I got sick of my job, sick of my wife
Sick of my future and sick of my life
I packed up my car and I got some gas
And told everybody they could kiss my ass
Those are the beginning lyrics of the song Partytown by Glenn Frey (RIP). And every Friday morning, our local rock station K-SHE, plays it to get everyone jacked-up for the weekend…it works like a champ.
So, our theme this week has been to stop screwing around, and just say F-it! I’m tired of my current situation. I’m tired of being out of shape. I’m tired of not being the best me.
And the next step is to map out what success looks like for you. But there’s a trap…
Here’s the thing: long-term goals are especially difficult. We have a lot going on in our lives, so it’s hard to stay focused on them because we don’t see quick or immediate results.
In this crazy world in which we live, we’re so used to having everything quickly – fast food, microwave meals, YouTube clips, speedy answers from the Google machine, Amazon 2-day shipping…good lord, when do we not have our smart telephones attached to our hips to get pretty much whatever we want at light-speed?
So how do we keep our focus and stay consistent with our long-term goals? Here is what helps me:
Breaking Your Long-Term Goal Into Bite-Sized Goals
Think about running a marathon. You don’t run a marathon 26.2 miles at a time. You run it one mile at a time, otherwise your brain cannot process what you’re doing to yourself.
Ryan, our co-founder, and his brother Tim did a 340-mile canoe race on the Missouri River a few years ago. To finish in the allotted time, they had to paddle at night. Ryan said that was the most challenging, but not for the reasons you may think.
It wasn’t because it was difficult to see in the dark. In fact, the race is timed around the full moon, so it’s beautiful and the scorching July temperatures cool. The hardest part was they couldn’t see the mile markers on the river.
“We had no idea how far we were going. I kid you not, it’s nearly impossible to just paddle and paddle aimlessly. My brain was constantly fighting my body to stop because it couldn’t see the end.”
Just like the old adage: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Whatever your long-term fitness goal is, break that down into smaller goals.
If your goal is to get into shape, first decide what kind of training you love to do (weight training, HIIT, jogging, paddling, etc.).
Assuming weight training is your jam, next decide how many days per week you’re going to train. From there, you put them on your calendar like in the 18STRONG Membership. You get the idea.
By breaking down your larger goal into bite-sized pieces, you give yourself little wins. And those little wins will continuously give you a jolt of focus.
Winning fixes everything.
Your #1 Fan,
Jeff Pelizzaro
PS – You may have never thought about it like this, but the sets in your workouts are natural bite-sized pieces to the larger goal of your entire workout.
Completing each set is a win. Then each workout is a win. Tiger always says winning breeds winning.
If you need some help and a step-by-step plan to finally say “F-it!”, then I highly encourage you join the 18STRONG Membership (if you haven’t already).