Goals

Everyone knows the importance of setting goals. I know I should set goals and I should write them down. I should make them measurable, specific and set a date/time when I should accomplish them. But do I? Rarely.

Don't get me wrong. I have goals. It's just that they're not all written down. With P90X, I find myself setting small goals for myself. I'm not competing with anyone else, but I'm always trying to do a little better than I did in previous sessions. Whether that means more reps, more weight or keeping up with Tony and his team on P90X - I'm always thinking about how I can do it a little better than last time.

For P90X, my initial goal was to get through the entire program - whether in 90, 100 or 120 days. Didn't matter. To stick with it. To finish what I'd started. Sounds pretty simple, but it felt really good the first time (and each time thereafter) that I made it through the full program. Just getting through the program was a great goal to have - especially after I achieved it.

Then, I set goals for each DVD. When I started, it was to get through the DVD - to finish it, regardless of how many times I paused the DVD, sat down to rest, took breaks - whatever. I just wanted to finish the DVD. And I did that, too.

Once I was able to finish each DVD, my next goal was to reduce the number of times I'd pause each DVD (so that I could rest) until finally, I could keep up with what they were doing for that particular DVD. Plyometrics? Check. YogaX? Check. Ab Ripper X? Not so much.

Ab Ripper X is only 17 minutes long, but it's hard and it's intense. Most moves, I hadn't done before, so when I first started, there was a learning curve just trying to figure out all the moves. Initially, instead of doing all 25 reps of each exercise, I'd shoot for 10 - 15 each - and I'd still pause the DVD. Eventually, I'd get through the first 4 exercises doing 25 reps each and then, would pause the DVD. With all the breaks I'd take, the 17 minute DVD would take me 25 - 30 minutes to get through - but I'd do my best to do all the moves. So, my thought initially was to either do as many reps as I could and not pause the DVD or I could do as many reps as they did, but pausing the DVD along the way.

But this afternoon was different. I had a breakthrough. I made it all the way through the DVD without pausing, doing every single rep they did and I didn't have to rest once during the 17 minute program. It probably doesn't sound like much, but I've been doing this program off and on for almost 2 years and this was the first time I did it at their pace doing the same number of reps they did. For me, that was quite an accomplishment.

As I mentioned to a friend of mine, prior to tonight, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to do the whole thing. So, when I'd pause the DVD during the program, it was consistent with the way I'd been doing it in the past. But now that I actually did it without pausing and now that I know I can do it again, I'll push a little harder each time I do it, so soon, the norm will be to not pause the DVD rather than to take breaks like I used to.

So, whether you write them down or not, set goals for yourself. Make them tough, but achievable. And when you achieve them, celebrate your successes and realize that you can do much, much more than you ever thought possible.