Write to Yourself

Everyone knows that they should just "go to the gym."

So you put your clothes on, go and…what do you do? Work on body parts? (Today is chest day, so which machines do chest?) What sets and reps do you do? Until stuff starts to burn?

That could make for a long and confusing day.

If you're smart, you'll find a program after a quick Google search. That's a good start, and many of us will follow it as is.

An important part to consider before you go down the research rabbit hole is this:

What are your goals?

The goals you have determine what programs you'll seek out, not the other way around.

I've been in the same position before, where I would blindly follow programs. This even applies to smaller subsets of training: Olympic lifting, bodybuilding, weight loss, etc.

I should have started with what my goals were for myself. That way, even if I do follow a program, I can tailor it to my liking or even…create my own. Shocking, but possible.

How do you do this?

You start by writing to yourself.

From Journal to Plan

People don't write enough these days.

Well, we may text, but what about long letters? Did you have a pen-pal growing up? Did you have to send a letter to a loved one and have to wait months to hear back from them? That was the case 100 years ago.

What about diaries or journals? Those are lost arts. They used to force us to dig deep into our hearts and minds and at the very least get it all out in the physical form. It's actually very therapeutic if you ever do that, and no one else ever has to see it.

So when it comes to figuring out how you want to train, level zero is asking yourself what you really want out of this whole thing. That's called…drum roll…goal setting!

It has to be a combination of a goal and any constraints. I'll list some examples:

• I want to get leaner but not feel like I'm starving myself.

• I want to gain muscle but I don't want to lift heavy weights.

• I want to get stronger but can't get too big for my sport.

• I want to compete in something for the first time without beating myself up.

This is a great start. From this, any sources of information, even full programs, are filtered and altered based on these goals.

If you put it down on paper, even digitally, you can see the goal (or problem) in "physical" form. You're finally no longer using your brain as a storage unit. Then your brain can act like the creative problem solver that it is and start making a plan for it.

Besides, how do you think all programs were created in the first place? Yes, someone had to do trial and error the very first time, but now that most fitness people know principles, it's about putting together things based on personal needs.

It's magical.

The Writing Hierarchy - From Trainee to Coach

We need to break down different "levels" of writing in an order that makes sense.

The beginning stages are great just to put you in a better mindset and brain vomit what you want out of life, but at some point you'll have to start putting the work in.

People these days parrot the whole "set systems, not goals" thing over and over. Yes, getting what you want out of your training boils down to the 1-3 important tasks you should repeat every day. Yes, you can get results by shutting your brain off and following them like a robot.

But you won't know what work to do if you don't have the strong reasons in the first place, which is the reason for the earlier steps.

This is going to be a fairly long list, so buckle up.

Level 1: Gratitude

This seems cheesy. We all know the influencer vibe of having a gratitude journal and writing in it every single day. You don't have to go that far, but it is handy to just do it in your notes app on your phone and review it. You can even say how grateful you are to someone in your list.

Why do this? Because it puts you in a better mood. Plus it slows you down. Too often we're in "I want the next thing" mode. What about the stuff you already have? We forget about it too much.

I'm not saying you're content with everything and stop moving, but you do need to find a balance point. Happy with what you have, but still in motion.

Level 2: Fears and Worries

This is the start of goal setting. Wanting something is obvious, but it's not "real" yet. You don't have the body or the strength numbers yet so you have to imagine it.

Your current situation, however, is very real. There's nothing wrong with revealing it to yourself. It's deep down in there anyway. It's only bad if you just bottle it up forever.

Vomit it out (on paper) so you can see how you really think. Then the opposite are your goals.

Dan Koe has coined this the "Anti-Vision." Tim Ferriss wrote about taking the major categories in life and if you have no goal, write down what you fear or hate in each one and write its opposite. Plenty of people, probably people you look up to, hit rock bottom at some point in their lives, which forced them to take action out of it.

Not all negatives are bad, especially not when they can be used for fuel for something positive.

Level 3: Hopes, Dreams, Goals

Now this is the fun part. Write it all out. Don't filter yourself. Write down what you want out of life and don't hold back. Be a kid again. The previous step of what you don't want will make what you do want obvious now.

Of course you'll have to narrow the list down. The fewer the goals, the easier. Set a max of 3.

