Before reading this it’s worth noting that I am not a lifestyle coach. I’m not qualified in any way to coach anyone in lifestyle. This Part 1 on goal setting is to provide context, or a “why”, for how I set my own performance goals in cycling. Over the years I’ve shared this idea with maybe 20-40% of the clients I coach one-to-one. Some people have very clear ideas about their own life and how it should operate and they tell me how cycling, running, sport, health and fitness fits within their framework. Those people should skip straight to PART 2 (coming soon) Others seek guidance, ask for my opinion, or are curious to know how my personal framework is constructed. This is offered in that context but many people will not need to read this PART 1 blog on goal setting.

What follows is the process we apply in our household before moving onto anything individual. 

We like to start at the household level because more often than not we find that sporting goals are more likely to succeed when they are supported by those we share our lives with. Currently this is a process that is completed by both myself and my wife. As my children grow older it would be my hope that this evolves to include them, and be shaped by their input and observations.

Jen and I go through the process of goals by starting at a core value level because we believe that success and happiness in marriage builds a good foundation for success in all other aspects of our lives. It provides stability and starts with negotiation, avoids nasty surprises, and generally leads to happiness throughout. It does depend on a commitment to remain completely honest and open, which can at times be difficult as occasionally we don’t quite know exactly what we want as individuals so articulating something we cannot define ourselves to another its extremely difficult. Working together tends to help us both through any periods of struggle with definition. This process helps to bring clarity to areas that previously we had struggled with either prior, or during the early days of, our marriage. If you are not married, or not in a relationship, then the process of goal setting for sport may feel a lot easier but I would still recommend something akin to the following process as it can be a revelation, and very rewarding process, to nail down the life goals and core values before moving onto sporting goals. 

Step 1.

The process starts with defining our core values as individuals. The first time we did this we sat separate from each other and made however long a list we wanted of the values we wanted to be central to our lives. The list can be any length. Mine was maybe 10 to 12 items, ideas or thoughts. From that initial list we broke the list down to just 5 core values each. 5 things we each wanted most from our lives. This was surprisingly easy as it became apparent that some ideas or thoughts were actually repeated in different forms, and that some were actually not that important to me when put head to head with something else. Mine were/are:

Fitness

Health

Love

Financial stability

Simplicity

Once we had a list of 5 each we had to rough out a basic description of definition of each as it applied to each of us as individuals. 

Step 2.

We brought our lists together for the first time and lay them on the table next to each other. It was surprisingly reassuring to discover that 4 out of 5 were pretty much the same* albeit some were defined in a slightly different dialogue. At a “core” level we want nearly all the same things from life. Now we have a map, which is useful because humans are generally very easily distracted, we see things we never knew existed and get distracted from our core values without knowing when we have not yet defined them. It is easy to find oneself many years down the line with a house full of items we don’t value, living somewhere we don’t like, doing a job we can’t stand, and sometimes sadly with a person we are not compatible with, and a long list of things we wanted to do,  see, own or achieve, that has simply grown longer over time. 

In every decision and discussion we refer back to the core values, and the five carry equal weight; one cannot come at the complete cost of another. The balance of focus, or the percentage of time will fluctuate between each over time, but none can ever be neglected or sacrificed due to another gaining domination. We rely on each other to keep us balanced and straight on this point and that actually has become more useful to me, in a quality of life context, than the freedom to put all my eggs in one basket like I did as a younger man who simply wanted to win races.

Step 3. 

With the core values established we then set about with goal, or standard, setting for each value. We check in on our core values as a family every year, and then as individuals we reassess every 6 months. We then set about defining our personal standards against the backdrop of the family core values. As this blog is all about sport I will my share my thoughts on my core values of Fitness and Health. For me to understand and act upon them I find that both have to start with a definition as this guides any decisions that follow. 

My definitions of my core values (specific only to me) for Fitness and Health are:

Fitness

A good definition of fitness might go something like this: “Fitness is defined as the ability to perform daily activities with strength, endurance, and optimal performance. It also includes the ability to manage stress, fatigue, and disease, while reducing sedentary behaviour” Curiously this definition includes what many of us might consider health, rather than fitness. They are intertwined. 

