Some Thoughts About Goals.

I’ve decided to start a blog.
The blog is mostly going to be about health and fitness, but I’ll probably write about some other things as well. The reason I am starting this blog is that I have a lot of interest in the topics of health, fitness, martial arts and food. Trying to write posts about this could be an interesting project for me, and hopefully a way of building towards one day earning an income from something I enjoy.

For my first post I am going to write about the topic of goals. Setting goals is something I do quite a lot of, and have done it in one way or another for quite a while now. This post is going to share some of my realizations and things I have learned from setting goals and also from reading about how other people set goals.
In my opinion, the most important aspect of setting a goal is thinking long term. This is where I think a lot of people go wrong when trying to make a change in their life. It is easy to get over excited and start thinking about how great it is going to be when you achieve your goal, and decide you are going to go full throttle and completely change your ways. You might make some great progress for a few weeks and feel great, but eventually, the chances are that you will start to revert back to your old ways. To constantly override your natural desires takes a lot of mental energy, and therefore you must be realistic with yourself about how well you are able to do this. No one can go into a gym for the first time and deadlift 200kg, and in the same way no one can just summon an immense amount of willpower and discipline out of nowhere.

“A habit can not be tossed out the window. It most be coaxed down the stairs, one step at a time.” – Mark Twain

To illustrate this point, lets take the example of someone who is overweight and wants to get to a more natural and healthy bodyweight. This person may decide to take action and go on a diet, cutting out all junk food that they normally eat. Let’s say they set a goal to lose 5kg by July 1st. This approach might work, and they might be able to endure a few months of suffering in order to meet their goal. However, when looking at this over a year, or 5 years, it is highly unlikely that this person will be able to just use will power and cut out junk food forever. The chances are that this person will eventually start to revert back to their old habits, and therefore the 5kg that they lose will end up being put back on over time. This person has achieved their short term goal, but in the long term they have remained the same.

Another thing to consider when thinking about setting long term goals, is that the goal will not always be a clear, concise, measurable thing. Let’s say, for example, you set a goal of getting a Black Belt in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. Is this really your goal? The black belt itself is just an object, and does not really mean anything. However, what the black belt represents is achieving mastery of a craft, having grit and coming back from setbacks, learning how to improve yourself, having discipline and focus, and many other things. The black belt is just a side effect of doing these things. Similarly, if you set a goal of becoming a millionaire, is your real goal just to have a million pounds? If you win the lottery tomorrow, have you met your goal? It is easy to get obsessed with something material or an outcome, but in doing this losing sight of what you were actually looking for in the first place.

“Not everything that matters can be measured. Not everything that can be measured matters.” – Albert Einstein

The next step in achieving you goal is to turn your attention to the process. Having a big goal that’s long term is all well and good, but once you have spent some time thinking about this, and have come up with a goal, it is time to stop focusing on it. There are a few reasons that I like this approach. The first is that whenever you put too much emphasis on achieving something, you will often end up disappointed. It’s natural to build up a big idea of what it is going to feel like whenever you achieve something that you have spent a long time working towards, however what normally happens is that by the time you start to get closer to your goal, it starts to become more and more clear that you are going to achieve it. By the time you have got to your end point, it is much less of a eureka moment and much more like the next obvious step in a long process. You will probably feel good for a few hours, maybe a few days, but achieving a goal will not make you happy for the long term. However, if you focus on making small steps every single day towards your goal, with each step you will get a small buzz. Every day you are getting one step closer to your goals, and this becomes the most enjoyable part. If you spend your time focusing only on this goal, and how far away it is and all the things that you have to do, you miss out on this enjoyment. However, if you focus solely on the next step and trying to put your full energy and attention into that step, before you even realise it you will have achieved your goal.

Setting short term goals is a good way to give yourself a bit of drive to get from one step to the next, however the same rules apply. Once you set the goal, you must stop thinking about it. For example, if you are drilling a BJJ technique and you give yourself a mini goal to do 15 repetitions, this can help you keep going past the point where you might have without a goal. However, it is important not to get too attached to finishing your reps, to the point that you start to slack off on the quality of the reps. Rather than taking the time to stop and think about what you could have done better, refining your technique with each repetition, you try to just keep powering through to get your 15 reps done. Your focus is on the number of reps the whole time, you stop focusing on each specific rep, and it becomes a boring drag. However, if you set a goal of 15 repetitions, but don’t get too obsessed with it, still focusing your energy on each specific rep, taking as long as it needs, then the goal can provide a solid guideline for getting good work done. If you run out of time and don’t hit your 15 reps, it does not matter. The goal was a guideline, however what was really important was the reps themselves.

In conclusion, a goal is a guideline. It can be difficult to set the perfect goal that captures what you are truely looking for, while also being specific and measurable. However, if you keep this in mind and detach yourself from the outcome, goals can provide a great map to take you where you want to go. Think long term, and then focus on the short term. Start small, setting out one thing you want to get done today, and then do the same tomorrow. Let the momentum build and enjoy the process.