SCORE WITH A GOAL, NOT A RESOLUTION
As we approach the 2015 , Many of us will begin new adventures in self improvement. Year after Year of new years resolutions, " quit smoking,start a diet(I hate that specific phrase btw),exercise , make more money, do better in school etc etc" we find ourselves attacking the first few months of the year only to burn out and/or lose motivation and accountability. Well I'm going to challenge you to forget about a new years resolution, and how to embrace the idea of change as a critical part of your life.
I have had the privilege and curse of watching people set,reach,and fail at personal goals, to include my own. With that experience , I've noticed several trends that always repeat themselves, and Its not what your would think. you would assume Its the program that fails, The diet thats not perfect ,the trainer that is incapable or the client that doesn't work hard enough. However its Almost always the type of goal set(if any) and the patience of the internal/external motivation(cues of motivation are rarely talked
about).
GOOOOOOAAALLLLLLL!!!!! In Soccer (yeah yeah I know its football or futbol, and its been around for a million years and americans hijacked the word for our silly game. we know you're special because you call it by its formal name ,so don't freak out on me because I call it what it is) When a team scores a point the crowd goes wild and the announcer screams to the top of his lungs . Why do you think they freak out when a team scores a point in a match? Because they are few and far inbetween. Is that a bad thing? Not at all. We can look at the relationship between these goals and our goals. They take a team of people, tremendous hours of practice and diligence, and then they take absolute execution. You know what else is so great about a goal in soccer? its clearly defined , The white round thing breaks the plane of the square metal thing that is also clearly marked.
Step 1 - Clearly define your fitness/nutrition Goal. Ill show you a bad example and how to fix it.
" Starting january, I'm going to hit the gym and work on losing weight" How do you know when you've reached your goal? What exactly is the goal? Do you literally intend to strike the wall of the gym? What weight are you losing? Do you plan on misplacing the 4 lb dumbbell? Props to you for at least taking a step forward in vocalizing your intentions, but its not enough. Here is a the better approach "In the next 3 months I'm going to start and finish a strength training program in which I’ll increase my lean body mass by 5lbs while decreases my bodyfat by 2% ”.
What we now have is a clearly defined goal and time frame for that specific goal. Great, Now what?
The 2nd crucial key characteristic in conquering objectives is consistency. The term “consistency is key” has plenty of merit ,especially in the fitness community. Work over time is the equation for power, and we all want power. The power to control your outcome is determined by the amount of work you put it in over time. Being Consistent and diligent is imperative for goal crushing. If you begin your 3 month challenge with a mindset of “lll consistently workout 3 times a week and eat 9/10 meals as healthy as possible” you’re a several times more likely to succeed than “January I’m going to the gym everyday and I'm cutting out all bad food” . Put yourself at the end of march , Which quote do you think would get your better results? Now imagine if you took that same mindset from march to june and june through oct. By next January you would have assessed and reassessed your goals 3 to 4 times and won’t need a 2016 resolution because you already understand the process and enjoy setting yourself up for constant improvement. Another key point about consistency is that 3 workouts a week for 52 weeks is 156 workouts compared to your 5 times a week for 2 weeks that you'll try make 5 or 6 time throughout the year, comes out to maybe 120 workouts. You can use the same math for your meals. Being consistent over a larger time has a higher output for a greater volume of quality.
To summarize I challenge you to resist the urge of a January resolution, but to create a lifelong philosophy of growth. Establish simple goals over a realistic time frame , work consistently and with diligence, Strive to create internal and external motivators, and purty purty please have a damn good time doing it. Take action and embrace the prevail mindset.