Toss Out Your New Year’s Goals

By Lisa Guggisberg

New Year’s it’s the ultimate Monday, the fresh start, clean slate.  New Year, new you right? This is the time most people decide to make some goals and crack down.  For powerlifters it may be a bigger total, a higher ranking, better nutrition and overall performance to become the strongest version of you.

Most people will write their goals down, make a plan and lay everything out.  They start out of the gate strong, April/May rolls around, life has gotten busy and you slack a little.  June/July comes, you are unfocused and given up some of your goals deciding to focus on just one.  Fall comes, you lack motivation and those goals you wrote down so long ago are a distant memory.

This is pretty much why globo gyms, supplement companies and all other fitness fads make so much money. They feed on the general population’s lack of dispipline and weakness when it comes to this area of their lives.

WHY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS ARE MAKING YOU FAIL

Although they appear to be the goals you are setting, New Year’s Resolutions are the reason you fail within 1-3 months. Let’s just look at the term “New Year’s Resolutions” a short, temporary time period: the “New Year.” How long the “New Year” lasts for you is your decision, but when you set a goal that in its very nature is going to expire very soon, you are setting yourself up for failure.

MAKE A PERMANENT CHANGE IF YOU WANT SUCCESS

One thing I’ve noticed about top athletes, successful business owners and successful people in general is that they look to make permanent change in their own lives, and the lives of others.

Truly successful people never assign their goals to the holidays, or to social fads. They never say the words, “I’ll start on Monday,” or “I’ll start January 1st.” To successful people, that is time wasted. In other words, and to be cliché, the best time to start, is right now.

WHY IS GOAL SETTING IMPORTANT

When you buy into to the novelty of New Year’s Resolutions, you unknowingly create the belief that your goals are only temporary fixes. If you create goals with effective goal setting principles you create a positive self narrative in which your goals become changes rather than temporary fixes. Make changes rather than slowly chipping away at an endless list of temporary wishes.

HOW TO SET A GOAL OR “CHANGE”

I could go into discussing the many methods out there that you can use to help obtain your goals.  But, there really are just some main principles you should adhere to when thinking about your goals.

Be specific:

Most people will write a list of 20 things they want to do and become stretched so thin that they don’t achieve any of the 20 things.  Pick one, or two goals and be specific about them.  Don’t just say “I want to lose weight.”  Set a specific amount of lbs, or percentage of fat you want to lose.  Narrowly define your goals so that you have a clear objective.

Be reasonable with your goals:

A goal must be achievable. There is no point in setting goals that are impossible, or you are destined to fail. You can’t say “I want to add 500lbs to my total in 6 months,” or “I’ll break all my weight class World Records in my very first powerlifting meet.”  Set a goal that is difficult, but is still something you can achieve.  This is far more effective.

Be accountable:

Have someone, or something hold you accountable. Everyone on Team PRS has a coach, or the backing of a team.  Even the Boss Man himself, Brian Carroll has someone coach him and keep him accountable.  Whether it’s a friend, a hired coach, or a team, have someone help keep you on track towards your goal. Having an external resource keeps you in check and helps you stay on track during times of low motivation.

Give yourself a time frame:

Give yourself a timeframe or a deadline to stick to. Without a timeframe, you lead yourself down the road of, “I’ll start next week.” Pick a meet, start a course and stick to the deadline.  Many successful business entrepreneurs believe in attaching risk/reward to a deadline.  Think bonuses for completing a job on time, or getting a pink slip if you don’t complete the job on time. However harsh the punishment is, or great the reward is up to you as an individual.

So as you sit down today on January 1st, the ultimate Monday of Mondays don’t set yourself up for failure.  Seek permanent change, rather than purely a temporary fix for your goals. Recognize that setting goals and temporary fixes are very different.

Want a positive change in your training? Start by picking up a copy of the new 2nd Edition of 10/20/Life on sale now.

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A self-proclaimed former high school band nerd turned meathead nerd, Lisa has been coached and mentored by Brian Carroll using 10/20/Life principals for 3 years. She started CrossFiting in 2006 but gave that up after realizing all she wanted to do was squat, bench and deadlift heavy. She now competes as a raw and multi-ply powerlifter in the 114 and 123 weight classes. Lisa has All-Time top 10 totals in both raw and multi-ply in her respective weight classes with a raw pro total of 936 lbs at 114 and a pro 1118 lb multi-ply pro total at 123 and 1090 lb multi-ply total at 114. She is currently ranked the #1 female multi-ply lifter at 123, #2 at 114 multi-ply female and #3 raw with wraps. Lisa has a B.A. in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration, but hates politics and political debates. She is a mom of two, a firefighter wife and has worked as a full time litigation paralegal for almost 20 years.
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