When is a goal complete?

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HereWeGoAgain7
HereWeGoAgain7 Posts: 163 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Alright so I had this discussion on Facebook with a friend. We ended up agreeing to disagree, but I wanted some other takes on it.

When exactly is a non-scale goal complete? Every month I set a different goal of something I would like to be physically able to do. This month it was to complete 20 consecutive double-unders with a jump rope. Today I managed to do the following sets of double-unders: 19, 17, 15, 19, and 18. I am calling the goal complete because the spirit of the goal has been achieved. While I did not in fact do 20 consecutive double-unders, I managed to make it almost to the “magic” number 5 times in a row. On April 1, I could not do a single double-under. She says that I am cheating myself, that my goal should not be considered complete.

Now I agree that some goals are concrete goals (like getting off of medication), but do you interpret some of your goals based on the spirit or do you feel that it has to be concrete?

Either way, I am STILL calling it a goal completed. But I wanted to see what the consensus was…
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Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    IMO if the goal was 20 consecutive double unders than that is the goal and until you have done exactly that it's not complete.

    If your scale goal is 140 are you going to be done at 145?
    If your BF% goal is 25% and you are at 28% are you done?
    If your waist measurment goal is 30 inches are you done at 32 inches?

    I have a goal of Bench pressing my Bodyweight which is currently 156...if I bench 153.5 that goal is not complete as that is not my bodyweight...

    You can call it whatever you want and say it's complete but I agree with your friend...
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    IMO if the goal was 20 consecutive double unders than that is the goal and until you have done exactly that it's not complete.

    If your scale goal is 140 are you going to be done at 145?
    If your BF% goal is 25% and you are at 28% are you done?
    If your waist measurment goal is 30 inches are you done at 32 inches?

    I have a goal of Bench pressing my Bodyweight which is currently 156...if I bench 153.5 that goal is not complete as that is not my bodyweight...

    You can call it whatever you want and say it's complete but I agree with your friend...

    agreed with Stef, IMO if you didn't do 20, then you didn't reach your goal.
  • HereWeGoAgain7
    HereWeGoAgain7 Posts: 163 Member
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    If your scale goal is 140 are you going to be done at 145?

    But would you consider a scale goal complete if you get to a healthy range and realize that YOUR body is where you need it to be? Despite the number on the scale? Just asking because I have set a goal of 145 lbs OR 18% body fat...
    If your BF% goal is 25% and you are at 28% are you done?
    If your waist measurment goal is 30 inches are you done at 32 inches?

    These would be examples of what I call concrete goals...

    Thanks for your input!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    If your scale goal is 140 are you going to be done at 145?

    But would you consider a scale goal complete if you get to a healthy range and realize that YOUR body is where you need it to be? Despite the number on the scale? Just asking because I have set a goal of 145 lbs OR 18% body fat...
    If your BF% goal is 25% and you are at 28% are you done?
    If your waist measurment goal is 30 inches are you done at 32 inches?

    These would be examples of what I call concrete goals...

    Thanks for your input!

    I consider my goals complete when I hit them not almost hit them...I don't have a scale weight goal...yes there is one in my ticker but eh it's not a goal it's a mark to know when I start upping my calories as my BF% goal is my ultimate goal...which means at 20-22% BF I should weigh between 150-153...

    The question should be why is what you acheived good enough? not dimishing what you did acheive but if the goal was 20...why is 19 "good enough"?

    Sorry it's just not in me personally to settle for anything but the goals I set for myself.
  • HereWeGoAgain7
    HereWeGoAgain7 Posts: 163 Member
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    The question should be why is what you acheived good enough? not dimishing what you did acheive but if the goal was 20...why is 19 "good enough"?

    Sorry it's just not in me personally to settle for anything but the goals I set for myself.

    So perfect or bust...

    Didn't look at it in the "good enough" way myself...now I have to ponder a while...
  • yourpalsoap
    yourpalsoap Posts: 88
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    I agree with your friend and the above poster. It's a slippery slope once you start making the decision to not push yourself as far as you can go. It's the reason why I've ~almost~ hit my goal weight about 5 times in the past because it's easy to convince yourself that it's "only" a few more lbs/it's "only" one more jump and stop trying. To paraphrase Jillian Michaels "you don't stop when you see the finish line, that's when you give it more than you started with".

    If you still can't do 20, that goal isn't reached. If you can't do 20 consistently and consecutively, your goal isnt reached. But if 19 feels good, imagine how great 20 will feel!
  • HereWeGoAgain7
    HereWeGoAgain7 Posts: 163 Member
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    So it appears that I am the only one who thinks the spirit of some goals is enough...

    However I do have to disagree with this comment personally
    If you can't do 20 consistently and consecutively, your goal isnt reached.

    Mainly because some of my physcial goals are one-time goals. Just to say that I successfully finished one.

    So I guess I'll try one set for my 20 double-unders before I call my first failed physical goal....
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I wouldn't call it a fail...just a goal not reached yet...failure is when you stop trying.

