Don't forget about the thing before the thing.

What everybody ought to know about reaching their goals.

By: Adam Meadows

It’s finally here.

Your beach vacation to sunny Cancun. Your bags are packed, you make it to the airport on time. You can practically taste the margaritas and sunshine. You make it to the front of the security line and….holy crap, your passport is still sitting on your nightstand.

Skipping is all good and fun if you’re skipping in slow motion down a beach at sunset, but not so much when it comes to skipping steps.

Especially if you miss your beach vacay.

This happens a lot with people, especially in their fitness journey. They get too ahead of their selves, skip important steps, and then get super discouraged when they don’t meet their goals.

So, here’s a step-by-step guide to being able to do anything, even the hard stuff (within reason obviously, let’s not get crazy).

Step by step.

Sometimes you get so focused on where you want to be, you forget where you are. You get distracted, start trying to go to fast, and just go through the motions without really realizing all the steps that go into getting to your destination.

Think about it.

First you have to find and book your hotel and flight.

Make sure the timing is right. Ask off work.

Pack—which seems like one step, but is actually a bunch of small ones. Toothbrush, enough outfits, underwear, charger. You almost always forget SOMETHING.

There’s a lot more steps that go into it that you don’t necessarily think about.

The order you do your steps in matters too.

Getting to the airport on time won’t do you any good if you forget to grab your passport first.

Same when it comes to your fitness journey and becoming a healthier you.

  • If you don’t know how to shop efficiently, you might not have your kitchen stocked with healthy options.
  • If you don’t know how to manage your time, you might find yourself “too busy” to make your workout.
  • If you don’t know the right steps to follow in the right order, you might find yourself repeating bad habits and scarfing down an entire tub of ice cream before you even realize what you’ve done. AKA an average Tuesday evening.

But, if you focus on doing things in the right order, without skipping any steps, you can succeed.

Reality check.

We aren’t all rockstars at everything… even though we like to think we are.

We make the best:

  • coffee
  • omelets 
  • pizza

We’re the best at:

  • parallel parking
  • hula hooping 
  • tying a Windsor knot

We’re the best drivers:

  • while texting
  • while eating
  • while napping (wait… what?)

If I could insert an “eye rolling” emoji … I would.  

This is called illusory superiority, which is the mistaken belief that we’re better than most people at anything. 

It’s just not true.  

Welcome to Oblivious-ville, population: Us.

Okay, time to pile on a little more harsh truth.

Since we think we are better than we really are, most of the time we don’t have the skills to recognize that we’re doing it wrong.

And if you don’t even know that you’re doing it wrong, how could you know how you’re doing it wrong.

Talk about a pickle.

Now, for some good news…

If you’re struggling with something it may not be because you suck at it or lack the skills to actually accomplish your goal.

It may just be that you don’t know you’re doing it wrong.

Which means there’s probably a way you can get better at it and learn the right skills.

All you need is some coaching to accurately guide you and some practice.

Information does NOT mean success.

You may have read some nutrition blogs or maybe watched some workout videos online.

You may follow instagram fitness gurus and get weekly newsletters from your favorite nutrition site.

There is an enormous amount of high quality, free resources available … at your finger tips.

Lack of information isn’t the issue … developing the skills necessary to apply that information IS.

Just because you watch every football game of the season, you wouldn’t say you have the skills to make it in the NFL (Uncle Rico aside).

You need guidance to develop and perfect any skill, and the same is true with health and fitness.

You got this.

Whatever it is that you’re trying to do, you can do it.

Whether it’s eating healthier, trying to get your beach bod ready for vacation, or training for a marathon.

You got this.

And the reason you may feel stuck right now is maybe you’re forgetting the thing before the thing and potentially missing a step or two.

Here are a couple tips:

First, think of the outcome you want and work backwards. Try your best to think of every single step. Then, create yourself a step-by-step guide. 

For example: I want to run a 5k.

In order to run a 5k:

  • I have to ____ this month.
  • I have to ____ this week.
  • I have to ____ today.

And remember, there’s probably going to be a lot more steps to it than you realized.

But don’t get overwhelmed.

Just focus on tackling one small step at a time.

TLDR:

Be coachable and open to the idea that your perceptions may be inaccurate.

Let yourself be “imperfect.”It just takes learning, guidance, and practice. No biggie.

Reverse engineer the steps involved in what you’re trying to do.

Great advice… hurts my feelings every time. Anyways, focus on perfecting ONE thing at a time. 

Seek feedback, instruction, and coaching. Look around ya. Who can help you get better and move in the right direction?

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