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Nick Ang

Don't lose sight of the reason you set that goal

From August to November, I hit the gym three times a week. That’s a 12-week streak, the longest I’ve ever had in my life. Then, in December, I went to Spain with my family for a month and worked out only once at a bouldering gym’s workout area.

It’s now the third week of January and I’ve been back in my routine, but only going twice instead of thrice weekly. I’d swapped out one of the days (Friday) to go bouldering instead of working out in the gym alone. Prioritising bouldering with my wife once a week is a good use of my time and I don’t regret pushing one of my sessions to make this work.

So my post-Spain regime has become: gym on Mondays and Wednesdays, bouldering on Fridays.

I hadn’t considered this reduced regime until today, when the reason I set the goal of gymming three times a week in the first place washed ashore like a mighty but dying whale, about to crumble under its own weight.

I wrote about my reason in another blog post, but the short story is that I’ve been once or twice the target of racism in Germany and, naturally, didn’t like it at all that I couldn’t stand my ground in a physical sense. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to have a physical presence so that I could ward off pesky racists and troublemakers.

This is why I went to the gym today, during our daughter’s afternoon nap. I have to say, it still wasn’t an easy choice, because that was the only time I had to myself on a Saturday as a parent. But I’m happy to do it again because the whale is back in the ocean.

Remember the reason you’ve set yourself a goal, because once you lose sight of that, you’ll likely lose your attainment of said goal.


Written, edited, and published in 30 mins.