Life Archives - 12 Minute Athlete

Know When to Grit it Out — and When to Quit

I did my first handstand in 2013 and quickly became obsessed. But like many pursuits, whether it’s chasing a hobby, pursuing career goals, or building a relationship, I eventually found myself at a crossroads: Should I persevere or pivot? My journey into the world of handstands began earnestly. Every day, I dedicated a chunk of …

How to Get Better at Goal Setting

The health and fitness community loves to talk about setting goals—especially around New Year’s, when so many people make goals for the rest of the year.

But the percentage of people who set goals January 1st then actually go on to achieve those goals is minuscule.

In fact, while the average person sets a number of New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year, nearly 80% of people have given up by the end of a 30-day period. And only 8% of people actually follow through on their resolutions and end up achieving their goals.

So what’s going on here? Why can’t people stick to their goals?

It’s not because everyone who sets New Year’s resolutions is automatically unmotivated and not driven to succeed.

It’s because most people don’t actually know how to set goals that stick.

Goal setting is an incredibly powerful way to boost productivity and performance, which is why we talk about it so much here at 12 Minute Athlete. Thankfully, even if goal setting isn’t something you currently consider yourself to be very good at, you can get better at it.

First, you’ll need to understand how to set better goals. From there, you can learn the simple tricks that will help you to stick with them over time, even when it gets tough.

Better goal setting means more goals achieved, period.

Let’s look at how to start improving at goal setting so that you can crush your goals all year round.

Best of 12 Minute Athlete from 2017

It’s hard to believe it’s almost 2018!

I don’t know about you guys, but this year has absolutely FLOWN by for me. It’s been a bit crazy to say the least… but overall I’m both proud of what I’ve accomplished this year and am looking forward to a new start in 2018.

As you guys probably know, we’ve covered A LOT this year, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track! So here are some of our best articles, workouts, training tips, and recipes from 2017. We hope you enjoy this roundup, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Best of 12 Minute Athlete From 2016

It’s official: 2016 is finally coming to an end.

It’s been a pretty crazy year, to say the least. A lot has happened here on 12 Minute Athlete, in our own lives, and all over the world.

Here on the site, we’ve covered a ton of topics this year, from staying motivated, to learning new skills, to getting balanced with nutrition, and of course we’ve had lots and lots of kickass workouts. Our goal, as we hope you know by now, is to help you unlock your full potential as a person and an athlete.

So as usual, to help remind you of some of the best of 2016 on 12 Minute Athlete, we wanted to share some of our very favorite posts we’ve published here this year.

Here’s what we think is the best of 12 Minute Athlete from 2016:

How Being Fit And Healthy Helped Me Recover From a Car Crash

A little over two months ago, I got in a really bad car crash.

I didn’t talk about it much publicly at the time because I mostly just wanted to be around family and didn’t want (or need) an outpouring of public support. It’s still hard for me to talk about, and I still get flashbacks at times thinking about what we all went through. But it’s been long enough now that I feel it’s the right time to share what happened, since it forever changed my outlook on staying fit and healthy.

First, you should know exactly what happened.

30 Things I’ve Learned in 30 Years: My Annual Birthday Reflections Post

If you’ve been following 12 Minute Athlete for a few years, you probably know that every year I do some sort of reflection post on my birthday. You can find past years here and here.

Today is my 30th birthday.

Man, that’s pretty crazy to see in print. After all, I still feel like I’m about 15.

I know a lot of people who, when they hit 30, want to start hiding their age. They feel old, start making excuses. Age limits them.

But at 30, I feel better than I ever have in my entire life. I’m stronger, fitter, more successful, wiser, more confident, less self-conscious, more optimistic… I could go on and on.

I’ve always believed age is just a number.

If you let it hold you back, it will. But if you fully embrace the present and refuse to be limited by society’s expectations, age doesn’t matter one bit.

I’ve learned a lot in these past 30 years, and I can’t wait for the next 30.

Here are 30 things I’ve learned in 30 years:

29 Things I've Learned in 29 Years: My Annual Birthday Reflections Post

Today is my 29th birthday. Apparently time flies when you’re having fun.

Yet in all honestly, I barely feel any different than I did when I was 15 years old. The biggest difference between then and now is that I feel much more confident in my own body and mind. Oh, and I no longer have a curfew and can eat breakfast for dinner any day I want. So a few differences, I guess.

But really, though a lot has happened in these 29 years I’ve been on earth, I still feel like a total kid. Always learning. Always making mistakes. Always feeling like I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing… yet doing my best to follow my dreams anyway.

So, since this is the last birthday I’ll have before I enter my 3rd decade, I thought it would be a good time to share some of the things I’ve learned with you guys along the way. Not everything will be fitness-related, so if you’d rather go do a workout instead, please, go crush that workout.

Because I’ll warn you, this is going to be one of those ramble-y posts where I’m super honest with you guys, in the hopes that some of the things I’ve learned will help you along your life’s journey as well. Because I sure wish I knew this stuff even just a few years ago.

Here are 29 things I’ve learned in 29 years:

What I’ve Learned in 28 Years of Living

I’m not really sure where the time has gone, but somehow I turned 28 yesterday. Sometimes I wake up and think I’m still 15, and there are many times I step back in wonder at my life and where I am today. After growing up in the tiny, boring mill town of Camas, Washington, I’ve …

17 Things That Don’t Feel Like Exercise (But Actually Are)

Not too long ago, I picked up a skateboard for the first time since 8th grade.

By the end of the afternoon, I was admittedly a little tired, and even had broke a sweat. But I didn’t think anything of it—it was just so much fun.

The next day, I was shocked—my legs were actually sore, and I’d only done a moderate leg workout the day before. My calves hurt, and so did my quads. I racked my brain for what I’d done the day before to cause the level of soreness I was experiencing. And then I figured it out: it was the skateboarding!

By skating, I’d actually been exercising without even realizing it.

Read This if You Need a Kick in the Pants

You are more impressive than you think you are.

And you can do more than you think you can.

Way more.

More than other people tell you is possible. More than even you can imagine. More than every New Years resolution you’ve ever made, more than every dream you’ve ever had, every seemingly pie-in-the-sky goal you’ve ever made.

Because here’s what most people won’t tell you: you haven’t been dreaming big enough.

Everything you’ve ever thought possible for yourself was based on thinking of yourself as an amateur. Based on the feeling that you aren’t good enough, that you’ve hit your upper limit and you can’t do any better because this is who you are, an amateur, a pretty-good-but-never-quite-amazing athlete/dreamer/person.

But here’s what you have to realize: you’re the only one holding yourself back.

You. Not your genes, not your unathleticness, not your age, not your weight, not whether you’re male or female, you. Your own fears and doubts are the only things holding you back from being the athlete—and the person—you were meant to be.