When pursuing mastery, one must fall in love with the journey and not put all of their worth in the destination. High performers continually demonstrate the power of this mindset. They find a purpose in the daily grind that brings fulfillment to their lives greater than the outcome of any given performance. This purpose enables them to continue to put in the work despite the constant distraction of the highs and lows that come with sustained excellence.

A foolish interpretation of this concept might lead one to underestimate the power of goals. It’s easy to assume that setting a performance-based goal, like running a sub 2:30 marathon and powerlifting 1000lbs in the same day , will cause someone to undervalue the journey and put too much emphasis on the destination. But this logic misses the fact that the journey needs a destination to work towards.

To find purpose in the pursuit of excellence, one must first define exactly what it is that they are pursuing. I encounter daily questions from gym rats and hybrid athletes looking for feedback on their workout routines. When I ask them what they are training for, almost every response involves a very vague goal of “looking better” and “improving general fitness”.

These vague goals make it impossible to make progress, because progress isn’t properly defined. This leads to frustration and ultimately burn out.

I know the power of vague goals firsthand. Here’s a plot of my average body weight each week so far in 2025. At the start of the year, my goal was to increase my weight up to 180 lbs in an attempt to build muscle mass. I then transitioned into a “cutting” phase, with a destination of 160 lbs and ~10% body fat. I got there in mid July.

I had no clear goal once I hit 160 lbs. My vague goal was to maintain that weight while eating clean, expecting a small increase in weight as I relaxed on my cut. That’s not specific enough to be useful.

The result was a rapid increase in weight. This increase isn’t a failure to execute on any goal; it’s the result of a failure to set goals. Ultimately, weight is a lever I use in pursuit of performance-based goals, so I’m not too concerned with the recent weight gain. It serves as a powerful reminder of why I’ve got such clear training goals, though. Without them, I would not make progress increasing strength or running performance.

Training Updates

I’m reaching an inflection point while I’m rebuilding training volume. I’ve got a ways to go with increasing running volume (working towards 50+ miles a week, with 10% increases each week) but my lifting is re-entering “heavy” weight (greater than 80% of my 1RM). This is where stress management starts to get critical. The last thing I want is to increase anything too quickly and to face a setback.

I hosted some close friends at the end of last week and didn’t properly plan for the impact this would have on my training. As a result, I fell short of my running mileage. Ultimately, this should help me stay fresh as I continue to build both lifting and running volume at once. However, with travel plans this week, I need to put extra effort into getting enough miles in.

• 2 out of 4 weeks of strategic Bench volume accomplished.

  • 4×4@215 lbs, with some build up and back off sets really focused on form. Completed both Monday and Thursday.

• I’m continuing to increase my box squat and squat-stance deadlift intensity. My lower back is still sensitive, but it feels stronger each week.

  • Box Squat: 3×9×245 lbs @ RPE8

  • Squat Stance Deadlift: Top Set 5×295 lbs @ RPE 8, Drop Sets 4×5×275 lbs

• I ran 28 miles over 5 days, with a skipped long run: 4,4,8,4,0,0,8

• Average “freshness” of 6.9 (better than the week before).

• Diet progress: I’ve started saying no to sweets / junk food again. Getting back on the right track.

My Goals For This Week

• Get all 4 main lifting sessions in:

  • 4×4@215 lbs bench, twice.

  • Box Squat 3×4-6×265 lbs@RPE8.

  • Squat-stance deadlift: work up to a top set of 3-5×315@RPE8, then do 3 back off sets of 3-5×295@RPE8.

• Run 30+ miles

• First week of “locking” my diet back in. It might seem odd to some, but travel is when I’m best at saying no to junk food.

A Challenge For The Week

What are your current fitness goals? Are they SMART ? If not, set some concrete ones today! A great place to start is by measuring your Hybrid Athlete Ratio .

Real Training requires real goals.