Everyone desires to start the year off strong.
But instead, let’s shift our focus to ending it with a bang.
Like a marathon, we can start slow, moving forward and steady, and find moments throughout the race where momentum is higher and when the pace is slower.
If you have not signed up for a gym membership, a boot camp, or booked a wellness retreat, it’s all good. You don’t have to take that type of action now. But it does pay off to work towards goals, whether it was a goal you made yesterday or five months ago. That part doesn’t matter, but your plan to follow through on the outcome you’re looking for is essential to success.
Andy Groove, a well-known innovator, businessman, engineer, and father of management science, created the OKR framework to set teams up for success.
OKRs are used by the most successful companies we depend on today - Amazon, Apple, and Google, among many others. OKRs stands for Objective and Key Results.
The objective is the outcome you're looking for, and key results are actionable steps you'll take to get you toward that goal. We can use this model to develop and maintain our desired healthy lifestyle. The vital thing to recognize is key results are measurable and can be tracked.
So if you’ve set an objective to run 4 miles by June, your plan may look like this.
Objective: Run 4 miles without stopping by June 30th
Key Result 1: Wake up at 6AM, 6 days a week, for a 45-minute strength conditioning work-out (more focus on core, hips, and legs)
Key Result 2: Go for a run M-F, focusing on distance
Key Result 3: Meal prep on Saturday
Key results may change. When March rolls around, you may realize that it may be best to have strength conditioning five days a week for a longer duration. You can also optimize your key result to "Go for a run on M-F, increasing distance 5% each week until consistently hitting the non-stop 4-mile running goal."
Signing up for the gym has many perks, including access to people with similar goals. But when you lay out your objective and key results, you may find that all you need to hit your objective is a larger water bottle, better running shoes, and a louder alarm clock. Set a goal and work towards it - gym or not.
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