MADA (not MAGA) it

I have three goals right now. One has to do with working out. One has to do with writing. And one has to do with studying language. 

The working out one is going swimmingly. Three weeks in and I have not missed my goal. The language one is going ok. I’m hit and miss. But the writing one. Hot damn. You would think writing was not one of my favorite things to do.

So, what gives? Why is it that some goals are easier to achieve than others?

I’ll tell you why.

First, raise your hand if you have heard that working out is: 

1. good for your health,

2. something you should do daily,

3. going to make you live longer and better,

4. good for your self esteem, mood, as well as sex life, and 

5. generally something that responsible adults do. 

Now, raise your hand if you have heard the same about writing. 

Have doctors, media, my parents, mentors, people I admire, told me that if I write every day my health will improve? That if I put pen to paper, I’ll live longer and have higher self esteem? Have I heard that if I meet my writing goals each week, I’ll generally be in a better mood? Has someone told me that a daily writing practice is just something that responsible adults do? No.

Are those things true? Conservatively, I’d say maybe. But, more realistically, I’d say yes. 

Writing is in me. It’s my creative outlet. It’s the way I process emotions and things that happen throughout my day and my life. Whether it’s what I do for public consumption or just for me, writing is an act of radical self-preservation. When I write, I feel more like me than with any other thing I do.

So, what’s the difference? Can you see it? See how much more weight I put on external expectations v. internal desires? That is reason number one.

The second reason that working out gets checked off, but writing does not, is because I have picked an easy to follow and clearly defined exercise framework. I run twice a week using an app and I workout three times a week following a five-week program online. I don’t have to think about it. I just put my shoes on and go. 

Writing, on the other hand…that takes thought. What do I feel like writing today? Do I want to write for my blog or on my book? What part of my book? What topic for my blog? It takes more thought than my already taxed brain has space for, and so I end before I start. 

The third reason that my writing suffers, but my working out does not is that I don’t have some lofty, seemingly unachievable goal associated with my working out. This may seem counter-intuitive, but hear me out. I work out to generally feel healthier, to live more years, and to feel better during those years lived. So this morning when I did a 30-minute workout, I’m done. Goal accomplished. Tomorrow when I run, I’ll finish and, viola…goal accomplished. I’m not telling myself, you have to run today because one day you have to hike the seven highest peaks in the world. My goal is to do that run. Check. Dopamine hit.

When I write though…my goal is to one day be published. My goal is to write a book—multiple books—that lots of people read and cherish. So when I sit down to write for 30-minutes, the pressure is ON. You have to write today because one day you have to publish multiple books. Way to make that thing I love into something dreadable. 

The final reason that working out takes precedence over writing is because if I don’t do today’s workout today, I have to move it to another day this week. If I have the goal of working out six days a week and I don’t do it on the first day of the week, then I have to do it the next six days. I can’t skip it and double up. That’s not how that goal works. It’s six days of working out. I either do it or I don’t. 

Whereas, my writing is a weekly goal. I strive for four hours a week. If I don’t write my designated 30-minutes on Monday or Tuesday, then I just add it to my writing time on Friday or Saturday. But then when I get to Saturday and I’ve only written for one hour, writing for three hours that day feels downright impossible. 

So, TLDR, the 4 ways to make a goal stick is: MADA (not MAGA).

1. Make your internal desires as important as external expectations (or find an external expectation to tie to your goal).

2. Adopt an easy to follow framework for your goal—one that doesn’t make you think.

3. Decide that the goal is to do the thing that day. Ignore the bigger, loftier goal for the time being.

4. Assign a short enough time frame to the goal to make it so it can’t pile up and overwhelm. 

So, what goal do you have that isn’t getting met? Can you MADA (not MAGA) it?