How to Know if Your Plan is Working (Nerd Fitness Challenge)

Depending on how the start of the year went, you may be experiencing one of two things right now.

Or:

« Hey, this is actually going pretty well. »

Or:

« I thought I’d have more momentum than that. »

Both are completely normal. Both are exactly why this step matters.

The fourth and final step: Reduction.

This isn’t about judging yourself or deciding if you’ve « made it. »

It’s about learning how to handle your plan like a coach would.

In the video below, I’ll show you how to do just that using three simple questions.

Question 1: What went well?

Write down the first 1 or 2 things that come to mind.

Perhaps not surprisingly, this is often the most difficult step for the people I work with. I think it’s because we are our own worst critics and it’s easier to point out what’s NOT working than what is working.

There’s a lot of gold to mine here though, so it’s worth it!

Question 2: What was a challenge?

This is where you notice things like unexpected obstacles or pitfalls that require a different strategy.

If consistency has been low, it usually means the plan needs to be simplified – not that you need more motivation.

Question 3: What (if anything) would you change going forward?

Knowing the victories and the challenges, we now consider what to do next.

In the video, I go into some detail about how to tell if your progress is realistic. This will help give you some guide rails as you think about your next steps.

Sometimes the right answer is, « Nothing. I just need more time. »

Other times, it’s an adjustment to your training, eating habits, or overall strategy.

Your action step

Open yours ​worksheet​ and complete the Decrease tab. (Or use Tobbe’s ​great online version!​)

Use your answer to « what (if anything) to change » to update your core practices.

Then it’s time to start the cycle all over again.

Track each time you complete a core practice. Fill the tracking wheel. Then every 2-6 weeks (or whenever you complete the bike), taper off and make adjustments.

This is how real progress happens.

When I see a client adopt this strategy, treating each action as its own little experiment, I KNOW they will make progress.

—

If the answers to these questions seem more difficult than you expected, that’s normal.

Downsizing is a skill. And like any skill, it gets easier with practice and feedback.

That’s why next week I’m hosting a ​live coaching session​ where we’ll work together on common Challenge obstacles, in real time.

You don’t have to be « stuck » to attend. You don’t need a perfect plan.

It’s just a chance to think it through with support and see examples from other people if that would be helpful.

I hope you find a spark of inspiration that works for you and feel less alone in the process.

talk soon

– Matt