I Lifted 275 Pounds Focusing on the Process, Not the Goal.
In August 2015, I boldly declared that I would become a “deadlift bully.” In my own world, that meant I could lift 300 pounds. I was struggling with 205 pounds at the time, so 300 seemed like a dream a four-year-old could blurt out. Then, last week, I finally lifted 275 pounds for the first time!
Here’s an Instagram video of my recent milestone:
You must be thinking, “Jesus, Steph, you said £ 300. You haven’t reached your goal yet. Get out of here, clown! “
Oh, but dear reader, this is why I wrote this article, which is not meant to be for me to just dust off and declare everything is done. I still have a lot of work to do and the truth is I will probably continue even after I lift 300 pounds (which is so close!). I’ll aim for 315, 325, 375, or maybe 400 if I’m feeling fast.
You’ve undoubtedly heard the adage “fitness is a journey, not a destination.” And it is true; like everything else in life. It took me over a year and a half to reach my current level of deadlift superheroism because, as you know, progress is no longer linear after these rookie achievements. Plus, it’s a decent amount of time to work on something that might hurt my motivation. Of course it was, but it was my blessing that I did not allow this goal to be the focus of my attention. Because, like you, I still have so many things that I want to accomplish.
Instead, I focused on trusting the process, learning . That is, I did what I had to, consistently, all this time. And if I didn’t have access to a gym (as happened during my travels ), I trained with my own weight to get stronger . “Trust in the process” was hammered into my head by my good friend and trainer JC Dean from JCDFitness .
Trust in the process allowed me to travel and work remotely around the world , enjoy discovering new, exotic products, improve my crow pose , read the books and watch the Netflix shows I wanted, while still being one inch closer to my goal as a deadbeat. cravings and get stronger. Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford University psychologist and author of The Time Paradox , wrote in his book:
When you focus on the process of achieving your goal rather than imagining the end result of your efforts, your chances of success increase.
The target is always there, like a good friend, but I do not let it swallow me. Otherwise, I think I would have burned out or ended up injuring myself if I had rushed to him.
So what do you do with this information? Well, understand that there will be setbacks and you will often wonder if what you are doing really works. But trust yourself (and only you) in doing your daily work, rather than focus on the ultimate goal and perhaps quit. Time will pass whether you are working towards your goal or not.
After lifting 275 pounds and doing my holiday punching, I wrote to Dean who told me that I looked like I could lift more. I asked, “Do you think I should try 300 next week?”
He said, “No, take your time. Just let it happen. “
In other words, he told me to be patient and trust the process. So I will. (You can even follow my journey on Instagram if you like.)