What Do You Want To Achieve in 2008?
Jan 2nd, 2008 by Mehdi
Image credit: theshanghaieye
I set goals for everything. Strength training of course, but also other aspects of my life. Here’s a quote from the Law of Success by Napoleon Hill:
The man who actually knows just what he wants in life has already gone a long way toward attaining it.
Why Goals? Many people have no goals in life. They’re like zombies. Living day to day without progressing in any area of their life. Meet them 5 years later and they’re still coping with the same problems.
I meet them in night clubs getting high on drugs, wandering around aimlessly. Searching in the wilderness of life for answers. Telling me that I changed. And that they feel useless, bored & lost.
We all have desires. But unless you set goals, these desires will remain desires. You’ll never get nowhere without first knowing what you want. Many never take the time to think about what they really want.
What Do You Want? Think about it. Sit down for 2 hours & think about what you want. Take pen & paper. Analyze your desires. Clear your mind. Write it all out. Some questions to help you out:
- Strength Training. How strong would you like to get?
- Injuries. Which injuries are holding you back?
- Health. What has been working on your nerves for some time?
Example. You might have chronic lower back pain. But rather than fixing the pain, you’ve built the habit of restricting movements which hurt. This could be one of your goals: get rid of your lower back pain forever.
And your goals shouldn’t be limited to the topic of this blog.
- Business & Career. What have you always wanted to do? What position would you like to achieve?
- Finance. How much money would you like to save this year? How much money would you like to earn?
- Self-improvement. Confidence, social skills, positive thinking, etc. What is holding you back in getting what you want?
Tips for Setting Goals. Don’t think about how you’re going to get what you want. Just analyze your desires & write them down.
- Get Rid of Negativity. What is causing daily frustrations? Write it all down & set as goal to get rid of it.
- Set the Bar High. You owe it to yourself to set a high standard. Do not settle for anything that is not 100% what you want.
- Know Why. You don’t achieve goals using willpower. You achieve them using deep & strong desires. Know why you want it.
- Do It for Yourself. Revenge & social status are bad motivators. Don’t do it for other people, do it to please yourself.
Get to work.
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Great motivating article! Thanks Mehdi.
Great advice. I’m seeing topics about goals for the new year (and I’m guilty of having written one as well) in the blogs I read, but your “Tips for Setting Goals” sum up in four points what I think a lot of people are missing.
My attitude this year is to set very specific goals and to attach specific target dates for their completion. For instance, where some people might say “I want to lose weight”, I recommend setting the goal of “lose 10 pounds by March 31″.
Of course, listed among my own goals, I’ve set the very aggressive goal of increasing my benchpress +50 lbs by summer, and another +50 lbs by next Christmas.
As Always, Nice Article.
Goals makes men go forward.
One important thing is to stay motivated.
Stay motivated to achieve them. Keep Them in mind.
Superb!
Failing to plan is planning to fail. I carry my list of goals everywhere I go and read them when I have time. Showing my list to people motivates them to make their own list and move forward with their own lives.
Nice tips Mehdi, particularly agree with “Do it for yourself.” Nobody else will care more than you do.
Happy New Year.
Daniel
Just as Randall said, like a lot of bloggers, I just posted something similar on my own blog.
In any case, a well thought-out post. I would add that one really needs to be realistic about setting their goals, even if it is to aim high.
Hard work, dedication, and the commitment, drive and persistence to succeed, step-by-step, a-little-something-everyday attitude — is I think what’s missing in people who fail to achieve their goal by xx date. Then they give up.
But by taking baby steps each day, one can enjoy the journey, and before you know it, you’ve reached your destination.
I’ve been reading this website from the beginning and decided to just subscribe to your newsletter.
I’m looking forward to advancing my weight training, finances, business moves and move into a nicer/larger apartment with my gf.
Thanks all.
@Randall
You need to set definite goals indeed: specific & adding a deadline. This article was more meant as brainstorming to get thoughts/desires out on paper. I also recommend what you do: breaking bigger goal into mini goals.
@Demizer
Good advice. Constantly looking at your goals, reviewing goals on a daily/weekly basis to keep focus.
@Nez
I wouldn’t use the word “realistic”. You can only be realistic in the now, not in the future. I’d say using “reason”. You can’t get from a 100kg Squat to a 400kg in one year. But you could put it as a goal and then work to a 200kg in year one, 250kg in year two etc.
Eventually the goal itself doesn’t matters. What matters is the fact that you’re working toward something that you truly desire, and that constantly reminding yourself of it keeps you focussed on turning that desire into reality.
One trick I find really helpful in measuring your “goal attainabilty” is to really chunk your goals down as part of the brainstorming process. For instance, is it too ambitious to say I want to have $1000 extra in my savings account by June 1st, 2008? That would mean I’d have to deposit an average of $167 per month, which breaks down to about an extra $42 per week. Is that something I can do? If yes, then great — I have a way to manage and monitor my goals on a weekly, even daily basis. If not, then I can revise my end goal until it fits something I can attain every week. Mini-goals are automatically set.
