“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” – Napoleon Hill

“A ship without a rudder is like a ship without a rudder is like a ship without a rudder” – The Lemonheads

You may be saying to yourself “here we go again another talk about goals” or maybe “The Lemonheads suck”! Rudderless is a great song but don’t listen to it in public or when smashing weights!

So let me ask you what are your goals? Where do you see yourself strength-wise 6 months, 1 year, even 5 years from now? If you can answer that last question clearly, you are on the right track and you might as well stop reading this article. If not, take a minute or longer and try and answer the question. I have to admit the 5-year question is tough; for now, try and at least to get a idea of where you would want to be strength-wise.

Remember as motivational guru Tony Robbins says “clarity is power.” So be as specific as possible when setting your goals. For example your goal should not be general, like “I want to get stronger.” Be specific. “I want to bench press 315lbs in the next 6 months.” Now that’s a goal!

Next, be realistic. If you can barely lock out 225 right now, 315 is going to be tough in 6 months—not impossible, but tough. So be realistic.

Next find people who are doing what you want to do and spend more time with them. Who is doing what you want to do? How specifically did they get there? If you can answer these two questions now you’re really making progress! This does not always have to be done in person although it is best. You can also use technology to increase your mental references for what is possible. Short and sweet: find role models. Attend seminars, read the training logs at elitefts.com, read books written by people who have “done it,” attend the training days held monthly here at TPS.

Now that you have your goals for strength, what do you have to DO to achieve them? This is where it can get overwhelming. Someone shared a little trick with me to handle this part. Do something. Do something the moment you set your goal, do something, anything to start to achieve it. It could be as simple as calling or emailing a strength coach, hint, hint. ‘; document.write( ‘<a ‘=”” +=”” path=”” ‘\”=”” prefix=”” addy15434=”” suffix=”” attribs=””>’ ); document.write( addy_text15434 ); document.write( ‘<\/a>’ ); //–>

Wishing you the best in your training,

Russ Smith CFT

Assistant Strength Coach

WSBB Certified