If you have ever shown any interest for fitness or are spending some time in the gym, you might have heard the fitness professionals use a term S.M.A.R.T Goals when talking to their clients. This term is/ or should be the base of every workout program designed for a client or anyone who has decided to get on the fit train by themselves.

S.M.A.R.T goals is a term that is not only often used in the fitness industry, but its also frequently mentioned in the business world, blogging like on http://connectedcongress.org, personal life and with regards education.

So what does it actually mean? The name already gives itself away, it has something to do with goals and being smart. This term can be interpreted in many ways by just seeing the name of it and all of like to think that our goals no matter what are smart and carefully thought through. But are they really? Lets look more closely at what S.M.A.R.T goal actually means letter by letter.

Specific - Your goal should always clear and very easy to understand. Saying you want to get healthy is too of a general term, there are too many ways you can get healthy like quitting smoking, eating well, stopping smoking, exercising, etc. If you want to make sure you reach your goals, you need to know exactly what they are. Something like loosing weight or maybe putting weight on is more specific and gives you an idea what you are actually working towards to.

Measurable - Knowing that you want to loose weight or gain it is not enough, you also need to know how much of your weight you want to loose or gain during your training. Is it 10 kg, 5kg, 3kg and so on ? You need to be able to ad a number to your goal.

Action orientated - You should be clear on whats steps and actions you will implement in your daily routine to achieve your weight loss goal. Having a goal, but not knowing what to do, to achieve it will only lead you to failing before you have even started.

Realistic - All your goals so be realistic and achievable. Lets say deciding to loose 10kg in a week will be something that can be classified as unachievable and unrealistic goal, this sort of goal will for sure leave you with the sense of failure and disappointment. The recommended amount of weight to loose per a week ranges between 500-1kg. Which will be quite realistic to achieve with proper exercise and well balanced diet.

Timely - Every goal should have a time line attached to it, so you don’t feel like your working towards something forever. Lets say you want to loose 5KG and you are following the recommended amount of weight loss numbers, you can set your goal to be loosing 500g of weight a week and loose the 5KG in 2,5 months.

So this is how your goal should look: ” I want to loose 500g of weight a week and total of 5KG of my body weight in 3 months by doing strength training with a personal trainer and doing a 30 minute run 2 times a week. ”

Looking at your goals in this way will guarantee a much higher % of success and give you the knowledge of what you are actually working towards to. Working towards a general goal is not the best course of action if you want to succeed and stick to your exercise routine. Choose your goals and be SMART about it!

"Never underestimate the power of the mind" - that is the advice which has been given to us by one of the top dieticians in the country. It seems that it is all very well for people to start a weight loss program these days - with huge excitement - only for them to then fail at their objectives in the long run, as the motivation runs out.

Clearly, in order to keep up with a diet or exercise regime, one needs to have a particular mindset which will be conducive to a successful weight loss period. But how do you get in to this mindset, and how do you know that you have what it takes?

The Right Mindset for Weight Loss

It is a proven fact that people who rush in to their weight loss program are often those people who fail miserably - coming out the other side with more weight than they started with.

So, how do you actually get yourself in to the right mindset? Take a look at the following tips:

• Talk to family and friends and tell them about your objectives.
• Speak to your doctor, and let them know of your upcoming weight loss goals.
• Choose a starting date which has significance to you - i.e. birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc.
• Start a journal and keep track of your progress.

All of these things are extremely helpful at the beginning of a new weight loss program. They can provide that added support at times when the going is tough. Some people have even gone as far as cleaning out their pantry to prepare for the start of their weight loss program.

Whatever you end up doing, understand that you need to take at least some steps to providing yourself with mental support for the upcoming goals - which ultimately might be quite difficult to achieve.

How Do You Know If You're In The Right Mindset?

Knowing when you are in the right mindset for weight loss can be a difficult thing - and there is certainly no measure for testing that the right time is upon you.

Because of the subjective nature of the mindset, you will need to gauge whether or not the time is right yourself - by looking at your overall situation. You will ultimately know when the time is right - and when it is, just go for it!