Yeah I find that for me and a lot of people its best to really focus on only a few goals and not try to do “multitasking”. If you try to do too much you end up accomplishing each thing mediocre, whereas if you focus on 1 goal, you can get amazing extraordinary results. What I do is have one main goal and maybe a couple minor goals.
So true on so many levels. Many folks are zombies, but they dont even know it. Keep the great posts coming.
Positive thinking is good, but you have to make sure you’re dealing with reality instead of constructing a fantasy world for yourself. I think many people get excited in the planning stage and set unrealistic goals or are absolutely sure about things that are either wrong or have a large amount of uncertainty. So they spend a large amount of time and energy trying to accomplish their goals but because they’re ignoring negativity or haven’t accurately assessed the situation, they intentionally blind themselves to the many signs of failure that appear along the way. Then they eventually give up and become depressed/unmotivated to try again because they invested a lot in something they were so certain about but ended up failing at.
So I would amend these by saying that you should be intellectually honest with yourself about all the uncertainty and constantly monitor the situation for signs of failure and adjust your plan/goals/thinking as new information comes in.
My goal is to get rid if this darn sinus infection so I can get back to working out.
BTW awesome blog!
To not be sick anymore and get back in the gym. Before I got sick I dead lifted my highest weight of 230. I was so happy.
Other than that, make more money, become debt free, dress better. I’ve started the path to making more money by getting into the security field which is huge here in Washington DC. Getting debt free is going to take a few years, but me and my wife have already stopped using credit cards and have a plan.
Dressing better is going to be the hardest…lol.
Let’s see, in general terms at the gym I want to be able to get my squat and deadlift over 400 lb each. Bench I’d be happy to get over 300. OHP 200.
I’d also like to be able to do at least 10 pullups. Those just flat kick my ass.
great article. Im a first time visitor of this site. I want to start working out soon. I want to become a pro soccer player ( thats my goal ) in order to achieve that I will have to gain muscle, and get lots of strength. I also need some confidence, im skinny…very talented in soccer though. I have a hard time keeping motivated. I start things and often dont finish them. The only thing i stuck with all my life is soccer. Im 19 right now…played ever since i was 6 years old. Looking forward getting buff! I cant wait to download the ebook. I saw that you have an article about how to become muscular when you’re skinny.
@Denis
Welcome. You can start with this article I wrote for another blog.
Mehdi, thank you! Thats what I was looking for the whole time. I could only find ebooks that I had to buy. But i didn’t want to spend money. So this is big help, thank you. I will start my workout right now. I ate a lot today, im having a tough time finishing my meals. I never ate this much before. My stomach is soo full. I hope i get used to this because in about 2 weeks I have to eat about 3000 calories!! Great posts btw! keep them coming!
@Denis
You’re welcome. Take it slowly on the food intake, you’ll get used to it. Good luck with the weight gain.
Hi Medhi,
Your philosophy of life contains ageless wisdom. It’s truly an inspiration to read everyone of your articles and to learn about strength, health and life improvement. How you lead your life truly sets an example for all of us; and personally has shaken me up, and reminded me that a life of self discipline and perseverance is the correct road to follow in life.
Just wanted to thank you for your excellent blog. Hope you publish a book so I can have a hard copy of what I read here nearly every day.
Keep up the great work!
Byron
I used a Franklin Planner for a while. It was based upon how Benjamin Franklin planned his life/days. Very similar to Steven Covey’s ideas. Basically, you start with your values. The you come up with long term goals that fit those values. You then come up with some short to mid-term goals that support the long term goals. All your daily tasks should support the short to mid-term goals. The daily tasks are prioritized. You should always completed the highest priority tasks but it is also good to complete lots of the not so important tasks. The latter can make you feel like you accomplished something even on a bad day.
Good information.
One of the best books that I have read [in excess of 20] on the subject is:
POWER OF FOCUS, by Canfield, Hansen, and Hewitt. 2000. Health Communicatiuons Inc. ISBN 1-55874-752-4.
Very practical approach. Not esoteric…not so complex that a person will stop doing after a few tries.
Personal Master Plan deals with:
Financial
Career & Business
Fun Time
Health & Fitness
Relationships
Personal
Contribution
The second book that I believe is the very best of all is:
THINK & GROW RICH, by Napoleon Hill. It clearly defines the 17 dynamic Principles of Life and Success.
All one has to do is to believe and follow the above Principles of life.
DR
I’d fight!
I ran and completed 6 marathons 7-8 years ago. I remember my 1st NYC marathon where I began to hit “the wall”, and at about mile 20 I was passing by a runner who was walking and eating a powerbar.. He looked like he was not going to start running again anytime soon and I wanted so bad to finish my 1st marathon and I asked him if I could have his powerbar and he gave it to me and it allowed me to finish the NYC marathon in 1998.
I then went on to run faster marathons each year and punish myself with harder training and more mental power and physical pain.. I felt like I could overcome anything as long as I put my mind to it and I did.
I ran a personal best of 2:45 in the Boston Marathon with less than 5 years of running.
So Yes I would fight