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Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most influential figures in the world with an audience ranging from sports to politics and everything in between. After conquering multiple stages in his life, he now focuses on improving the lives of people who seem to be lost in the weeds. Arnold does so through his social media platforms, his famous newsletters, and his appearances on various podcasts and shows.
Recently, Arnold posted a video on his Instagram account asking people to trust the process and focus on their goals while they hit the gym. The caption read:
"Give me 30 days. Most people want to succeed but don’t know how to set up a plan correctly. I’m here for you."
The reassuring post was aimed at people who seem to be lost in their fitness journey. He then prompted his audience to download and read his e-book where he provides, in elaborate detail, a method for 'setting and achieving goals'.
Arnold on the importance of goals
Goal setting is one of the most important things in the realm of sports. In professional athletes such as bodybuilders, this helps optimize performance and for the average person, it helps them identify their fitness needs. Arnold, in the video, said:
"I always reccomend to people, very highly, when someone says, 'I tried to make it to the next level in my success,' and I say, 'What is the next level? Where do you want to go?' And a lot of times they cannot identify what that next level is."
Research in sports psychology has identified twelve key principles of effective goal setting. The first one requires the goal to be specific, measureable and observable. This is key as general goals like 'I want to be fit' make it difficult to navigate the step-by-step process through which it can be achieved. Addressing the importance of specificity, Arnold said:
"The only way you can go and do the work is if you specifically and exactly visualize what it is that you want to accomplish. So for intance, if you say, 'I want to go and be in better shape', I'd say 'What does that mean?' Let's set a goal. Let's say that you want to lose 20 pounds because it seems to me like you have a big waist line, so we can trim that down ... then here is the training program. So now he has the goal ... 'I want to lose 20 pounds' ... And now he can go on the scale everyday and shoot for the goal to lose 20 pounds and at the same time, build up and get more muscular."
Sometimes, trainers and fitness professionals can help build a step-by-step guide to achieving a certain, seemingly general goal. This breakdown is why fitness professionals are vital to the improvement of athletes and people looking to get fit in general.
So if you have a specific goal and say 'I want to look great when I go to the beach', and that's a great goal ... [it may] sound stupid ... but to me that's a great goal."
Arnold continues to help people on their journeys through his content. His inspirational tendencies seem unending indeed!
