What are you accomplishing?

Almost everybody starts health and fitness with a goal.

• “I want to lose 100 lbs.”
• “I want to bench 350.”
• “I want to look like Arnold.”

Too often we quit on our goal because we don't see progress. Sometimes we don't see progress because we don't identify the little accomplishments as progress. There's enough written about goal setting and I've written about finding your why. This is about how many of us fail to recognize all the progress between the start of our journey and when we're at the point where we want to quit. No, this isn't a pep talk and I'm not here to blow sunshine up your behind because that isn't my style, but I am here to clue you in on the realities of chasing your goals.

You're going to face setbacks! And you're going to have to recognize your accomplishments if you want to keep going.

The problem as I see it is very few people know how to truly acknowledge and appreciate the small progress as accomplishments. We've been told to focus on the bigger picture, keep our eye on the prize, and never lose sight of the goal. Somebody in history convinced us that Lao-tzu was wrong when he said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” They ignored the fact that at some point on any of our journeys, we couldn't do any and now we can do more than that and that is a reason to keep going.

So what are some accomplishments we often overlook?

• I lost a half-inch from my waist
• I lost one pound (I hate this one personally)
• I did my five rep max for six reps
• I ran a mile 3 seconds faster
• I drank water instead of soda

An accomplishment is a step in the right direction and should be recognized. Whether it's lifting a weight easier than you did before, having more energy, swapping out one “bad” food choice for a “good” food choice, or fitting into a pair of jeans a little better, it's progress and one step closer to your ultimate goal. It doesn't have to be a huge step, but just a step on the path to your goal. At some point, we'll hit that setback and we'll have a choice to keep going forward with the support of all the small accomplshments, or to quit.

There is no truly challenging goal that you will ever obtain in life without setbacks, whether it's under the bar or in your career. Think of everything you've accomplished this far in life. Your education, your career, your finances, your family, etc., and at one point in time you faced a challenge that you either had to work hard at with what seemed like no progress to get through or you had to change course to stay on goal. Some of you will even remember looking back at the little accomplishments and deciding to keep going because you saw how much time you spent...but how many times did we give up because we didn't acknowledge the progress?

I've stressed the use of journals for training, for dieting, for your life, and had I not had a journal, I probably wouldn't have accomplished half of what I have done, including my certification, my Master's, or my Bachelor's. My weight room accomplishments wouldn't be there because I'd have been a program hopper if I didn't have journals to look back on and see each little step, whether it was getting one more rep or gaining another pound on the scale. For those that are like me, it can feel like you're never getting anywhere, but that little look back to see where you started and the progress can be the push you need to keep going.

1. Use a Journal (as if you haven't heard this enough)
2. Highlight, mark, and identify every bit of progress
3. Make notes for when you have to look back to find motivation
4. Celebrate the small steps because they are just as important as the big steps

So go take a few minutes and if you haven't done it, write it out. Write out where you started and where you want to go and all the small accomplishments in between. I mean ALL of them. Trust me, little things that never seemed like accomplishments or that you've forgotten about could be all the motivation you need.