Unless You’re Easily Offended, This New Method Could Be Your First Class Ticket To Achievement
I should have seen it coming…
I pushed “send” and within minutes people started unsubscribing…
Why?
My guess is the headline because there’s no way they even had time to read it…
Lesson: Never judge a book by it’s title. There was some quality content to be absorbed…
So I’m doing the unthinkable…
Taking my most unsubscribed email ever and posting it again as a blog simply because I want people to have and use this method of getting $h1t done.
And if you’re curious I’ll also share with you that infamous headline.
So without further ado, here’s the email I sent today…
It’s ok, we all do it…
And be honest. Don’t they usually stink?
Would you believe me if I told you that one of your biggest problems is that you never tell anyone when you do it?
Before going any further let me make sure we’re on the same sheet of music
Hopefully you figured out I’m talking about setting GOALS…
Did you actually think I’d write an email about farts?!
I know you’ve heard it before…
Make S.M.A.R.T goals..
The guroo life coaches PREACH…
….your goals have to be
* SPECIFIC
* MEASURABLE
* ATTAINABLE
* RESULTS FOCUSED
* TIME BOUND
But how has that been working for ya?
Today I’m putting out into the world my own little spin on SMART goals because, well, I think that acronym has been failing you long enough.
Today I introduce to you…
**drum roll please**
WHO FARTS BAD, or BAD FARTS WHO to be technical. WHO FARTS BAD just has a certain ring to it…
Regardless here’s what my funky new method stands for.
Keep reading because this doesn’t stink…. Ok I’m done, promise
BTW that was the headline “Who Farts Bad.”
Anyway, this is a fool proof outline for making and achieving your goals so don’t discount it because it’s a silly acronym.
W.H.O F.A.R.T.S B.A.D
* WHY
* HALF
* OBSTACLES
* FUN
* ANNOUNCE
* REALISTIC
* TIME BOUND
* SPECIFIC
* BEHAVIORS
* ATTITUDE
* DECIDE
Disclaimer: I don’t have my PhD in psychology and I haven’t done any scientific studies on this method but this is what works for me and hopefully will for you too.
“If you know your WHY you can endure any HOW”
Why – At UA we call it your 567. It’s what drives you to get up early and get uncomfortable. A powerful why forces you to become hyper focused on the goal at hand.
Think about it…
Almost everyone I talk to wants to lose 10-15lbs. When I ask them how long they’ve wanted to lose 10-15lbs I usually get “about 10 years” or “forever.” How come those same people, when told by their doctor that they’re diabetic or at risk of heart attack make quick work of that goal?
Because, they didn’t need more information or the perfect plan…
They needed a big enough WHY.
Half your goal – It’s great to set big hairy audacious goals, but the perfectionist in you is always watching, sitting right there on your shoulder waiting for you to come up short or doubt yourself.
Do me a favor…Strap that little perfectionist monster to a rocket and send her / him to the moon. Then set take your goal, whatever it is, and cut it in half, or less…
If your goal is to write a book. X that. Make your goal to write a chapter. Writing a book is a daunting task. You’ll feel more successful and more motivated if you just write a chapter and you’ll be more likely to finish because now you’ve got the magic of MOMENTUM!
Obstacles – List all the obstacles that you anticipate getting in your way. Of course things will come up that aren’t on your list but if you can anticipate some of your more common obstacles then you can come up with an action plan to avoid them or at least deal with them in a way that doesn’t totally derail you.
Fun – This is a big one. Especially for people whose goal is to get in shape. It’s the main reason SMART goals don’t work. If you’re not having fun you’re not going to stick with it. Now does that mean your workout has to feel like you’re getting a massage on the beach while eating ice cream and gummy worms? Of course not! But the GOAL should be fun and if working out is a necessary part of reaching your goal, well then Nike…. JUST DO IT
What if you love biking but you hate running or swimming? Newsflash… setting a goal of doing a triathlon is not a good goal for you. You’ll be miserable training for it. You’ll give up. You’ll label yourself a quitter. You’ll be less likely to set a goal in the future. You’ll sell your bike. And you’ll probably end up homeless…
…Just sayin…
Set a goal of doing a bike race instead.. Then get your butt on the road and in the gym and start training for it. FYI the point of working out isn’t to get better in the gym, it’s to help you get better at life and to help you keep doing what you love doing longer, better, and safer.
