Goals Part 2: What do you want? (and why?)

In Goals Part 1 I wrote a bit about conducting an annual review, and the need to make an honest assessment of the state of things. Now we will be moving on to how to actually set your goals. Setting goals is a popular subject to write about, and there is a lot of good advice already out there. With that said I am going to briefly go over a few points.

According to the NSCA, goals should be SMART 

• Specific (the more the better)
• Measurable (lose x pounds, not "get in shape")
• Action Oriented (I will rather than I won't)
• Realistic (if it isn't do-able, you won't actually take it seriously and try)
• Time Restricted (give yourself a deadline)

Those are some good general guidelines to start with. Before I continue though, I have a confession to make. I am a big fan of Tony Roberts. If you are 30 or so you may remember all of his tv infomercials, or if you are younger you may just know him from Shallow Hal or Family Guy. I haven't been to any seminars or met the guy, but I have read his books and listened to his audio programs a few times. I have learned a lot of things from him, but some of the most important things relate to goals.

One thing that Tony Robbins teaches about goals is to look at the outcome that you want first, and then plan backwards from there. He calls it an RPM plan, which stands for Rapid Planning Method- or

• Result
• Purpose
• Map (or massive action plan)

Really it breaks down into What, Why, and How.

This may not seem that interesting but it has helped me tremendously. Start with the Result or outcome that you want. Then come up with a purpose or a why, because if you don't really want it, then odds are you won't follow through and do it. Once you have a strong purpose, you can map out all the steps you need to take in order to achieve your desired result- this could include: hire a personal trainer, get a course catalog from your local college, or polishing up your resume'. If you can't come up with a very good Purpose though, that should clue you in that you might want a different outcome.

It doesn't have to be pretty to get the job done.

It is amazing the inspiration and excitement that writing this all out and making a Massive Action Plan can give you. When you really take the time to come up with a solid why and write all the reasons you need to accomplish this goal, it really is powerful. Make sure you WRITE IT ALL DOWN. I feel like this is a very important point, because as you work towards your goal you will be able to go back and read that purpose, and remind you of the reasons you are doing it. Also writing it down makes it real. When you think about goals and things you want to accomplish it is really just fantasy. When you start making plans though, you are taking tangible steps towards achievement. 

Remember: if you have strong enough reasons to do something, you will find a way to make it happen.

Welcome Destruct

I wanted to make a quick post to welcome Destruct to Chattanooga Strength. 

I am really looking forward to working with this guy. If he stays consistent he is going to make some great gains. As long as we can get his work schedule(s) under control and he doesn't get PT'd into the ground; I am expecting him to put on at least 20 solid pounds this summer. He has started his journey into roped and choked territory.

The more I look at this picture the hungrier I get though...

Goals Part 1: Where are you now?

A great blog that I follow is The Art of Non-Conformity. Although one of the main topics for the blog is traveling and travel-hacking (very interesting, but not for me); the author Chris Guillebeau has a lot of other great ideas. He has e-books on World Domination, Building an Empire, How to Work for Yourself, and generally has a great outlook on getting things done. I have learned a lot from his blog, but probably the biggest thing I have adopted is conducting an annual review. 

Instead of coming up with vague New Years resolutions, conducting your own annual review involves looking at the past year to see what went well or poorly and what you may have wanted to accomplish but didn't get to. Then you can set short and long term goals for the next year, and break them down into categories such as finance goals, professional goals, personal goals, or whatever you feel like. Then you create an overreaching theme for the year which can help describe or inspire what you have going on in life, or the kinds of things you would like to accomplish.

This year was the first annual review that I have done. I chose to make 2011 my "Year of Growth" and some of the goals I set included:

• Achieving a body-weight of 200 pounds
• Getting a job as a Personal Trainer at the Sports Barn
• Getting my blue belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
• Getting equipment to do personal training in my home
• Read 52 books
• Pay off my credit cards completely

So far I have reached almost all of the goals that I set for the year. I have hit 200 pounds, got my new job, have a good setup for training at home, and last Saturday I got promoted to Blue Belt. Now that I have done this though, it is time for me to review my goals and that is what I am going to be doing most of the day today. Although I have made great progress this year, there are some areas that I have been slacking in, and today will be a chance to revisit my goals and make plans for the remainder of the year.

This may seem like a bunch of boring and time consuming work, but in reality it is a chance to really get inspired and commit yourself to do great things (big and small). It is important to take a step back and look at where you are in your life every so often. Only then can you figure out if you are going in the direction you really want to be, and decide where you want to be going this year. Most importantly though you can create a plan to get there, which will be covered more in the rest of the Goals series.

Time Under the Bar

Today marks day 50 of the Strength Villain Transformation Challenge. I knew that entering this competition would spur me on to make greater progress, and it definitely has. I had a major slowdown with the storm, but I am back on track and I feel like my training has been better than ever.

One thing I have been working towards is completing the Villain Challenges. For the last few weeks I have been right in the thick of is VC #2. I followed the plan that was laid out on the challenge page, but I think with my level of strength I am not quite there yet. I checked in with Coach Steel on the SV Forums and he set me up with a new plan to work with.


"10-20 sets of 5 with 225,235,245(225 the first week, 235 the second, 245 the third) once a week for 3 weeks"


The first real "high volume" squatting that I have ever done has been working on this challenge, and it has been a definite learning experience. Squatting for a high number of reps in one set is one thing, but multiple sets of 5 is still another. They say "repetition is the mother of skill;" and I know it takes a lot of reps to get comfortable with a movement as well as develop good technique. It has taken me a lot of reps to get where I am now, and I feel like my squat has improved this week just from spending more time doing it. 

Much more work to go, but I am looking forward to it.