It’s February – are you still on track to achieve your New Years Resolutions?
I’ll admit, there have been a few weeks between January 1st and now that I didn’t do anything towards achieving my goal of doing a full pistol squat. Thankfully, perfection was never part of my plan.
The Importance of Planning
It’s one thing to say “my goal is to get in shape,” or “I’m going to lose weight this year.” It’s another thing to actually achieve those goals. Notice in those statements, there isn’t a plan. There’s an end destination, but no roadmap to get you there!
Last month I learned where I was starting in my goal to a pistol squat. Clearly a long ways to go:
So I had my starting point, and my end destination. How to get from point A to point B?
Process Goals
Process goals are smaller tasks you need to complete in order to reach a larger goal. My process goals are:
- Take 3 days a week to work on components of the pistol squat, for 15-30 minutes each session
- Improve ankle mobility
- Improve single-leg strength and balance
- Increase strength in hip flexors and lower abs
- Roll quadriceps thoroughly and improve their flexibility
Last month you made yourself accountable to your goal: committing to it by publicly declaring your future accomplishment to your network of support – whether that’s with friends or forums online.
This month, make sure that you have your process goals in place! What exactly will you be doing to achieve your goal? If you want to lose weight, how will you do so? Perhaps by committing to lift weights 3 times a week for an hour? Or eating 3 servings of vegetables a day?
What about if you want to run a half-marathon by August? Try having a process goal of going on 2 distance runs and 1 speed run per week.
As I said before, I haven’t been perfect, but avoiding an “all or nothing” mentality is crucial for long-term success. Next month we’ll go into this concept in more detail. But for now, my less-than-perfect training plan has gotten me some progress as you can see below!
Need personalized help figuring out your process goals? Want the accountability of a team of fitness professionals? Contact us and we’ll help you out!