Setting goals is very important when you are trying to change your body and your life. Setting realistic goals however, is what some people don’t understand. If you are new to working out and have never touched a weight in your life then don’t set a goal to bench 200+ lbs. You can always keep that goal in the back of your mind, but setting a goal that is that far out of reach will only discourage you from sticking with it. If you start with something a little more in reach like say, to lose 15 pounds in a month you will be happy once you reach your goal (especially if you reach it early) then you can set yourself another goal. Keep setting little goals for yourself to achieve and before you know it, your long term goals are an arms length away!
A little story for everyone…
My father has gained some weight within the last 10 years and finally decided he wanted to change himself. Something I always heard him say was “I’ve never weighed this much in my life!” He set a go
al to lose 100 pounds, go on a cruise, and be able to take his shirt off. With this being said, he cleaned up his diet and started on P90x. He was doing very good and lost 26 pounds in 2 months. But because that was so far off from the 100 pounds he dreamed about, he got discouraged and slowly picked up his old eating habits and soon stopped working out.
If my dad would have set short term goals then maybe he would have stuck with it and be in a better position than he is today.
Remember to start of slow! Your body is changing, you just don’t know it yet!
Daily Workouts and Motivation 