Long term goals and stepping stones

As a gym goer we all have goals, what's your goal? Lose weight? Get stronger? Look good in a bikini? Get off some medication? List is infinitely long but it brings me to my point. We all have goals. The problem with goals though is that too many people only set long term goals with little consideration for the short term achievements that are necessary to the long term goals. Consider the following, 100% hypothetical scenario: Client X-man walks in to the gym. Completely untrained, never set foot in a weight room, 5'8, 220 lbs 25% body fat and says I want to lose 50 lbs in 5 months and be able to bench 200 lbs, squat 300, deadlift 350. Starting bench press is 85 lbs, squat is 145 deadlift is 200. Five months goes by, down 20 lbs and 9% body fat bring, so he's at 200 lbs 16% body fat. Bench press has increased to 170, squat to 265 and deadlift to 325. But because he didn't hit what he wanted client x-man leaves never to return to the gym again rather than realize just how much progress he made. 

Here is the simple truth about fitness that we all have difficulty understanding; progress is not constant, nor is it linear. You are not always going to lose the exact amount of weight you want every week, and you won't always be able to put 10 more pounds on the squat bar every session or run a 30 seconds faster mile every time you test it. 
There is value in setting long term goals to strive for. But we need to be better at recognizing the short the achievements that bring us to that goal, rather than cast them aside because they aren't the ultimate be all end all goal. Strive for your achievements and always expect better from yourself so you're not disappointed in the end result, but recognize you are human and will always need to strive to be better if you do in fact want to be better. Never settle, and never back down.

Jack Lazarus