I think a lot of people forget that…
Sure when I was 21 I worked out to TRY to impress girls (you’ll read in a minute how TRY means it didn’t happen) in the weight room and on the beach. But now? I workout to impress 1 girl, my daughter Naya. If I can’t swing her around, carry her on my shoulders, and throw her up in the air when I come home I’ve failed.
My goal is simple. To have the energy and strength to be the Dad my kids deserve. That and to be the strongest, most in shape dad at my son’s preschool and future sporting events 🙂
Announce – Say it out loud it’s more likely to happen. Social media, a close friend, your spouse, it doesn’t matter just take that goal from out of your brain housing group and let it be heard. That’s when things get real…
Fun fact: If you just tell someone you’re going to do something you get a straight shot to the head of dopamine. This alone actually makes you less likely to achieve your goal. So don’t just tell them you’re doing something. Tell them you would like them to hold you accountable to the actions you’re going to take to achieve the goal.
Realistic – I’m all for big goals, but if you’re 52 and your goal is to grow 5 inches this year, you’ve got issues. Hopefully realistic is pretty self explanatory
Time Bound – A goal without a deadline is a dream. So working backwards, tell someone your goal and tell them when you’ll do it by.
Does that scare you a little? Good!
A good goal will make your heart skip a beat or two when you think about it…
Specific – Don’t just say you “want to lose weight.” Say I’m going to lose 20lbs by January 1st 2018. Out Loud. To A Friend…
Behaviors – Your behaviors have to match your goals. I told this to the wonderful woman I had the pleasure of meeting last night…
Thanks for the referral Andrea (who‘s coming back after a year off from UA to get back in tip top shape at 47 years young).
See what happens when you tell people? They hold you accountable!
Anyway, this well-intentioned woman asked if she could still go out to eat and have deserts.
“Of course” I said, “you just have to change your goal.”
Do this…
Make a list of all the behaviors of someone who achieves the goal you’re going to achieve.. example: if your goal is to run a marathon, you’re going to list all the behaviors you think a marathon runner has…
They have discipline. They take care of their body. They follow a plan. They eat healthy so they don’t gain weight. They stay hydrated.
Now create your behavior action plan…
To stay disciplined I will – Set my alarm for 4:30 and lay out my running shoes and outfit the night before.
To take care of my body I will – Get a massage a month and take 2 epsom salt baths a week.
To follow a plan I will – Hire a coach or hit the interwebs for general programs
To eat healthy I will – Get healthy ready made meals delivered
To stay hydrated I will – Drink 1/2 my body weight in ounces of water each day…
Attitude – I could write a whole book on this so I’ll save it.. In the Marine Corps the first thing our weapons instructor told us on the rifle range was this…
“Keep a PMA at all times.”
PMA = positive mental attitude. If you don’t think you’ll hit your target, you won’t. Simple as that. Change your attitude and change your life.
Now to conclude my WHO FARTS BAD method of achieving your wildest dreams…
The most important step…
Decide – The first and most obvious way of interpreting this is to compare deciding to trying or wanting. If you try to do something you don’t actually do it. If you want something, ok good, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.
BUT, when you DECIDE to do something, it’s done. Nothing left to talk about. Think about it like a relationship..
Boy TRIES to leave girl. Does it happen? NO
Boy WANTS to leave girl. Does it happen? NO
Girl DECIDES to leave boy. Does it happen? Hell Yeah. Bags packed. Facebook status changed.
The second way you need to decide is by choosing just ONE GOAL. Don’t try to do 10 things at once. When it comes to goal setting, be a sniper rifle not a shotgun.
