So, despite whinging about boring super slow progress in my previous post, I am still pretty motivated about what I am trying to achieve in the long term. If you’ve read my posts about my personal flywheel journey (start here), you’ll know I have a focus on eating healthy and staying (or at the moment getting) fit and flexible.

In the past, I’ve really focused on the scales as a measure of progress but I’ve realised during the flywheel journey that its not a very motivating goal. I mean, how does a specific measurement contribute to a feeling of well-being, achievement and even pride? I mean it can do, but in the end it’s just a number. I realised, to really stay motivated I would need some more tangible but challenging goals to work towards achieving.

If you’ve been following my journey, you probably like to know what these are so I thought I would let you all in on my latest, and long term projects. Each goal is tied into my personal flywheel journey and will require me to get and remain fit and flexible as well as lose some weight.

Goal 1: Swim 1500 metres consistently and reduce my time by 5 minutes.

I’ve had a long relationship with swimming as a sport. Before high school I swam at club level, but was too scared to compete and so I gave up. I’ve always loved swimming and so after my first daughter was born I went back to it, starting with one length at a time and building up at last to a 1500 metre. Over the last 8-9 years I have been a bit on and off with swimming depending on how available a pool was in my home town. Lately, I’ve gotten back into it fairly seriously and just two weeks ago completed my first 1500 metre swim.

1500 metres is a long swim (60 lengths of a 25 metre pool) and it will be a challenge to not only swim 1500 each time I train, but to do it faster than I do it now (I’m aiming for 25 minutes). Flywheel effect: Achieving this goal will require me to get fit.

Goal 2: Achieve some challenging gymnastics skills

Goal 2 is made up of three sub goals all relating to gymnastics skills. Again, I did gymnastics as a kid and loved it until circumstances unfortunately took me away from being able to continue. Now my kids are doing gymnastics, they’ve even started their own YouTube channel, I’ve rediscovered my love of gymnastics. I still have some skills, but I require a more flexible, fit and lighter body to be able to do some of the more challenging ones. Now, I’m not afraid to tell you I’m 42, so it’s not a small thing to say that my three sub goals are:

1. Get my splits – front and middle (ouch!)
2. Get a straddle hold. That’s where you stick your legs out in a V and lift your butt off the ground with your hands.
3. Get a back walkover (whew!)

Flywheel effect: To achieve these goals, I will have no choice but to get fit and flexible…and lighter so healthy eating is a must because let’s face it cookies weigh you down so you can’t lift you butt off the ground!

These are not short term, achieve next week goals, to me they are hard core, OMG, worthy and challenging goals that will take up a lot of my time and attention over the next few months and are also things I have always wanted to be able to do.  Far more exciting than just seeing a number on the scales.

So wish me luck. I’d love to hear about your own challenging goals and the progress you are making however slow.

Published by the lean minimalist

Donna Sherriff is a New Zealand based improvement and operations management specialist. Seeing a need for simple, no fuss, improvement advice she started The Lean Minimalist blog in 2017. Donna writes articles offering advice and tips for rapid and sustainable business improvement based on over 15 years in Senior Management roles. Passionate about sharing the lessons of over 20 years on the high performance track Donna offers coaching services to professionals. She also writes about her own personal improvement journey, minimalism, and her life long struggle against the tyranny of cookies and sugar which she overcame in 2020. These days, Donna is pursuing a journey to earn her black belt in Taekwondo after a long hiatus of 16 years away from training. On the side she is an amateur but passionate musician and poet. View all posts by the lean minimalist