2018 Goals

So it’s early January. I’m back at work, and already feeling tired and depressed. This post is a bit of an attempt to do a ‘year in review’ and set some SMART goals for 2018.

The Good
Lots of positives from this year – I’ve trained extremely consistently, even through an overseas holiday. I’ve generally kept my body fat in a healthy range, though a couple of tracking breaks through the year reminded me that I’m a long way from being able to eat intuitively without overeating and gaining fat real quick. While I’ve had some emotional blowups, I think my interactions with others have become generally more measured and I’m learning to be more patient. It seems easier when I am exhausted because I just don’t have the energy to yell at people or throw things. I think my marriage is better than it was, although it still needs LOTS more work. I am an extremely lucky guy to have such a tolerant wife.

The Bad
On the flipside though, I feel generally unfulfilled and not particularly happy. Depression has reared its ugly head many times, and one of the symptoms now that I don’t self medicate with alcohol is comfort shopping – so my finances aren’t what they should be. This is a problem not just for me but for the family I desperately want to support and provide for. Work is easy but boring, and I never seem to get enough sleep. Tracking macros has been invaluable in getting weight under control, but I’m still hyper food focussed, and have some habits I’m unhappy with. And while my training’s been consistent, progress on my lifts and physique has been very slow.

The Ugly
On a personal level, I have had some extremely angry moments this year and broken things. There have also been times I’ve yelled at my daughter or had a temper tantrum at home and afterwards have felt the strong desire to hurt myself as punishment. This doesn’t feel like a healthy impulse to have.

So, with that bit of reflection out of the way, here goes some goals:

1. Personal/Family Goals: Be a better husband and father; this means being more patient and thoughtful, not wasting money on frivolous shit, and trying to be a happier and more fun person to be around in general.This is hard to be specific about, but I guess I could measure it by how many times I yell/spit the dummy and how much money I have in the bank at the end of the year. In terms of how to get there, and how to improve my overall happiness… well the annoying part is that it’s tied up with so many other things in this list. I must remember that my self worth is not determined by how strong I am or how much money I have.

   I am hopeful that a more fulfilling job will help on the happiness/motivation front, so I applied for an opportunity last week that looks attractive. If that was to eventuate, then things could change quite a lot. If it doesn’t, then I definitely need to spend more time on self development and less time fluffing around.

2. Body weight goals: I’m still hovering around the 71kg mark, but would like to be around 75-76kg at the same body fat by the end of the year. At my training age, this should be possible if I’m smart and if I can stop self-sabotaging every time the scale jumps. My plan is to do a number of very slow bulking cycles (gaining 0.1-0.2kg per week) of 6-8 weeks with short periods at maintenance (1-3 weeks) or just below. Let’s see how that goes.

3. Gym goals: I’m shooting for the stars a little, maybe – but then if I put on 5kg of muscle, maybe not.

   New aspirational 1RMs:
   Squat: 150kg (+20kg)
   DL: 175kg (+15kg)
   Bench: 90kg (+12.5kg)
   OHP: 55kg (+5kg)

   These will be interesting. I’m peaking for a mock meet in 9 days at the moment so I should get an idea what my true 1RMs are very shortly. I also have a couple of other aces up my sleeve – if I’m going to eat at a surplus that definitely should help. I’m attending a seminar with a couple of SSCs next month to get some coaching – I certainly hope THAT helps. And beyond that, I’m seriously considering investing in some better ongoing coaching than what I’m currently getting, if finances allow (and if I can commit enough time to training to justify the cost too). If all that doesn’t result in some gainz it’ll be extremely demoralising.

The TLDR: This year I want to:

• • Be more patient with kid (and wife)
  • Be happier
  • Work harder
  • Train harder
  • Keep growing both professionally and personally
  • Put on some muscle. At least 75kg @ 15% BF
  • Get stronger:
    • Squat 150kg
    • DL 175kg
    • Bench 90kg
    • Press 55kg
  • Be less food focussed

I really really hope I can look back on this post at the end of 2018 and tick a few of these off.

Oh, I almost forgot one other aspirational goal. Try keto – at least once. For a week or so minimum, just so I can say I’ve done it.