    I don't agree with consistently and consecutively either...for certian goals it is what it is...

    I mean my goal of Bench BW will be consistently but hopefully only once as I will go up...

    And for things like BF%...you want to hit that goal and stay...
  • cmbauer99
    cmbauer99 Posts: 184 Member
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    Don't sell yourself short and accept something that isn't true. That is how most of us got in this " fitness" mess to begin with. Change your thoughts change your world.

    If you set a goal for 20, bust your *kitten* for 20, Don't call it "good enough"

    You can do just 1 more, I know you can.
  • asarwe
    asarwe Posts: 73 Member
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    Have you considered the fact that it's OK to feel proud of an achievement and still keep going for that "magic" goal? Hey, I can't do a single double under, so 5 would make me so proud. But if my goal is 20 that is my goal. It may take longer than I thought to get there, but I will get there. Sometimes you need to reevaluate the time-plan for reaching you goal, but you only fail once you decide either that it's impossible or not worth it. Btw, I'm impressed by the number of double unders you can do!

    My personal fitness goal is to run a 10k in under an hour, but I will be proud of myself once I can do a 5k, or a 10k slower or some other part of that goal. That does not mean the goal is reached once I can do 9k in an hour, or 10k in 70 minutes.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    I set concrete goals and will not consider them complete until I achieve them physically. I have the spirit to lose 50 lbs. but it will not be complete at 49.5 lbs. It will be complete at 50 lbs.

    You are not a failure by any means. You are further along now than when you first started so don't kick yourself. Just push yourself a little harder because you can do it.
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
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    I agree with all of this feedback already. I think you're selling yourself short with this whole "spirit of the goal" type thinking. A goal is a goal - 20 was your goal. Not 5 sets in the 15-20 range. If that was your goal than absolutely you achieved that. But the goal was 20 so go for it! You can do it and you will be really happy you busted your *kitten* to do. For something like this, it's less about the physical and much more about the mental so don't take that away from yourself. That being said, you have done really great so far!
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
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    Goals are completed when you meet or exceed them.
    You're also not locked into completing the goals you started to achieve if your mindset's changed.

    I started wanting to get to the normal range of bodyweight for my height and maintaining it. I've since changed this to maintaining a healthy body fat percentage as I feel that's a far better (read: healthier) goal to aim for.

    tl;dr: Meet the goals, or change to better ones. Your call.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    I agree with your friend and the feedback. You certainly made a great achievement, but you had a goal and you didn't hit it. Your goal wasn't 'Do around 20' - it was do 20. You did 19. Close, great job, but not goal complete.

    If your goal was to run in a 5k and you had to stop before the finish line, would you have completed it? Nope, you might have kicked some *kitten*, but the goal isn't achieved.

    If you start cheating yourself by saying 'good enough' to your goals, you'll slip and 'good enough' will become as good as it gets.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
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    If you are willing to settle....
  • ritan7471
    ritan7471 Posts: 99 Member
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    These would be examples of what I call concrete goals...

    Thanks for your input!

    To me, 20 double unders is a concrete goal as well since it's countable.

    A "spirit" goal to me is something like "buy clothes from the normal sizes". Then the spirit is reached when I get to a size 18 misses for example, but someone else might not feel the spirit is reached until they are in a size 12 or less.

    However, I also feel like if you are happy with doing 5 sets of 15 plus double unders and you feel you've proven something to yourself, why not move on to another goal.

    "Meet the goals, or change to better ones. Your call." This from CipherZero. No one else should be telling you when to feel satisfied with changing a goal or moving on to a new goal.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Your goals are complete when you decide they are. It's your life, your health, so you decide.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    So it appears that I am the only one who thinks the spirit of some goals is enough...

    However I do have to disagree with this comment personally
    If you can't do 20 consistently and consecutively, your goal isnt reached.

    Mainly because some of my physcial goals are one-time goals. Just to say that I successfully finished one.

    So I guess I'll try one set for my 20 double-unders before I call my first failed physical goal....

    It doesn't matter if it's 19 or 20. I agree with you, OP> It's the spirit of the goal. You probably just chose 20 because it's a nice, round number. If you are ready to move on, then do so. Don't let other people decide your goals for you.

    You own you!
  • agman90
    agman90 Posts: 15 Member
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    Maybe you are meaning target instead of goal? a goal is definite, a target is a little more flexible. You hit an average of 17.6 of your target, or 88%. If that is satisfactory to you, then by all means call it complete! It's kind of like having a target weight, and a goal weight. My target weight is 145, but my goal weight is 155. Both are in my healthy weight range, so when I reach 155, if my body is where I want it to be and I am healthy, I won't really feel like I HAVE TO lose the last 10 pounds, because I am in my target range.

    In your case, if you said that you had a target of 20, and got 19, or averaged 17.6, it isn't a bullseye but it is in target range. If you wanted to add that your goal was 15 and your target was 20, then yes complete!

    Just don't let definitions of words discourage you from setting goals/targets and achieving them. You're doing great! :smile:

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