PART 1 OF A 10-PART SERIES TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

The ‘why’ of training …

Okay, let’s start with the ‘why’. If you can’t answer that most basic of questions, it’s difficult to see how you can achieve any level of success at all. And for the sake of this series of articles, I’m assuming you’re starting out on a course of training (or you’ve already started).

Hey, I know, it’s pretty obvious why you’re training, right? You want to get fit! Or you want to get strong. Actually, come to think of it, it might be that you’re getting over an illness and you want to regain your health and get back that energetic feeling you used to have. Or maybe you used to play a lot of sport and you were really fit and you’d love to get back to that level of fitness again. Mmm … not quite so obvious then …

Or then again, with so much emphasis on the way people look these days, maybe your main concern is just to look better. Y’know, to trim down and get the kind of physique that makes people stop when you walk past and take a second glance. Or I suppose it could be because you want to become more confident. You can definitely increase your confidence through fitness training, no doubt about that.

The ‘why’ is not always so obvious

Yeah, the more you think about it there could be all sorts of reason why you’re training. I suppose everyone has their own particular reason. Or reasons (it’s not usually just one, more likely a blend of two or three, maybe even more). Maybe you’re trying to impress someone special? Or I suppose it’s possible you’re hoping to join the military and you want to make sure you pass the physical. Or say you want to work in security … you’d need to be pretty fit for that to work. Wow, there really are plenty of reasons. Or potential reasons.

Okay, back to the question … why are you training? And I ask this because, as with so many other things, if you don’t really know why you’re doing something it often turns out not nearly as successful as if you’d been more specific.

Here’s what I’d do: I’d have a good think about it and I’d start writing stuff down. Doesn’t have to be anything special, no-one’s going to check it or mark it for grammatical errors or anything like that. Just write down anything and everything about why you’re training. Chances are you’ll find out some interesting things once you start writing. Always works for me, anyway. I start with a fairly good idea of what’s on my mind, when I set about writing, and before long I’ve written things that have surprised me. I mean, I actually don’t know where they came from! I find out things, about the reasons behind what I’m doing, and about myself, that sometimes come as quite an eye-opener, I can tell you.

Start writing …

So there it is then … do yourself a favour and set about writing about your training (or whatever it is you’re involved in). And why you’re doing it. Don’t worry about being professional, or structure, or a beginning, a middle, and an ending, forget all that stuff. You’re not writing a novel here, or a short story. You’re just collecting your thoughts and trying to make sense of them. Just write down that, for example, you want to be more confident. Or you want to be healthier. Or you want to make sure you’ve got a better chance of living long enough to play games with your grandchildren. Or anything that comes to mind. Don’t leave anything out. And don’t feel obliged to put anything in unless you really want to. Like being healthy … if you’re really only concerned with how you look, then put that, and don’t mention being healthier. If you can’t be honest with yourself (and nobody else is going to read this stuff, just you), then you can’t be honest at all. And if that’s the case, what’s the point of it all?

And hopefully, by the time you’ve tidied it up a bit and got all your points in some kind of order, you’ll have a much clearer idea of why you’re training. And I think it’s a pretty safe bet that your training will be that much more successful and productive once you know the reasons behind it all, and once you’ve made a point of listing them.

What if you’re left with a long list?

How about if you end up with a list of seven or eight reasons, or things you want to achieve? Okay, if that’s actually the truth, go with that. But often you’ll find that on closer inspection some of them could be grouped together under a single heading. Do what you can to make more sense of your list. Whittle it down, if possible. Instead of a whole bunch of reasons or goals, see if you can distil it to just two or three. Think carefully about the points you have on that list. Some of them, when you spend a little while thinking about it, can probably be crossed off entirely. I don’t mean they’re not important, just that they’re not the most important. Try to pare it down to essentials. It’s more likely to be of value if it consists of just the essentials.

The reason I say this is to encourage you to clarify your thinking. At the end of this exercise I’d be happier if you had only a very few items on your list. These are the most important. And the fact is, if your list is weighed down with another half-dozen reasons, or goals, or intentions, it tends to dilute the power of them all. They become weakened and watered down. Try to make it so that you end up with a short but essential list, comprising only things that you absolutely want to achieve.

I know … you’re probably thinking, this is all a bit much, a bit over the top. I just enjoy training, that’s all, I didn’t know I’d be asked to write a thesis on it! Hey, if you really do enjoy it, write that down. Don’t feel like this is some sort of test. It’s nothing like that. I’m just trying to help you get a better idea of your own motivations. And I genuinely think you’ll find it useful. So if you think so too, give it a shot. But don’t feel obliged. Your call! Your decision, entirely.

And remember, this applies to any project you might be involved in, whether it’s to do with your health, your fitness, your job, your business ideas, your financial situation, your relationships … anything. You need to get clear in your mind what you intend to do, and why. Until you can do that you’re just drifting, and when you’re just drifting along it’s anybody’s guess where you’ll end up.