Setting goals requires careful planning, it is easy to grab many different goals. That is why it is worth thinking about whether one or several simultaneous goals are more profitable, and what should be taken into account. Although the focus here is on physical goals, the same applies to other areas of life.

one goal

Focusing on one goal can be easy and clear, especially if the goal is big and includes many moving factors. For example, weight loss includes exercise, nutrition, rest and other lifestyles that need to be balanced. In this case, it makes sense to put almost all the focus on one thing. If there are many big goals, time, energy and concentration can run out.

With one goal, there is a risk of failure. What if you fail in the goal, factors beyond your control will get in your way. So even if you have one main goal, it makes sense to leave time and energy for other things as well. These can support each other very well.

several goals

Everyone probably knows people who always have many irons in the fire and are always on the go. Probably, these people have many different goals. This works if the time management and energy distribution are well planned. The danger is often burning out. It is also worth considering what the goals are, if they are completely opposite and do not support each other, maybe it is worth cutting out a part or moving them to a later time.

Looking at exercise, you often come across people who want to run, go to the gym, lose weight, gain muscles, compete in many different distances, and gain speed and endurance. All this should still be achieved with about an hour of daily practice. In other words, this sounds like a disaster. Each of these can be achievable, but they should be put on a timeline because, at the same time, these are almost impossible to achieve. For example, you can start by exercising endurance by running and in the gym, with the goal of losing weight and perhaps training for a certain distance. After this, you can start exercising the muscle mass or speed.

focus on these

Determine what your main goal is and what else you want. In which timeline is it realistic to achieve the goal in question, as well as which other smaller goals can go hand in hand? Which ones do you transfer to the future? Divide your main goal into parts and slowly add elements. Be realistic with your time usage. Small goals can be really simple, like “I want to perform x many pull-ups”, or “I want to improve my 10km run time by x minutes”. Having several well-planned goals can maximize the number of successes, but don’t tackle too many at once.

A coach is a good help in setting physical goals and in sensible and systematic training. If you don’t have a coach yourself, take a look here.