Photo by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
No, I don’t have 6-pack abs.
Well, maybe you can see a faint outline first thing in the morning when I’m dehydrated and the lighting is very forgiving. But that’s not the point.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted a chiseled midsection. Not only for appearance sake but also because I associated being lean and muscular with athletic success. Not a ridiculous thing for a young athlete to assume.
The point is that after years of longing for washboard abs, I’ve changed my perspective on what it means to be fit.
This all started when I had my most recent check-in with my amazing trainer/strength coach, Eric Falstrault. We assessed my body composition and detailed a new training regimen for the next few months.
“Your body fat is no longer a main concern for us,” he began. “I mean, you can get leaner if you want to, but at this point going lower in body fat probably won’t improve performance in your sport – you’ll just be able to see your abs more clearly.”
Diet had always been important to me because I wanted to feel and perform my best in training, in competition, and in every-day life.
However, I did use the imaginary finish line of having the perfect body for fuel when my motivation was lacking. Maybe I used it a bit too often?
I felt very misguided. My trainer was happy with my progress, and I wasn’t sure if I succeeded or failed. I followed the SMART guidelines for goal-setting and everything – why didn’t I feeling successful, accomplished, and fulfilled?!
The Problem with Goals
Setting a goal to guide motivation, shape discipline, and keep yourself accountable makes for a great success strategy.
But not all goals are created equal.
Outcome goals focus on the finish line. Objectives, results, and statistics are what judge success or failure for these types of goals.
In my case, having 6-pack abs was my outcome goal.
Process goals, however, focus on the smaller elements that contribute to your journey towards the finish line.
These are things that are fully under your control and are often behaviors that will contribute indirectly to your larger goal (ex. drink 3.5L of water every day is a process goal that will lead to weight loss, reduction in body fat, etc.).
It’s possible that you have several process goals that contribute to a larger outcome goal.
Of course, outcome goals are fundamental to shaping behavior – but they come with a potential problem:
Where does your motivation come from once you’ve achieved the outcome you were working for?
Sure, a simple fix could just be setting another outcome goal. Lost 10 pounds? No problem! Let’s shoot for 20!
But what happens when you’ve lost all the excess weight and you can’t set any more imaginary finish lines?
Trust the Process
Coach Nick Saban of the University of Alabama football team has a philosophy that has been quoted time and time again:
Trust the process.
He tells his players not to focus on the outcome, but instead to put their efforts toward perfecting every little thing under their control.
Process goals allow you to place your focus on the building blocks that will end up leading to your desired outcome. Instead of looking off into the distance at where you want to go, process goals keep you in the moment.
When organized properly, many small process goals can add up to result in the achievement of an outcome goal.
Process goal + Process goal + Process goal = Outcome Goal
I realize now that process goals should have been my priority the entire time.
Getting quality sleep, staying hydrated, eating a balanced diet, managing life stress – the small things are what deserves my attention.
The bigger things – like 6-pack abs and whatnot – will figure themselves out.
It doesn’t mean that I won’t continue to plan and set goals, but I will start to focus more on the steps toward the goal rather than just keeping my eyes on the finish line.
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