“Are your goals specific and positive?  Rather than vowing ‘to exercise’ for example, reword each goal so it is clear and measureable.  I will walk 30 minutes every day.  I will complete a 5K race.  I will do a yoga DVD twice a week.’’

As a coach, I am constantly stressing how important measurable and specific goals are important to track progress and success.  Creating the number of calories needed to burn daily, weekly monthly etc let me know exactly what I need to do to reach my goal this year.  In case you are interested the number is 514,650 calories burned in 2010 to reach my goal.  And I am excited by that because I have a target to shoot for.

I have set goals so many times and ended up surprised (not really) I did not achieve them.  In reality I did not want to look at what I needed to do and stuck my head in the sand or the quesadilla which ever was closest.   So while that sounds like a lot of calories (more than one half million) it is a number and I have the power and total control to reach it or not.

Now going from the macro to the micro since the micro is where we are in any given moment here are my goals for today.

Today’s Plan

Consume no more than 1550 calories.

Do Power 90 Cardio I/II and log into WOWY

Walk on the beach for 30 minutes at 3 PM this afternoon

Manually determine how many calories I have left to burn to get to 1410 (GoWear Fit not working today)

Before bed do either the treadmill until I reach 1410.

Ok now that is a plan which is clearly defined and I am going to do it.

Helping Reshape the World,

Judi

I want to share this post with you for those of you who may not know Tony Horton.  Tony is the creator of to name a few, Power 90, P90X, P90X+ and one of the great celebrity trainers who are a part of Beachbody.  P90X is most days, the number one workout done in WOWY and that is because it works!   To me personally, Tony is a very special human being and I love meeting people who do his workouts and I have the opportunity to share my personal experience of Tony.  In 2007 I was one of the winners of the Top Coach Contest and won a trip to Maui with Beachbody.  We stayed at the Grand Wailea for four days and it was amazing.  Part of the program included daily workouts on the big lawn in front of resort bordering on the beach and Tony led those workouts.

If you read the previous post about will power, maybe you can understand what it took for me to walk out to that lawn with a towel and a bottle of water to work out with a group of 4o-50 totally fit people when I had lost only 30 pounds of the 187.5 pounds which was my goal.  After a humiliating comment in the elevator from a little boy about my weight to walking out there required every ounce of will power I could summon.  I went to the way back last row and committed to doing the best I could because I was here and I had an opportunity to work out with Tony.  Ok, just starting to write about this is making me start to cry.  Several times, Tony came down off the big stage and walked over to me to suggest a way to modify a certain move and to tell me how great I was doing in a very soft voice.  I am sure you can imagine how much that meant to me.  And I was out there working out each morning.  However, there is more.

The second or third evening we were there, we were treated to a sunset dinner whale watching cruise and it was spectacularly beautiful and the whale sitings were plentiful.  What I remember most was standing next to Carl Daikeler (Founder and Owner of Beachbody)  at the rail watching whales and Carl asked me if I was having a good time.  I shared I was having a wonderful time and thanking him for bringing us all on this great award trip.  Carl turned to me and said “Tony told me how proud he is of you showing up every day for the workout sessions and giving it your whole.”   This was one of the meaningful things to me in my history with Beachbody and demonstrated how the coaches and the community of everyone involved is committed to the success and health of each of us.  Tony and Carl, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

“I was talking with a dear friend of mine the other day and we were discussing why so many people don’t live up to their potential. I was telling him that I know dozens of people who should be happy, more productive, purposeful and better off financially then they are. These are smart, interesting resourceful people. This friend of mine is extremely successful. His work ethic is amazing. He helped build a company from the ground up and he’s also one of the most altruistic people I’ve ever known. Financial freedom and life purpose is not his problem. His issue is FOOD! As successful as he is (and with me as his trainer) he can’t stop eating. He’s strong, flexible and aerobically very fit but he could stand to lose a final 20 pounds to be more comfortable in his skin.

We’re all good at some things while also having traits and behaviors that make our lives more difficult than they ought to be. We know what we want out of life and most of are aware that it require some work; but why is it that so many of us fall short? During our discussion the other day my friend said most people have all these goals and somewhere along the way we run into an obstacle or two and say, “I can’t I quit.” This phenomenon is why we aren’t healthier, fitter, happier and in control of our lives. Everyone of us at one time or another has had an idea or vision about something and didn’t see it through because of a bad conversation, unmet deadline, closed door or some other self created stumbling block.

I was in my gym with my good pal Scott Fifer the other day trying this crazy balance exercise, where you place the balls of your feet (no shoes or socks) on a basketball while in a pre push-up position. The goal is to do a push-up then walk your hands toward the ball, drawing your feet on top of the ball. Stand all the way up, (balancing on the basketball) then slowly squat down and crawl back to a push-up position. Repeat this as many times as you can. After the first four failed attempts I told Scott I can’t, I quit. What? I gave up (momentarily) until I realized that my thoughts and words were part of the problem. For a laugh I decided to pronounce out loud, “I can I will.” I managed 4 in a row. It was freaky. The new mindset and words created a completely different outcome.

I honestly believe that success starts with getting out of your own way. Recognize the problem or obstacle then get busy doing something to find the solution. It starts by figuring out what you want. Step two involves writing down what you’re going to do to get it. It’s also important to understand that falling down, messing up, making mistakes, getting bad advice and starting over and over again are all part of the journey. If this thing called life were easy why would you be here? The whole thing is a lesson so understand that everything you want is always outside of your comfort zone. I can’t I quit creates nothing. I can I will won’t give you everything, but it’s a much better way to start your journey.”  ~Tony Horton