I believe you should do both. Dreaming big develops ambition. Nothing wrong with ambition. In fact, it is ambition that drives you. It is the reason you live an Iron Exec lifestyle. Ambition is the reason you lift weights maniacally, why you track your protein intake and why you focus very carefully on the work that will drive a genuine difference and not just administrative work that never really creates anything meaningful. Do not be afraid to dream big. Perhaps you are carrying 30% bodyfat and want to get to a super lean 8-10%. This can be done and frankly should be done if you are in this position. The secret is in not just “dreaming the ambition” but building habits and goals that will take you first from 30% bodyfat to 28%. Perhaps the dream is 10% but the first goal is just to replace that cereal you have for breakfast with a protein shake and a piece of fruit.
There was a famous judge out of the United States who in the previous century was overseeing a case of the State vs a film producer. The State wanted to censor this film claiming that it was “Hard Core Porn”. The Prosecution and the Defence were spending considerable time trying to define what constitutes “Hard Core Porn”. After hearing this go back and forth, Judge Stewart said “This will probably never be intelligently defined, but I know it when I see it and this movie is not it!”. How is that for pragmatism? The Iron Exec is pragmatic and takes a similar approach to Judge Stewart on the goal setting for the year. Do not get carried away with the goal being perfect. Do you have ambition? Do you have some simple habits you could build that could help you begin to chip away at the ambition? If you can answer yes to these two questions then you can just go right ahead and start to make that dream become a reality. Do not spend all your time trying to define "hard core porn" (Goals) versus actually working on achieving the goal.
For those of you who may be interested, my Iron Exec resolutions for 2019 are:
· Include in my lifting routine some more “Athletic” based movements that gets me moving more rather than lifting in a fixed position eg – bear crawls, combined movements such as Trap Bar walking paired with hurdle jumps.
· Continue to work on my body composition and look to drop another 2% bodyfat by July 2019 by tracking protein intake and utilising appropriate periods of intermittent fasting (by appropriate I mean using this protocol on non lifting days).
· In the second half of 2019 secure clarity on my next role within my organisation and ensure this works well for my family.
Good luck to you in 2019, keep practicing gratitude and lift frequently!