Written by “New year, new me”. What an odd statement. Why do you need to change or reinvent yourself? Sure, I think that it’s great to continue to grow and build yourself, but statements like that just lead to people copping out of making bad decisions or not taking responsibility to improve.
The gym is no different. It’s one of the most well-known cliches in the fitness world that January is the time of year where floods of newly motivated people make their way to the nearest gym and crowd the place until they eventually decide to give up several days later.
But what if you really do have a fitness or health related goal for the new year? Perfect. Let’s do it, but there will be steps that you’ll need to take in order to make sure you are serious about it and achieve it!
Step 1: Clearly Define Your Goal
Okay, we’re going to look at January 1st as your day one. The thing is, besides the cliche, January is easy to start goals because you can plan out your timeline really well. In order to do that though, you’ll first need to define your goal(s).
Write it down.
Multiple times. As many times as you can in as many different places until you can pretty much see it everywhere you go. The more visual you are with your goals the likelier it will be that you achieve them. In fact: “Insert quote about writing goals”
You’ll also need to clearly define what it is that you want. Meaning that writing “get healthy” is bulls*t. Give me exactly what you want to achieve, otherwise you’ll just get frustrated. Knowing exactly what you want will allow you to actually create markers of progress! Which leads us into…
Step 2: Write Down Milestones
How do you know if you are on your way towards your goals? If you want to squat 400lbs, writing down milestones like “squat body-weight for 10 reps” will give you something to achieve along the way and will not only keep you motivated, but assure you that you’re on the right track.
Consider them like mini-goals; these are smaller and more quickly achievable which is something you’ll want. Especially if your goal is more long-term and you know that you tend to drop off.
But how will you make sure you’re on track as the days/weeks pass? Well…
Step 3: Work out and Action Plan
Great, so you’ve defined your goal(s) clearly. You’ve written out the milestones that will not only in themselves be achievements, but also assure you that you’re on the right track. How do we stay the course?
Action Plan.
Your action plan is your schedule, basically. If your goal requires that you do something specific every day, then it needs to be written out and planned. But, it doesn’t mean that in order to achieve your goal you need to do it every day. You just need to be real about the time you need to put in.
For example, if squatting 400 lbs is your goal, your action plan might be to train your legs 3 days a week, allowing yourself a week off every month.
Or perhaps it’s to lose 5% body fat and put on 5lbs of muscle. In that case your action plan is something daily such as “measure and weigh my food for 3 meals”. A goal like that would also have several steps to your action plan, one for the food and another for the gym “train 4x/week”. The beauty of this is that it’s very easy to be productive and focused on your goals when you can physically check things off your list every day.
Don’t discount the power of a check-list. The rush of happy neurotransmitters that you get when checking off that last thing on your “to-do” list is amazing in itself, imagine when it leads you closer to your goals!
With your clearly defined goals, milestones, and action plan it’s time for your last step to ensure your success…
Step 4: Be Accountable
One of the most under-appreciated and often the deal breaker for most people. Being accountable to someone (including yourself) is such a powerful tool. You can do this both extrinsically and intrinsically:
Extrinsically: An example of this would be using a website like StickK or similar platforms that have you pledge money if you fail to achieve your goal. They do also provide you with other people with similar goals to help you all motivate each other. Some of these website are actually pretty funny and a failed goal will have them send your money to an anti-charity which are basically real business with less than moral practices
Intrinsically: This is your inner motivation and reasons to achieve your goal. One of the most powerful questions that I ask my clients when starting to work with them is “why is this important to you”. Asking yourself this question and being real with the answers will be one of the biggest steps you can take. Are you trying to lose weight to look good? Or is it important to you how people perceive you? Maybe losing weight and getting strong will be a huge influence on your kids and show them how important these habits are. Or maybe it is something that will give you the self-esteem boost you need to get yourself out of a bad situation. There are no wrong answers, but this does require a hard look at yourself.
With all of these steps, the most important factor is always you. You want to know the best way to set a goal and stick to it? Just do it. No excuses, no motivational speeches, no watching social media “gurus” yell at you and say misinterpreted quotes over and over. You’re in charge. You don’t have to bowl strikes every single day either. It’s okay to do worse one day and amazing the next -that’s the struggle.
Enjoy the struggle. Embrace the pain. Rise up accomplished.
James
