The Upside of Short-Term Goals
I’ve been lifting weights since age 18. It’s been a constant healthy habit in my life. Constant doesn't translate to progress though. There have been long periods where things have gotten stale. Motivation faded. No intentionality. My habit kept me going but I went through the motions when I entered the weight room.
Getting reps in when forming a new habit is essential but to be serious, a blueprint is needed. A specific plan. Pair that plan with timely execution and you have the best chance of making real progress on that goal. We all know this.
What tends to be overlooked is short-term planning. These types of plans allow you to see the results quicker, learn from and build a new plan and hit the restart button to start fresh.
Motivation and Time
I recently ran a 10K race. Signing up for a race is a contract with a deadline. You will show up at this location in X number of weeks and run X number of miles. Your friends will also show up and do it with you. It is an amazing commitment device. They should charge more.
For this race, I had nine weeks. The perfect amount of time to create a short-term plan. Enough time to build momentum (getting into a running habit), see incremental progress (getting faster), and gratification of all the hard work paying off with race day results.
Whatever short-term plan you create, if you swing enough motivation in the first few weeks, that motivation will come back as you see the endpoint. If we can see the end, we push harder. Runners do this during the last mile of any race. Finishing strong isn’t only for physical endeavors either.
Most of us do this with school or work projects. Last slide of that presentation deck, last chapter of that book, last line of code before compiling. Self-efficacy becomes strong in that moment. This is why breaking down long-term goals into bite-size pieces is a worthy strategy. You need milestones to celebrate and reinforce motivation.
More Data
A short duration also allows you to zoom out. Experience is the best teacher. What better way to optimize version 2.0 of a new plan than to use current data.
We all have had plans that didn’t work out. It could have been us biting too much, poor execution, or bad timing. Whatever it was, the end date allows us to reevaluate. What could we do differently next time?
It's naive to think we can hit our goals the first time. It is never that easy.
A Blank Canvas to Start Over
An infinite end date can also create a natural clean slate. The fresh start effect is a theory that explains at what moments we decide we will attempt change. For many, the new year is that clean slate for reflection and intervention. Time isn’t the only marker of a blank slate though.
Changing environments is another way to give yourself that blank slate. I previously spoke about new and old habits when I moved apartments. When I got a new job, a friend and I spoke about new work habits. He made a rule at his new job never to use his work computer for personal reasons.
When you have a fresh start, it is a line in the sand. Whatever happened before doesn’t matter. Only what happens next.
New Approach to Lifting
After I realized how effective a short-term plan was for my 10K race, I knew I could apply the same principles to lifting weights.
I decided to go from an endless routine to an infinite one that will end in 10 weeks.
I took my workout routine and dumbed it. I watched videos of my favorite YouTuber and moved from a push/pull/legs workout split to a full-body. I also changed out most exercises.
After ten weeks are up, I will restart again. Zoom out and optimize my next program.
I am almost halfway through now. It has resulted in better focus, motivation, and strength gains.
🌟 My Favorite Ideas
A few of my favorite ideas from a book/podcast/article I consumed recently
Book - Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day
An excellent book about how our attention system works. A surprising note I wrote down.
One of the modern problems society has is we are always “on task”. Our attention is always focused. This prevents us from letting our minds wander which is important for recovery. Scrolling social media or the web is relaxing but not for our attention system. It's more engagement.
As always, thank you for reading.
How'd you like it? Feedback is always welcomed, just hit reply. I answer every email.
Irfan
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