2021 was another trying year for a lot of us, but there were a few tactics I employed over the last 12 months to help keep me focused and moving forward towards my goals – whether financial, health and fitness, or personal. I wanted to summarize them below and hopefully you find one or two that might ring true and can use them in 2022!
1. Choose your top priorities and become obsessed with them. At the start of 2021 my goals were made very simple – figure out how to get by. I was in a brand new city with no job prospects and an empty house I couldn’t afford. While it was mildly terrifying it was equally refreshing. I wasn’t bogged down with social requirements, over-working, or binging the news and freaking out over politics. It was “Sam, you have no income and your electric bill is due – you need to find $67.98 today to pay this bill”. I woke up with clarity every morning knowing exactly what I needed to do for the day, running through my mental checklist: do you have shelter? food? clothing? does the dog have shelter, food, and his requirements? and that became my entire focus. If I had those things covered for the next 24 hours I was good, and then the rest of the day revolved around making sure I had the next 24 hours covered as well. While I hope your situation isn’t nearly as interesting, try to bring some clarity to your day – what things truly matter to you and deserve your attention, and what is bogging you down?
2. Don’t get distracted. It’s rare to be of one mind, and to be truly focused on something and not have outside influences stealing our time, energy, and money for their own benefit. Facebook makes their money when you’re scrolling for an hour reading clickbait instead of relaxing in a hot bath. Big corporations make their money by convincing you to buy things you don’t need or even really want. If one of your priorities from above is to save money for a vacation, then you can’t let an UberEats ad sway you to buy a lukewarm burger and kind of soggy fries that is not worth $30. Or, if your goal is to eat healthier, then you owe it to yourself to tell your coworkers thank you for the gift but you won’t be taking home a full tin of cookies. Saying yes to things that not inline with your goals will slow down how fast you reach them, or prevent you from ever reaching them entirely.
3. Surround yourself with like-minded people, knowing sometimes that means being alone for a while. I strongly believe we are the product of the 5 people we spend the most time with. Make yourself a list of the 5 people you spend your time with – could be your partner, your parents, your kids, coworkers, friends, your dog, whoever. Do those 5 people have goals and values in line with yours? If not, those are conversations that might need to be had, or you might need to shake up who you spend your time with. If you’re trying to quit smoking, it’s easier to do that when no one around you is smoking versus hanging out with people who do. If your goal is to run more, it’s easier to do that when your friend also wants to run and you can do it together, versus them encouraging you to skip the run, order some UberEats and binge watch a show you aren’t really interested in. We don’t always have these people readily available in our lives, so sometimes that means spending a little more time alone to focus on your personal goals, and when you do you will attract others in more similar situations.
4. Choose habits and goals that are achievable and sustainable. Start small. When I started on rebuilding my business I would have overwhelmed myself by saying, “Okay, I need a website, I need 20 clients, I need a home gym, programs, etc. etc.” I started instead with a goal of 1-2 new clients a month, and committing to providing excellent service. I knew it would grow overtime and I would eventually get where I wanted to be. A few months later I got the website done, then the home gym started coming together, and piece by piece I made it happen with 1-2 goals each month to get me closer to where I wanted to be. 1 small step forward everyday will get you there faster than not starting the journey at all. If your goal is to start working out 5 times a week, start with 1-2, then add another, and another. If your goal is to save up for a house, put $20 a week away, and increase it when you can. It won’t seem like much at first, but things add up when you actively make them a focus.
5. Get things done before starting new projects. It’s super simple, finish tasks. What’s better, a list of 20 things you carry over week over week over week never finishing any of them, OR picking 1-2 things this week that are non-negotiable getting done? After 6 months you’ll have 10-20 things completed versus still pushing things off. And remember, make tasks actionable. Do not make your task “Find a Job” – what does that even mean? How do you do that? A better list would be “Update my resume”, “Apply to 3 positions a day”, “Go through my contacts and find anyone I know who might be a good contact/resource to talk to about a job”, etc. Same with your fitness goals, don’t make it “Eat healthier” – what does that mean? A better way to approach that would be, “Make a grocery list of healthier foods and buy groceries”, “Meal prep my troublesome meals for the week” (ie. you always miss breakfast and stop at Tim Hortons, prep your breakfast at night so it’s ready to go in the morning), “Find a replacement for my evening snack”, “Buy protein bars to have on hand”, etc. Then you get the dopamine hit for crossing things off the list, and they are actually helping you achieve your goals in those small, sustainable steps forward! And you may find a lot of your goals combine – if you are buying more groceries and spending less on eating out, that frees up more money to put towards saving for your trip or down payment.
6. (Training Specific) Understand training is cumulative and results are consistency based. Try not to stretch programs as that is not how they were designed. A 4 week program designed for 5 workouts a week is designed for 5 workouts a week, not 2-3 workouts a week stretched over 8 weeks. If you are struggling to get workouts in, you either need to look at how you manage your time or find a different program that fits your life better. “Squat Everyday” is not a good program for you if you can’t go to the gym and barbell squat for 30-days straight. What’s going to be effective is what fits your lifestyle. If I know you can only train 2 times a week, that program is going to look very different than if you workout 5 times a week. But if you take 2 and a half weeks to finish 1 week of a 5 day program, it’s not going to work the way it’s supposed to. Its much better to 100% complete a 3 day a week program and feel good about it, than 60% complete a 5 day program and not get what you wanted out of it.
7. Enjoy. Celebrate. Pat yourself on the back and know that we’re all doing our best and our best IS good enough.
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