Fitness Goals: Five Tips to Get Super Fit

1. Too many people have fitness goals as 'should' rather than 'musts'. Your fitness goals must be musts! Every single Olympian who achieved greatness had a goal that was so compelling that the time and effort to achieve that goal was worth it. You must have a compelling reason why you want to be fit and stay that way. It's not enough to say, 'because l want to fit into size 10 jeans,' unless you feel intense emotion about achieving that goal.

The initial surge of enthusiasm at the beginning of the year when you set your goal has to fade - it's a human nature for this to happen. But if you have a huge, exciting and desirable reason why you must keep going, you will absolutely give yourself more opportunity to succeed and the enthusiasm will last through the tough times.

2. You must take responsibility for your choices. There is nothing we need to know about getting fit and healthy that we haven't already heard, read about or seen with our own eyes. Education is not what is missing! Every person who gets and stays super-fit made a decision along the way to take responsibility for their results or lack of results.

What you eat and drink are shaping your body right now. What you eat and drink tomorrow will shape your body tomorrow. What choices you make about how much you exercise, what type of exercise you do and how much you hold yourself accountable are up to you.

Taking responsibility for our bodies and our health is the biggest challenge there is for anyone who struggles with fitness. The moment you say "the buck stops with me", you've taken the first step. And this is not a reason to beat up on yourself if you haven't taken responsibility until now. Getting down on yourself is another way of avoiding responsibility!

3. Get a plan! It's not enough to say, 'I want to lose weight'. It's got to be a specifically stated goal so you'll know what you've achieved. For example: 'it's summer 2009 and I'm looking amazing in my bikini, my ideal weight of X, surrounded by friends and family and enjoying feeling wonderful, fit and fabulous! Once you've got your goal really clear, break it down into details. Whatever you focus on is what you will get, so focus on each step needed to get to where you want to go. If the goal is pretty big, the more small steps you have in place and the more chance of success you'll have.

4. Develop a routine. It could be joining a gym, riding your bike, walking the dog, jogging on the beach, walking at lunchtime, doing aerobics at home as you watch a fitness DVD... the list goes on and all of it is available to us right now. The routine you develop will become normal for you the more you do it. If you break the routine, you'll feel uncomfortable for not sticking to it.

5. Don't keep your goals a secret, that's the same as saying "l don't know if I'll stick at it". Put it out there to people that this is the new you and then on days when you're not as motivated to get out of bed, you'll know you'll have five people asking about your morning!

You could even get a coach or fitness trainer, someone to work with you as you set about achieving your goals. I've worked with my coach for three years now. The results have meant that my investment with him has been repaid 100 times over.