If you made it this far I hope you take this and become WHO FARTS BAD master! If you attempt this on your own please when you get to ANNOUNCE, shoot me over an email justin.case@undergroundathlete.com.
I want to be on your team!
Now I’d like to ask you…In January 2016 I did a goal setting workshop at the gym. It helped a ton of people have a really successful year. I’m considering doing it again this year as an online workshop / webinar so that I can help more people…
Would you be interested in virtually attending? It would include walking you through all the steps here (this was just the outline) and helping you get crystal clear on what you want, why you want it, and how you’ll achieve it.
Reply back or text 5714187050 with “add me” or “heck yeah” or “sure it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye” and I’ll let you know when I’m ready to do it.
Don’t worry, it will definitely be before 2018 to help you start the new year off with a bang.
I know this was a bit long so thanks for reading. I hope it helped!
Have an outstanding Tuesday!
Dedicated to your success,
Justin
PS. If you read my last email and thought I was seriously upset about being called “not a brunch guy,” I was not. It was total sarcasm and proof I need to improve my written communication!
PPS. If you don’t want to wait for the goal setting workshop / webinar and you’d like to set up a one on one goal setting success session with me, just reply back to this email and we’ll get it on the calendar.
PPPS If you’d like to get this kind of awesome and possibly offensive (in the best way) stuff delivered weekly, join the inner FREE by signing up HERE.
Are you goals adding value to your life?
How much thought do you put into the goals that you make for yourself? Do you
currently write down goals for yourself at all?
As Benjamin Franklin once said “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
Not all goals are created equal, nor are all coaches and gyms created equal. Great
coaches help you understand what your goals truly are and pushes you to be able to reach
them. Poor coaches push their own goals on you and don’t give you the push you need to get
to the destination you desire. Whether you want to have 6 pack abs, do your first pull-up, or I
don’t know, do the most shake weight reps in a minute…having a coach can make all the
difference in helping you reach YOUR goals.
Are well thought out and specific goals better than vague and meaningless ones? Yup.
Can a good coach help turn those well thought out goals into reality? You bet ya. Am I excited
to watch Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2? Heck yeah! (I mean come on, Baby Groot is
adorable…but I digress.) Creating goals using the framework of S.M.A.R.T. goals can be a great
starting point to getting more from your goals. This acronym stands for
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.
Specific: Specific goals have detail and are well defined, they aren’t just vague
statements. Don’t say “I wanna lose weight” as your goal, instead say “I want to
lose X amount of pounds.”
Measurable: Measurable goals are ones that have an easily understood way of being
measured. Squatting 405 pounds is a measurable goals since all you have to do is load a
bar to know you lifted 405 pounds.
Attainable: Attainable goals are ones that you can actually complete and achieve.
An example of one might be to lose 1 lb of weight in one week, while being on
the moon next week might not be.
Realistic: A realistic goal would be a goal that is realistic for your current life situation.
If you travel for work every week then going to a gym in your hometown 4 days a
week might not be realistic.
Time-Bound: Time-bound goals have a specific time to be completed by that holds you
accountable. Don’t say “I want to do a chin-up at some point,” but instead say “I
want to do a chin-up in 3 months.”
A good goal will hit on most of the S.M.A.R.T. framework, while a great one takes all of
these parts into account. Let’s say you write down a goal to exercise 7 days a week in hopes to
lose 5 lbs this month, but you currently struggle to exercise twice a week. On top of that you
have 4 kids, your mom is sick, a stressful work situation, and you have to walk your pet fish
twice a day (random sure, but that’s a commitment for sure).
That goal probably isn’t realistic for your current life situation nor would it be attainable. Start with a smaller goal that you know
you can achieve, and use that achievement as momentum for working towards a bigger goal.
An example of a S.M.A.R.T. goal could be to lose 4 lbs of body weight (specific and measurable)
in the next 4 weeks (time-bound and both potentially attainable and realistic). This structure
can be a great starting point to make sure that the goals you create are well thought out and
effective, but it can be taken a step further.
