Start Where You Want to End...

...and work backwards from there.

The keynote speaker at a dinner I was attending tonight in Duluth used the title of this post in discussing city development and revitalization.

I was instantly struck at how this applies to both our quest for fitness and our lives as Christians.

While watching "Biggest Loser" a "contestants" comment sparked a thought. Most people know where they want to go, but they want to be comfortable getting there. They see themselves working out harder and harder as they get in better shape and closer to their goals. This is a mistake.

Determine where you want to end, and work backwards. Once you know what you want to accomplish, work backwards to the point where you are now. By focusing on where you want to go, you'll constantly compare your current condition against the ideal and be less likely to become complacent with the improvements you've made over where you were yesterday. In between where you are and where you want to go are the goals and guide posts to follow along the way. Next, work hard now. I contend that most people fail to push themselves hard enough to see early results, which leads to frustration, which leads to failure. Push yourself early on to see early results upon which to build the momentum to carry you to the next goal.

As Christians, we've frequently heard that we are to grow to be like Christ in our daily lives. Too often I think this is seen as beginning at a starting point and working forward, but in doing so we are likely to overestimate our starting point and place ourselves much closer to the end goal than we are. The proper way to assess where we are is to start at the end product, and then work our way backward to where we are in our maturity and progression.

Two things come from this approach. As we move backward away from the perfection of Jesus, we can better see how imperfect we are. Secondly, our focus remains on Jesus and the goal of living a life that replicates his as closely as possible. In this approach, we focus less on ourselves and our past accomplishments and achievements and more on reaching the next milestone that puts us closer to a life that genuinely reflects Christ's love in us.

Finally, a training note. I did 4 of 7 miles on Saturday on the road when the temp was 14 and enjoyed it. Then, despite overseeing operations in Cincy for a year, I never logged a single mile there, so on Tuesday, I braved the bitter cold and logged three miles through downtown. I has now been added to the "places I've run list".