Fail to plan is a plan to fail.
Not sure who said this, but boy is it true. How many times have we told ourselves, “I want to (insert action here) save for a vacation, lose 5 lbs, pay off a debt, learn to do butterfly pull-ups” …and then just hoped on a wing and a prayer that it would happen? (Me…I have…I’m raising my hand right now.) And how disappointed are we with ourselves when (action inserted from above) doesn’t happen? We feel let down—a bit bummed out—deflated. But if we stopped to think about it, we really have no business to feel this way. Especially if we didn’t have a plan that would have put us on a path towards reaching these goals.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. For the past 4 years after each CrossFit Open, I sat down and wrote out what went well and what didn’t go so great. I made a list of the deficits to work on and the weights or movements I needed to get better at. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Well, it’s only good if had I mapped out a plan on how I was going to tackle getting better at those movements (which, by the way, I did not). And then I’d go into the next Open unprepared and get pissed off at myself for my lack of preparation. When really, I had no one to blame but myself.
Fail to plan is a plan to fail.
After the Open this past October, Maddie and I went to lunch to talk about how I had done. At one point she asked me, “What do you want out of the next Open?” I knew what I wanted, but was afraid to say it; mainly because that would mean I would actually have to commit to a plan and try my best to make it happen. “I want to be Top 100 in the world in my age group for the 2021 season.” There – I said it. To which she replied, “I think that’s doable. Let’s make it happen.” And so, this month, we embarked on something new: the Momentum Coaching Project. This program is designed to take a deep dive into identifying goals—ranging from health and fitness, social and emotional, personal growth and gratitude, habits and systems—and plotting a plan for making your top one or two goals a reality. (Now, by no means does making a plan mean that I’ll reach my goal of making it into the Top 100 in my old lady age group. But I sure as hell can solidify my spot outside of the Top 100 by taking the same approach I have the past couple of years. So the way I see it, what do I have to lose?)
Fail to plan is a plan to fail.
The Momentum Coaching Project starts by having you identify two areas that you want work on with your Coach. With a 90-day calendar you set daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time based) goals for each of your growth areas. During our Momentum Coaching meetings, we’ve talked about my 5-year and 10-year vision, my daily habits (part of what you do during this time is read the book “Atomic Habits” — highly recommend it), how to start incorporating small changes into my routine that work towards the goals we set out and more. There’s a self-planner journal that you write everything in and use it as a guide to keep you on track.
I’ll let you in on another little secret. At first when Maddie and I were talking about this, all I could think of was rainbows and unicorns and that she was going to ask me to get in touch with my feelings, which, if you know me is prooobably not how I’d choose to spend my time. But I was dead wrong. Here I am in my third week of our meetings with me writing down a lot of stuff about my hopes and dreams—but maybe more importantly—actually taking the time to ask myself what really matters to me and why. I can’t tell you the last time I carved out 15 minutes of my day for some inner reflection. It’s been really refreshing. And if nothing else, it’s highlighted for me the interconnectedness between my thoughts and my actions.
And so while I committed to this Momentum Coaching Project as a means to achieving my goal, I realize now, the goal is all about planning and enjoying the journey to get there.
(Side note: we will be launching the Momentum Coaching Project at CFH later this summer. No goal is too small or too big to think about. If you’re interested in learning more or have questions, please feel free to reach out to either Maddie or me.)