Purpose Of A Goal

“The purpose of a goal is not to get it. The purpose of a goal is who you become in pursuit of it.” ~Tony Robins
 

Read the above quote and take a moment to think about it. Goal setting has nothing to do with the actual achievement of the goals, it has to do with the growth that takes place while in pursuit of those goals. It also has to do with shinning a light on the fact that if you can’t find happiness now, in the place you currently are, no goal achievement in the world is going to make you happy. 

So what is your goal? If you haven’t found it yet, keep searching. You may actually have to put aside time each day to just sit down and focus on this task alone. We get so caught up in our day to day routines that we don’t take the time to think about the most important things. We spend more time planning our next vacation than we do planning our lives. 

Let’s assume you do have your goal. Now we need to figure out what it is going to take to get you to that goal, or better yet, what habits and systems do you need to implement into your life to get you there? 

“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to thelevel of your systems.”

Below are my goals from 2020 along with why I wanted them.

 
GOAL for 2020: Open my own gym in Lexington, KY by June of 2020.
 
WHY:
It will fulfill a lifelong dream of mine.
It will provide me a career that I love.
It will provide me an income to support my family.
It will provide me an opportunity to be a good example to my children. Show them the power of setting goals and then working your ass off to achieve them.
It will provide me an environment to help others achieve their goals.
It will provide a place of employment for someone to be a FitnessProfessional.
 
So what did I need to get to my goal? Most people start to focus on the physical goal itself. In my case that would be securing finances, finding a space, buying equipment, and everything else to get the physical location up and running. The mistake here is that I’ve done nothing to address myself. The reason at the time I didn’t already own my own gym was because of a lot of past decisions that I had made out of fear. If I didn’t address my own shortcomings and ignore those fears, I would be opening a business that at best will struggle and at worst will fail. 

So where did I start? I creating an image of the person I wanted to become and the business I wanted to run. I think it is helpful to remove ourselves from the vision momentarily because it helps to stop us from putting our own self-limiting beliefs on what our futures can and will look like. What does the person you want to be look like? How do they look physically, what is their day like, how do other people see them? What does their business or career look like, how is each hour of their day spent, what do their relationships look like? Create every imaginable aspect you can think of. 

I have this in my phone notes and keep it as an ever evolving document. I add written descriptions, but because I’m a very visual person, I include pictures as well. Another idea I love and use is a vision board. Mine hangs on the inside of my closet door. The vision board is separate from my business goal, but they share the same framework for creation. Each picture represent an area of how I want my life to look. Have fun with this process and the sky is limit! No holding back here!
 
When the vision is set, then comes the habits and systems. Take the person you envision yourself becoming, what habits do they need to have that enabled them to become the person they are? I’ll give you an easy one that is universal, Reading! One habit you must add is to compile a reading list and add it to your daily routine. This can be through actual reading or audio version, it doesn’t matter, you just need to read. 

 
Reading – Check! Now what is another habit? For me, my days are all over the place and split between ten different work responsibilities, time with my family(be a good husband and father), responsibilities with my family (kid taxi, making meals, household choirs), my own health/fitness, reading, and all the other areas that make up my life. So for me, getting up early is a must. Every day it is somewhere between 4 and 5am. This allows me the time to never have an excuse for not getting what needs to get done, done! “But I’m not a morning person” There is no more untrue statement than this. You just don’t have a goal paired with habits/systems that get you out of bed. Also, people who get up early don’t love it, it SUCKS, but it’s a must, so it happens. Now don’t get too butt hurt, I’m not advocating not getting sleep, actually the exact opposite. In order for me to get up that early, be productive, and not be a total asshole to my wife and kids becauseI’m exhausted. I had to create a sleep system. Mine includes putting the phone away at a certain time every night, no more “I deserve one(or two)glasses of wine” each night, and I get into bed every night at 9pm. Yep,I go to bed before or the same time as my kids. 

Does it take disciple to get in bed that early and not zone out into social media or relax with Netflix, YES! But since I get up early, EVERYDAY, I’m actually tired at night and I’m also motivated by the task I need to complete the next morning to keep pushing myself closer to my goal. In the morning would I rather stay in my warm cozy bed? “YES” But when that alarm goes off, I count to three, get my feet on the floor and start my morning. NO SNOOZE BUTTON! 

 
Other areas of my life that I created routines for include, nutrition, physical fitness, my relationship with my wife and kids, spiritual and mental health. These all are works in progress and will never be perfect, but ifI never try, they will always be the same. 

So those habits and systems got me to where I am today. The gym has been open for 4 years, we just moved to a bigger location, we have an amazing coaching staff and community of members. So now the goal has changed and along with it, the habits and systems will need to change to get there.

New Goal for 2024: CrossFit Conductor is a Health Home for its members. I’ll go into detail about that means next week.
 
In Strength,
 
Eric Karls M.Ed.
CrossFit Conductor
Chief Awesomeness Engineer
Certified Level 3 CrossFit Coach