As physique competitors, we all have a driving force behind why we enter the arena of physique competitions and as such have unique goals we desire to achieve.
Whether it is reaching a certain level of fitness, becoming a world renown fitness model or maybe one day stepping on the Olympia stage. The journey towards self-fulfillment and goal achievement can only begin if you clearly understand what you want to achieve and have a very specific and well thought out action plan in place to move you forward toward your objectives.
Setting meaningful goals is quite simple if they align to what you value most. The tricky part comes into play when you have to deal with overcoming goal hijackers. These hijackers are made up of disempowering emotions, adversity and the naysayers/haters that will inevitably raise up with one purpose in mind to derail you from living your dreams.
However, inside those three hijacking tricksters lies the secret to achieving your goals faster!
It goes without saying that anyone who has ever reached a worthwhile goal had to become really good at dealing with obstacles. Overcoming disempowering emotions, adversity and people that oppose them along the way.
Moreover, that singular ability is what I believe makes all the difference between goal achievement and goal wishing.
In short if you if you become real good at defending yourself from these three tricksters, you will with-out question find yourself reaching goals you never thought were possible.
The road to achieving a worthwhile goal is always worth pursuing, as the mere process of working towards your goals will allow you to experience a deep sense of personal growth and satisfaction.
However, if you want to become really good at arriving at your goals finish line in style, you will have to develop strong mental toughness and a resilient spirit.
To help you overcome the various obstacles on the way to achieving your goals I have created a list of 9 fundamental areas to focus on. This list is a good foundation for any successful goal achievement strategy, and it will serve you well as a physique competitor as well as any other area of your life.
1.Know Who You Are at Your Core-You are More Powerful Than What You identify With:
Most of the time we find our identity in what we do, have or achieve rather than who we are at our core.
At times, we have no concept of what we are supposed to be doing, or whom we are modeling. I say, “modeling” because this is what we tend to do: We conform to the external environment.
We identify with roles and gloss over our true identity by identifying with “things” that end up defining whom we believe we are. I am a physique competitor, a salesperson, a teacher, a student; I am angry, I overeat, I am depressed, content, lonely, or miserable. I am afraid, unworthy, frustrated, and I cannot help it—it is who I am.
The reality is, though; you are none of those things. These labels are symptoms of social conditioning.
When you were born into existence, none of those labels came for a ride rather you accepted them over the years.
You are more important than any label. You are not your profession. You are not your feelings. You are not your circumstances.
What you are is far more amazing and superior than all the superficial conditioning that has stuck with you throughout the years.
Please remember you are far more powerful than you could ever begin to understand. So shake off those labels and let the real you shine through!
So the next time you set a course toward a goal remember your so much more than what you or society labels you as.
Believe in that, not the other crap because that’s the truth! You are Super Women-Identify with that!
NOTE: I wrote an article about why we as physique competitors are well Super Women-You can read it here.
2.Confront and Conquer Your Fears
Feelings of uncertainty and fear can take its toll on what you are hoping to achieve. Rather than avoiding these fears or procrastinating, identify them and deal with them.
It is after you confront your fears that you will come to realize that your fears are not rational and have no basis in reality. Remember this acronym: FEAR-False Evidence Appearing Real
There are several books written about how to overcome fear but in my experience there is only one sure way to stop any fear in its tracks, and that is to confront it and go through it.
So whatever has you anxious, nervous or scared challenge it, deal with what you fear, and you will find that the power that particular fear has over you melts away.
Fear is like a bully, once you stand up to it, you will find it cowers to you and slips away to nothingness.
Now to get me wrong not all fear is bad, fear can be a counselor or a jailer. It is only when fear keeps you from achieving your dreams that you must rise up, confront it and break through.
3.Develop a Conditioned Positive Mental Attitude
Nothing worth while comes easy in life. You have to expect your journey toward any goal to have lots of zigging and zagging.
To deal with the zigs and zags, you must stay the course and develop a conditioned positive mental attitude (CPMA) rather than a contrived bubble gum positive attitude.
Now the difference between a conditioned PMA and a contrived PMA is as different as night and day.
A contrived PMA is what most people have, and it works just fine as long as nothing unexpected happens.
However, when the s_it hits the fan, a contrived PMA falls apart at the seams.
