This year, I encourage you to not make a resolution. A resolution is like throwing poop against the wall and hoping that it sticks. It won’t! Saying that you are going to do something is a small percentage of the process. The difference in what you are doing and what successful people are doing is that successful people have a proven “goal process”. This is the year that you will apply a process.
I believe that one of the biggest reasons that I have been successful throughout my strength career is that I have always had a “goal process”. Today I will share it with you guys. The first step is to Dream Big! Don’t sell yourself short! I remember telling my friend that I would one day beat Ed Coan’s world record in the 220lb Class. At the time his 2408lb total had stood for over a decade, and a lot of people looked at it as untouchable. I didn’t! And I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me that I couldn’t do it. If you want to be President of the United States, I say great. Now what are you going to do to reach that goal?
That brings us to Step 2, Write that Dream down man! When you write it down, the dream starts to become reality. You can now see it, read it, and touch it. It is at this point that the brain starts to conceptualize the dream. In my past, I have dreamed big dream. When I would say that dream out loud, it would start to take shape. When I would write it down, the dream came to life.
The third step is the meat and potatoes. Step 3 is Formulate a Plan! This stage requires a lot of time and thought. This stage requires some research and some preparation. For example, if you want to be President of the United States, you will want to find out the requirements. You will also want to find out what some of the other Presidents did to get elected. You might find that most Presidents go to law school at a prestigious university. They probably graduate at the top of their class. A lot of them are elected senators and governors before running for president. All of this lets you know that you will need to make great grades in high school and Undergraduate College, so the rest becomes possible.
The key is to get as specific as possible with the short-term goals and wins. The short-term goals add up in time to be the long-term goal. I put a lot of my top athletes through this process, and the first time their plan is way too broad. Over time I teach them to be specific. The key is to identify the small daily mundane items that will add up to be short term wins. For example, if you want to be an Olympian weightlifter, daily you will want to eat well, sleep well, and recover well. These small mundane tasks add up over time to be difference makers.
[thrive_leads id=’8207′]
Once you have formulated a specific plan, Step 4 is to commit to the plan. A lot of people have issues with commitment. They are so afraid of failure that they never really see things through. People would rather not try than to try and fail. In my book that is the definition of cowardice. I have never been afraid of failure. Now I would like to sit here and tell you that I have never failed, but I can’t. However, those failures have been the biggest life lessons, and they have all led to me making greater decisions. My biggest fear in life has always been to be on my deathbed one day talking about what I should have done or could have done. Failure will never scare me! Only a mouth full of should haves and could haves on my deathbed scare me. Actually they terrify me!
The final step is accountability and review. I recommend that you set your plan in action by telling someone that you trust and respect and ask that person to be on your advisory board. Quarterly planned meetings are perfect to keep you on track, and to review your plan. As you get deeper in the process, don’t be afraid to make changes to your plan. You will learn new things, meet new people, and experience new things along the way, so use that new information to improve upon your plan. The person that you choose to be your advisor should be someone that isn’t afraid to hold you accountable. You want someone who will tell you when you are getting off track. This person is your lifeline, so choose wisely.
Every year around this time the fitness industry explodes because so many people make emotional decisions that they never intend to follow through with. My goal is for you all to avoid this black hole of nonsense. This year put real thought into formulating a plan to actually reach that goal that you so badly want to capture. I want you all to spend the next two days doing the following:
• Dream Big!
• Write those dreams down!
• Formulate a plan after lots of research and thought
• Commit to the process!
• Find an advisor for accountability and review
This process will keep you out of the rabbit hole that 90% of the population is about to get caught in. Next year at this time, my dream is for you all to be able to look back at how far you have come on your goals while formulating a whole new set. Happy New Year and thanks for all that you have done to advance all the things that I am doing at Mash Elite Performance. The Barbell Life also thanks you for making it one of the fastest growing podcasts in the fitness world.
