Making Big Goals More Reachable: Work in Progress
Goal-Getting Strategies and Challenge #2
New Year, New Goals
I’ve talked a bit about goal setting in my first couple articles here. Sharing my ambitions for personal growth and writing. The turning of a new year is a natural time to reflect and reset.
For me, January is an easing-in month. I have two school-age kids. They didn’t go back to school after the holiday break until Jan 9. A long weekend to observe MLK followed. My oldest has a birthday at the end of Jan, yet evidence of holiday gifts is still lingering.
No…January is more like ‘return to neutral’.
Talking to close friends, it’s also obvious how goals change. I feel this. More ambition for less. More appreciation for time. More conscious choices.
Whether your goals this year are to ‘go get it’ or to ‘be more content with where you are’, here are some strategies that have worked for me.
Hold Yourself Accountable
Share with friends. Write about it publicly. Tell a child in your life and let them question you about it (and then keep questioning you). Talk about it and let others share in your excitement to keep you moving forward. I did this with my goal to write more this year.
Envision Yourself Achieving the Goal
Imagine what the finish line feels like. See yourself there. Feel the energy around you. Envision yourself crushing it, and manifest that result!
Athletes do this, but it’s also great for big presentations, interview preparation, and a host of other things.
For me, this is best done in the morning before the mental clutter of the day sets in. Or right before bed, which can be a calming way to end the day. I’d also recommend this book, which goes deep on the psychology of a ‘flow’ which you can achieve with intention, versus leaving it to chance.
Intense Focus
Dedicate time. When you’re at your best. I’m a morning person, so I dedicate time in the morning when I want to focus on a big task. And do this at a consistent rhythm, to continue toward your goal. Read about my recent 3-hour challenge for inspiration from a big, dedicated time block.
Stretch Goals
If your goal is X, create a strategy to aim for X + 1. Stretch yourself to go a little further with each goal chasing session. This is a mental game you can play with goals over long duration.
I do this when training for a long run. Training includes timed, shorter runs that increase in distance as you get closer to race day. I listen to music to pass time when I train. When my run timer goes off, I’ll think “keep going until this song ends” (the song at that moment).
The timer never ends at the same time as a song, and I won’t let myself stop mid-song. This forces me to add a bit more time to my workout.
Add Resistance
Have a goal to walk a mile? Start by walking a ¼ mile with a weighted backpack or vest. I have this exact vest which comes in a variety of weights and works great!
Want to deliver an ‘um-free’ presentation? Practice with a friend and have them interrupt you every time you stumble.
Adding resistance or obstacles you can overcome, helps train you toward an easier ending.
Cross-train
Whether advancing your career, skill-training, or physical performance, there are proven benefits to working different muscles or taking on different experiences. You gain perspective while building on your foundation. A great strategy for longer goals over time and 1 + 1 = 3 results.
Talk to Someone Who’s Done it Before
Did you know January is national mentoring month? The emphasis to increase the number of mentors for young people in our communities so they have dependable people to look up to and follow in their footsteps.
Though isn’t this true of everyone? Unless your goal is a Guiness World Record, chances are someone has already done it.
Find them.
And ask them about it.
Learn from what worked for them, and didn’t. Walk in their footsteps with the benefit of their wisdom, giving you foresight to challenges to come.
Challenge #2: Strengthen Your Core
Now for my second challenge. One to build physical strength and potentially establish a new habit.
Planks improve core stability and can be done in a short amount of time. Planking requires nothing, other than you. Planks make your whole body strong, reducing the need for your back, and other muscles, to over-compensate or strain.
There’s also science to forming new habits. 21-days was once suggested as the target time and since has been (repeatedly) disproven.
There’s no debate habit formation takes both time and intention so in this challenge, we’ll work on developing a plank habit, over 21 days, after which you can decide if you want to keep going.
I saw an article recently about habit-stacking, which is to sequence new and old habits, creating a “habit routine”. This may be a strategy to consider for this challenge or other new habits you’re considering.
For this challenge you will need:
- Your body and a space no smaller than it.
- 21 days and less than 10 minutes a day.
How this challenge will work:
The end goal is to do a plank, for 21 consecutive days. I will start today.
There are different ways to plank. Start where it makes sense for your strength level. Where you’ll feel confident in not hurting yourself, but still challenged and able to add time each day.
I will do a “high-plank”, which is demonstrated in this video.
You can also do a “forearm plank”, which is demonstrated in this video.
A “knee plank” is a great beginner option and demonstrated in this video.
Day 1:
Hold a plank as long as you can. Until your arms are a little shaky yet your form is strong. If your back starts to dip, stop. If something hurts, stop.
The goal is to establish your ‘baseline’ for holding a good plank.
Each day, note how you feel after completing, using this scale.
😀 Held consecutively for the target time, felt strong.
😓 Held consecutively for the target time, and was fatigued in the end.
😖 Held the duration with one mini-break (5–10 sec).
😫 Held the duration with more than one mini-break (5–10 sec each).
Day 2:
Repeat day 1, but for 1/5 the time. Record how you feel when done.
Day 3:
Repeat Day 2 and add 5 seconds.
Days 4–20:
Repeat the previous day, adding 5 seconds every day. As you continue to add time, this will get harder. Set a timer for the total duration and hold your plank as much of that duration as you can. Take short breaks as you need (5–10 sec each).
Day 21:
Hold a plank as long as you can. Until your arms are a little shaky yet your form is strong. If your back starts to dip, stop. If something hurts, stop.
The end goal is to beat Day 1, by as much as you can.
Record how you feel when you’re done. Take note of how you feel when the clock passes the time you achieved Day 1. Here’s an illustration of how this would look if a person achieves 30 seconds on Day 1.
Ok, let’s get at it!
I’ll report back later in February to share my experience. I hope you’ll join along to strengthen your core and try to start a healthy new habit.
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