Micro Goals For Macro Fitness Success

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I want to lose 50 pounds.

I want to do yoga 5 times a week.

I want to run a half marathon.

Those are major fitness goals. They are valiant goals, and are worthy of all the work it requires to reach them. But, those goals are heavy. They can stress you out when you think about the work that goals into them and the setbacks that might come along throughout your journey.

That’s where micro goals come in. Instead of saying, “I want to lose 50 pounds,” say “I want to lose two pounds in the next two weeks.” It feels different, right? It’s sustainable weight loss at one pound per week, and ultimately, if you keep it up you’ll get to that 50 pounds. But, there’s something about one to two pounds that doesn’t create the same mental battle that 50 pounds create.

Fitness is a journey, so why not tackle your goals in the same manner. Break those goals down. You deserve to be happy as you work toward changing happens and reaching areas in your wellness journey that you haven’t been able to conquer in the past. But if you psych yourself out mentally before you ever get started, I can almost guarantee that you’ll never get to where you want to go.

Here’s a step-by-step process for turning macro goals into attainable micro goals.

  1. Determine your macro goal — I want to run a half marathon

  2. Break it down into something that doesn’t bother you mentally – I want to run 1 mile three times a week and increase my mileage as I feel comfortable doing so.

  3. Take action – Put your runs into your calendar, and set notifications so you know when it’s time to hit the pavement

  4. Track your progress – Write down when you run and how far you go.

  5. Refocus on the macro goal – When you get up to 10 miles a day, set a date for your half marathon, because three more miles will be easy as pie!

  6. Take that goal down – Keep your mileage up until race day, then knock that goal out of the park.

You can break any goal down into smaller parts. Those micro goals add up, and over time you’ll reach that big goal that scared you for so long.

Jordan Means