Tag: exercise

Ensuring Our Goals Resonate (1-8-25)

This week we are going to kick off a series focused on goals, and we will start by reflecting on whether or not our goals resonate.   

For the past few years, I’ve set a generic goal to get healthier.  Getting healthier might be a goal that resonated with other people, but if I’m honest, it was never really motivating and never really connected with me.  It was too abstract of an idea.  Over the past few months, I’ve lifted weights on a more consistent basis and I’m discovering how much I enjoy that.  This year, instead of having a generic goal of getting healthier, I have a goal of building more strength.  More specifically, I want to increase the amount of weight I lift on a weekly basis by 15-20% by the end of the year.

I understand that ultimately the idea of building strength is connected to the idea of getting healthier.  However, the goal of building strength is so much more motivating to me.  I enjoy lifting weights.  I love the simplicity of knowing if I’m making progress or not on any given day.  I get excited about making improvements whether it’s adding in a few extra reps or increasing how much I’m lifting at any given time.  Building strength is a goal that resonates with me.  It’s a goal I can rally behind and execute against.  I don’t have that same passion for the generic goal of get healthier.

Let’s make some connections.  Have you ever had a goal that didn’t resonate with you?  Did you pursue that goal with the same zest as you did for something that truly connected with you?  Think about common work goals.  They include things like, drive sales, hit quota, decrease costs, improve market share, increase customer satisfaction, and deliver more value.  These goals aren’t necessarily wrong.  At the same time, they may not resonate with us.  Maybe the goals are too abstract or maybe they are something that don’t exactly connect to what we value.  We have to find a way to translate and create goals that connect with us.  I’ve said for years my main goal at work is to deliver magic, which means doing the impossible.  That idea may not make sense to anybody, but it gets me out of bed in the morning.  It gives me something that I am excited about pursuing and delivering.  It gives me fuel that sustains me throughout the year.

The challenge: What are your goals?  Do they truly resonate with you?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Deadlifting and Coaching Nudges (4-19-23)

This week we are going to start a new series inspired by lessons learned from working out.  We will start with deadlifting and coaching nudges focused on the right things.  This is inspired by an interaction I had with Rhonda Pacheco, so big shout out to her.

The other day I was chatting with Rhonda about work, life, and everything in between.  I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but we started to talk about exercising and lifting weights.  I had been struggling with deadlifting, so I asked her if she ever deadlifted.  When she said yes, I explained that even though I wasn’t lifting anything that heavy I could always feel it in my lower back, and I’d be sore for days.  This definitely shouldn’t be happening.  That’s when Rhonda said something along the lines of, “Sounds like something is off on your form.  The thing that helps me when I’m lifting are those small little cues to focus on.  For deadlifts, focus on pushing the ground down.  If you focus on pushing the ground down your body will naturally hinge in the right way and activate the right muscles.”  I didn’t believe it would be that simple.  The next time I did deadlifts I focused on pushing the ground down.  This felt SO DIFFERENT from what I had been doing before.  I was then able to do the reps without any soreness in my back and was able to add 10-15 pounds to my lifts.  #gains

What does this have to do with anything?  The coaching that Rhonda gave me was a small nudge focused on the right thing.  By helping me focus on the right thing with a tangible action, I was able to make large improvements.  She didn’t need a lot of words.  She didn’t need complicated models or verbiage.  She helped me focus on ONE SIMPLE THING.  Think about when you’ve received coaching in the past.  How often is it specific and focused enough that you know exactly what to do?  How often is it truly focused on the thing that matters?  Think about giving people coaching.  How clear is the advice that you give them?  How would following your advice have positive ripples in their work?

The challenge: How can you leverage small nudges to help people grow? 

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry