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| Working up to 151 pounds in the one-hand dumbbell swing involved a series of goals, projects and challenges that got me stronger and in better shape than any New Year's resolution ever did. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
It's that time of year again, and everyone is
thinking about New Year's resolutions.
Personally, I don't make resolutions.
I focus on three things instead:
1. Projects
2. Challenges
3. Goals
If I focus on projects, challenges and goals,
the resolutions take care of themselves. At
least, they do in my case.
Projects are things you do over the course of
the year. They usually involve making, creating
or finishing new things.
For example, I'm working on a new book, so
one of my first projects for the new year is to
finish the little monster and get it published.
I have other books and courses to do, so those
are other projects for 2018.
Other Dinos have different projects. For example,
I know several Dinos who are setting up home
gyms. That's another example of a project (and
a fun one).
Challenges are things that make you stretch to
achieve them.
An example would be learning a new skill. Thus,
a trainee might challenge himself to learn how
to perform the squat style clean and jerk -- or
the squat or split style snatch -- or the old
school dumbbell exercises I cover in Dinosaur
Dumbbell Training.
Another example of a challenge is to do something
you've never done before.
An example would be entering your first powerlifting,
weightlifting or strongman contest.
A goal is something you want to achieve during
the year.
I have lots of goals.
I have lifting goals -- I want to snatch such and so,
clean and jerk such and so, total such and so, front
squat a particular weight, etc.
I have poundage goals for single lifts, and poundage
goals for sets and reps.
Goals are good. They give you the strength to
persevere -- and to achieve them.
I break my goals down into a series of little goals,
so I can work towards them step by step and workout
by workout (which is the only way to achieve anything
significant).
You also can set goals for gaining or losing a certain
amount of bodyweight. Those are common goals for
most people. Again, break them up into a series of
small goals. That makes every pound you gain or
lose a victory -- which helps establish the success
habit.
Every time you achieve a mini-goal you build your
self-confidence and your self-reliance -- which is a
very good thing to do.
One key point about goals is this:
Keep them to yourself. If you share your goals with
others, you weaken their power.
And yes, I know that can be hard to do -- but it's
important. If you share your goals with others you
subconsciously feel that you've already achieved
them -- and you also invite the doubters and the
negative types to bombard you with negative
thoughts.
The last thing you need is to let a negative thinker
start making you doubt your ability to achieve a
given goal.
True story -- when I entered my first National Bench
Press Championship (which I won), no one knew I
was going to a National championship.
I told my wife I was going to a contest. Never told
her it was a National championship.
And I didn't say anything to anyone else.
You may or may not play poker. But keep your goals
close to your vest -- and don't share them.
As always, thanks for reading and have a great day.
If you train today, make it a good one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Chalk and Sweat has 50 different workouts for
Dinosaurs, including 10 for beginners, 10 for inter-
mediates, 10 for advanced trainees and 20 programs
for building maximum strength and muscle mass.
Go here to grab the little monster:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
Also, I mentioned the old-school exercises in
Dinosaur Dumbbell Training - which also has
50 great workouts for Dinos. You can find it
right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_dumbbelltraining.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses -
and links to all of my e-books on Kindle
- are right here at Dino Headquarters:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
P.S. 3. Thought for the Day:
"Projects, challenges and goals empower
you. Choose them wisely, and make full
use of their magic."
-Brooks Kubik
BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .
We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle
bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:
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