“Tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll get my shit together.“ - A phrase we’re all probably too familiar with.

So, you wake up and go about your day.

You remember reading somewhere that you should write down your goals – So you grab your phone, open notes and begin typing them in. Your goals end up looking something like this:

  • Deadlift 160kg x 3
  • Pick up Judo
  • Raise GPA
  • Try and plate that cute girl from the coffee shop
  • Clean up your diet
  • Drop BF%
  • Etc.

Whilst I don’t think that this process is entirely without merit. Most people will then go about working towards these goals in a way that spreads them thin. Once a few weeks have passed and the flames of the initial burst of motivation have died down, you’re left looking back on what it is you’ve achieved in hopes to re-stoke the coals. Sadly you’re not likely to have broken any ground, instead you’ll have gained marginal inches toward each goal but you’ll lack any respectable landmarks.

A landmark is an accomplishment that you can look back on and draw from it a sense of pride and self respect, it’s usually a mark of how far you’ve come.

Lets have a look at Jimmy. Jimmy, 20 years old – he’s your typical student, with exams looming he’s decided now is the time to get his shit together.

So he does the above, writes his goal list and grinds at it for 3 weeks. Fast forward, 3 weeks has passed and he has got nothing tangible to show for his efforts. He’s frustrated and disheartened, so he stops. No good.

Now we turn to Toby. Jimmy’s identical twin. Toby is distilling his goals for the same 3 weeks. He thinks being able to deadlift >100kg is pretty badass, so he puts all of the other fitness goals on hold and focuses his efforts towards that specific goal. He has his college exams in a few months time – up to this point, through years of self-berating he’s managed to convince himself that he’s not as smart as his classmates. Nonetheless, he picks a single module of his course and decides to hammer it until he gets really good at it.

3 Weeks pass. Toby reflects back on what he’s managed to get done in the time: A new PR on his deadlift, which has just crept over 100kg and he’s one of the top in his class for the module he’s been studying. This is only the beginning, he still has a long way to go – One module won’t get him the grade, and a deadlift of over 100kg doesn’t make him strong, but it makes him feel that bit more badass. Following this, as he sets his next batch of goals – he looks back and draws from his recent accomplishments. He can look back and say I’ve achieved X and Y, he has something tangible. As a result, people have begun to notice he holds his head a bit higher.

He uses this to carry himself forward.

TLDR; Getting your shit together? Pick 2 very SPECIFIC, attainable goals that will impress you when reached – Look back on your past accomplishments and draw from them to cultivate a powerful sense of self-respect to keep driving you forward.