Working Out Goals

A good goal needs to be SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-based

If they are too vaguely defined, not something useful, or out of your control, they are not a good goal.

Some people really like stretch goals, I guess figuring that if they set their sights way high, they know they won't come close, but they will supposedly come in higher than they would have if they had set their sights lower (if you aim for 50, you'll achieve 45-50, where if you aim for 100, you'll maybe achieve 70). The problem with those types of goals is that they are usually focused on the end result, not the process to get there. And generally the end result is something not completely in their control (not attainable). SMART goals should be focused on the steps you're taking, with some overarching ideal helping to make sure your goal is relevant. What most people set as their goal should probably be their ideal or vision.

I set a goal a year ago to get outside at least 5 times per month. Basically that's just a little more than once per week minimum. More specifically, I would use the MapMyHike app on my phone to record my outdoors exercising, so it would be measurable. It is very doable, and in fact most months I did it much more than that, although in December, let's just say I got outside a lot the last week of the month after not so much the first part of the month.

My first recorded hike was July 7, 2016 to Myrtle Falls in Mount Rainier National Park.

Today, July 8, 2017, I hit my 100th workout on a bike ride up Green Canyon.

Some stats from the last year, from the MapMyHike app:

Weekly average

• 9.7 miles
• 2 hr 45 min 55 sec
• 2 workouts
• 1,675 calories

Total for the year

• 464.6 miles
• 5 day 13 hr 32 min 31 sec
• 100 workouts
• 80,420 calories

That's about 27 pounds' worth of calories I kept off, and a lot of adventures.

A somewhat related goal I set at the beginning of the year, which I've kept up for six months so far, is to post an Instagram picture every day. This helps me with the goal to get outside and exercise, since there are always nice things to take pictures of when I'm out riding, hiking, snowshoeing, and so on. Not everything I post is outside in nature, although the vast majority of pics fit that category. It also helps me develop my eye for photography. Being color-blind (red/green color deficient, thank you) and only semi-reasonable at drawing, my best chance at being artistic is photography. Double relevant.