This is the ultimate guide to achieving fitness goals in 2024 – follow these steps, and you cannot go wrong. To achieve fitness goals this year, there are a number of steps you’ll need to think about to fully realise your potential. If achieving your fitness goals was easy, everyone would nail it first time! Unfortunately, that isn’t reality – life gets in the way, obstacles crop up, you run out of time and motivation, and too many health journeys come to a premature end. Don’t worry though – if you approach your fitness goals with the right mindset, and with a structure to follow, you’ve got a good chance to make it into the small percent who make progress, change their lives, and never look back. Let’s get started with some straight-forward steps, and get you the results you are truly capable of.
Most of us have, at some point, tried to make progress with our health and wellbeing before. Because we all have different challenges in our lives, our obstacles will be different. It’s vitally important, however, to reflect honestly on your previous failures, so that this time will be different. Learning from the past is key to the here and now. What held you back before? Was it a lack of time? Did work interrupt too often? Perhaps childcare became an issue? Or maybe your motivation faded. Many people don’t see the results they want, in the time they want – and their motivation and good intentions fall away. Whatever it was that damaged your goals last time, you need to put a plan into place to prevent that from happening again. Let’s not make the same mistakes twice!
The importance of setting realistic goals can’t be overstated. As human beings, we’re all ultimately driven by emotion, therefore it’s of paramount importance that we feel good as we achieve fitness goals in 2024. One of the worst feelings we’ll experience is that of failure. If we set our sights too high, we are setting ourselves up to fail. If you join a gym and set a goal of attending 5x per week – how realistic is this really? One late meeting, family emergency, or delayed commute home – and we have “failed” at our goal. In reality, training 2x per week regularly is a really big achievement! So consider setting an easier goal, to set yourself up to succeed! This creates a positive feedback loop likely to keep you going long-term. You set a realistic goal, achieve it, and then set a new goal. Be really honest with your fitness goals, and avoid the temptation to overreach. Make sure your goal is crystal clear, and you’ll be on the way to success.
Whether your goal is to run your first 5K, do a pull-up, or lower your blood pressure – a plan just for you is the best way forwards. You may well have seen “personalised programs” on social media or other websites, but unless the author has a conversation with you, it won’t be truly personalised. The reason that this is so important, is that we’re all different. Therefore what works for someone else, won’t necessarily work for you. A basic plan can be a good place to start, but to really ensure that you achieve fitness goals in 2024, you’ll want to get personal!
Hiring an online personal trainer or coach might be a great idea. We wrote an article on the pros and cons of in-person and online trainers, which you should check out. A good trainer should arrange to have a proper consultation with you, and will be able to advise you on precisely what you should and shouldn’t be doing to move forwards. We offer a free consultation here if you want to get a genuinely personalised training plan. Whether you buy a plan, find a free one, or create your own, make sure of a few things. Firstly, regularly review your progress. Secondly, break down your big goal into smaller, bitesize goals. And thirdly, consider sharing your goals with a friend or colleague to increase accountability – more on that later!
We’ve called it the Big One for a reason. Consistency is absolutely everything with fitness, health, and wellbeing progress. Think of it like this – who will make more progress? Someone with a terrible training plan who does it regularly? Or someone with an amazing training plan who never does it? The person who actually gets up and exercises will make at least some progress. We can’t stress this enough – you MUST find a way to be consistent. This mainly comes down to two things – time management, and accountability. It may not be how you usually do things, or maybe it is. Firstly, time management. But take control of your time. Regularly block your work calendar out at a specific time. Set expectations with your partner by letting them know when you’ll be exercising. Set two mornings per week where you’ll get up early to train. Secondly, accountability. Find a friend to exercise with. Hire a personal trainer, maybe an online one. Print your goals off and place them in eyesight. There may be other ideas which work for you – so have a think! Consistency should be your priority, so make it happen. You truly will achieve fitness goals if you can stay consistent on your journey.
Your path to success consists of a combination of all of the above. Firstly, reflect on your past setbacks. Consider your previous health and fitness journey – where did it come unstuck? Reflect, whilst staying positive, and plan to make sure the same setback doesn’t occur again. Next, make some clear and realistic goals. Set yourself up for success with goals which you know you can achieve – then once you’ve made it, move to the next level! Create a personalised plan, either by yourself using online resources, or with a certified trainer. Once you’ve got knowledge of your previous blocks, clear and realistic goals, and a written plan to achieve them – it’s time for consistency. If you follow these steps, in order, then you’ll make it!!