The problem with a contrived PMA is that you have to think about it, so when the s_it hits the fan your negative emotions take over and at that point Mrs. Congeniality turns into Sybil.
However, when you have trained yourself to believe that in the midst of every difficulty there is an opportunity, then you deal with the chaos from a different vantage point. You meet each problem and challenge head on with the idea that there is always a solution residing with-in the problem.
So your natural reaction moves from whoa is me to I am about to find a better way.You begin to train yourself to focus on the solution, not the problem.
If you wish to succeed in achieving your higher level goals conditioning your mind to deal with challenges in a manner that supports you is crucial.Once you make that mental shift, you will find that very little can stop you from making progress.
If there is anything in this article that sticks for you make sure it is this point. I promise it will make all the difference and allow you to react to the ebb and flow of life’s curve balls in an empowering way.
Moreover, developing a conditioned PMA is no difference than working out. You develop it over time like a muscle.
When you assess your physical conditioning today versus three years ago, the change is dramatic. The same process you apply in your training to build your body is the same one you will use to condition your mind to deal with adversity. Repetition, consistency and handling bigger and heavier challenges.
NOTE: This is a great article on how to develop a Conditioned Positive Mental Attitude-You can read it here.
4.Ask for Help but Realize That No One is More Invested Than You are
At times, we place far too much value on other people’s opinions about us, often to the exclusion of our own. This takes away from your personal power and confidence.
No matter what anybody says about you, it does not hold any significance to who you truly are unless you accept it as truth.
Stop identifying with other people’s opinions and become self-aware of how you see yourself and your abilities.
Nobody knows you better than you do. Never accept another person’s reality or personal experiences as your own. If they have failed at something that you want to accomplish don’t allow their failure derail your dream.
Make it a point to always believe that you can achieve your deepest desires. Deep seeded desires for a goal were not placed inside you unless the ability to achieve this goal was also provided. Look I have no desire to be a computer programmer and guess what I also do not have the skills nor desire to have the skills.
Desire follows form. If you have the desire to work toward a goal the ability is already inside you! That is how we are created.
So when you have a deep yearning to achieve a goal but can’t figure out exactly what the next step is simply relax and breathe it will come to you.
With that being said If you know someone who has achieved a goal you are planning for, you should ask for their insight. Talking to them about their ‘journey’ and the mistakes they made will give you a better sense of the various problems and obstacles that you may have to overcome.
Its no secret but Success leaves clues, find people that have been through what you are getting ready to go through and model their process.
Modeling others success map is an excellent way to circumvent the goal achieving process. However, never default to others advice without running it through your thought criteria because no one is more invested in your dreams than you are.
5. Have a Big Enough Why and the How Becomes Easy
Your goals will take care of themselves as long as you have a big enough ‘why’.
Once you are clear on WHAT you want to achieve, it is crucial to know WHY you want it.
You’re why is the purpose behind the goal, your driving force. If you have an important enough goal, it needs a big why. Otherwise, you will lack the persistence and determination to drive through the inevitable challenges you’ll confront in the process of working toward its attainment.
Don’t get too focused on the how, and miss the all-important why.
When it comes to investing your precious time and energy into a worthy goal you want to make sure you provide yourself with every opportunity to succeed.
Moreover, having a compelling reason behind your goals is that opportunity.
A strong why is like a having a magnetic force that pulls you through the tough times. When you seemingly are doing everything right yet, you do not see any results. That is when the power of why makes a huge difference.
If you have beneficial enough reasons why you want reach a goal—you substantially increase your chances of success.
When your why is equal or bigger than the task at hand, you will find the needed fuel to over come whatever is in front of you.
Weak passion, weak effort. Little desire, little determination.
How’s Yours why?
If you’re not making the strides you want towards achieving your goals, maybe you need to take a hard look at the driving purpose behind your goal.
Jim Rohn says, “When the why gets stronger, the how gets easier.” I agree.
What can you do today to increase your motivation and determination to achieve the goals you’ve set?
Make a good list of why you want each important goal. If you do, and if you review them often, you will be focusing not only on what you want but why you want it and that simple step will send your goal achievement process into turbo charge.
NOTE: You can read about how to develop your vision and a powerful why right here.
