Goals are super important and have the potential to be extremely powerful.
When members start at our gym, we spend a solid 15-30 minutes diving deep into not just what their goals are, but all the specifics around them: why are they important? How will they impact life in general? How will you measure success? How will you know it’s working? And on and on and on.
We do regular Goal Reviews where we check in on how those goals evolve and change and we structure training to match. We’re constantly explaining why we’re doing the workout or warmup or skill movement we’re doing and how it will be helpful.
Goals provide focus, motivation, and direction.
But they have one huge drawback… which is that you might accomplish them.
“Why is that a drawback?” you might ask.
Because if you do lose that 50 pounds, or get that first pull-up, or complete that marathon… now what?
I see more collapses in consistency and motivation that come from achieving goals than from not achieving them. When you have a goal, you have something to strive for. When you achieve it, you don’t have that particular thing to strive for anymore.
Goals are limited, because you have to keep thinking of new ones if you want them to keep you in the game long-term, and when it comes to a lifetime of health, long-term is the only way to play that game.
So what’s the alternative?
Systems.
A system is your set of habits in some area. If you always keep deodorant in your gym bag, if before you go to bed, you always put tomorrow’s gym clothes in your bag, as well as a protein shake, if you’ve confirmed so that your in-laws plan to pick up the kids from school, if you have a coach who writes you workouts, if you have dinner in the crockpot so you can eat by 6:30, all of this so that when you’re on your way home from work, you can stop at the gym, get in a workout, then go be with your family… that’s your system.
It might sound like a lot, but if you’re someone who does workout with any consistency, even if it’s once a week, I’d bet anything you have a set of habits in place that help you to keep that consistency.
Systems can be relied on for weeks and months and, sometimes, even years. They don’t depend on motivation or focus, they become automatic programs.
And the best part is that when you do have a goal, you can dial that system up or down.
A part of my system is that every morning before I coach the 6am class, I get in a workout. Every day, I shoot 3-12 arrows. Every weekend, I get some outdoors time. This has been true for me for years.
Three years ago, when I planned an archery elk hunt with my father-in-law, I turned the dials up on that system. Instead of 30 minutes of strength or endurance training, I trained for 60 minutes. Instead of 3-12 arrows at 25 yards, I shot 30-40 arrows at 30-80 yards. Instead of an hour of outdoor time, I did 3-4 hour strenuous hikes. The system was the same as it’s been for years. But the volume and the intensity were much higher.
When we moved last fall and were in the thick of the packing and unpacking phases, I turned the dials way down. I did 15 minutes of strength or endurance training. I shot 3 arrows each day at 10 yards. I took a walk around the block. The system was the same. But the volume and intensity were much lower.
What those tweaks – those dials – have done for me is helped me with the single most important ingredient in long-term health and fitness: consistency. Through highs and lows, rare opportunities and massive stress, I exercise, shoot my bow, and get outside. Sometimes a lot. Sometimes a little. But I do it week in and week out and I have for years.
Goals are great. But when you can develop a system? The results are nothing short of magical.