If you want to make progress you have to first set your goals.
What does the word progress mean to you? Think about it. Many of us tell ourselves that we have made progress, but can you tell yourself how? Seriously, what have you achieved?
This is not meant to try and minimize the efforts that you have made, but if you don’t have a specific goal that you are working towards - you have no true way to measure your progress.
In contrast, without setting goals, you sometimes underestimate how far you have come. You may find yourself feeling like you have been stuck in place, when in reality, you have been doing an amazing job at bettering yourself. You may not even know that either of these scenarios apply to you, and whether you think that you have yourself squared away or not, reinforcing old goals or reestablishing them in a more ambitious way is always beneficial to your success.
My challenge to you.. sit down today and think about where you are at. Honestly, think about where you are in comparison to where you want to be. Set a list of goals both small and large. Think of what you want to achieve by the end of this week, the end of this month, three months from now, a year from now, and even five years from now. More importantly, be ambitious. If you are not intimidated by your own goals - then you are not shooting high enough.
Once you have your goals established, stick it up on a wall, on your desk at work, in your car, next to your bed, save it in your phone, as your wallpaper, etc.
Here is an acronym for you that I have made to help you in doing this.
𝗩𝗔𝗣𝗥𝗧 (pronouncesd as “Vay-pert”)
𝗩ision 𝗔mbition 𝗣osition 𝗥evision 𝗧ransition
Vision - To be what you want to be, you have to see what you want to be. Visualize yourself doing exactly what you want to achieve.
Ambition - Your vision should be so ambitious that it scares you, your will to succeed should be relentless, and your energy that you bring everyday should light up the room.
Position - Life is a game of strategy. Be calculated. Put your self in a position of strength, and lay down a solidified plan on how you are going to get there.
Revision - It’s not always going to be easy, you have to be able to put things on pause and adjust. Step back, look at everything with yourself removed. Look at what’s not working and decide how to alter your efforts to correct it. If things are going smoothly - think of what you can do better.
Transition - If you have reached this point in the process, you have either reached one of your goals or you have identified a problem. If you have identified a problem, you must now apply the things that you’re going to do to actively change your current situation. If you have reached a goal of yours, congrats. Give yourself a pat on the back, but do not get lost in your individual successes. It is time to start over. This is where you restart the 𝗩𝗔𝗣𝗥𝗧 process.
In more fluid terms, VAPRT means; establish a new vision, find a more ambitious goal, use that ambition to drive you to and through the strong position that you want to attack your goals from, revise or revamp your plan of attack, and transition to new methods or new goals by starting the 𝗩𝗔𝗣𝗥𝗧 process all over again. 𝗩𝗔𝗣𝗥𝗧 is a continuous, never ending cycle. If your vision is in line with your ambition, each goal that you reach, each success along the way, is merely a stepping stone on your way to bigger and better things.
Author:
Joshua Horn - Master Personal Trainer, Strength & Conditioning Coach, Bodybuilder, Marine Corps Infantry Veteran, Redcon1 Athlete.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshthehorn