Setting the right goals for your personality

No one understands me

Have you ever tried communicating something that is so completely obvious to you, but the result or outcome you actually get from somebody else is very different?

The swiss psychologist Carl Gustav, developed the concepts of the extraverted and introverted personality, archetypes and the collective unconscious. In 1921, Jung published “psychological Types” which describes four psychological functions.

• Thinking 
• Feeling 
• Sensation 
• Intuition 

From here he developed the ‘introverted’ and ‘extroverted’ types.

Dr. William Marston Marston believed that people behaved along two axes - passive or active; depending on the individuals perception of the environment.

Marston’s DISC complete behavioural model

D STYLE - OUTGOING + TASK

D style overview:  Likes to be in charge.  Full-on into hitting targets, without listening to too much instruction.
When I'm coaching a ‘D’ style, I tend to finish my consultations early, they tend to be 'bish-bash-bosh, this what I want let's go' and crack straight on.
‘D’ styles like fast pace, they’ll want to get straight to the point.  Normally I will have to help ensure they consider the reality of the situation before looking possible ‘options’. They’ll often jump into an exercise without knowing what to do (or they think they do). They’ll also often keep going until you say stop.

If you're a 'D' style:

• You're naturally goal orientated, so setting goals is easy.
• You loved to be stretched and challenged, so make sure you ‘check in’ how realistic the goal and timeframe is.
• You are quick to jump straight to action and commitment, so you need to spend a bit more time in the creating possible options to achieve the result.  You tend not to do enough research, so assumptive questions I ask, tend to be like ‘what support’, ‘what research’ and ‘what preparation could you do’?
• You can be slightly optimistic with your timescales. 

Training style:  Full on and 'aggressive' and with intent.  Warm up!  Nahhh, let's just lift as heavy as possibly can, as fast as possible.   So be careful, build up steadily, even if it's with lighter weight.  You'll typically find you guys will burn out quickly, because you've gone all out on the first few reps/sets.   Record and track your numbers (although you probably want to do it based on judgement),  you will see results, don't worry.  Expect pretty quick results, that won't last long unless held accountable by someone.

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I STYLE - OUTGOING + PEOPLE

When I work with ‘I’ types, I need to use plenty of targeted praise.  I'll hight light their strengths and feed back their successes. ‘I’ types like to tell stories and go off track, so I aim to keep the sessions as varied and as fun as possible, as typically they get bored quickly!

If you're an 'I' style:

• You'll often benefit from being made accountable with regards to deadlines. You’ll get carried away with setting goals ie massive and unrealistic. So focus on the most important ones and break that down before committing.
• You tend to be easily distracted, so you may need to consider potential barriers and obstacles. 
• You'll over estimate what you can do between sessions, so rank your priorities and filter your options.
• ‘I’ styles can often struggle to follow things through.  So be realistic with your level of commitment, ensure you have a clear plan with specific time scales and are aware of the benefits achieving the goal will bring.

Training style: Tend to like more classes and 'community' based exercises and hate a gym routine. The best type of programming, is As Many Reps As Possible (AMRAP) in a certain amount of time, or beat a certain score.  Programmes (if you use them, as programs are too structured) have to be changed often and have to be varied, to stop boredom.  It's definitely worth working with others or a Personal Trainer, for extra motivation and stimulation.
You'll get results, but they won't be that important to you, as long as you're having a good time and feel great.

S STYLE - RESERVED + PEOPLE

’S’ style clients love it interest is shown in them as a person. I really have to spend some time building a good rapport, love a good chat, tend to steer off on a tangent and trying to get commitment on goals, is like nailing jelly to a wall.

They will appreciate a steady pace during training sessions, but will benefit from a slightly more challenging approach as they tend to be reluctant to change. They will need to develop their levels of flexibility to accomplish their goals.

If you're a 'S' style:

• You'll tend to be driven by safety and security, you'll like the status quo. A question to ask yourself is, how you goal will have an impact on others?
• Remind yourself of situations in the past where you have achieved similar goals.  This will provide you with evidence that you can make a change. 
• Ask for feedback in a way that you can provide evidence of your past successes.
• You'll be worried about stepping outside your comfort zone.
• Generally you will see things through to completion, even though it may take a little longer.

Training style: You'll probably need to set a prolonged period of time off to go the gym, as it'll be a slow workout for you.  You'll probably like to be in a corner out the way and will stick to the same exercises, the same reps and the same weights. But commit to going with someone, as you'll look for every excuse not to go.     You'll probably want to chat and listen to others, more than train.  Set yourself lower targets, ie less reps for instance and maybe even set a timer for rest periods, to nudge you back into the next set.    Expect results to come longer down the line.

C STYLE - RESERVED + TASK

‘C’ styles will often need time to think, they do not like to be rushed, so I tend to need to give them time to analyse and process their thoughts.  When I first start working with 'C' style, they'll tend to be more guarded and be seemingly scrutinising every new piece of information I provide.

If you're a 'S' style:

• Because you are generally ‘perfectionists’ you can often worry about about not meeting your own standards, and tend to procrastinate and take longer to get things done. 
• For the best goals, set an appropriate standard of success for that specific project. Details-details-details.
• Challenge your perfectionism ‘how perfect does it need to be?”. Also, finding out from others how they help them can be important.
• You don't like to be wrong and will think about accuracy when accomplishing goals. 
• They will want a clear and methodical action plan with specific time frames, and will tend to get bogged down with details.

Training style:  Calories, macro's, reps, sets and programs will be rigid and precise.    You'll have a program and you'll stick to it.  You'll have a lot of questions and do a lot of research.  You'll get results on time, but unsatisfactorily, you know 'you can do better'.  Do your best not too go hard on yourself.  Obviously you'll stick to the program.  But don't worry if you can't do it in the correct order that it's written down, just because someone else is on the bit of kit you want to use.

Hopefully now guys, this has given you a better idea of how to set yourself targets in the gym and the type of training you're more likely to enjoy.  If you're going to get yourself a Personal Trainer, or are planning to work with any fitness professional, make sure they work with your style in mind, otherwise you're not very likely to get the results you want.

Keep it real folks

Phil

Have tough challenge at the moment or facing you in the future?  Let's have a chat to see if I can help you get through it...

phil@thefatlossandperformancecoach.com
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