Lord of the Castle

For a goal to be good, it has to be meaningful.

Take for instance my goal of trying to get and stay in shape. Do I really want to do that or is that just something that I am “supposed” to do?

I really want to do it…

Two years ago I began exercising and lost 20 pounds. However, last year I ran into problems.

Since I had started lifting weights the year before, last January I decided to just continue my program of lifting twice per week and running 3 times per week.

By March, my strength had grown to the point that I realized that if I wanted to continue growing, I had to commit to pumping some serious iron. About the same time, my 3-4 mile run had begun to seem like drudgery.

Yet, I couldn’t quit. I don’t want to get tired and fat. And while I am not afraid of getting older, I’m don’t have my eyes on a certain “walker” or a cane!

I had to get more specific about my goal. What do I mean by being “in shape”?

I’m not going to compete in the Senior Olympics. I was never a great athlete when I was young so now that I am older, forget about it!

While I did some pretty serious bodybuilding when I was 18, I realized that I didn’t really  want to be “muscular”.

So What kind of shape do I want to be in?

I want to be functionally fit. I want to live with vigor and energy. I want to be strong enough to make my son work when he wrestles me. I want to be strong enough make my wife feel feminine.

And I didn’t want to spend hours doing it. I wanted it to be fun…at least a little bit!

I ended up designing a plan that I am still trying to implement. I had to break it into smaller, bite size time blocks that would make it easier to actually DO the exercises.

I started some of it right away. I added other parts as the year went on.

The amazing thing was that after that big mid-year change to my plan, I set my sights on trying to perform a certain amount of repetitions of one of my exercises. I fell 3 short of my mid-year, unwritten goal…

Except that I had written it down…

When I opened that Excel file on my computer, I saw that I had written down the same exact target as a goal at the beginning of the year! I was lifting weights at the time. I have no idea how I originally planned on getting there. I certainly didn’t plan the impasse that I have just written about.

Anyway, it highlights two points…

For a goal to have power, it must be personal. It must be meaningful. It must be something that you really want to accomplish.

Two, a goal without a practical plan on how to make it happen is just an empty dream. Write down how you plan to get there. You can change it if you need to.

I generally use this time of year to set goals. This year is no exception.

On New Year’s Day, I turned on my computer and looked for the file that contained my 2009 goals. It took me a few minutes to find it.

It turns out that last year, for the first time, I wrote my goals in an Excel spreadsheet rather than a word processing document. I didn’t remember that…

because I have not looked at them since the day I wrote them!

You might say, “What is the point of writing them down if your never going to look at them?”

That is a really good question.

I agree with you…

to a point…

and then I don’t.

Once I found them, I was really struck by how close I came to meeting many of them. I don’t know what it is but something changes when you write your goal down. It is as if putting the pen to paper, or in my case fingers to the keyboard, creates a sense of ownership. Once you write it, or type it, you own it.

But, it really helps if it is a good goal.