I competed in powerlifting for several years. One of the things I enjoyed most about the sport was building and executing a training program. As I delve deeper and deeper into the world of planning for productivity, I am finding many principles that translate from the world of strength to the world of getting what matters done.
Goal setting is the root of all planning. Without a goal to work towards, there is no need for a plan to get there. You can set goals at different time horizons: years, semesters/quarters, months, weeks, and days. Planning for a powerlifting meet usually falls into something resembling a quarter. The goal for a competition needs to be something that you can reasonably see yourself doing in that timeframe. Once you have your goal in mind you can sanity test its feasibility by building a workback plan to where you are now. In powerlifting, this process essentially means filling in the variables of your training program. Assuming all has gone well, you now have a program that supports your goals. You believe if you execute the plan you have built, which is reasonable, you will achieve your goal at the competition. This belief enables the benefits of Episodic Future Thinking. When you can mentally simulate your future success, it brings a positive and motivating effect to your present self.
Plans and goals are great but don’t amount to much without execution. Executing effectively requires prioritizing time for your plan. Powerlifting training requires a decent amount of time in each session, Even more importantly it requires specific sequencing and recovery time. If you want to maximize your training, you need to keep tightly to the schedule. It’s difficult to make up missed training sessions without causing other problems. Maintaining consistent 3-4 times a week training schedule on the same days over twelve weeks takes a lot of commitment. It would be hard for me to prioritize time like that at this stage of my life, but I am glad I could do it when I did. The more rigid the planning requirements for a goal, the fewer goals you can work towards at the same time.
I have noticed that a lot of planning experts are distance runners. On the surface, distance running and powerlifting are very different. But from a planning and programming perspective, they are actually very similar. I don’t think it is a coincidence that people who enjoy planning are drawn to sports that require it to be successful. Success forms a virtuous cycle. The more your plans help you achieve your goals, the more you want to leverage planning everywhere you can. When you can focus, be disciplined, and plan in one aspect of your life; think about how that will translate into everything else you do, and you will be starting from a place of strength.