“The discipline of writing something down is the first step to making it happen”
-- Lee Iacocca
I truly think the above is some the best advice a person could take when it comes to setting goals. Many people say they set goals, but in my opinion, most that say they do really don’t. I’ll tell you why.
To me, unless it’s written down it’s only a good intention or at best, an idea.
For example, with our Fitness Coaching services we have all our coaching clients fill out an in depth questionnaire. This not only lets us get to know our clients on a personal level, but more importantly forces them to put their fitness goals in writing. Now they not only have said them in their head, they have written them down, and they have read the goals to themselves. That’s really pretty powerful. Their goals were reinforced three times in a matter of seconds. What do you think that does for their motivation? How much more likely do you think they will be to achieve their goals?
It doesn’t stop there. We routinely review these goals with our clients. The simple fact that they, themselves, wrote the goals down, and we just didn’t ask and fill in the sheet for them, makes a huge difference and keeps them pushing to accomplish what they set out to do.
You see, since it’s written down, there will be a huge amount of pain associated with failure.
If you simply thought to yourself one day, “I’d like to lose these last ten pounds of body fat”. What happens when you don’t lose the fat? Simple. Nothing. You just repeat to yourself you’d like to lose the fat.
But if you wrote down, “I will lose ten pounds of fat by May 1st by eating better and starting and following a regular exercise program.” You will have a far better chance of actually following through. The more specific the better, and deadlines are always great motivators given they are reasonable ones. That, by the way, is a vague explanation of one of my personal goals.
So, what are your goals? Are they written down? Here are some of mine, in no particular order:
1. To get below 10% body fat through the use of proper eating and a sound strength and conditioning program. And maintain that BF%. I sit at about 13% right now.
2. To add at least one extra skill session for Muay Thai Kickboxing to my week of training. I average 3; I will up it to 4.
3. Not to get hit as much when sparring, hence goal number 2 and I will use angles more for defense. No more straight in, straight out attacks and defense.
4. Build and even more successful Coaching business through the addition of Fitness Boot Camps and the inclusion of Kettlebell Classes. This is the big one, we have talked about taking this business to the next level and this will be the year.
5. I want to help at least one person lose 100 pounds. I just really think that would be cool.
6. Blog at least once a week.
7. Send out a new Newsletter at least once per month.
8. Make David Diaz the best conditioned pro boxer to come out of our gym. David has been a client for 3 months now and shows unbelievable potential. Before hiring us he never “lifted weights” to help his boxing. We changed that.
All and all, I’m not sure I did the quote justice. I applied it to what we do, but it isn’t limited to just setting fitness or weight loss goals. Think saving money, paying off debt or getting a new job (or getting better at the one you have). It always applies.
One a personal note, this newsletter is actually just what the quote means to me. I have been meaning to start a blog because I feel what we have to offer can help so many people achieve their fitness goals. Notice I said, “I was meaning to”, at the time it wasn’t a goal, it was something I wanted to do.
The first step was getting it on "paper".
BJ
