Citius, Altius, Fortius is the motto of the Olympic games. Translated- Faster, higher, stronger, i.e. improvement. Of self; of sport; of (hopefully) international relations. Improvement is inspiring. To quote Tony Robbins “Progress = happiness“. Progress is addictive; It builds self esteem; It motivates you to stick to the goal. but it doesn’t happen by accident: there are steps to improvement.
Step 1: Get clear on what you want
You need a goal. You need to articulately state exactly what it is you’re striving for.
Step 2: If you’re not assessing you’re guessing
In order to improve you must first set a baseline and that means you’ll have to assess something. And what you assess has to be meaningful to you.
Assess (V): evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of.
Take a measurement. Success can be measure in lbs, seconds, percent etc….
Without a measurement how can you track improvement?
One difficulty is accepting the initial measurement. As Natalie Stein writes “It is normal to feel embarrassed before weighing yourself for the first time.” The potential for embarrassment may be enough to keep us from even measuring. I certainly understand this psyche: I’ve gone months without weighing myself out of fear for the number I’ll see.
I’ll then shine myself on about I’ll weigh myself after I bank a few good weeks yada yada yada.
I have to remind myself that, above all, the scale is just a number, like a bench press weight is also just a number. It reflects my recent activity choices, but does not reflect me as a person.
And no matter what the number reads you Dog will still love you at the end of the day.
Step 3: Get uncomfortable
The next step to improvement is getting uncomfortable. Difficulty is the gateway for success.
The first step will be hard. Awkward. Humbling. Remember the words of PT Barnum when he said “comfort is the enemy of progress”.
And remember that no matter how humbling those first steps to improvement prove to be your Dog will love you know matter what. So go adopt a Dog.
Question? What do I assess
What is important to you?
Is it weight loss?
Better movement?
Adherence to an activity?
Weight loss can mean fewer lbs on the scale, better fitting clothing, or lower body fat percentage.
Better movement is somewhat subjective, but take a before/after video with your cell phone and compare how gracefully (or not) you move. It’s surprisingly easy to see improvement. (I filmed myself before and after doing yoga for 30 straight days. It was shocking how visible my improvement was.)
Adherence- Did you do a certain workout/task/or diet for a set number of days? Try the 5×5 or the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge.
These are just a few ideas of potential improvements. Some others: time (how long did it take to do something), body composition (measure your fat %), weight increase (can you lift more), flexibility (can you touch your toes etc), or finishing something (a race, a hike, an obstacle course, a class). There are so many wins you can strive for, but if you’re going to go pursue a goal it has to mean something to you.
Write down that goal, then celebrate EVERY win along the way.
Step 4: Make it meaningful
Improvement takes sacrifice. Wanting it means you’re going to have to suffer for it.
And the bigger/better the goal the more you’re going to have to suffer.
Losing 5 lbs means little to someone who is already thin; it means the world to someone starting a weight loss journey.
Putting 5 more lbs on the bar means little to someone who just began lifting; You’ll want to throw a party and buy a cake if you’ve been at it for a decade and you throw up an extra 5.
What is meaningful to you?
What will get you out of bed at 5 am?
Is it fitting into certain clothes?
Running a certain time?
Making a certain amount?
Being the Hero your Dog thinks you are?
Find the mirror. Look yourself in the eye. What makes you tick? Write it down.
