Project management is a discipline that puts you in control, removes ambiguity and maximises your chances of success. Whilst many people associate ‘Project Management’ with work, we think there’s lots that can be applied to your health and fitness training too.
Part of the reason that many people are so unsatisfied with their body or health is because they’re not clear on what it is they want to achieve, or if they are, they have no plan on how to get there or measure progress.
At Fitstream, we know a thing or two about project management, having run projects for some of the worlds biggest brands. We’ve taken 7 basic principles of project management and offer them as a guide to help with your health and fitness training.
1. Reject aimlessness
Meandering along without a plan or goals removes purpose and is a common cause for a lack of progress. Acknowledge your health and fitness training as a project, and that it matters enough to be treated as one.
2. Become a leader
Every project needs a leader. Someone who drives progress forward, is accountable and takes responsibility. For this project, this is you.
You are the only person who can guarantee success so reject excuses and focus on moving forward and taking ownership.
Make your pledge to transform.
3. Create a plan
This stage is really about acknowledging what you want to achieve and putting in place the actions on how you’ll get there. Capture what it is you expect of yourself, where you want to be and in what time frame. Getting everything written down is incredibly empowering.
The key questions to ask yourself include;
- Do you have clear objectives on what you want to achieve?
- Have you identified an approach to best meet these objectives?
- Have you broken your approach up into an action plan?
- Have you checked “Lessons Learned” from previous projects (see step 7)?
- Do you know how you will track progress?
You can read our article on fitness planning for more information on how to create a fitness plan.
4. Tell people what you’re going to do
Your project is now real. It has objectives, actions, and a timeline. Now it’s time to share it with your friends and family.
Sharing your project with others increases your chances of success (1) and adds to your personal accountability.
Our article on how to write a progress posts is useful for inspiration on how to share your progress with the world.
5. Keep track of progress
Maintain a journal or notebook. This serves as a record of your training and diet and helps you to understand how your body is changing in response to your lifestyle.
Your journal also becomes a great source of motivation and is useful for when you start your next fitness project, where you can use the information to refine your plan.
You’ll find the following Fitstream articles useful when considering how to track your progress;
- Why you should track your fitness
- How to track your health and fitness
- How to keep a fitness journal
- Tracking progress with photos
- Inspiration on what to record in your journal
6. Be resilient
Your plan is essential, but it won’t work. Not exactly as planned anyway. And that’s fine. A plan is a guiding framework, a visualisation of how you’re working towards the body you want to build.
Workouts will be missed. Progress will ebb and flow. Life will get in the way.
The plan is your yardstick that you measure against. Simply review the plan, assess your progress, and adapt it to suit the current situation. Think of your plans as a continuously evolving frame to help you get to where you want to be.
7. Wrap your project up
When you’ve achieved your goal or project fitness has come to an end it’s time to close it off and perform a mini retrospective.
Take the time to look through your journal and see how far you’ve come. What worked for you, or perhaps didn’t work so well? What would you do differently next time? Make sure that you keep a record of these 'Lessons Learned' to help you with the next project.
Summary
We believe that by applying some basic principles of project management to your health and fitness that you will improve your chances of success. That you’ll be clearer on your goals, create a realistic plan on how to get there and more motivated to stay the course.
Why not start your own new Project Fitness today?
As an excellent tool to help you on your new journey, check out our free Fitness Journaling app. Thousands of Fitstream users are tracking their progress, staying accountable and creating powerful motivation using it right now.
References
- M. Deutsch and H. B. Gerard (1955). ‘A Study of Normative and Information Social Influences Upon Individual Judgement’. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51, pages 629-36.
