Getting ready for resolution

There is an odd gap between Christmas Day and New Years. 

On one hand this is a time for reflection. A year is not that long at all, in fact they feel shorter and shorter all the time. You can likely remember your former resolutions. All the things you swore you’d start in 2014, and everything you promised you’d stop. So, how did it go?

I guess there are folks out there who nailed it last year, every last goal. But that has to be a rare thing. You should form big goals and grand plans this time of year. There should be no shortage of effort and will. If there is you’ve done a shitty job at getting resolved, friend. Set a bigger, more exciting goal.

I think the safest bet is to push hard against your boundaries. Of all the things you will grind for, some things will work out and some won’t. It’s not a bummer, that’s just how it goes. If you’re doing it right you will outgrow a lot of your resolutions.

It’s helpful to drop the heavy expectations. You’re not locking yourself into a single destiny here. It’s likely that you will not get what you want in the end anyway, but it doesn’t matter. The boundary pushing often takes you someplace better than planned. In that sense a great resolution is just one that sets you in motion, driven and smiling.

Still, I would keep two things in mind as you take on the new year. I could say this applies to your training and programming goals, but in reality it’s just my best all around advice. I think it applies to everything you will do.

Back to basics. To be strong, drag weight around. The base must be widened.

A photo posted by Chris Moore (@barbellbuddha) on Dec 12, 2014 at 12:42pm PST

1. Start with your best opportunity. 

Everything in your life needs to make good business sense. My former self wouldn’t agree with that all the time, but I see it as a very plain and obvious thing now.

If you’re going to fail next year it will probably be because you focused on too much stuff. A good business goal is not much different from a great strength program or weight loss plan. You only have so much resource and will. Setting priorities is critical.

If you spread the effort out too thin you will run out of it before the job is done.

Take what you’ve got and focus it like a laser on your greatest opportunity. It might be a weakness to address, a brand new skill to acquire, whatever. Push hard and move the biggest needle forward first.  There’s no better way to start.

2. Make sure your efforts scale. 

Your resolution doesn’t have to be perfect, not even close. Big growth happens when you start boldy and keep at it. So, other than your big start, you just have to work on the keeping at it part.

I think you can go a long way towards ensuring success by just thinking forward. You have to make sure that your actions and goals scale up. It’s not a hard thing to do. Just think it through. Once you achieve a certain goal, what will come next?

You can essentially pressure check any plan just by asking that question at each stage along the way, from the big year-long target working backwards to every monthly, weekly, and daily action. There has to be a pattern of, “If this then that.”

You should be able to see a clear path forward. If you get what you’re working towards what will come next? Where will that take you? What will then be possible? If you can see a path forward – filled with big but manageable goals, building day by day to even more opportunities – then there’s a great chance you’ll progress and move down that path. Of course the opposite is also very true. If you cannot see a path forward then why would anything in your life change? Again, set a better goal.

Focus and scale, baby. Here’s to an amazing 2015.

Cheers!

Chris

For more

• Don’t miss the premiere of Episode 157 of Barbell Shrugged Wednesday, December 31st – We take on New Years resolutions head on.
• Got some Christmas dough to burn? Make sure to check out Chris Moore’s new book, Get Change.