How to Know if Your Plan is Working (Nerd Fitness Challenge)

Depending on how the start of the year went, you might be feeling one of two things right now.

Either:

“Hey, it’s actually going pretty well.”

Or:

“I thought I would have had more momentum than that.”

Both are completely normal. And both are exactly why this step matters.

The fourth and last step: Zoom Out.

It’s not about judging yourself or deciding if you’ve “succeeded.”

It’s about learning how to control your plan as a coach.

In the video below, I’ll explain how to do exactly this using three simple questions.

Question 1: What went well?

Write down the first 1 or 2 things that come to mind.

It may not be surprising, but this is often the hardest step for the people I work with. I think because we are our own worst critics, and it is easier to point out what is NOT working than what is.

However, there is a lot of gold to be mined here, so it’s worth doing!

Question 2: What was a challenge?

This is where you see things like unexpected roadblocks, or traps that require a different strategy.

If the consistency was low, this usually means that the plan needs to be simpler – not that you need more motivation.

Question 3: What (if anything) to change going forward?

Knowing the victories and the challenges, we now evaluate what to do next.

In the video I cover some details on how to know if your progress is realistic. That will help give you some guidance as you think about the next steps.

Sometimes the right answer is: “Nothing. I need more time.”

Other times, it’s to make an adjustment to your workouts, nutrition habits, or overall strategy.

Your action step

Open yours .worksheet. and complete the Zoom Out section. (Or use Tobbe’s .great online version!.)

Use your answer to “what (if anything) to change” to update your Core practices.

Then, it’s time to start the cycle again.

Track every time you complete a Core practice. Fill in the tracking wheel. So every 2-6 weeks (or whenever you complete the wheel), Zoom Out and make adjustments.

That’s how real progress happens.

When I see a client adopt this strategy, treating each action as its own mini experiment, I KNOW I’m making progress.

—

If answering these questions is more difficult than you expected, that’s normal.

Zoom Out is a skill. And like any skill, it gets easier with practice and feedback.

That’s why next week host a .live coaching session. where we will work together through common attack points from the Challenge, in real time.

You don’t need to be “stuck” to attend. You don’t need a perfect plan.

It’s just an opportunity to think about it with support, and see examples from other people if it could be useful.

My hope is that you will find a spark of inspiration that works for you and feel less alone in the process.

speak quickly

– Matt