Switch From Outcome Based Goals to Habit Based Goals

We all start lifting weights for a reason. For me, it began with the desire to look like I was in shape. That meant having a flat stomach, looking athletic, and projecting the image of someone who prioritized health above all else. I thought if I could achieve that look, I’d feel accomplished. So, I threw myself into it. I got in shape, ran a lot, and sometimes trained three times a day.

But then I learned that weight loss boiled down to calorie intake. This realization sent me spiraling. I believed that eating less and exercising more would get me closer to looking like the guy in the magazine. Yet, no matter how much I starved myself or how hard I trained, that goal was forever out of reach. My hair began falling out, and I started hoarding calories so I could drink alcohol without guilt. My priorities became skewed, and my physical and mental health suffered.

At the same time, I wanted to be a strongman. That pursuit required heavier training loads and different types of exercises. But without proper recovery, nutrition, or goal setting, my eagerness led to an immediate back injury. Chronic low-calorie intake and focusing on trying to lift the 200lb atlas stone certainly didn’t help. The heart of the issue was my impatience and obsession with progress.

I made progress in some areas. I lost weight and improved my barbell lifts. But no matter what I achieved, I was never satisfied. I wasn’t waking up under 165 pounds, and I wasn’t squatting 500lbs any day of the week. My pursuit of outcomes became a never-ending cycle of dissatisfaction.

There’s an old cliché: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Strength training and nutritional goals follow the same principle. If you’re only focused on outcomes, you miss the bigger picture. It’s not the results that need improvement, it’s your systems you use to build and maintain your habits.

When you’re driven solely by outcomes, burnout becomes inevitable. You can end up creating psychological resistance, fostering beliefs that you’re entitled to achieving your goals. This mindset is a recipe for frustration and stagnation.

Instead, shift your focus. Change your goal from “I want to hit a 500lb squat” to “I will show up and put maximum intent into every session three times a week.” Streamline the process of committing to showing up, executing with intention and do this for years. When you focus on the process, you’ll be amazed at the progress you’ll make. It’s quite easy to leave a session saying “I gave it my all”. You are allowed to feel good about that and it is encouraged that you acknowledge it because those dopamine hits will allow you to keep that up for the rest of your life. On the other hand, it's much harder to walk away knowing you did try your hardest but the lack of praise for your efforts are overshadows by the thought, 'I still have a poverty squat.’ Don’t allow that to happen.

As James Clear puts it in Atomic Habits: “You don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” Build systems that prioritize consistent effort and smart habits, and the outcomes will take care of themselves.

Why You Should Use Variation in Your Life and Training

How do you approach life? Have you ever poured all your efforts into work only to find out that your personal life is unfulfilling? Similarity if you only put your efforts in the main lifts and progress stalls, what happens next? Identity crisis anyone?

We must break the disconnect. Let’s separate what we are fixated on and what we actually need to improve. Variation both in life and exercise helps you grow. When you pick hobbies or choose exercise variations, that exposes weaknesses and forces you to problem solve and adapt. This is a learning process and in order for long-term progress we must strive to continually keep an open mind and choose learning over being comfortable and complacent.

Growth is living. In order to grow we must disrupt homeostasis. If you choose to grow, you’ll need to explore new hobbies or trying new and different exercises. This will send you down a more mindful and judgment-free path of improvement. This keeps you in a beginner’s mindset which allows for a more robust development of strength and better helps you overcome weaknesses. 

In life and in training welcoming and embracing variety will lead to a fuller, more fulfilling experience. Remember, your identity is shaped by how you respond to successes and failures as well as how you define progress. Variation not only trains your body but your mind and character too.

Always Try Your Hardest

What does this phrase mean to you? Before you read any further, I ask you to just take a few moments to think about it and share it with me if you like.

I felt as though I always tried my hardest. In high school when I was on the football field, yes, I would get up right away after being knocked down, I would run my hardest and I would try my best to not allow my negative self-talk to inhibit my ability to keep playing. But mentally I got discouraged quite easily. When I was off the field, alone, with no one to judge me I fell apart even more. Did I just want everyone else to think I “always tried my hardest?”. From a young age I knew success came from those who tried very hard, but my life was pretty hollow when I was not around others. I didn’t have enough inner awareness to realized that. I solely relied on external factors to get me motivated. The effort I put forth was seasonal at best and only applied to a few thin slices of my life.

Flash forward decades later. I learned that “always trying my hardest” went hand in hand with “always do your best”. Say it out loud. It just feels different. A book called “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz, recommend to me by a good friend, Hannah, allowed these two phrases to meld together. If you are always doing your best, you are being the best version of yourself. That hit home for me. What your best is changes daily and it depends on the circumstances you are in and the bandwidth you have. When you do your best there is no extra energy to be spent on anything else because you know you are being the best version of yourself. This leaves no room for doubt.

I realized that “always trying my hardest” actually meant “always try my best”. When I am trying my best, I am waking up early and creating to-do lists. When I’m training, I am paying attention to my body pushing hard but not pushing through “bad” discomfort”. When I reflect, I think about what went well and what did not go well in order to shape my future behavior. When I am just going about life trying, I am trying to identify cognitive distortions patterns (IG: all or nothing thinking, catastrophizing or ego inflation) and use those as opportunities to change my impulsive thought patterns to ones that align with who I am trying to be.

So, I ask you to spend an extra moment to reflect on “what do you think always try your best mean to you?”. Then ask yourself “what does trying hard actually mean?”.