Take the Long Road Approach

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  This year I have a goal to reach more readers than I ever had, and to increase the number of subscribers to this free fitness blog each individual month.  And these goals of mine have their basis in what I want to talk to you about today...taking the long road approach.  This isn't me saying anything different from what I have professed before, but it reinforces what I say all of the time, especially at this time of year when so many people welcome the New Year by making a long list of resolutions.  You see, the only goals that are ever reached and the only resolutions that are ever well kept are the ones that are not only motivational, in that they move you to a higher level that you want to strive for, but they are also actually attainable.  Furthermore, these two aspects are not contradictory.  For example, you may start out by saying that you want to lose 15 pounds of fat mass, and that is great, and is certainly bringing you to a higher level of fitness.  But hearing that you also need to make the goal attainable does not mean you should lower your sights to a lesser amount of fat loss.  I am not asking you to short change your self in the better version of yourself that you want to attain.  Rather, what I want you to understand is that you will be better off making your goals, or your New Year's resolutions, set up so that they are attained over the long term.

          Most people start off the New Year with the absolute best intentions when making their New Year's resolutions.  But a good number of them sad to say, but realistically more so the majority of them, quickly drop most if not all of their resolutions within a few weeks to a few months.  And the reason that they drop their resolutions is not because they have attained that higher level so soon into the year, nor is it because they changed their ultimate goal.  The reason I find most people fail at reaching their goals and/or to keep up with their resolutions is because the end goal was not realistically achievable in a short amount of time.  This is usually coupled with the fact that the work needed to reach that goal was probably overwhelming and hard to keep up with.  And anytime anyone is met with failure, it takes even more effort to get back at it.  So rather than setting yourself up for failure, I want you to start the year off by striving for your goals while taking the long road approach.

         I've used the analogy before that a building cannot be constructed with just a vision.  Furthermore, it needs more than just the iron, bricks, mortar and other materials.  It also needs a blueprint...it needs a plan.  Similarly, you cannot just have the goal of getting faster, leaner and/or stronger...you need to have a plan to get there.  And anyone who has ever used a contractor before for some sort of construction project knows that it is extremely prudent to not only have the plan, but to also have a time frame to completion.  Common sense would suggest that the bigger the job, the more time needed.  The best contractors and the biggest jobs will have deadlines not just for the finish, but for milestones along the way.  The greatest way to know if a project will be completed successfully is to evaluate the progress at the individual benchmarks.  Same goes for repairing and/or building your body.

         Don't expect or try to meet your long term goals in the first few weeks of the year.  Rather, set up a realistic time frame with benchmarks set up along the way to see if you are progressing the way you should.  If you aren't, then you could make changes as you continue on your path.  For example, if your goal is to lose 15 pounds of fat before the summertime, you might want to break it down into working to lose 5 pounds every two months.  Not only does this approach allow you to alter what you are doing along the way as part of the process, but it also creates goals that are mentally easier to adhere to.  Which sounds easier?  Trying to lose 15 pounds for the summertime, or losing 2 and half pounds this month?  They are essentially the same exact goal, but one creates a situation that calls for a plan that will be easier to adhere to.  Achieving successes along the way, even small ones, is just as motivating as failing is debilitating.

         Just as a contractor will set up a framework for how they ultimately want a job to progress in order for it to be completed on time, so to do you need to understand that your goals of getting to the next level of health aren't going to come quickly.  The most important changes in life, the one's that both directly affect ourselves and are controlled by ourselves are ones that require a long road approach to be successful and lasting.  The spiritual improvement specialists Matthew Kelly, in his address The Long View, and Steve Farrar in his book Finishing Strong make this clear in both their titles and  respective works.  In their own ways, they point out that the best life changes are the ones that aren't the ones seen and done so much today, but are the ones that affect the long term.  So whether you have already made them, or you are still debating them, I ask you to evaluate the realistic needs to get you to your fitness goals.  Don't try to reach them in the first few weeks or months.  Rather, set them up in a way that they will not be overwhelming, and can be stepping stones for further improvements.  The long road approach is the most time effective approach to reaching a fit new you!