How to Life Plan, Goal Set, and Keep Yourself Moving Forward: Consistent Progression

When you are traveling to a new place, you get directions, use a GPS, or have someone guide you. Why is that so many people try and travel through their life without the same techniques? How can you possibly expect to end up where you want to be without a road map?

I'm a big proponent for life planning, goal setting, and writing stuff down. I think the majority of people have an idea of where they want to "end up," but why would you try and get there without a plan? Now, if your plan/goal/dream is to live an unstructured life then by all means, do it! But, if you have set goals or moments you want to hit in your life, I think it is absolutely necessary to have some kind of program to follow.

If this is your first time writing out a life plan, it can be pretty daunting. It's a lot of self reflection, and I think a good place to start is by writing down your, "Essential List." Write, "What is important to me?" and then narrow it down to less than 10 items. These are the most important things in your life, and everything you do, from work to play, should fit within them.

Obviously, things change and come up. Being flexible is important to a successful life. By having these items written down and acknowledging them, you are able to make quick and decisive decisions when something big happens. As long as you make sure whatever you choose fits within your, "Essential List" you know you'll still be on the right path towards your dreams and goals.

There are different ways to create a life plan, a helpful tip is to split your life into at least these 4 categories: physical, mental, financial, and spiritual. You can put in whatever categories you would like, and some will be more important to you than others.

Make sure you're actually recording this either electronically or on paper. Personally, I like to write mine on paper, something about taking the time to actually write things out makes me think a little slower, and really decide on what I want to say.

When writing out goals, I like the follow the S.M.A.R.T goal setting technique.  I also like to make weekly, months, yearly, and of course life goals. Your goals should scare you a bit. There's no sense in making easily attainable goals. Challenge is good.

I always start with my physical goals, I think that has become a habit for me since my first goals I ever recorded were from my bodybuilding days. This isn't just weight loss or gain goals, it could also be about drinking more water, or less processed food or sugar, or getting ready for an event or race; whatever you want! Once I settle on my physical goals, I move to financial ones. Plan out how much you want to have saved, what debts paid off, and any big purchases you have in mind for the coming years. Next is the mental goals and plans. This could include goals for how many or what kind of books you want to read, daily or weekly meditation, or dedicating time in the day to self betterment practices such as life planning. Lastly, there are spiritual goals to plan out. These could be whatever personal beliefs you would like to practice, but record how you will go about that and how often.

Continue to reflect on your goals daily, or at least weekly. Make goals for goals if that helps you stay on track, and make sure all of your goals fit within your, "Essential List." By doing this, you keep yourself in check to make sure you're moving forward. Being at a standstill in life is just as bad as moving backwards. It doesn't matter how quickly you are moving, just as long as you continue to grow. By having a life plan, but staying flexible, you are set up to achieve more, worry less, and have a great life!

-Nick 

Upper Body 8/15 and why occasional breaks from lifting are helpful to avoid burnout

Last week I was on vacation with my family. I decided to take the whole week of from training and just focus on hanging out with my family and relaxing. I rode a few miles a day on a bike and hiked, but besides that I didn't do any lifting or exercising. In the past, when I would have take a week of I would stress about how I need to get back into a gym. When I would finally get back, the stress from worrying about how I was going to perform would ruin my workout. This time I got back into the gym with eagerness, but was stress-free and had a fantastic workout.

Your body needs to time recharge and relax. By taking a few days off, you come back fresh and ready to absolutely kill it in the gym. I had begun to lose some motivation for my own training before my trip, when I got back I was ready to start lifting again and pushing towards my personal goals. Burnout is a very real thing in sports, lifting, and life. Sometimes you need to take a step back, appreciate what you've done, reassess what you're doing, and then get after it. Signs of burnout can include: lack of motivation, loss of strength, tiredness, anxiety, etc. If you are starting to feel that way about your training, then relax, take a deep breath, a few days off, and get after it again. You've got to keep your mind happy as well as your body, and the deeper you push yourself through a burnout phase, the deeper you have to climb out.

So keep your body happy, your mind happy, and your training happy: take a break, it's okay!

-Nick

Stressed? Here are 4 ways to help keep you calm and productive!

The older we get, the more responsibilities. Mortgages, kids, work, health, nutrition, deadlines; the list could go on forever. All these things pile up and cause that little gremlin, stress, to appear. Now, most people have heard how stress can effect their health. It can lead to muscle tightness, headaches, and poor sleep at night. All of these side effects end up leading to more problems, and the cycle continues! Some people can get caught up in this stress mess for years at a time, never finding a way out. The purpose of today's post is about how to deal with stress. Some of these might sound simple and obvious, but hopefully they will give you a reminder to do them, and keep that gremlin away.

1. Walk

Just go walk. Don't think about anything in particular, whatever pops in your head, pops in your head. If you notice you start thinking about your stresses, then try and concentrate on the sounds all around you. Take a moment to listen to the birds, the planes, the cars, anything besides what bothers you. Don't think of this as exercise, think of it as moving meditation.  Now I know you're thinking you don't have time to waste on something silly like walking. Well look, if you keep sitting in your office freaking about everything you need to get done, you are going to be less productive. Take that 10-20 minutes and walk around. Clear your head. When you come back to your work, you will feel better than before and probably figure out a way to solve whatever you're trying to solve. Give yourself a chance to breath.

      2. Lift

Go pick something up. It doesn't matter if you don't have a whole  home gym or gym membership; just lift something. Exercise releases endorphins, which trigger positive feelings in the body. Exercise and lifting does a lot more than that though, it helps show you what you're capable of.  It creates personal goals for yourself, so that when you achieve them, you feel accomplished and successful. It will show you that you can overcome things, and get through whatever it is that life throws at you. I can't even imagine who or where I would be if I had never begun lifting. Through lifting, I have grown way more than just physically. I have learned so much about myself, and what I can do. It has honestly helped me in almost every aspect of my life; including stress management. When you realize your fullest potential, the things that stressed you out, just become easier to manage. You'll wonder why they bothered you  in the first place.

     3.  Set Goals

I've mentioned goal setting in one of my videos before, but I think it is extremely important. Without goals, you have no direction. You don't have to be crazy like me and set goals for every part of the day, but at least set daily goals. Figure out what the most important thing is that you need to get done that day, and set all your efforts on that. Accomplish your goal, and move on. The feeling of achieving a goal is incredible and will give you the energy to move on to the next one and then the next one. I would also advise setting weekly, monthly, and maybe even 6 month goals. Setting goals helps break big tasks down to little ones, and makes everything seem more manageable.

    4. Meditate

I have just recently started to meditate daily, and I absolutely love it. Allowing yourself to just sit, and concentrate on absolutely nothing, but your breathing, for 20-30 minutes is incredible. It helps to clear your head of stresses, anger, and hate. There are many ways to meditate, so find the one you like the best. Personally, I perform Vipassana meditation. Everything you need to know is in a book called, Mindfulness: In Plain English. The book is free online, and only 100 pages. If you are not sure if you would enjoy meditation, I would advise trying a short guided session. There are a lot of free ones on YouTube! So far, meditation has helped me to relax and focus on the important things in my life. It has also helped me realize when I'm stressing over things that are not as important as they seem or just not that big of a deal in the big picture!

This list could go on for a very long time, the trick is to find what works for you and stick with it. I use a combination of all four of these to keep my head on straight. Stress can destroy you, but it is just a part of modern society. We have so many things going on at once, but by employing one or two of these methods, you could stay calmer, happier, and become a more productive and stronger person!

Do not let the stresses in your life define who you are.

In true strength,

Nick