The problem with complicated plans and how to ensure success

Over the weekend I had an awful experience.  The local football team was going to be playing in Giants Stadium, and my daughter is part of the cheer squad that supports them.  I honestly don’t pay attention to football (though I enjoy studying different approaches to how the best in the world train) but I wanted to see my daughter cheer.

I missed it though.

The plan was to go back to the car, attempt to bring it closer and bring my daughter her stuff when the main game was over.  What ended up happening was I got stuck in gridlock traffic, couldn’t get back in, had to break a few traffic rules and sweet talked a guard to letting me back in, but it was too late.  Somehow I ended up by the visiting teams locker room.

The plan, had too many things that could have gone wrong…and some did.  I should have voiced my disapproval and pitched a simpler plan but didn’t say anything before it was too late.  When it comes to making plans, the more complicated it is, the more likely something is to go wrong.  Less moving parts means you’re more likely to reach the destination without something breaking down.

Now when my personal training clients are making a big decision and they are torn about what to do, I have a simple 3 part exercise I have them do.

1. Write out all the options.
2. Then write out every possible thing that could go wrong with each option.
3. Then next to the things that could go wrong, write out either a way that could prevent that from happening, or a contingency plan in the event that something like that does happen.

That exercise helps simplify and clarify what the best decision is, as well as what action steps need to be taken.

With some of the long term training plans I have laid out, some of them are very complex, involving multiple pages of spreadsheets and includes contingencies, just in case.  To keep making progress for year after year after year takes a lot more thought than “Just work hard bro” or “You have to switch up the exercises” which is just a way for them to fool themselves into thinking they’re making progress.

As complicated as they are, there are simple patterns that emerge which I keep in a swipe file on my notepad on my phone which makes it simple for me to apply.

And just about every profession has different levels of potential complications and decisions.  Among the people I train include doctors, lawyers, office managers, billing managers, sales professionals, first responders, investors, musicians, accountants among many other professions.  Each profession involves making decisions that wear down your will power.  With all the complications that come with their careers as well as managing home life and whatever else they have going on, at the end of the day, they just want someone to figure it out for them and tell them what to do…and have it actually work.

The way to ensure success is to keep it simple.  The simplest way is to have someone set it up for you and tell you what to do, while they watch you to make sure you are doing it safely and effectively.

So if you want to actually achieve your goals, but aren’t sure where to start or how to get there, I offer a free trial at my personal training studio in Boonton. I’ll do the complicated part for you.  All you have to do, is show up ready to rock.   Just send me a text at 973 476 5328 and introduce yourself to get started.

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Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and moonlights as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strength performers more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and travels across the country doing presentations on goal achievement for conferences, corporations, associations, nonprofits, and government entities as well as for schools and universities. His personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey and is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville, Kinnelon, Pine Brook, Butler, and Parsippany New Jersey.