Today I want to share a simple framework that we use at Nerd Fitness Coaching to change goals inside plans that you can actually follow.
By the end you’ll be just like Neo The Matrix – able to see the pattern and build a resilient, flexible routine even when life gets chaotic.
Cool? Cool.
Step 1: Imagine your 12-month victory
The first step is to write down what your goals actually are!
Maybe it’s…
- Lose 20 pounds to improve your blood work
- Run a 5k to support your local charity
- Get your first pull up
- Feel more confident in your body
- Just feel better. Stronger, more energy, fewer aches and pains.
Everything is allowed.
If you feel stuck, try this:
“Twelve months from now, if you’ve made great progress on your health and fitness goals… what will life look and feel like? Describe your average day.”
That can help get the ideas flowing and give you a… North star to strive for.
Step 2: Identify the skills behind that goal
This is where most people stumble.
They go straight from “I want to lose 20 pounds” to “I need to follow this.” exactly training plan five days a week.” That skips a crucial step: skills.
Ask yourself:
“What are the types skills someone who achieves this goal develops?”
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Do you want to lose weight?
- Check portion sizes
- Planning and preparing meals
- Getting enough sleep
- Having non-food coping mechanisms for stress
- Stay active all week
Do you want to become stronger?
- Make time to lift regularly
- Recover well (including sleep and rest days)
- Eating enough proteins
- Learn how to almost fail in your workouts
You don’t have to mention each skill. Just write down a few that come to mind.
Step 3: Choose your practices
Now that you’ve identified some skills, the next step is figuring out how to do that excercise them.
This is the fun part, because there isn’t one right answer, and that’s actually one Good thing. Take my client Amanda, for example.
She wanted to lose weight to improve her overall health. That’s why we identified ‘controlling portion sizes’ as an important skill. But she didn’t want to count calories every day.
So this is what we did:
- Week 1: Developed the habit of packing an afternoon snack at work. This helped prevent overeating in the evening.
- Week 3: Used manuals for hand portions estimate meals. We started with breakfast and moved to lunch and dinner over the course of a few weeks.
- Week 10: Tried short-term calorie tracking. Which they Actually enjoyed – something she never would have imagined when we first started!
All different practices. Everything in the service of the same skill.
We had room to adapt based on what felt realistic and useful at the time.
What if she encountered a tough day? She could move to another practice while still building the underlying skill.
If you skip the skill-building step, you risk creating an inflexible plan or taking the wrong actions entirely.
That’s one of the reasons why so many diets fail: they don’t help you build lasting skills. They only give you temporary rules.
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Now I’d love to hear from you!
- What’s one 12-month win you can think of?
- What is a skill that can help you with this?
- What is an easy exercise you can work towards this week for that skill?
Click ‘reply’ and let me know. I’d like to encourage you.
You got this 💪
-Mat