Coach Adam Feit mentions in the book Conscious Coaching: The Art & Science of
Building Buy-In (By: Brett Bartholomew), that goals should also follow the acronym P.I.E
(purposeful, impactful, and enjoyable).
Purposeful: Purposeful goals have meaning to you and add value to your life. I could make a
goal to be able to pet 5 different puppies in the next 2 weeks, but is that purposeful
(some might argue it has great purpose)?
Impactful: Impactful goals add value to your life and can, well, make an impact in your life.
Petting puppies is all well and good, and definitely should be done, but how will that or
another goal impact your life in a beneficial way?
Enjoyable: Enjoyable goals are ones that you can have fun in achieving. If your goal is to
improve your cardiovascular endurance but you absolutely hate running, then maybe
riding a bike will be more enjoyable and easier to stick too.
Know the why (purpose) behind the goal you are trying to achieve. Do you want to be
stronger so you could help your family if there is a fire or other emergency? Outstanding! Want
to be able to run your first marathon? Awesome, but what value does that add to your life? Do
you want to lose body fat to fit into those old swim trunks/ swimsuit you used to wear? Great,
but let’s take it a step further. How would fitting into those clothes be impactful or purposeful
to you? What impact would that have on your life?
Creating S.M.A.R.T. goals is a great idea but make sure they are P.I.E. goals as well.
Starting with these frameworks in mind ensures your goals align with your core values and are beneficial to your life.
Rise Up
Coach Tommy Royer
How You Might Be Sabotaging Your Own Goals
You have needs. I have needs. We all have needs.
Pay attention, understanding your needs and recognizing how you satisfy them could bring a big ah-ha moment. If you’re meeting your needs in a destructive way (or a way that doesn’t align with your goals) it is my goal that after reading this you’ll be able to modify you’re behavior to satisfy the need in a way that brings you closer to the life you want to live..
6 Basic Human Needs
1. Our first human need is the need for CERTAINTY. Certainty comes in many forms, comfort, security, and stability being the most common. If this need is not being met, your brain will direct you to do anything possible to get it. Like all needs, they can be met in positive or negative ways. Some ways people positively meet their need for certainty would be saving their money, being very organized, creating routines, or being in a good relationship. On the other side, people negatively meet their need for certainty by being controlling, using food for comfort, negative labeling, excessive cleaning or organizing, or even depression or sadness. When people act sad, or tired, or down they usually get sympathy or attention. They’ve become so good at this game they don’t even know they’re playing it.. Need to feel attention, love, or significance…act sad or depressed and they can get it every time with absolute CERTAINTY. Think about your life. How do you meet your needs for certainty? Is it work, cleaning, food, controlling, money, children etc etc
2. Certainty is crucial and we’ll do some crazy things to make sure we have it, but we also have a need for the opposite, UNCERTAINTY. Variety..excitement..risk etc. It keeps life fun and helps us grow. It makes you feel alive. Uncertainty is related to the sense of arousal. My wife meets her need for uncertainty in a positive way by painting walls new colors, changing curtains, and remodeling the house. When you see someone turn to gambling, drinking, cheating, or overeating often times uncertainty is one of the needs they are attempting to meet. Think about it, how do you meet your need for uncertainty? So many people that struggle with weight loss meet their need for variety with food.
3. We don’t just want to feel like we matter. We NEED to feel that way. We need to feel SIGNIFICANT. If you don’t feel like you matter to your partner, your family, or your friends, you will find a way. This could happen in a number of different ways; fighting, coming out and saying it “I’m not feeling appreciated” withholding sex, controlling behavior etc etc. If you don’t get significance at home you’ll get it somewhere else and probably avoid being home. A common place for people to go for significance is their work. The workaholic that ignores his family may be doing it because he values significance more than any other need and he wants to be where he feels valued. This means he will be at work more. It’s what feeds his biggest need. People will turn to depression or anger to feel significant as well. They might start fights, cry, or bully to feel significant. Do you feel significant at home? Do you feel like you matter to your children, your spouse, and your family? If not, where do you get your significance? Is it from food? Some people get so much attention being overweight they are fearful they might lose that if they lose the weight. It’s like the women that keep having kids because she loves the attention the baby bump gets… “can I feel it” “you look so good”….. where do you feel the most significant in your life? What do YOU always do to get significance when you need it?
