Setting Goals Helps You Get the Most Out of Activity Monitors (and Life)

Some people think just being aware of something is enough to improve. They think that to say less profanity that they’ll just have someone put a penny in a jar when they say a curse word. Or, they’ll track their steps so they’ll notice them and work to take more steps and get more exercise. Monitoring without goal setting may actually hurt your performance. New research shows that just being aware of activity on your activity monitor does not improve your activity.

So, in this research — they find that if you want to have a benefit of increasing your steps, you have to set a goal for how many steps. In fact, if you DON’T set a goal, your activity may actually decrease.

So, is it 5,000 steps a day or 10,000? How many?

This fits with all of life. Setting a target makes a difference. For example, someone timing your run around the track may not make a difference unless you set as your goal to improve that time.

We all need goals. We all need to know what success looks like.

So, I challenge you today. If you have an activity monitor – what is your goal in steps or calories burned? Set it.

And if you don’t have one, then set a physical goal of some kind — 20 minutes a day or 30 minutes a day or walk 2 miles a day. Some measurable goal. Because exercising “when I feel like it” won’t cut it and it won’t get you the results you’re looking to improve.

Even more, if you don’t set your physical health as a priority, one day your body will make it a priority for you.

So, today’s challenge – set physical goals. Track them. Even better, have an accountability partner.