Plan to FAIL 2017
Inspiration, motivation, dedication. New year, New You. Fresh start. Do over. Clean slate. We start our new year full of the hopes, dreams, desires, and goals for what we want to accomplish over the next 12 months.
Goals for 2017...
- Lose 20 lbs?
- Run a marathon?
- Make more money?
- Learn a new language?
- Work on your relationships?
- Enhance you spiritual life?
Sound familiar?
I have been a full time Personal Trainer for nearly 2 decades. So, you could say I have had a little experience with this time of year. Been to a gym in January? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about... Where do all these people come from?!?!
But I still love the energy of the New Years' crowd!
All in.
Weights.
Cardio.
Food.
You're ready to attack each day and take back control. You're ready to conquer. You're ready to yell back at the SPIN instructor and say: "That all you got?!?" You'll be at the smoothie bar saying: "Yeah, add that wheat grass and an EXTRA protein shot!
But then it happens...
Something doesn't go as it should. You miss a meal, you skip a workout, then you get sick, a family member needs attention, work is overwhelming, you get tired, you're cranky... Sound familiar?
You STOP. All momentum dissolves. The train doesn't just slow down, it careens off a cliff!
We're smart, right? We know that one simple mistake, one goof, one wrong move doesn't erase all the good moves that came before it, right? But we self destruct over a single donut. One Big Mac and you want to just fast forward to 2018 so you can make your resolutions again... You know you've done it. You've been there. So have I!
I believe in goals. I think they're important. But I don't believe in just listing out all the fun aspirations for the year. I don't want to sugar coat my goals. I believe in the down & dirty goals. I believe in the goals that cause me stress. The goals that cause me to worry; make me anxious. Things that make me uncomfortable. Things I don't like. Things that cause me to fail.
I have yet to see anyone build a FAILURE list. A fall short list. A 'not to do' list. Look at your goal sheet for the year. Did you put it on there? When you were filling out your spread sheet, your P & L, your quarterly projections, or your wish list--did you put a bullet point for "disappointment" or a star beside "not winning"?
NO.
Why?
Because that's crazy!?!?!
But you know what? It's the one thing that you WILL do this year. Maybe even more than once. In fact, it's probably the thing you may do the most this year.
Failing is a reality of life and we know it. But we don't like it... So we pretend failure doesn't happen. It's not to be spoken of. Never mentioned. It's a four letter word after all. LOSE. FAIL. STOP. QUIT.
It's as if we are afraid if we acknowledge it; admit that it might be a possibility, then it will surely happen.
When failure happens, the things we set out to do suddenly seems so BIG, so FAR out of reach. Our goals seem unattainable. The thing you were so excited about a few months ago now strikes FEAR into your heart. Makes you look away from it--because when you do, your heart races, you're nervous, anxious, sweating. It causes you to become disappointed and discouraged...
So how do you beat back the fear and keep moving forward instead of being paralyzed?
Plan to Fail.
Or better yet: Plan what to do WHEN you fail.
I want you to plan for your process to bring you back to center when you fail. Come up with your one response for when you are facing the paralysis caused by failure. I'm not talking about finding that magic bullet that prevents you from failing. I'm talking about uncovering the thing that prevents you from STOPPING; from not getting back in the fight or making you give up. It's not about failing, it's about getting back up when life knocks you down!
