Turn your goals into a game plan:

Today, I want to share a simple framework that we use at Nerd Fitness Coaching to get back purposes in plans you can actually follow.

In the end, you will be like Neo in The Matrix – able to see the pattern and build a resilient and flexible routine even when life becomes chaotic.

Cool? Cool.

Step 1: Imagine your 12-month win

The first step is to write down what your goals really are!

Maybe it’s…

• Lose 20 pounds to improve your blood
• Run a 5k to support your local charity
• Take your first .pull-up.
• Feel more confident in your body
• Just listen better. Stronger, more energy, less aches and pains.

Everything goes.

If you feel stuck, try this:

“In 12 months, if you’ve made fantastic progress in your health and fitness goals…what will life look like and feel like? Write down your average day.”

That can help you get the ideas flowing and give you a North Star for purpose.

Step 2: Identify the skills behind that goal

This is where most people get stuck.

They go straight from “I want to lose 20 lbs” to “I need to track this exact training plan five days a week. That skips a crucial step: skills.

Ask yourself:

“What are the types of skills Does anyone who achieves this goal develop?”

Here are some ideas to get you going:

Do you want to lose weight?

• Control the size of the portions
• Planning and preparing meals
• Get enough sleep
• Have non-food coping mechanisms for stress
• Stay active all week

Do you want to become stronger?

• Set aside time to lift regularly
• Good recovery (including sleep and rest days)
• Eating enough protein
• Learn to work to near failure in your workouts

You don’t have the list each ability Just write down a few that come to mind.

Step 3: Choose your practices

Now that you’ve identified a few skills, the next step is to figure out how practice them

This is the cool part, because there is no right answer, which is actually a good thing Take my client Amanda, for example.

She wanted to lose weight to improve her overall health. So we identified “portion size control” as a key skill. But I didn’t want to count calories every day.

So here’s what we did:

• Week 1: Built a habit of packing an afternoon snack at work. This helped prevent overeating in the evening.
• Week 3: used .hand portion guides. to estimate meals. We started with breakfast, then moved to lunch and dinner within a few weeks.
• Week 10: Tried short-term calorie tracking. That she indeed liked – something he never thought of when we started!

All different practices. All in the service of the same ability

We had room to adapt based on what felt realistic and useful at the time.

And if he had a hard day? You could pivot to a different practice while still building the underlying skill.

If you skip the skill-building step, you risk creating an inflexible plan, or pursuing the wrong actions altogether.

That’s one reason so many diets fail: they don’t help you build sustainable skills. It just gives you temporary rules.

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Now I would love to hear from you!

• What is a 12 month win you can think of?
• What is a skill that could help you achieve it?
• What is an easy practice you can work on this week for that skill?

Click Reply and let me know. I would like to encourage you.

You got this 💪

– Matt