6.Identify and Conquer Obstacles
I say this with complete certainty – you will come across many challenges that will affect your progress toward your goals. I guarantee it! 🙂
That said it is important than you plan for it upfront. Moreover, the best way to deal with these challenges is to be brutally honest with yourself and assess your personal talent, skills, and available resources before you ever embark upon your goals.
I suggest you complete a SWOT analysis of yourself. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
So imagine working toward a goal and having a clear understanding of what your strengths are.How to shore up your weaknesses, knowing the opportunities available to help move you forward as well as the pitfalls to be wary of and avoid.
Once you are clear on your SWOT, then you can gameplan effectively. Play to your strengths and where your weak assess whether you have the required knowledge and skills to get you past any obstacles. In the event, you lack from insufficient knowledge or skills make plans to improve or increase them.
Find someone that is getting the results that you want and lean on their wisdom. Model what they are doing, this is a great shortcut to goal achievement and success. Find opportunities to leverage your goal through mentors and coaches and were you see threats build firewalls.
For example a threat to a physique competitor maybe late night snacking. A firewall would be to proof your environment of any and all tempting snacks.
By forecasting the challenges that lay between you and your goal the better equipped you will be to meet and overcome the adversity.
Take the time to write your SWOT in a journal so you have a point of reference. As tedious as it may seem at the moment, finding the best solutions to overcome any and all goal obstacles is in itself challenging but exciting at the same time.
This process of overcoming your limitations will serve you more than actualizing your goal. So do the work up front so the ride toward goal achievement can be a smoother one.
7.Develop an Action Plan
Now that you have your SWOT in hand your ready to create an action plan.
So what is an action plan?
In some ways, an action plan is your personal hero: it helps you turn your dreams into a reality.
An action plan is a way to bring your goals to life. It describes the way you will strive to reach your goals. An action plan consists of some action steps and milestones.
Each action step or change should include the following information:
What action is needed?
Who will carry out that action?
When will the action take place?
When does the action need to be completed?
What resources (i.e., money, training) are needed to carry out these action steps?
Communication (who should know what?)
A goal void of a plan is nothing more than a whimsical dream.
You must blueprint your goal the same way a home builder would first order a set of plans drawn before the actual construction of a home begins.
Regardless of what you are hoping to achieve, you have to ensure that you plan accordingly.
Make it a point to write down all the factors required to reach your goal and then combine your plan with your SWOT and your on your way.
In short, the planning process serves as a set of instructions, a blueprint, that will provide you with guidance and a roadmap as you work day in and day out toward achieving your goals.
8.Focus on Process Goals, Not the Big Picture
After setting a worthy goal, you will eventually start doubting yourself once you begin focusing on the big picture.
The big picture is all the things you must do to achieve your goal.
Nevermind how much there is to be done; or how difficult some task appears to be. Work toward completing one thing at a time and then take that next step again. Consciously brush aside any other concerns.
Do what’s in your power, refuse to deal with what’s not.
When you dwell on all that is needed to be done to reach a goal from your current vantage point, it seems daunting and almost impossible to reach.
Then comes the voices! Right at about that point of feeling overwhelmed by the daunting picture you created in your mind that small voice kicks in and says what are you thinking? You cannot do this! You are not qualified! You are to old! You do not have the right genetics! Etc.
Avoid this mind trick at all cost, meet yourself where you are at and take one step today towards your goal and then rinse and repeat.
By taking small steps (process goals), you will prevent the feeling of being overwhelmed. And then one day something magical happens and you look up, and you say wow look how far I have come. I can make this happen, your confidence replaces the doubt, overwhelm leads to success and that is a beautiful thing.
9.Celebrate Your Victories
Each and every hurdle that you overcome gets you one step closer to your goal. Rather than waiting to celebrate the final achievement of your objectives, you should find small ways to celebrate each victory regardless of how small it may be. As unnecessary as they may seem, those little rewards will motivate you to keep striving until you reach your desired destination.
Celebrate even the smallest milestones because small victories eventually lead to ticker tape parades! 🙂
So there you have it. The next time you set out on new goal I challenge you to put these steps into good use. I am confident you will experience the power they can have in helping you achieve more than you ever thought was possible.
Questions? Comments? Did you find this video helpful? Let me know in the comments section.Thanks!
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