4. Most people value two needs over all others and have one primary need. Usually it’s either significance or LOVE AND/OR CONNECTION. The need is for love OR connection because love, for so many of us, is almost unattainable. It takes being absolutely vulnerable and giving all of yourself without asking for anything in return. If you treat love as a transaction ie by giving love you expect love or something else in return, you haven’t reached all that love has to offer yet.
Instead of being vulnerable many people find it easier to put up their guard and meet their need in a negative way. Binge eating, gangs, drugs, alcohol these are all things people commonly turn to for connection. Where do you get your need met for love and connection? At what level does it meet your need 1-10, 10 being couldn’t be met any stronger…If it’s negative, what can you do to meet your need in a positive way?
Like I said, most people can’t get to love so they settle for connection. We all have a past and somewhere in that past usually at a very early age you made an important decision. In fact you made many decisions, you decided how to deal with conflict, how to get attention, how to deal with pain, and how to love. In our breakthrough 60 day challenge we went DEEP into exploring these decisions and facing them head on. If you really want to get a better understanding of yourself I strongly suggest jumping into our next breakthrough challenge or you can join my breakthrough academy HERE where I go more into the mindset stuff.
5. The final two human needs are “higher level” needs. If all your other needs are being met at a high level you might actually feel as if GROWTH is your primary need. There are some people however that barely need to experience any growth at all and they’re perfectly content. Why do we continue to study, read, and learn once we’re out of school? We all have a desire to become more than what we currently are. Growth is addictive. If you’re reading this post you probably value growth pretty highly. How is it that you meet your need for growth?
6. Our last need is CONTRIBUTION. If all our other needs are being met in a positive way we are going to feel a need to help others. As a human being it is natural to want to help, to be part of the solution instead of the problem. Our sense of identity is expanded and our ability to connect on a deeper level is enhanced through contribution. It helps people to be part of something bigger. How do you RISE UP and contribute most? Your relationship, teaching others, leading, charity work?
Almost everything we do is meeting one of our needs. Maybe at a high level. Maybe at a low level. When we get into trouble is when one thing satisfies 3 or more needs at a high level. Since we deal with a lot of people that have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight before, let’s take the example of binge eating as an addiction. Do you know someone who gets sad or lonely and eats? They are connecting through food “comfort food.” What about variety? Know anyone who just loves to try different restaurants, foods, deserts etc? They’re meeting their need for variety or uncertainty through food. If they get stressed and eat. They know with certainty that food will always be there. If they don’t feel significant they probably talk about their struggle with being overweight.. in turn getting sympathy – a not so healthy way to feel significant.
Now if this person is meeting the need for uncertainty, connection, and certainty at a high level with food it’s an addiction. And the only way to break the addiction is to recognize how it happened in the first place. Now you can come up with positive ways to meet the need for certainty, uncertainty, and connection.
I’ve seen so many times where someone in a bad relationship is struggling with these exact things and then they get into a good relationship and it all seems to magically work itself out. They lose 50lbs and they feel great again.. It wasn’t that their last workout program was magic, it’s that they finally have a healthy life that meets their basic needs in positive ways.
At Underground Athlete we actually used the six human needs to develop our model and culture.
CERTAINTY – We design custom training programs every 4 weeks (give or take a week) for each person. They can see what they’re doing ahead of time. They know what coach they’ll be working with and what to expect every session ie group warm-up, custom strength and conditioning, group finisher
UNCERTAINTY – We have “finishers.” You never know what to expect in last 10 minutes of every workout. They’re fun, crazy, random, and sometimes even exhausting.
SIGNIFICANCE – We like to do awards at parties and spotlight the people that are really working hard and reaching their goals. Perfect time to brag on our winner for the Recharged 28 Day Challenge. If you haven’t downloaded it yet you can do that on the right hand side of this blog. Gene won the $500 prize by dropping 5 inches on his waist, losing 23lbs, and 6% body fat in just 28 days. Boom! What a kickstart. Keep up the good work Gene. Happy for you!
