Your overarching aim is one which is somewhat vague but incredibly meaningful. This is typically something which is a long way off, and which would indicate an enormous level of success for you because it matches your core values and beliefs.
Examples of long-term aims could be:
Your overarching aim could be considered to be a life-goal, and it’s probably the aspect of this module which you’ll have to think about the least. Not because it doesn’t matter so much, but because you will already know at least one or two aims, the acquisition of which would mean you could consider your life to be successful.
Of course, the examples given above are somewhat grand aims, but yours need not be. An aim to simply grow a business and be known to your wider social circle or your industry as a successful business owner, or an aim to help your local community in some manner that makes a large difference, or simply to travel the world is just as apt. Whatever you choose, your aim should be something which resonates with you and something which, should you achieve it, would be something you would be proud of in your final moments. To bring this to the topics at hand during this course, a good aim would be to be as healthy and capable as possible, for as long as possible. Of course, what this phrase actually means will differ by individual, and of course this will not be the core aim for everyone.
The point of the vagueness of these aims will become apparent momentarily, but for now know that we have intentionally not mentioned such goals as to get in shape for a photoshoot, to be in the best shape possible, to lose a certain amount of weight or to achieve a certain level of physical performance. This is not to downplay the value of these successes, rather it is to place them in context and to illustrate that these goals are in fact small parts of larger aims, and without clearly defining your aim it can be hard to keep this in mind.
A goal to be in the best shape possible, for example, could stem from the unconscious, evolved understanding that there are certain characteristics which indicate health and are therefore naturally considered to be more attractive. These include a lower bodyfat level, relatively higher percentage of muscle mass, clear skin, bright eyes etc. A goal to be in the best shape possible, therefore, could be translated into a goal of finding a partner, starting a family, or perhaps using that attractiveness to improve job prospects or social status (whether or not this goal would actually play into that aim is beyond the scope of this course). In short, most superficial things that would perhaps be seen as ‘shallow goals’ can be explored further.
As per the last module, one of the most effective ways to find your aim is to look instead to your values. Think hard and consider your beliefs. What do you care about more than anything else? Once you have this in mind, it’s simply a case of asking yourself how you can manifest that value in a physical form. Taking the example value “health” we can see that the manifestation of that value, therefore the aim, would be to maintain a healthy weight while holding a reasonable amount of lean body mass and displaying great markers of overall wellbeing. This would be your aim.
Once you have your aim, you then need to break it down into steps. Aims are invaluable but they are nonetheless somewhat vague and necessarily far-off, so you need to start thinking of shorter-term actionable steps to take. An Aim can be thought of as a project, and from there you can set goals which are like small actions culminating in the completion of the project. For example, you might set an aim that is 4 or 5 years away (or even longer) but build-up to it using goals that are 8 weeks long or less. There are four different kinds of goals which you can set, SMART, stretch, outcome and process goals. These are not exclusive and you could (and should) set all four at once, or a selection of them in various combinations. Before we get to that, we will explain them all, starting with SMART goals.