Q: I see you hit your goal, how much bigger will the next goal be?

Q: Wow, you hit your goal weight. How much lower will your new goal weight be?

A: This particular question could have been generalized to any goal - losing weight, lifting some amount of weight, running a mile in a certain amount of time - you name it.  I'll answer the weight loss question, but the principle applies more broadly.  It all boils down to the power of proper goal setting in the short and long term, as I discuss in my 10 Principles.

That principle is simple - goals are only useful to the point where they're motivational and sources of positivity in your life.  If you set them so that you end up obsessing, they aren't goals - they're problems.  See the difference?  It's not as simple as word choice.  The word goal carries with it positive connotations.  Problem carries with it nothing but negative connotations.

Want to argue against me that a problem can be good because it causes you to rise to the occasion and overcome it?  No, that's a challenge.  A challenge gets you to rise up and do better than you would otherwise do so you can overcome it.  It's something tough to do.  A problem is something that's wrong.

So, this all started as I've been posting about my weight loss journey over the past year.  My goal was to go from 222 on July 1st, 2011 to 180 by July 1st, 2012.  I did it, but it was more like November of 2011, so well ahead of schedule.  I set a new goal for the remaining time of 10% body fat or below (I was at about 13% when I hit 180).

I've kept posting my weight and weight loss whenever I reached new personal records, but also noted when I didn't find this to be a good thing.  For instance, on July 12th, 2012, I hit 169.8 lbs, for a total weight loss of 52.2 lbs.  That is lower than I want to be, and it's not good for two reasons:

1. I don't think that's the optimal weight for my build, age and activity level
2. It was largely achieved vs the 175 steady-state I've been at due to atrophy after having double hernia surgery.  Hitting a weight loss target by 'letting yourself go', as it were, is not something to cheer about.  I can assure you, I'd much rather be 185 and toned and fit than 170 and not reaching my potential.

So, an old college friend keeps posting "Go for 150!" on Facebook when I post my personal records.  It always irks me (that may be his intent) because this a) sends the wrong message to people about smart goals, and b) totally plays into the inane social construct that thinner is inherently better.  If I were to hit 150, I would likely need medical attention, or at least to be plugged into an IV several hours a day!

No, no, my 'new' goal has nothing to do with any body metric at all.  And this is my point.  Set a real challenging goal that you will have to work to achieve.  But once you get there, maintaining it and building off what hitting that goal does for you is a far nobler and wiser goal than just doing 10% better or something.

I took my own advice to heart and have set my new goal as doing five 5K races by the end of next summer.  It's caveated on my back being able to handle it since I had back surgery and re-injured my back just before going out for my hernia surgery.  This goal is about using what I achieved with my body in hitting my goal for the past year to do something.  That's powerful, inspiring and positive.  If instead I said "Get to 160lbs and <7.5% body fat," then what do I achieve other than concerning my wife that I am not obsessing about my weight?  What does that get me?  Nothing.

Goals are achievements.  If hitting a goal gets you nothing, or gets you worse, it's not a goal.