How Bad Do I Want It?
That question kept coming up for me this week.
Years ago, I set a goal of having my chest be 10 inches bigger than my waist. Through a combination of isometric exercises and diet, I lost about 4 inches off my waist and only 2 inches off my chest. That put me at about an 8-inch difference. I’ve exercised daily for 4 years. Progress was slow. I thought about the post I wrote about being flexible in achieving your goals. It was time for a change.
A few weeks ago, I saw an adjustable dumbbell set at Walmart for about $100. I thought about getting it but didn’t. I decided I wanted to make faster progress in achieving my goal. I thought about the dumbbells. How bad do I want it?
I decided I was willing to pay $100. I went to Walmart. They weren’t there. They had one larger dumbbell, but I wanted a set. I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods. They had a set that was 50 pounds each and went up in 5-pound increments. The set was $300. I decided to look for a better price.
I went to Big 5. They had a similar set that was also $300. I liked the ones at Dick’s better. My wife was shopping so I went to meet her. While I was waiting, I looked online. I was in the process of ordering a set for $100 and realized it was a scam web site. I also like to reward the brick-and-mortar stores for letting me see what I’m buying. How bad do I want it?
I intended to start supper low with 5 pounds. I thought about saving some money and buying a 25-pound set. Last time I was lifting weights was about 8 years ago. I was using plastic water jugs. My thinking was that I could fill them up to vary the weight. If I didn’t want to use them anymore, I could recycle the plastic. I wasn’t committed. I started with 1 gallon (8 pounds). Then went up to 2.5 gallons (20 pounds). Then went up to 5 gallons (40 pounds). I wasn’t filling the 5-gallon jugs. I was using about 35 pounds. I got hurt and stopped.
With that experience in mind, the 25-pound set would soon not be enough. How bad do I want it? I went to Dick’s and bought the 50-pound set. I’ve been very pleased.
Now the game has changed. I started with 5 pounds. I do a warm-up set of 20 repetitions. Then I add 5 pounds and do as many as I can. Once 20 repetitions is easy, that weight becomes my warm-up weight.
When I’m doing that last rep the question comes up, how bad do I want it? I used to push myself and jerk my body to force that last rep. That’s how I got hurt. Wisdom comes from experience. How bad do I want it? Bad enough to stop for today before I get hurt.
Think about applying that thinking to your goals. What must you do to achieve your goal? Are you willing to do what it takes? How bad do you want it? Do you know when to stop or change what you are doing?