Goals and how to get there...

I've always known it was important to have short and long term goals.  This goes for all aspects of life... GE work, Pampered Chef work, health, financial, physical, and the list goes on.  I've always been very good at achieving "short" term goals, but somehow get lost in the long term without realizing it.  This past 8 months, I've grown in this area, with a lot of help from Kendra (my wellness coach), the awesome people (both coaches and members) at Crossfit Route 1, and believe it or not some of my Pampered Chef training.

The old Jenny would set goals... I am going to run the Boston Marathon and then I would do it.  The problem with that, is I wasn't looking past the marathon.  What happens when you over train and you injure your knees?  What is your plan once the race is over, is there another race?  Why did I want to run to begin with?  These are all questions that I would ignore and then when couple months had past after the marathon, I would start the cycle all over again.  Pick a new race to run and start from scratch.  Eventually I thought I could outsmart the break after a race and before I ran the Marine Corps marathon, I committed to running Marathon de Paris.  Turns out that was silly because I didn't address any of my other behaviors and I was injured by the time Paris came around.  Of course I still ran it :)

After five marathons, countless attempts to "start" eating healthy, and a rigorous gym schedule, I found myself at my heaviest weight and starting to slow down because everything was too hard. 

It's amazing how life gets you to where you need to be.  I was working a fair with my Pampered Chef table in Danvers and it was really slow.  I was bummed that I had spent a good amount of effort to get there and set up, for a small turn out.  I made the best of it and made friends with my neighboring booths.  The woman to the left of my booked a show and the woman to the right of me changed my life... It was Kendra.  I talked in my first post about how I got from trying out Merrimack Valley Family Chiropractic to Crossfit and Paleo, so I won't bore you with that story again.  Bottom line is, this is where I started learning the tools I needed to be successful!

At the beginning of the year, Kendra had me write down my goals.  She asked me to be as specific as possible with measurable results.  Then she took it a step farther and asked me to write down 3 actions I would do to achieve these goals and 3 actions I will stop doing that prevents me from achieving them.  This is where things clicked for me.  By focusing on my behaviors, I achieved my goals!!!  It was no longer about I have to complete X and I just need to push through to get there.  Now it was, I need to make my meals at the beginning of the week, so I'm not eating the first thing I see when I get home.  By focusing on the behaviors, I have achieved many goals already and I'm not done.  I don't feel the let down I used to after completing something.

Goals Achieved and New Ones Set!

I set goals at Crossfit Route 1 to focus on things I really wanted to achieve.  The first being a pull-up.  I know it's going to be awhile to get one without a resistance band, so I set my eyes on using the green band by my birthday.  I also decided I wanted to do a handstand and be able to hold it.  I had no idea if I would ever reach these goals (both seemed impossible before crossfit).  I did know that if I worked the skills my coaches and fellow members helped me with one day I would get there.  So I did.  Every day I would practice getting into a handstand before the workout started.  I would work my swings on the bar to increase my pull-up strength.  The best was when I realized I wrote "green band by June 1st" and it was June 1st.  I got the green band out and did a pull-up first try!!!  IT WAS THE BEST FEELING!!!  Same with the handstand... pretty sure I screamed and scared a few people in my excitement.

Now it's time to set new goals.  I now have my eyes on the blue band for pull-ups and after tonight's workout I need to focus on Double Unders (jump rope, rope passes under feet twice before landing).  It's taken me awhile to do 1, but I have that down now.  My goal is start doing them continuously and not double, single, double, single.  I want to be comfortable doing them in a WOD.  Today's workout was in memory of the military men and women who gave their lives this weekend to protect their country. 

6 Rounds

30 Dead Lifts 95#

30 Double Unders

30 Sit-ups

I had to do 30 Single Unders because I haven't gotten my DU to the point where I can do them in a WOD.  It really bothered me tonight because I was all over the DL and sit-ups, but felt I should honor these lives the best I could, and I know I can do better.  Every time I pick up a jump rope now, I will be thinking of that WOD to motivate me to work toward my next goal!

My final way to set goals is CLOTHES!  Gotta love fitting into something you haven't been able to wear in years.  I have a goal wall in my bedroom...

The pink shirt is a bit snug, so I'm hoping to be rocking it soon.  The dress is for a wedding at the end of September.  The shorts... those were a gift from Kendra.  They are from the Crossfit Games in California where Crossfit Route 1 took 17th place in the world!!!  Our team's number was 131 and they were awesome.  Those shorts will take me a bit to get into, but you need both the short term and the long term goals to keep you focused on behaviors. 

I'm really excited to have finally figured out it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  Take one challenge at a time and focus on the skills (or behaviors) to achieve your goal, not the goal itself.