Natural goalscorers: the goal coaches who can help you improve your life

By now, in April, most people will have given up on their New Year’s resolutions. But would they have been so hasty if they had help from two UAE-based goal coaches?

Rizwan Raza running near his home in Dubai. Raza created the 30-Day Pact website, which takes its title and inspiration from his desire to improve his life by waking up at 5am every day. Alex Atack foShow more

As anyone who has a shelf of self-help books knows, setting goals is fundamental to achieving your dreams, whether the aim is to lose weight, boost career prospects, give up smoking or simply wake up 90 minutes earlier to get more out of each day.

That was the catalyst for ­Rizwan Raza, a Dubai-based self-proclaimed fitness geek and keen blogger.

“I’d read and enjoyed lots of business, leadership, spirituality and self-development books and one of the common threads was starting the day at 5am. I was already an early riser, but it was an elusive goal. So I recruited my wife to start a new blog that we called the ­#30days5ampact,” he says.

Raza believes that it all hinges on accountability. “One of the biggest myths of modern culture is that of the lone warrior. But goals need help. If you don’t have accountability, who is going to call you out on your excuses, track your progress and celebrate your successes?”

After revealing his goal via ­Facebook, his commitment was out there in the public domain. “While the blog began primarily as an accountability and journaling tool, I started receiving feedback from family and friends about how they were getting motivated to start their own goals,” he says.

This inspired Raza to expand the blog into the 30-Day Pact website (www.30daypact.com), and launch a series of goal-orientated pacts from strength training to eliminating sugar from your diet. He shares his experiences along the way with the hope that it will give readers the tools, motivation and encouragement to replicate these results in their lives.

Research has suggested that it takes at least 21 days to form a new habit. He found that by consciously implementing a habit every day, for 30 days, it enters the subconscious. “Imagine you want to start a new habit, such as a workout routine, clean eating or regular meditation. The first few days are easy, even fun, while we ride the wave of good intentions. However, sticking with a new habit for more than a couple of weeks becomes a lot harder,” he explains.

“The reason for this is we psych ourselves out by thinking of all the time, energy and effort we need to invest into making this new habit permanent, before we have even started. It becomes overwhelming, and the pain of doing it starts to outweigh the pleasure of the potential results.”

Raza’s system works on the premise that if you commit to an initial period of just 30 days then the initial end goal is manageable, although there is the spectre of what he calls the “dip” to contend with. “In my experience, the number-­one reason why people don’t see their goal through is the ‘dip’, which usually kicks in after the early excitement and well before goal accomplishment. This is when you need to stick things out, and if you expect it, you’ll be ready for it,” he says.

Another goal-focused innovator is Damien Catani, an Abu Dhabi-based developer of the free iOS and Android app ­Goalmap.

Goals have played a significant role in his life since a teenage crisis, and he found that the only way he could redirect his focus was by making a plan – on paper – and tracking it regularly until he reached his objective.

A career in investment banking followed, which was another wake-up call as far as setting goals was concerned. "I was shocked by the heavy workload, and could see the marathon runner getting fat eating junk food at his desk, and the smart girl only ever reading the Financial Times," he explains.

“Self-tracking, or what is now called ‘quantified self’, wasn’t popular at the time. My method helped me maintain a good life balance; managing my work life while recording music, running triathlons or learning ­languages.”

This morphed into the idea to create an app, or what he terms a digital coach. Goalpmap covers various lifestyle aspects including health, work, arts and crafts, knowledge, and travel and ­experiences.

After creating an account, users follow five simple steps to goal management, starting with choosing a goal, either from the online library or creating their own.

“Once you have selected a goal, the app guides you in setting it properly and making it specific, with a target quantity and timing. Some goals are long-term with an end date; others are habits,” he explains.

Goalmap allows users to easily log their progress from books they have read and sports sessions completed to weight goals and financial savings.

Users can also get an instant overview of whether or not they’re on track with a progress bar and status for each goal; there’s also the ability to set reminders, which can be particularly helpful, especially in the early days of building a new habit.

In the three months since its launch, Catani reports that the app has been downloaded more than 15,000 times.

“It’s very clear that people have a growing aspiration to better themselves and realise their potential in a meaningful way,” he says. “Feedback has been great, and we prioritise the most-requested features, with a new version released every other week on average.”

A marathon effort

After running her first half marathon earlier this year, Kathrin Lemke, 31, a business development manager who lives in Ras Al Khaimah, set herself a new fitness goal.

“I decided to get back to the gym and work on my strength; and signed up for personal training. My current three-month goal is to reduce body fat. I’ve been training really hard for the past two years, and it’s not so much about actual numbers, rather I now want to become the ‘best me’ possible,” she says.

Her specific training goals include mastering the walking handstand and handstand push-ups, as well as unassisted push-ups.

One month in, she’s on track to reach her goal. “I was already eating healthily, but I have put myself on a strict diet for the next two months to cut out carbs and sugar, including sweets which I love, and increase protein intake, to achieve my goal.”

Lemke tracks her progress regularly, and measures her BMI every two weeks, but says that her trainer is her biggest motivator.

“He believes in me, and that encourages me the most. Sometimes, I ask myself why I am doing this, but I rarely think about giving up.

“I’m happy if my friends tell me that they are seeing changes in my body, and I have a few friends who are also into fitness, and we usually exchange ideas about our training and diets.”

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