The Post About Toast

This is a scrap of wisdom that’s too ding donged good to not share.This isn’t a post about toast. It’s about making plans. As in, goal setting. Of course, fitness goals are at the front of our minds here at Fit True, but this works for any goal.

One of the most unmotivating things that can happen to someone is knowing what they want but having no idea how to do it. Staying stymied long enough drops motivation quickly to depressive levels.

Who wants to be there? NOT ME. And not you either. So what do we do about it?

Set a goal

Setting a goal can be easy. Pick a problem that you have. Let’s face it, everyone has problems. So why not make your problem into a goal? Or, make SOLVING your problem into a goal. Pick some part of your life that you would like to see some improvement in and make that improvement your goal.

Here’s a couple tips on which problem to pick:

1. Don’t pick something that you don’t have a great deal of control over. You can’t control your cousin’s drinking as well as you can exercise control over, let’s say, what you put in your mouth.

2. Keep it clear and measurable. So pick something like one of these:
- Dropping 15 pounds in the next 6 months
- Add two servings of vegetables a day for a month just to see how it feels
- Workout with your least preferred way of exercising for three weeks.

OK Got it? Good. Moving on.

Make Toast

Huh? Make toast?

Ya, that’s what I said. Follow me if you will.

Story time:

A business executive who wanted to motivate his management team placed post-it notes and pens in front of them and asked a question,

“How do you make toast?”

The management team looked a little puzzled and afraid to speak so he asked again,

“How do you make toast?”

Finally the nerdy intern sheepishly said,

“Ahh, you put toast in a toaster?”

“That’s great,” said the boss, ” write that down. Now what else?”

“Ahh, you buy toast?”

“Good, good,” came from the boss, “write that down. What else?”

Then the flurry came. “You drive to the grocery store,” “You plug in the toaster,” “You buy a toaster,” “You make sure the electric bill is paid,” ” You make sure you’ve got a job to buy the toast.” On and on it went. Each one getting written down on it’s own post-it note.

Once the exec felt that he had enough ideas he said,

“Now put all of these post-its in order.”

After some debate the management team laid out the perfect and clear plan of how to make toast. The executive had made his point to his formerly unmotivated management team.

So in your own little journey from point “A” to point “B,” here’s what you do:

1. Get some post-it notes. Shuffle, roll, walk, or drive yourself down to the store and buy a package of post-it notes.

2. Write down each step needed to get to your goal. Think of each step that you are going to have to take to get where you want to be. Write each one down separately on it’s own post-it note. After you’ve written as many of the steps possible as you can think of do two things.
- sleep on it to see if something else comes to mind , and
- ask someone you trust if they can think of anything to add.

3. Clear out a space to lay out your post-its.

4. Put the post-its in order.

Once you’ve done all of that two things might come up. First, you might find that there are some steps that you can do at the same time with little effort. Second, if you find that you’ve missed a step it won’t matter so much. It’s just another small part of the process that you can just add in.

One reason why this process works so well is because our minds don’t always think clearly and in a straightforward way. Laying it out in front of you can really help unmuddy the waters.

Hope this helps you set some (fitness) goals AND FEEL MORE MOTIVATED just to be moving toward your goal.

Have you ever done a process like this before or have your own plan building process you’d like to share? Let us all know in the comments below.

If you liked this article, you may also like...

• Motivation 102
• Workout: Quads and Calves
• Biceps and Triceps Giant Sets
• Fitness Weapons: Discipline