John Phung

Enter The Year of The Dragon

Happy new year! And Enter 2012...which will be the year of the Dragon later this month! (January 23, 2012)

Most people make new years resolution around this time, setting goals they want to accomplish for the new year. For me, I'm going to start off by reviewing what I accomplished in 2011, and then set some goals that I want to hit in 2012:

One Word To Describe 2011

PROGRESS

5 Greatest Things That Happened In The Past Year

Started my blog, and documenting my training sessions online.
Paid off all my debt!
Stuck to a solid game plan to continually get stronger.
Joined the 500/400/300/200 club (current personal bests: deadlifted 500.5lbs on June 24, 2011, squatted 440lbs on November 9, 2011, benched 319lbs on June 24, 2011, and overhead pressed 220lbs on November 9, 2011)
Bought a home (now with a mortgage, I'm back in debt! Dammit) and created a home gym.

3 Great Lessons I've Learned From Last Year Are

Clear goals that are burned in your mind, planning (or using an already proven plan), focused execution and constant review works!

On a similar note, when you have a plan, all you need to do next is execute. In other words, you don't need to spend time in the moment deciding what to do in the moment, and in the future. If a problem arises, then that's when you need to put your thinking cap back on and make adjustments to your plan to steer you back towards your goals.

Consistent, small progress will add up.
"Habits" become "Normal" if you do it often enough.

If I Could Do Things Again Last Year, I Would Do These 3 Things Differently

Start my blog earlier! I regret not blogging about my "Starting Strength" workouts earlier. I made some decent gains in a short period of time (around November 2010-March 2011).
Blog more often.
Read more books. I find that what I read, watch or listen to will influence how I think and how I behave.