Not all fitness goals need to be measurable to be worthy

In an industry dominated by trackables like weight, calories and reps, it's easy to lose sight of the immeasurable.

I think James Clear (Atomic Habits book review!) says it best, as he does in so many things mindset:

“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress”

When we only make our goals measurable we set ourselves up for momentary change, either-or conflicts, and restricting satisfaction to one scenario.

I have two boys in my daily life so that means forgotten things - where’s my water bottle, where’s the keys, my wallet, phone? You know the convos! So instead of answering to the daily disappointment of forgetting things, we have a small space as we come home where these things belong: voila, not forgotten again (well, that’s the intention? But it’s a start!). If we keep putting our things anywhere and hoping for daily bursts of detective motivation, we’re left chasing the same outcome because we never changed the system behind it. We’re treating a symptom without addressing the cause.

With my recent busted knee physio, I have used measurables to ‘see’ my improvement - getting a whole rotation of the pedal on a stationary bike was the first (& joyous!), then to be able to turn the pedals enough so as the machine didn’t turn off, finally completing 5min in a row (480m?!) and just yesterday 4km in 15min. The physio marks these as her progress and it’s scary! They set up an “either-or” conflict: either I achieve her goal or I fail and am disappointed. I mentally box myself into a narrow version of happiness. And so I prep myself each time before I go to the physio, so I know I’m improving: walking down the stairs from home without holding the bannister has been my biggie this week as my foot kept dragging with the hammy/quad wasting and then I’d almost stub my knee and agghh. It makes no sense to restrict your satisfaction to one scenario.

I have run three NYC marathons and measureables were an everyday must. But those marathons were not just 3h34min personal best attainers. They were months in preparation, long runs (& chats with my hub on every one), fast runs for time and for distance (me against me, despite the stronger faster hub by my side), eating to feel good (without carbo loading) and most of all, all the stories and emotions that had taken me to crossing that finishing line to celebrate the actual day which was initially my one (then 2 and 3) year survival from brain tumour. Crossing the finishing line takes a millisecond and the emotion of that moment is incomparable - yet everyone around you has their own stories and have made it and we all share that humanness together and it’s next level! We also went ice skating in Central Park afterwards and that was true celebratory magic!

Measureables and goals have their fitness place but the feeling of power, accomplishment, curiosity, happiness, the moments you thought you couldn't but then you do aren’t always tractable or explainable. They turn pain into magic, symptoms into serenity, falling to learning to get back up. They make me feel alive and human!

As you set your fitness goals for 2025, sit back and get your systems flowing so you can make time your ally. There’s other ways to win your year!