Goals |

I’ve realized recently that I got distracted for a long long time.

While there’s nothing wrong with that, and I was perfectly happy being distracted in the way that I was, when I woke up from my distraction, I was a little upset.

I mean, I realized that I could’ve been making advances that whole time, instead of just being upset.

So I started thinking about it. How could I have stayed on track?

There’s only one way I could think of. It was to have had a list, some sort of checklist of stable, unchanging goals that will persist throughout my life. I’ll call them persistent goals.

I’m not talking about to-do lists. I’m not talking about weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals.

I’m talking about goals that persist across the years.

They’re different for everyone. But strength – greater strength – is one of those persistent goals for me.

Greater strength is easy to measure. It’s most easily measured in the “classic” lifts – squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, (and perhaps bent row and pullups, to round things out).

I’ve decided to start keeping track of that persistent goal (and a few others). To make sure I’m always gaining on it…at least till my body just won’t anymore (but, based on the performance of 75 year old Wim Van Weenen, who deadlifted 523 pounds, I don’t have to worry about that for a while!).

I recommend that you do this as well. With all of the fitness gadgets and fads out there, it’s easy to lose sight of your long-term, persistent goals.

Do it for everything that matters. Right now is a perfect time to start.

Another trait we seem to possess in our culture, is the uber-achiever, goal-setting mentality. There is a common myth out there, that goal-setting is the only way to achieve your ends.

While I agree with goal setting in general, I don’t think the method is taught very well in popular literature. There are a couple of flaws with the goal-setting presented in books on the subject.

First, whenever you’re setting a goal, it’s important to realize that you will change on your course to reach it, and, most likely, so will your methods. Second, it’s more important to live in the present, right now, than to focus on some distant horizon.

Take, for example, the goal of gaining strength in your legs. You want to squat 2x bodyweight. That’s your goal. As you continue to train, you begin to realize that you’re over-training the squat. Your knees start to hurt, your performance actually decreases…you have to find another way.

You decide to back off the squats for a few weeks. You switch to more posterior-chain work. You get into deadlifts, RDL’s, glute-ham raises, lunges, step-ups, etc. You do more upper-body lifting.

Three weeks later, you decide to go back to the squat, and guess what? You hit a new personal record, easily!

Let’s take the same lifter, but say that she was a little more goal-focused than the one presented. She starts getting knee and hip pain, and says “SO WHAT?! No pain no gain!” She keeps training the squat. Soon she has completely overtrained. She’s out of action, either due to injury or to total fatigue. She has to take two months off, and go through a lot of corrective exercise or physical therapy, to repair the damage of not listening.

Not listening only happens when you’re not living in the present moment. You have to be deeply invested in the here-and-now. More invested in that than in anything else.

Next time you’re setting goals, or making a wish-list, allow room for change in your schedule. Stick to what’s happening right here and now, and be happy with that.

Get what you need from this present moment, and steer it toward your destination with a light hand.

Tag Archives: goals

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