Set a goal to stay active this winter

Give your motivation and confidence a boost this winter. Stay active and celebrate your progress—big or small—with an open goal.

If you’re looking for a bit more motivation to get active this winter, why not set an open goal? It may give you that extra pep you need to head out the door for a walk, do a workout at home or even go to the gym.

What is an open goal?

Open goals are also known as ‘do-your-best’ goals because they are all about seeing how well you can do, not about measuring up to a specific goal at a fixed moment in time.

Open goals work differently to traditional ‘SMART’ goals. They are open-ended and more flexible. For example, an open goal to be more active could be—‘I want to see how many minutes of activity I can do every day’ instead of ‘I will do 45 minutes of exercise every day’. Or, ‘I want to see how many times I can get to the gym in a month’ instead of ‘I will go to the gym three times each week’.

Why are open goals helpful?

Here’s five reasons to consider setting an open goal if you want to be more active:

1. Because open goals are about doing your best, they have no fixed end point, so there is no ‘failure’ if you don’t reach a specific goal. Phew!
2. Open goals focus on and celebrate your progress. It doesn’t matter if you’re progressing quickly or slowly—all progress is a win.
3. Open goals are flexible and adjust for the challenges of everyday life—like being sick, working longer hours or going on holiday. Remember, it’s about doing your best. If you’ve been unwell maybe the best you can do today is less than last week, but it’s still your best.
4. Open goals can also help you be more realistic about what you can achieve.
5. They help you remain positive about your activity and make the activity seem more enjoyable. All positives that will keep your momentum going!

How to set an open goal

If you want to try an open goal, here’s a few tips:

• Think about what you want to achieve—do you want to be more active? Do you want more variety in your activity?
• Decide how you’re going to measure your progress—for example, the number of minutes of activity you do every day.
• Keep your goal open-ended—‘I want to see how many minutes of activity I can do every day’.
• Plan how you are going to achieve your goal—so think about how you are going to be more active or what you can do to put your new ‘habit’ into practice. For example, ‘I am going to find three ways to be more active every week’.

Monitor your progress online

Get Active Victoria can help you track your progress. Login to your account and record your activity in the Activity Tracker. You can see all your activity over the month on your Dashboard. Following your results may inspire you to do more.

This winter be kind to yourself both when setting a goal and when working towards it. Do your best and celebrate any progress you make!