Crushing Goals: the Lebowski Method

By Ryan Humphries
Co-Founder: Axistence

​*Caution* Strong Language :)

​If there’s anything I learned from Jeffrey (The Dude) Lebowski, it’s that “Nothing is fucked”.

When most folks fall off the wagon, they think "the god-damned plane has crashed into the mountain!"

When in reality, “Nothing is fucked dude”. 

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Skip the gym one day this week, and next week we might skip it twice! Didn’t get all of our protein in at breakfast? Well, we might as well start our diet tomorrow.

While The Dude was quite possibly the laziest man in Los Angeles county, I believe that if we’re serious about reaching specific goals, we must channel El Duderino and adopt his mindset.

Here’s how it works.

In order to get into the "Nothing is fucked" mindset, we have to get past the “Everything is fucked” mindset. The latter headspace is the “I’m gonna be late for the workout so I’m just gonna skip it” or “I already had a stack of pancakes for breakfast, so I might as well just start my diet tomorrow”. This is being very Un-Dude.

Look, just because we made one bad choice, doesn’t mean that we have to continue making bad choices. Life is not a series of dominos. And contrary to what Walter told Donny, life actually can start and stop at our convenience. 

You made a poor choice?
Pause.
Repeat the mantra "Nothing is Fucked".
Make better choices.

There are 4 elements that will allow us to enter into "The Dude's" mindset:

1. Crystal Clear Goals
2. Strategy
3. Accountability 
4. Reward

Skip any one of these four elements, and it’s pretty easy to fall off track. Got a great strategy but no one to hold you accountable? Staying accountable but following the wrong strategy? You’ll get somewhere but it probably won’t be to your goal.

Let’s pretend for a moment that you have goals of getting stronger, leaner, and looking better naked. I know those are far-fetched but hear me out ;) 

You work with a coach who will hold you accountable to ensure you’re doing the following:
​

• Strength training 4x per week
• Conditioning 2x per week
• Consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight 
• Maximizing recovery by going to bed early

Next thing you know, you don’t have to hit snooze because you actually got enough sleep. Next time you're in traffic on the way to the gym, instead of saying “Screw it, I’ll workout tomorrow” you repeat the Lebowski mantra to yourself “Nothing is fucked dude” and you just come a little later. Didn’t hit as much protein at breakfast like you wanted? Repeat the mantra and recalculate what you need for the rest of the day.

With clear goals in sight, paired with the right strategy and accountability, you can reward yourself along the way. With all four elements in place, not only is nothing fucked, but the chances of you being successful are about as high as the Dude was after he drank that cocktail from Jackie Treehorn.