Set a goal.
Set a goal that lights your world on fire and makes you want to be better.
Set a goal that is inspires a healthy dose of fear and nerves, because you know you want it badly, and you know it’s the right time for it.
That is the single best thing you can do for yourself. Right. This. Second.
If you conduct a study of everyone that I’ve ever worked with, you’ll find the following to be true:
- There are many different exercise approaches in practice. Yes, there are common fundamentals, but there is also disparity in workout quantity (2-6 workouts/week), type, and intensity.
- There are many different nutritional approaches in practice. Again, there are common fundamentals, but I’ve worked with vegans, vegetarians, pescetarians, and meat lovers alike. There is disparity in meal number (2-6 meals/day), frequency, timing, and type.
Above all you’ll find this to be true: strength of current goal is the single biggest determining factor of ensuing progress and success.
If you’re fired up about a goal, you prioritize it. If you’re fired up about a goal, the exercise and nutrition (and sleep and stress management) fall in line without issue. If you’re fired up about a goal, you enjoy the journey.
Without one you are lost. You know what you should do, but sometimes it simply doesn’t happen. Without the fire, fitness slides down the priority list.
The Relentless Transformation is my goal. The entire process, external accountability to you included, inspires fear and nerves. It feels right. Thinking a step ahead, the Spartan Race on September 20th is the next goal. I’m just as excited for that one. (Philly people – contact me if you want to race with Team Relentless that day!) Being able to say these things makes me feel like progress and success are inevitable.
Where’s your fire? What makes you want to be better? What scares you?
Dig deep. Rise up and declare it. Tear after your version of progress and success.
It starts with a goal.
Day 23 Recap
Exercise was the welcome end to a back-to-back rest day stretch. Recovery has been solid, and I’m ready to dig in again.
Steps and miles checked in at 9,383 and 5.04 (add 20%).
Sleep checked in at 8 hours and 20 minutes (2 minutes awake, 18 minutes restless). Not the greatest night of continuity.
The nutrition…
Breakfast: Grass-fed yogurt, (28g) whey protein isolate, (5g) creatine, raw cacao nibs, chia seeds, coconut flakes, organic blueberries, banana, cinnamon. Black gold. First world problem – I ran out of Rival Bros beans. For a morning I had to dip back into the old Starbucks French Roast supply, and the difference was noticeable. Yes, I can handle all coffee snob related remarks.
Lunch: The last of the mega-leftovers! Free-range turkey (half dark, half white meat), organic sweet potato, mache greens, kimchi, fish oil.
Afternoon Snack: Rise Bar.
Late Afternoon: I dropped by Bodhi for a Relentless brainstorm session and remedied the home bean shortage. Onward to Stumptown Hair Bender! The purchase came with a free coffee, so I grabbed a decaf iced. Took it black as always.
Dinner: Free-range chicken breast, brown rice pasta, green peas, broccoli, extra virgin olive oil, cherry tomatoes.
Daily Fuel
What could be better than Steven Pressfield writing on Seth Godin? That’s exactly the topic of this post.
He tells the story of a young friend who attempted but failed to get into a very exclusive Godin seminar. While praising Godin, he states the following. Read this closely:
“We don’t really need to attend Seth’s seminar, wonderful as it will be.
What we would have come away with, we can come away with on our own.
We all understand the stuff that Seth embodies. We know we have to be bold. We know we must embrace our own weirdness, that we have to think like professionals at the same time that we’re kicking down doors and taking names. We know we have to thrash and sweat, and we know we have to deliver.
All that’s in our wiring already.”
I could have bolded the entire passage. It’s powerful. And it fits with the message today.
Decide what you will be and go get it, dammit. Everything you need to get there is already in your possession.
Image Credit: Pinky and Brain – http://forcingchange.files.wordpress.com
Image Credit: To Do – http://funnypictures.com
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