Check out the progress Gene made on during the Recharged 28 day challenge!
LOVE AND CONNECTION – We rise together and we fall together. When someone at the gym goes through tough times we try to recognize that and rally behind that individual or in the case of this past weekend we got together to celebrate the engagement of 2 of our rockstar UAers. Congrats Paul and Jackie!
UA Power Couple.
GROWTH – Blogs, seminars for members, live Q&A sessions are all ways we try to not only coach, but also educate. Our coaches also keep a constant growth mindset. It’s what makes us the best in my humble opinion 🙂
CONTRIBUTION – We give back as much as we can. We want to be part of something bigger as well. We have developed a culture of contribution. Facebook check ins go to charitable causes. We do fundraiser classes for local charities. We get together for plane pulls, tour de cures, and anything else we can feel good about.
Thanks for reading…Hope you learned a little about yourself and a little about what makes Underground Athlete tick.
Leave a comment below and join us on Facebook because comments, friends, likes, and shares are cool
Rise Up!
PS If you’d like to dive deeper into the stuff we cover sign up for our bi-monthly white paper newsletter HERE
Reach Any Fitness Goal By NOT Focusing On It
Have you heard?
There’s a new car coming out that claims to have headlights so powerful that they can light the path all the way to your final destination! Doesn’t matter if you’re going 5 miles or 500..
This car will light up every bump, every pothole, and every roadblock so you can always be prepared.
Unfortunately this isn’t the newest Lexus. It’s my latest invention and I think it’s safe to say it will NEVER happen.
But do you really need all that?! You do just fine with your normal car and normal headlights. You know, the ones that shine just 20-30 yards in front of you..
How is that possible?
You’ve learned through years of driving that if you just stay focused on what’s in front of you, what you can see, you’ll eventually reach your destination.. You’ve also learned that you’ll probably make some wrong turns and when you do it’s OK you’ll still get there…
See where this is going??
Driving at night is life, it’s business, and it’s fitness…..You need to have a destination but if that’s what you stay focused on, you’re in trouble!
Set it and Forget it
Once you can visualize the destination you’ll want break down the trip into smaller chunks. You don’t know exactly how many of those 20-30yard chunks it will take to reach your goal, but you do know that if you just keep at it you’ll get there. You also know that if you speed you could get there faster, but it’s a lot riskier.
When I drive back to New York sometimes I’m driving North, sometimes east, sometimes west. Why? Because I asked someone who’s done the drive and they told me it’s the best route..
Best route could mean fastest, safest, best view etc
To be able to recommend the best route for someone you have to know what that person values.
For some people it’s variety..
For others it’s speed.
And some people don’t even care how long it takes as long as there’s no risk..
This is what coaches / trainers are for..
In our gym we want to get to know you so we can help you figure out where you want to go (goal). A lot of people come to us with no destination in mind. They really don’t know what’s “realistic.” So we take you through an assessment “inspect your car” and make sure it’s going to be a safe trip. If you need a tuneup before getting started then that’s what we’ll do…From there we break down the voyage (macrocycle) into small 3-6 week blocks we call programs (mesocycles) which are made up of individual workouts (microcycles)..
After each program we do a check in to make sure we’re still on the right road, but lately I’ve noticed some people getting passed the first 20-30 yard stretch and getting frustrated that they haven’t reached the destination yet…
Great coaches don’t have secret methods. Great coaches know how to map out the best course for each client. They know when to push the gas, when to pump the breaks, and how to keep you on course..
You’re bound to have some flat tires on the way, but if you’ve got a great coach in your corner, if you can stay focused on what you CAN see instead of what you CAN’T see, I guarantee you’ll reach your goal..
And then??
Then you’ll realize what your coach knew the whole time… you were thinking too small.
Now let’s sit down and do it all over again..
But this time think bigger!