Then set some deadlines. I've heard recommendations of anywhere from 20 years to the next day. I think even a year is hard to imagine, so let that be your max range. From there break it down to quarter, month, week and daily. A quarter is a fantastic timeframe to use. It doesn't allow your "New Year's Resolution" goal to get lost, since you have to break it down into smaller chunks. It'll also force serious action every 12 weeks instead of trying to rush it all in as the year is coming to a close. It's a great concept from The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington (I haven't read it yet, but it's still a great idea).

The last thing to keep in mind is that these goals should be "reasonably unreasonable." Something you know you can do, but will take some work to get done. It should scare you a little. Good.

Level 4: Plan

Now it's time to put things into concrete action. Goals are cute until you have to brainstorm how to actually get there. Luckily we live in the age of information. Gather sources of information. Edit programs and/or mix and match, as long as it suits you.

An example is wanting to lift more weight but wanting to maintain athleticism and be able to move well. Just saying that alone will make you realize you need some sort of barbell program combined with an athletic routine.

Go do some homework.

After you know enough, and realize that the plan won't be perfect, all that's left to do is putting in the work. There won't be a ton of steps, and usually the most obvious and boring ones are the correct ones. It will just take some time to get there.

Level 5: Iterate

Start…like yesterday. Then if things aren't working or you don't like something, adjust the plans (while keeping the goals).

But be honest here. There's a great article from Mark Rippetoe at Starting Strength called "The First 3 Questions." The article can be summarized like this.

1. How much are you resting between sets? - Take time in the workout to recover.

2. How big of weight jumps are you taking? - Start easy and work your way up wisely.

3. How much sleep/food are you getting? - Get enough of both to recover. (By the way, the program isn't easy and you have to pay attention to these things).

You may not be doing Starting Strength, but the principle applies:

Do the boring work you know you need to do before you start blaming the program.

Go to bed on time. Stretch when you're tight. Eat enough food (or less food) based on your goals. To summarize the words of Starting Strength - change the program when the program is the problem.

Don't just give up because things are getting hard or you're getting bored. You might have to push back your goal dates if you're not going to make it. You might have to add in accessories. But often you don't have to jump ship just because things aren't happening the way you want them to. They never will, so go put in the work in.

Level 6: Review

After doing what you've been doing for a while, or at the end of the week/month/quarter, or after reaching a goal, review things. Are you making good progress and want to keep going? Did something hold you back? What worked before and what can you add in?

This is the power of a training log. Bonus points if it's on paper because you get to review without trying to find what you did in a document somewhere on the internet or in your phone.

Level 7: Foresee Failure

Your plan will be an educated guess. That's it. I've seen people attempt to lay out a plan for weeks or even months as if they'll never hit a snag in life and get interrupted.

If you have a loose plan, or even have backup plans with things go south, then you'll be in a better spot. I've had to learn this the hard way. Just due to life and injuries, when I see a new training program, I try think about what I could do as a minimum dose if I don't have a lot of time, or how to de-load if I get sick or go travel.

If you plan for failures, you won't get derailed when they eventually come up.

Level 8: Write to Others

This is what I'm doing here, ha.

I think the self-improvement niche gets a bad rap these days, which is unfortunate. People act as if it's some new fad, when it's been around since the dawn of man. As long as you're trying to improve your life in some area, you're doing it.

But what do you do after you achieve goals and reach the mountain top? Do you just enjoy it and set another goal? You totally can, but what about everyone else that's still climbing?

I believe a worthwhile pursuit in life is to eventually help other people. You've achieved some goal in life, you had to make plans to get there, now it's up to you to share what got you there with others.

If we're not going to be on this planet forever, and we want to make the world a better place, then we should start with making ourselves better so we can pass down our lessons to others. Then you can even start writing about it on the internet or making videos about it. It's never been easier to reach out to people these days, so we might as well take advantage of it.

I think people get confused at this step, thinking "I don't know what to write about." Pick an area that you're interested in, level up in it and it will become something that you can't stop talking about.

Out of Your Head and Into Your Life

Our brains are incredible.

It can solve problems if we allow it to run in the background.

However, the best place to start is to stop trying to use it as a storage unit and then use it as the problem solver like it is.

But as I've already said, writing is a lost art, something that can help a lot of people if they just start.

If you're not sure about all of this and this is outside the norm for you, then start writing in your phone's notes app or a free note-taking software. You don't even have to share it with anyone else. As long as you start building the habit, even occasionally when you hit a snag in life, then you'll be well on your way to being a writer yourself.

Try it and find out.

Thanks for reading! As always if you have any questions you can reply to this newsletter or use this questionnaire.