Turning Goals Into Success

Aaaarrrgghhh noooo.

Not yet another blog about goal setting.

Before you click away from here and over to YouTube for some cute cat videos, this isn’t yet another rehash of SMART goals.

(You know the old, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound).

That stuff is great, but it just lacks a bit of soul.

When I used to use the SMART method with my clients it would feel like we were setting goals to fit the acronym, rather than it coming from a place of real meaning.

I tried my hand at using BHAG (Big Hairy Arsed Goal).

We’d talk about what their most amazing result would be…shoot for the stars.

But this had problems too.

Imagine your wildest goals and dreams for your health, physique, business or whatever your ambitions point you towards.

I bet you can picture some crazy shizzle.

The problem is, to hit those sized goals you have to be super dedicated, there’s no margin for error.

The majority of the people I train have crazy busy careers, families and even try to find a sneaky bit of time for a social life.

There’s going to be times when being on target to hit that BHAG just isn’t possible.

And missing a target could be really demotivating, especially for people who ask a lot of themselves.

Goals are meant to be motivating…not sucking our energy away.

Also, sometimes you may not want what comes with hitting that goal.

Being crazy chiseled and ripped means saying no to a lot of things you’d like to say yes to.

Or constantly focused on counting how many calories have been munched.

It’s a price that most people don’t want to pay.

It’s certainly not how I want to live my life.

Does This Mean We Should Just Crack ON Without Solid Goals?

Hell no.

When I worked in big commercial gyms I always wanted to get to know the members.

It’s great for business when people feel at home and comfortable in your facility and it was nice for me as the members were like my colleagues, the people I’d see at work everyday.

However, as a bit of an introvert, I can be terrible at starting a conversation with someone I don’t know.

So I had my stock opening line and the conversation would often go something like this.

“Do you come here often Hey how’s training going?”

“Not too bad/ok”

“What is it you’re training for?”

“I’m not sure really…lose a bit of weight I suppose…maybe add some muscle…I’m not sure really”.

Most of the time these would be the people who would be drifting in and out of training.

Three of inspired motivation would blend into 6 weeks off and never seeing any results for the time (and money) they’d spent.

If you’re not sure where you’re headed, you can’t plan a route.

So goals matter.

Maybe SMART goals and BHAGS are..well…your bag and you’re cracking on nicely thank you very much.

But over the years I’ve found some ways to build goals to aim for that have some soul.

They represent what really matters to you rather than just filling in an acronym, 

One of my favourites is the Magic Day exercise.

Imagine you go to sleep tonight and when you wake up tomorrow the world has changed.

Your goals have become a reality…don’t ask how…just play along and let your mind have some fun.

The question is…how do you know your goals have been achieved?

What exactly is different?

Is it getting out of bed to find your back isn’t killing you?

Is it the choice of clothes you wear?

You can use this exercise to have a play with your whole life.

What do you do when you get up?

How do you spend your day?

You get the idea, but we’re here to chat health.

The point is, what are you able to do or what are you now free from on this perfect day that separates that reality from your current reality?

I don’t want to put words in your mouth but for many people this becomes a lot more about a feeling rather than looking in the mirror.

They have more confidence going out, the way their clothes fit is different, they have a spring in their step, they’re not dreading going to work or exercising, they’re mentally sharper and less tired.

The fun bit is taking these emotions and feelings and turning them into goals, which they now have an emotional attachment to.

Now you have some clear goals, which is great, but also meaningless without one very important thing.

ACTION.

After all nothing changes until we DO something.

My favourite way of turning a goal into action is by using a framework that I learned from the lovely peeps at Precision Nutrition.

They call it the GSPA framework.

Goals, Skills, Practices and Actions.

Getting to your goal becomes a lot easier when you realise everything is just a skill you can develop.

Exercise, being a better sleeper, planning your week, cooking, being a snazzy dresser, a writer…literally everything is a skill we can improve.

Maybe we won’t become the best in the world at it.

Gordon Ramsay may not have anything to fear from my cooking and I highly doubt anything I write will still be discussed hundreds of years after my lifetime, like Charles Dickens.

But we can certainly always improve.

With that in mind let’s dig into how GSPA helps you get to your goal.

Goal - this is the big aim, the grail. 

Maybe we want to build muscle and boost recovery.

Skills - these are the abilities we need in order to achieve this goal.

For our example, one skill would be to eat enough nutrients.

Practices - these are what we need to do in order to develop our skill.

Carrying on with our example that could be to eat enough protein.

Actions - these are the steps we’re actually going to do. The stepping stones towards the grail.

For this goal it could be as simple as making and drinking a super shake.

As each action starts to gain traction and we develop our confidence in being able to perform this regularly, we can add another action that feeds into our GSPA framework.

When we’re clear on what’s important to us and have a framework that acts as a guide to take us there, our chances of success increase massively.