Keeping Sight of your Goals
I’ve been Crossfitting for 5 years now. In that time I’ve had multiple goals and achieved many of them, while also still chasing down some (lots) of them.
When I first started I simply wanted to be able to do the basic movements well and unassisted (it took me 5 months to do my first full range pull up unassisted, and nearly a year to do a ring dip unassisted). As I progressed through my fitness journey my goals changed as I became more proficient at various movements. For example I remember when I finally got a 70kg snatch and a 90kg clean and jerk (happened on the same day, New Year’s Eve 2012) and I was on top of the world.
From there, I’ve moved on to heavier weights (still chasing the 100kg snatch and 120kg clean and jerk…nearly there!), and more complex gymnastics movements (ring and bar muscle ups, handstand push ups, etc.) but it has not come easily and there have been many setbacks, including losing sight of my goals on lots (heaps) of occasions.
Having said this, I’ve found that there are a few very simple strategies for keeping sight of your goals…and when I say simple I mean really, really simple.
1. HAVE FUN, don’t take yourself too seriously. Have a laugh over that missed lift, or getting psyched out before you try to do a box jump. If you can’t do something – here’s the thing – who cares? No one is going to judge your ability to function as a human being on whether you can snatch your body weight, or if you can string 10 muscle ups together, or if you only lost 8kg instead of 10kg. Roll with the punches, have a think about how you can get around what is holding you up, make a strategy and have a crack. If it doesn’t work, try something different. But the most important thing is to enjoy the ride. Your coach can help you with strategies if you’re stuck.
2. KEEP IT SIMPLE AND REALISTIC. It seems so easy, just saying it like that, but we put so much expectation on ourselves that any setback seems like the end of the world. Set your goals such that they are specific, measureable, achievable/manageable, realistic and timely (S.M.A.R.T.). There’s no point setting a goal of completing a 10km run next week if you struggle to run 500m without stopping, or saying that you will complete 30 muscle ups for time within the next 3 months when you still struggle doing unassisted pull ups. Keep your goals simple, realistic and set a timeline to keep you accountable. For example: “I’m going to clean up my eating and lose 5kg over the next 2 months”. This is a simple and realistic goal with a timeline. Whatever it is, write it down and stick to it. Simple.
3. KEEP SIGHT OF THE BIG PICTURE. Most people join CrossFit simply to improve their fitness and well-being, not to get a 2x bodyweight back squat (although this can be a cool by-product of CrossFit). Picture where you want to be in 3, 6, 12 months, 2 years, etc., with your fitness and well-being journey and do everything you can to achieve those milestones. It can also help to write down these aims/goals to keep you accountable. Having a “big picture” view can assist you with dealing with small setbacks (bad training day, letting your nutrition slide, life gets in the way, etc.). Pick yourself up, look at your big picture goals, put things back in perspective and get back on track.
By no means is the above a complete list. There are a myriad of other strategies and sub-strategies that can help you keep sight of your goals and stay on track, particularly if you are training for something specific. For me though, the above 3 points have always worked well as a starting point to assess/re-assess where I’m at with my goals and how I’m going to achieve them.
Happy goal setting/achieving!
Adam.