A - Cycling / cardio: 

I love to ride. If I love to do something it is a good vehicle for the attainment of a higher objective. Motivation if you like. In the bike sense I have found that the right balance of the above factors is found somewhere close to this operating standard: to build and maintain a Race or Event Level Baseline Fitness. Defined in really basic terms as: The ability to ride at a consistent pace for 4 hours within an acceptable measurable rate of physiological decline. Why?: I like to have a routine, I find comfort in consistency, my preferred distance or event range is 8-12 hours. beyond 12 hours I have experienced more physical damage, occurrence of illness and mental decline or stress as a result. 8-12 hour events are still challenging me sufficiently that I have to train consistently, and I like to train consistently, and avoiding extensive damage and illness allows me to train consistently. I also feel that this basic level - the ability to ride for 4 hours without decline - challenges me sufficiently to avoid a rapid decline in physiological markers - FTP, blood lactate, Vo2 max, etc - that could be associated with both age and lower levels of activity. I also accept that in the past I attained a higher standard than this but accept that at age 51 I may never be as fast as I was without compromising on my other 4 core values. This sits comfortably within the 5 core value framework, it is both challenging but also attainable with commitment and focus. To tick this box I require a certain degree of metabolic health, cardio vascular health, hormonal health, neuromuscular health, strength, flexibility (of both body and mind) and mental toughness if it to be sustainable over time (my life time). Below the 4 hour standard I can wing it to some degree. I can eat poorly and get away with it. I can get away with a low FTP or a high heart rate under constant pressure if I rely heavily on functional reserve capacity instead. I can be metabolically unhealthy and not get found out below 4 hours. For me it is bike and not run (despite loving to run) as I have not found a correlation between volume and fitness and the avoidance of injury. Simply put: solving the puzzle of staying fit, healthy and undamaged as a runner has always been a much harder puzzle for me than attaining fitness, health and staying in one piece as a cyclist.

1 - Lifting heavy things: (note that one is numbered and one is alphabetical - they carry equal weight so one cannot be 1 and the other 2, or one A and the other B ;-) 

To build and maintain a minimum standard of strength. For want of a better measure I choose to aim for a standard in the major lifts. I prioritise the measure of strength over the accumulation of muscle (rightly or wrongly) as it is a lack of strength, or the fear of a lack of strength as I age that I seek to avoid. The standard (on current trajectory possibly 1.5 to 2 years from now) I seek to attain:

Bench press: body weight x 1.2

Chin-ups or pull-ups: body weight x 1.2 or 8 reps with body weight

Squat: body weight x 1.6

Deadlift: body weight x 2

It should be noted that these are standards as defined by much more experienced trainers in the area of strength than I am. I bow to their experience in the field and am willing to accept that I may either exceed or fail to meet these standards, particularly as an older athlete who is also still a novice or low intermediate when it comes to the gym. However a goal starts with a target, and to date this target seems like it might be possible.

Health

When it comes to health I really like the World Health Organisation definition: “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being”

This ties very nicely for me into my standards (or the core value of fitness) for personal fitness, and my other core values of Love, financial stability and Simplicity. I can further define it as balance, be that energy balance, life balance, balancing my day to day, balancing input and output from my core value system. I do measure certain metrics that can help me mark myself in the health arena - things like resting heart rate, HRv, sleep patterns, blood pressure and the like - I also have regular blood work done, track body fat percentage, where body fat is accumulated, the size and distribution of muscle mass. I attend regular health checks, regular vision checks, regular dentistry. I also like to journal, and I ask myself simple questions to collect a picture of mental state, and then I question that state and challenge my thoughts. I seek like people, or community, and I like to debate and compare perspectives on the world so that I challenge my own. Health is a curious one. I find I have a tendency to fix health when I think it’s damaged, whereas with fitness I tend to try and make it better despite it being good. So I try to be more proactive about health and learning how to improve it. The majority of my learning, for both my coaching practice and personal development, these days is health based rather than performance based. Which is in stark contrast to maybe 10 or 15 years ago when I took health for granted and was focused purely on getting faster on a bike. A big thing for me is learning from my past which is riddled with injuries from becoming distracted from the activities that don’t injure me, or rather seduced by new activities that do injure me - Jiu Jitsu last year, and a return to my childhood sport of skateboarding in my 40s, both of which gave me pretty bad injuries, being prime examples. So a big focal point for me when it comes to health is avoiding activities or distractions that have a high chance of leading to injury. 

Health extends to my environment, my clothing, my bike, how the bike fits, and how I interact with the bike. 

To complete Step 3 I define my standards for the other core values before moving deeper into the weeds and setting my goals specific to sport. The entire framework is what underpins what is acceptable, and what is not when it comes to the job of specific goal setting in sport. I revisit my core values every 6 months. Once as the race or event season ends, and again mid season. Once I have very clearly defined my core values, and then over time revisited them time and time again, it becomes very simple for me to find and define sporting goals that are likely to be rewarding, successful and fit with harmony within the greater framework of my life, be they specific events to complete, challenges, levels to attain, or whatever, they are guided by fitting within the framework, rather than opposing, my core values, the core values of my wife, and the life we are constantly building and refining together. 

(*for anyone wondering what the 5th core value was that was completely different between me and my wife: Jen’s: creativity, mine: simplicity. We decided that it was completely possible for both to exist in our lives without upsetting the other).