Why Your Health Goals Will (Or Won't) Succeed

On December 30, 2021, while working hard on my row machine (one of the few times that year I rowed), I wondered to myself how long it might take to row the length of the Mississippi River. Then I wondered if I could do that in a year’s time. Then I decided to do it. Go big or go home! So I went BIG!

And that was a mistake. It turns out the Mississippi River is 2,340 miles long…over 3.7 million meters. In order to row that in 365 days, I had to average 10,315.2 meters per day. That’s more than a 10K per day…rowing. As a self-employed single dad with two young kids, I simply didn’t have the fifty minutes per day to spend rowing myself on a machine, pretending to go down a river.

But I tried. Oh I tried. I was on track for the first seven weeks. Then I hurt my back (unrelated to rowing). That put me three weeks behind. Then I hurt my knee. Suddenly I’m six weeks behind schedule. Then I…gave up.

My primary health goal of 2022 didn’t succeed for two primary reasons. First, I didn’t measure the cost of the goal. What I mean is I didn’t truly measure out whether or not I had the time to commit to rowing 50 minutes each day. I didn’t measure out what type of health maintenance would be required to keep my body in position to row a 10K every day for a year (I’m not David Goggins). The time, the body maintenance, the amount of sleep…I didn’t do the math on the total cost of the goal.

The second reason my health goal didn’t succeed (and the reason I think most health goals fail) is that I didn’t have a pivot or partner goal. A contingency plan. It was row the long river in a year or bust. Once injured, I could’ve at least rowed 100 meters per day until healthy or converted it to walking/running some of the distance of the river. Something. Anything. Instead, I did nothing. I think “nothing” is the pivot when our goals veer off course. We do nothing. We just stop.

When we stop, we lose. Then we sit and eat bonbons with other people who stopped. Quitters unite! Misery loves company.

If we’re honest, success is rarely an all or nothing game. If the goal is to lose 30 pounds and we only lost 23 pounds…that’s still 23 pounds better than before! Or if we want to run a 5K in under 30 minutes and the best we get is 31 minutes, it means we still got out and worked on the 5K time. Which brings me to my big idea…

Success isn’t found in reaching the goal. Success is found in pursuit of the goal. For example, I posted some times in February of 2022 with my rowing that were elite on a national level for my age group. In seven weeks I went from having very little rowing experience to registering elite times. While in pursuit of a mega goal, I was bettering myself and achieving along the way.

I had a client who wanted to weight 150 lbs. like she did twenty years ago. Great goal! But…what if she got “stuck” at 156 lbs, was wearing two sizes smaller than when she weighed 150 lbs, and was stronger and more toned? Did we fail if we didn’t hit the 150 mark? Or did we succeed in ways that exceeded her health from twenty years ago? I say it’s a massive success!

When I work with clients on hitting outcome-based goals, we spend almost all of our focus on execution-based goals instead. Want to fit into a certain dress or pair of pants? Great. Let’s focus on a daily 10-minute walk outside, smart nutrition, consistent sleep, and weight training. Execution-based goals are the key to achieving any outcome-based goal. I always tell my clients, “Let’s focus on the execution and let the outcomes take care of themselves.”

What’s your health goal? Do you know the cost of it (time required daily/weekly, sacrifices with treats and vices, the TLC your body will need to keep healthy and on track)? What about success on a spectrum (how would you feel about hitting 64% of your goal)?

If you want to win like never before with your health goals, I can help! We can set a goal, form a plan, measure the cost, and achieve success during the journey as we speed you toward the outcome you desire most! You may be one fitness partner away from being your absolute best. Click here to begin a conversation about helping you succeed with your health this year!