The Four P’s Of Goal Setting (03/08/2019)

It seems like a long time ago when we saw the ball drop and the clock go from 11:59pm on the night of December 31st to 12:00am on January 1, welcoming in a new year.

With the new year comes the tidal wave of New Year’s Resolutions.

Where are you today versus where you were two months ago? If you haven’t made any progress, then how did you set up your goals in the first place?

There are many systems laying out how to establish goals. One that we like and shared on our weekly goal board with members a while back is the Four P’s.

The Four P’s include:

  • Passion
  • Positive Thinking
  • Patience
  • Perseverance

The Four P concept is design to assist you with long-lasting motivation along with a deeper meaning. Anything worth doing and achieving is not going to be easy, so you will need to create a goal system that works for you.

The passion part is easy to understand – you must want change and be passionate about what your goal is. That can be a 20-pound fat-loss goal or a 300+ pound deadlift goal (our members are passionate about deadlifting).

If you are comfortable with where you are at and not bothered by your current status or situation, the energy and motivation you need to make change is not going to be great enough to fuel you toward your goal.

You need to be passionate.

Positive thinking is simple to grasp. Thinking positively can lead to a positive outcome. Is the glass “half full or half empty?”

If you tell yourself you can’t, you won’t.

If you tell yourself you can, you will.

If you make mistakes or have setbacks, understanding that the experience is teaching you how to adapt toward the future can help you spin an obstacle into a positive growth opportunity.

Practice patience is one of the 5 Core Values at ELEVATE. If you have patience, you can appreciate the journey. People who are impatient tend to give up or switch to what they perceive as the next quick fix.

Getting stronger is a long-term process that takes patience. Shedding body fat in a healthy manner takes time and requires patience.

Understand that you’ll make mistakes along the way (refer to positive thinking above) and the goal is to aim for progress, being 1% better each day or whatever measurable you prefer to use.

Put in the effort consistently, with patience, and you will achieve your desired results.

Perseverance ties all of this together.

Don’t give up if you are passionate about what you set out to do. Expect to be knocked down many times, always getting up once more.

Again, anything worth doing is going to be challenging. Don’t give up, keeping moving forward.

As you reflect on your goals and where you are today, take the time to think about how passionate and meaningful your goals are for you.

How much positivity are you feeding your mind to achieve that positive outcome?

How patient can you be to reach your goal?

How much perseverance will you need to continue making progress no matter what gets in your way?

Enjoy each day, think about how much better tomorrow will be, and continue working toward what you want and who you want to be.