Turn your goals into a game plan:

Today I want to share a simple framework we use at Nerd Fitness Coaching for spinning goals into plans you can actually follow.

You’ll end up like Neo Matrix – able to see a pattern and build a resilient, flexible routine even when life gets chaotic.

Cool? Cool.

Step 1: Visualize your 12-month victory

The first step is to write down what your goals actually are!

Maybe it’s…

• Lose 20 pounds to improve your blood work
• Run a 5k to support your local charity
• Take your first ​pull-up​
• Feel more confident in your body
• Just feel it better. Stronger, more energy, less pain.

Everything goes.

If you’re feeling stuck, try this:

“12 months from now, if you’ve made incredible progress in your health and fitness goals… what does life look like and how do you feel? Describe your average day to me.”

It can help your ideas flow and give you North Star to aim.

Step 2: Identify the skills behind that goal

Here is where most people stumble.

They go straight from “I want to lose 20 lbs” to “I need to track this exactly Exercise plan five days a week.” This skips a crucial step: skill.

ask yourself:

“What are the species skill someone who achieves this goal evolves?”

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Want to lose weight?

• Portion size control
• Meal planning and preparation
• Get enough sleep
• Have non-food coping mechanisms for stress
• Stay active throughout the week

Want to get stronger?

• Make time to lift regularly
• Recovers well (including sleep and rest days)
• Eat enough protein
• Learn how to work to near failure in your workouts

You don’t have to list each one skill. Just write down a few that come to mind.

Step 3: Choose your practices

Now that you’ve identified a few skills, the next step is to figure out how practice to them.

This is the cool part, because there isn’t one correct answer, which is actually a good thing. Take my client Amanda, for example.

She wanted to lose weight to improve her overall health. Therefore, we identified “portion size control” as a key skill. But she didn’t want to count calories every day.

Here’s what we did:

• Week 1: You’ve gotten into the habit of packing an afternoon snack at work. This helped prevent evening overeating.
• Week 3: It is used ​manual portion guides​ to assess meals. We started with breakfast and then moved to lunch and dinner over the course of a few weeks.
• Week 10: Tried short-term calorie tracking. What she actually enjoyed – something she never thought about when we first started!

All different practices. All in service the same skill.

We had room to adjust based on what seemed realistic and useful at the time.

And if she’s had a rough day? She could turn to another practice while still building the basic skill.

If you skip the skill-building step, you risk creating an inflexible plan or following the wrong actions entirely.

That’s one reason so many diets fail: they don’t help you build sustainable skills. They just give you temporary rules.

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Now I would love to hear from you!

• What’s one 12-month win you can imagine?
• What is a skill that could help you get there?
• What is an easy practice you can work on this week for that skill?

Hit reply and let me know. I would love to cheer you on.

You got this 💪

– Matt