:

1. Commit to Your Workout - That way you will do whatever it takes to achieve the results you desire. What do I mean by this? Well if you come home from work and feel tired and you hear a little voice say - take it easy, rest and relax. You have to say "thanks for sharing" and get up and hit the gym!

2. Progress not Perfection - Don't over-do it when you are in the gym, be it weights or running. For example, if you are trying to bench 80kg but are struggling to do this, it is OK to drop the weight to 75kg. You are not after perfection; instead you are after progress with your goals. By consistently benching 75kg, you will jump up to 8okg a lot easier. But if you persist on benching 80kg when it is over your limit, you may experience pain and an injury!

3. Focus on You - Don't start comparing yourself to other people who are working out in the gym. That's a sure-fire way to fail and become stressed. Instead compare yourself to when you first started working out in the gym. Use a schedule and follow it i.e. time your runs or take note of the weights you lift and update this every session.

4. Patience Grasshopper - This is not a race, remember ordinary things done consistently overtime, and yield extraordinary results. If you start doing weight, you won't start to see great results until 3-6 months into it. That's fine. Be patient. The compliments will come and it feels great to have other's notice how well you look and feel.

Once you have these four simple steps in your head, you will achieve the exercise goals you've always wanted - I am sure of it!

Have you set a health goal for this year?