Achieving Your Fitness and Nutrition Goals: The GSPA Framework
By: Michael Beiter
Introduction
I am introducing you to the GSPA Framework - a comprehensive approach designed to help you develop the necessary skills and achieve your goals effectively. By following this proven method, you will achieve your desired outcomes and build habits that will last a lifetime. Let's dive into the GSPA Framework and learn how to apply it for your success.
The GSPA Framework: A Roadmap to Success
Goals: Set Clear Outcome and Behavior Goals
The first step in the GSPA Framework is to establish clear goals. We divide these goals into two categories:
Outcome Goals: These are the tangible results you want to achieve, such as losing a specific amount of weight, running a marathon, or improving your overall fitness level. While you cannot directly control the outcome, these goals act as the guiding stars of your journey.
Behavior Goals: These broad actions will move you toward your desired outcomes. Unlike outcome goals, behavior goals are entirely within your control, empowering you to take charge of your progress.
Skills: Break Down Goals into Specific Skills
To bridge the gap between your goals and your current abilities, we have to identify the essential skills you must develop. A skill is more than just knowledge or information; it is the ability, competency, and capacity to take action and move closer to your objectives. For instance, reading nutrition blogs provides knowledge, but the skill lies in consistently applying that knowledge through actions.
Practices: Build and Improve Skills Through Targeted Practices
Skill development requires practice. In the GSPA Framework, we emphasize targeted practices to help you master the necessary skills. These practices include exercises and applications that focus on developing specific abilities. Whether mastering a new exercise technique or improving your meal planning skills, practices serve as building blocks to your success.
Actions: Break Practices Down into Small Daily Actions
The most critical aspect of the GSPA Framework is turning practices into actionable steps. We break practices down into small, manageable actions. These actions are tiny, specific, concrete tasks you can perform reliably and consistently daily. Over time, these actions become habits that are seamlessly integrated into your lifestyle, propelling you towards your goals.
How to Use the GSPA Framework
Start with the Big Picture: Begin by visualizing your big-picture strategy using the GSPA tree. From your overarching goals to the most minor actions, create a structured plan that acts as a roadmap for your journey.
Narrow in on Practices: Identify the practices that best align with your current readiness, willingness, and abilities. Focus on one or two practices you can realistically incorporate into daily life.
Get Specific: Define the details of your chosen practices. Outline the specific actions involved, how progress will be measured, potential challenges, and strategies to overcome them.
Review and Adapt for Long-Term Success
Remember, the GSPA Framework is a flexible tool that can adapt to your changing goals and life. Regularly review your progress and make adjustments as needed.
I'm sharing a client's GSPA framework for August 2023 in this example.
She came in with data indicating she was stressing out while sleeping.
Her goal is to have less stressful sleep and reduce her Garmin stress score by several points.
We broke that down into the skills of planning, prioritizing, preparing, and promoting deeper sleep.
The practices we came up with that will hopefully become habits are:
Assessing time use and attention
Utilizing focus filters
Creating a pre-sleep ritual
Aligning her nutrition to sleep
To begin practicing, she chose the small actions of foam rolling her IT bands, glutes, and hip flexors before reading for fifteen minutes.
Once she can report that she is 10/10 confident that she can do both things daily, we will add actions.
I am pointing this example out because of the eight daily actions we devised for her to practice; only two are nutrition-related. The other six include one physical action and five stress-relieving ones.
Conclusion
By familiarizing yourself with the GSPA Framework, you've taken a significant step toward achieving your fitness and nutrition goals.
It's a systemized, repeatable process with hundreds of thousands of human trials proving its efficacy. Use it, and let me know if you need any help!
Mike
