A client recently asked me if I still have fitness goals.
Of course I do.
I shared with her that one goal is to do a barbell deadlift of 275 pounds for 5 reps. I was quick to add that first I need to get 275 for 1 rep — a weight that I had not yet even attempted.
With my current heaviest lift around 260 pounds, 275 for 1 still felt like a distant goal.
Within a day of that conversation, in my next session with my strength coach, we did hex bar deadlifts — a variation I used to do often but hadn’t done in months. When he told me the target was 275 for 3, I laughed, in that way you do when something seems completely unrealistic.
But then, I hit 275 for 3 reps easily, and my coach upped the ante.
Two sets later, I hit 300 for 2 reps. I was surprised that the bar came off the floor more easily than I expected.
A 300 pound deadlift was a milestone that wasn’t even on my radar.
I didn’t think to have that as a goal; it wasn’t in my frame of reference.
But because my coach saw it as a possibility, now it’s in my field of vision.
I see this same theme arise with my clients. Whether it’s in the gym or in their business, we often set goals based on our current frame of reference.
We work off of what we believe is possible for us based on where we are now and what we believe our capacity to be.
The problem is that we don’t see the full landscape from within our own experience. We often don’t even know our own capacity.
Sometimes we discover it only after someone challenges us to do a little more than we thought we could.
A good coach will expand your field of vision so you can see more of what’s possible for yourself.
What possibilities are you not considering simply because they’re outside your frame of reference?
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