2. My Goal
Specific: I want to exercise at least 5 days a week. I want to do
this so that I can be in great physical condition.
Measurable: The difficult part will be staying motivated if I miss a
few days. To resolve this, each week will be a new start.
Attainable: Planning my schedule to accommodate enough
exercise, eating and sleeping will be essential.
Realistic: I know I can do this, because I did as an
undergraduate. Preparation of food and adequate sleep will help
me find the motivation that I will need.
Timely: The more I succeed, the better my body will feel. I will
give myself reinforcing rewards when I succeed and after eight
weeks, I hope to have established a long-lasting habit.
3. Reinforcing Factors
I have a passion for living health living which
includes exercise.
My best friend, even though he lives States
away, is a great motivator when I need one.
Weighing myself and using my appearance
became a motivation to workout more and
harder.
Listening to Tony Robbins on the ‘’power of
momentum’’ and the ‘’power of questions’’
proved to be very inspiring.
4. Barriers That I Encountered
Sometimes, there was no one present, when
I went to play soccer.
Once I forgot my identification and was too
lazy to run home and get it.
Once, the gym was closed.
I had family problems which kept me from
succeeding week 2.
I had a funeral to attend, which kept me from
succeeding week 3.
6. Analysis:
Success: weeks 1, 5, 7
Failure: weeks 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
Weeks 2 and 3 were failures because of
family issues.
Week 4 was a failure because my friends
stopped playing soccer for two weeks, which
is something I overcame week 5 with the help
and motivation of my best friend.
7. Positive Results
I did a lot of research the first 5 weeks. Week
6, I started an organized 3-day/week lifting
program. I have succeeded in maintaining
this program, and hope to build onto this
success.
I have become much more flexible from my
yoga workouts, which has helped alleviate
chronic back and neck pain.
I have started to gain some cardiovascular
conditioning from soccer.
8. Retrospective Thoughts
Lacking a routine made it hard to continue this SMART goal.
Deciding on a weight lifting routine simplified this dilemma in
week 6.
Recording my progress has definitely given me motivation to
continue this goal. Just being able to look back at how poorly I
did is motivating. I plan to restart this goal with my newfound
lifting routine and scheduled soccer/yoga sessions.
I discovered that regularly communicating with my highly
motivated friend, who works out every day, proved to be an
unexpected strong reinforcing factor.
I observed that I only worked out on two weekends. These two
weeks made up 2/3 of my success. Clearly, If I want to succeed,
I need to workout on weekends.
9. Conclusion: Failure or Success?
Failure: I failed to achieve this SMART goal,
by not completing the minimum required
number of workouts per week, only
succeeding three weeks.
Success: I succeeded in establishing a
weight-lifting routine and hopefully a workout
habit.
Success: I feel much stronger and fitter than
when I started. I can now use what I learned
to improve my next eight weeks of training.
10. Personal Response
I feel that even though I failed 5 out of 8
weeks, I have built a strong habit, and have
grown accustomed to my new environment. I
believe that when I record my progress over
the next 8 weeks, I will succeed more than 3
weeks, if not all. I am glad that I was
presented with this opportunity to record my
own actions, from which to study and hope to
build a strong commitment to fitness with the
new skills I have learned.
