Getting up and on the Eliptical isn’t the hard part. Finally second nature, it’s what I do to start my day a few mornings a week.

Our condo workout room is pretty quiet at 5am. It takes just a minute to set the TV, fan, water and as my final all-systems-go: I ceremoniously tighten my pony tail.

The hard part comes a few minutes in. When calories burned shows around 100. Early on I sometimes bailed around 200. 500 seemed elusive and hey, it was just a number I made up anyway…

Now I’m used to seeing 100cals, groaning less, seeing 250 and thinking hey it’s almost 300… about then I try to laser focus on max’ing my muscles and breathing and sweating… and suddenly I’ve pushed past 500.

What keeps me going and committed? Trying to never lose sight of my goal: Feel Younger, Be Stronger. And specifically how does that goal calculate on the Eliptical? 500 calories burned.

No matter how I get there, intervals or straight away, I have one simple goal: hit 500.

So here’s my Eliptical Wisdom On Getting The Goal – any goal – business or life:

1) Know 2 Goals: the big picture (mine is Feel Younger, Be Stronger) and how you’ll measure so you know you hit it (my Eliptical goal: blast 500 calories)

2) Set yourself up for success – first establish, then commit to your routine making it repeatable or you’ll risk over-thinking it each time.

3) Do the work.

4) Celebrate.

5) Check your peripheral view and help someone else cross their finish line.

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(c) 1993-2012 Ann Ulrich, Ann Ulrich Inc. BOLDCAFFEINE.com