As promised, I want to give you some insight on how to navigate through goal setting and I’ll do so with a personal touch.
With any goal comes sacrifice. You want to lose weight? Cool. You have to eat less than you expend. Don’t know if you’re doing that? Then you’ll have to track your intake and weight to check progress and be consistent as hell. Most people stop here because that requires effort. To get to somewhere you’ve never been, you have to do something you’ve never done, which usually makes you uncomfortable. In this scenario, the sacrifice is time to track and more than likely sacrifice going out to eat. I pick on weight loss because that’s the most common goal in the world. Millions have tried and failed. Probably due to lack of consistency, poor planning or some combination of the two. Devising a plan of attack that doesn’t suck is step 2, after making the goal. And the devil is in the details. The more specific, the better, and way more likely you’ll be able to reach that goal because you have less to sacrifice when you are specific.
Here’s how I approach my own goals:
I’d like to put on 5lbs of muscle while gaining minimal fat by the end of this 12 weeks. I know that it can only be done by eating a surplus of calories daily (4000+ of nutrient dense foods, ideally) and working out with intent 5-6 days a week. Every two weeks I will check body composition and adjust accordingly. Aiming for 1-2lbs of muscle gain per month. The sacrifice that comes with this is gaining weight (which is the goal) but knowing that some of it will be fat. However, having a grasp on the big picture is important beyond measure. But well worth it because increased muscle mass increases the likelihood of strength gains as an indirect outcome.
Main goal: gain 5# of muscle by mid December
Sub goal: gain 1-2# of muscle each month
Accountability: body composition every 2 weeks and telling all of you this. Also I’ll take progress pictures at every body comp.
The more specific, the better. And also, less is more. Having less goals can be beneficial because it brings more focus to that one thing. Now I’m not knocking multiple goals, but it has to be thoroughly thought through and planned out. If not, things can easily get watered down and focus is lost.
“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the false story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it” – Jordan Belfort
Pretty sure I’ve used this quote before but it’s kinda perfect. Once again, being honest with yourself is step 1. Without it, your wheels just keep spinning in place. And from there, you can move forward and own your shit.
Having no goal is like driving with no destination. And if that’s the case, you’ll end up right back where you started, or lost. Give yourself direction and purpose. Decide that this is important to you and the time to get real, is right fucking now.
