Derailing Success

Setting competition goals for me is very easy. Actually, for anyone involved in strength athletic goal setting can be as simple as stating, “I want to lift X.” Too bad staying on track isn’t quite as easy.

My present goal is simple. I want to bench 600 pounds raw in my third weight class. I benched 605 as a super heavy weight and 600 pounds in the 308 weight class. Therefore, benching 600 in the 275 weight class seems like a logical and reasonable goal.

When Things Go Sideways

Now, most would think the difficult part of reaching a goal would be the hard work that goes into accomplishing it. For me, it’s quite the contrary. I love the work. I love it so much that I'm constantly trying to add and improve upon it. That’s when things start to go sideways.

I’m hitting personal records nearly every week in training. That would be a good indicator that I'm on my way to reaching my goal. However, that must not be good enough. Now in my head, I need to bench 600 raw in the 275 pounds weight class at 15 percent body fat while being able to run seven minute miles.

Revisiting My Goal

My goal was set and now without even realizing it, I’m revising it in my head. Seriously, if my conditioning and nutrition has been leading to great training, why do I have this overwhelming urge to change things? Are my expectations too high? Am I afraid of failure or maybe even success? I don’t know. Perhaps these ulterior goals are being created by my subconscious for excuses down the road.

It is clear to me I have been on the right path to realize my goal. Writing this has been cathartic. Regardless of the reasons, these outside influences are a distraction, and I have to let them go. If setting the goal was easy, I should keep the process of achieving it easy as well.