Amy King
In last week's FREE webinar "How to get your body Summer ready in 90 days" I talked about the 3 key pillars of success.
Which are:
In terms of STRUCTURE a plan is a map to translate your goals into action, it also provides a symbol of your values.
In terms of SKILLS, it takes practice to plan the right things at the right time, to stick to the plan and review and adjust the plan as needed.
In terms of SUPPORT, a plan helps support you by communicating to those on your team what you need to be accountable for and where you may need help.
A plan also focuses your energy to the particular actions and provides an opportunity for you to unpack mental blocks (mindset). For example, when you have a plan and then do not stick to it.
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Earlier this week, during a work meeting I was reminded of the many reasons we tend to avoid planning or accepting plans and here are 3 of them.
AND we do this because we view planning as not only more work, but hard work that requires more brain power and attention than we think we have.
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And… well I could go on… the point of this article however isn’t to document every aspect of the human experience in this domain.
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Whether we are planning our 10-year vision, 1 year vision, quarterly big rocks or daily tasks (if you’re not familiar with this concept of Big Rocks then check out “Work Smarter, Live Better” by Cyril Peupion)… the first step to SIMPLIFY all of this is to get clear on what we want out of life, why that’s important and how we can do it.
If we are clear on WHAT we want, WHY we want it and HOW we can do it easily it helps us cut through the white noise and simplify the process like a hot knife through butter.
AND this is important because the more we simplify an activity and we can see the value it adds, the more likely we are to adopt the practice and turn it into a habit.
Now, let’s acknowledge that life is unpredictable and often knocks us off centre. AND the best way to deal with this is to jump in the driver’s seat and to get clear on our vision on what we intend to create for ourselves.
In other words, the first step is gaining CLARITY and we do this by asking questions.
These could be reflection questions such as:
“What 3 things are you most proud of accomplishing”
Or
Assessment questions such as:
"What are your current priorities”
“Have your non-negotiables, the things you were previously not willing to bend on, changed at all?”
Or
Visionary questions such as:
“What’s an experience I’d like to have by x (timeframe)?”
“What area of life would bring you the most joy if you focused on it?”
This exploration exercise can help you take a slab of marble and Michelangelo it into a meaningful piece of art.
The second step is to get clear on your WHY and your VALUES… now this is whole other article in itself… so I won’t expand on this except to remind you of some of the concepts shared by Simon Sinek’s Start with Why… in particular…
The Celery Test in short is essentially the filter you apply when making decisions on what to do next and to focus your time on the 1 or 2 things that are aligned with your why and your values.
In his analogy… or at least my rudimentary take on it – you might have great advice from others around what you need to help achieve a goal… and say you have 4 people in your circle who say the following:
Person 1: You need M&Ms, it’s worked really well for us
Person 2: Get Oreos, they’ve made a huge impact for us
Person 3: Rice Milk is all the rage, honestly it will change your life
Person 4: Have you heard about celery – it truly leads to success
So, imagine you’re then in the shops and you grab all of these things… you’re not sure what to do with them. Your confused and anyone else looking at that mixed basket will be too.
Imagine then, you had a simple why and value defined before you went to the shops. Something like, I want to look after my health, keep my waistline in check, lead by example and have more energy after work to spend with my family.
Your only sensible decision then out of the 4 options you were provided is to pick the celery… and maybe the rice milk. You wouldn’t even look at the M&Ms and the Oreos… because it simply doesn’t align.
You’ve saved money, streamlined your decisions and saved time, energy and waste. Not only that, but others around you can also clearly see what you’re focused on and will likely reach out to help – even if that’s as simple as prompting a conversation on your shared values and aspirations.
In other words, you have DISTILLED what is important.
Of course, in reality, things are rarely this simple as this, but you get the idea.
The third step is to further refine your “distilled’ list of activities and PRIORITISE. This means identifying your true NON-NEGOTIABLES… i.e.
Non-negotiables are as individual as you are, and the above list only makes sense if your values include family, health & fitness, performance and career achievements.
AND some of these non-negotiables will be tagged to your big rocks and others are part of the jar you are placing the big rocks in… this is an important distinction that again warrants further consideration at another time.
For now, however simply writing down the rest of the to-do list and then filtering it through questions such as:
AND
Getting into the habit of asking these questions regularly will help you assess distractions as they come in and filter out opportunities that don’t align with your goals, why and values.
In any case, you probably already knew most of this… I always figure it is god to be reminded about how much we have at our disposal to make a change and live happier, healthier lives and so my parting words will include a couple of quick strategies you can employ if you find yourself straying from planning or following a plan.
P.S. The Webinar replay has been edited and is available to those who register…
So, if you’re interested in “How to Get Your Body Summer Ready in 90 Days”, we cover everything you need to know on how to build lean muscle, shred bodyfat and unlock copious amounts of energy.
Amy King is the founder of AKE Fitness & Nutrition. When she’s not serving her clients, she is pursuing her corporate career in mining, bodybuilding and spending time with loved ones. She calls Perth, Western Australia home.
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