Focus On a Primary Goal

At times, you may find yourself veering off track with numerous and sometimes conflicting goals. When this happens, it’s essential to narrow your focus to a single goal and get back on the road to success. Trying to be a jack-of-all-trades often leads to being a master of none—or as the Russians say, “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one!”

What’s the primary goal? That’s what you focus on.

A few years ago, I trained a baseball player attending university in Boston. The scouts wanted him to gain 15 pounds in one off-season, so I put him on a hypertrophy program with one simple instruction: “Eat, sleep, train—nothing else!”

At least, I thought it was simple until his father started calling and emailing, asking if his son could do additional sprinting and swimming for conditioning. Each time, I responded with a question of my own: “What’s the primary goal?” If the goal is to gain body weight, then avoid unnecessary extracurricular activity and stay focused on the task at hand.

The baseball player struggled to stick to the plan, and as a result, he struggled to achieve his goal.

Contrast that with a 15-year-old hockey player I trained last year. At 5’6″ and 159 pounds, he was smaller than his teammates. He was fast and skilled, but he was starting to get pushed around on the ice. With the draft approaching, he was motivated. I placed him on a weight-gain program with the same instructions, and unlike the baseball player, he followed them to the letter.

By the end of the summer, he grew an inch in height and gained 21 pounds of body weight. He achieved his goal.

You can throw a grenade and hope to hit your target, or you can use a rifle and get the job done!