Welcome to January 2013.  We made it even with the Mayan calendar ending!  Every year clients, myself, and other people set goals for themselves.  Time and time again many of those people don’t even come close to their goals (myself included).  This happens for many reasons and I am going to tell you why.

Everyone can set goals about things they want to accomplish, but most don’t know how to achieve them.  Most people just rely on a drug I call “hope-ium.”  Hope is something we all have experienced, but we can’t just rely on that to achieve our goals.  Here is the process I like to follow.  I learned it from a person I follow named John Assaraf (you can google him, he’s awesome!).  Many other goal setting leaders and mentors use this process as well.  When you do this, you should set goals for 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months so you can evaluate yourself each time.

1.  Goals:  Create goals that represent the health, physical body, and mentality that you want.  Do you want to keep yourself from getting sick all the time?  Do you want to have that amazing body that you have never had but have always dreamed about?  Do you want to be positive and easily swat away all those negative things that happen around you?  Write down the goals you want to hit this year (3 month goals, 6 month, 12 month).  Read your goals daily.  Your brain will then start to push you towards reaching them.  Will power.  Use it.  Make sure your goals are clear and concise.  (Don’t just say, “I want to be thinner, stronger, faster.”  Say how much weight you want to lose, gain, etc.  Say what areas of your body you want to see different.  Talk about how you want to be more positive.  Be clear and concise!  

2.  S+T+P:  Strategy Tactics Process.  Do you have strategies, tactics, and processes to help you achieve these goals?  You don’t have to do these on your own.  This is where the trainers come in.  Your mentors.  Your coaches.  They will help you through this process.  They come up with strategic programming to help you achieve your goals through fitness, mental programming, and nutrition.  I think all three are super important, even though must people tend to only think working out will solve their problems.

3.  Habits:  What are you current habits on a day to day basis?  What do you do first thing when you get up in the morning?  What do you do to prepare yourself for your day?  Do you tend to eat the same foods?  Drink the same things?  Only do what’s comfortable?  Write down your habits.  Which ones do you want to change? Do you procrastinate?  Do you shy away from uncomfortable opportunities or people?  Is there something you want to do, but it conflicts with your current habits?

4.  Beliefs:  What are your current beliefs?  Do you love yourself?  Do you believe in yourself?  Do you doubt yourself?  Will you attempt things that make you fearful and uncomfortable?  Or do you just do what you feel is comfortable?  How did you come to believe these things?  Did your parents teach them to you?  Your teachers?  Your coaches/mentors?  Your significant other?  Write down the things you believe in when it comes to fitness, mental health, physical health (immune system).  We have Explicit (what we say aloud to others) and Implicit beliefs (what we say to ourselves subconsciously).

5.  Your Big Why:  Why do you want to achieve these goals?  Were you clear and precise enough in what you wanted to achieve?  Did you get help to achieve your goals (you can’t do everything on your own)?  How much will power do you have?  What will you have to change to accomplish these goals?  Write down why this is so important to you.  This is your mission statement.  Your reason for accomplishing everything you want to accomplish and conquer this year.

You can choose to share your goals with me.  Email me at matt@norcalsc.com.  I would love to read these and help steer you in the right direction.  I hope you can take from this that if you don’t practice and do this through repetition, it will be more difficult to reach your goals.  You have to be mentally tough to do anything.  You have all the power within you to reach your goals.  Get uncomfortable and fearful, and that’s when you have two choices.  Go back to being comfortable, or grab success by the horns and move forward.  Make 2013 A New You!

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Written by Matt

Matthew Brown has been involved in athletics for most of his life. He developed a huge passion for running at a very young age and ultimately competed for Chico State University in Track and Field for 4 years. After graduation he felt the continued drive to be involved in athletics in some way, and pursued a Masters degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Physiology. While working on his degree he was actively involved in the Chico State Track and Field program coaching both sprint and middle distance athletes in addition to working with them on their strength programs. His compassion for fitness and people continued to grow even after finishing his degree. He felt there was still room for growth and improvement in his overall knowledge in fitness and found a new home at Norcal Strength and Conditioning. While training at Norcal he found a new way to be competitive in fitness, and that was in the sport of Crossfit. After competing in a few competitions and training at Norcal for a year and a half he decided to pursue an opportunity as a personal trainer. He is excited to be a part of the sense of community and compassion that surrounds NorCal strength and Conditioning. Before Matthew attained his Masters degree in Kinesiology, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an option in Management. He has been a supervisor for over 13 years at a large canning and packaging corporation. Working with a variety of people offers many types of challenging situations and Matthew loves to be a part of these experiences. With his long history of involvement in management and athletics, Matthew has the skills, leadership, and enthusiasm to help motivate any person from any walk of life to achieve their fitness goals.

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