• About
    • Meet Joel
    • The IMPOSSIBLE Shirt
  • Speaking
  • Giving

IMPOSSIBLE ®

Push Your Limits | Do Something Impossible

  • Home
  • Impossible List™
  • Blog
    • Archives
  • Gear
  • Apps
    • Running + Fitness Calculators
    • Move Well – Mobility Exercises
    • Cold Shower Therapy
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • 777
You are here: Home / Hacks / Specificity Matters

Specificity Matters

January 18, 2011 By Joel Runyon 14 Comments

Hello from Woodstock – the dairy capital of Canada. I’m a little over 4,000 miles total into my road trip and I’ve been to both the Mexican and Canadian borders so far and I’ll be enjoying the Canadian snow and ice for the next few days – turns out it’s a little colder in Canada in January than it is when I last visited in August. Back then, I was able to snap a photo with Woodstock’s pride & joy – the SpringBank Snow Countess – the World Champion Lifetime Butterfat Producer. Impressive, eh?

—-

Read these two sentences:

  • In general, being specific is better than being vague.
  • 93% of the time, being specific is 27.8 times better than being vague.

Which sounds better?

You’re a smart reader so you probably noticed the innate irony in the first statement. You also probably noticed how much better the second statement sounds. Why? It has 2 very specific numbers relating to the statement rather than just generally glossing over an widely accepted fact or thought.

Staying with the dairy theme consistent with Woodstock, Canada which of these two sentences sounds better?

  • The SpringBank Snow Countess produced a lot of butterfat & milk.
  • The SpringBank Snow Countess produced 9052 lbs of butterfat and 207,505 lbs of milk.

Once again, specificity wins out. Heck, even if you don’t care about dairy, farming, or cows [I don’t], the specificity of the statement makes it impressive.

I’ve talked about being specific a lot before, but I’ve still been vague about my plans this year. It’s time to change that. You’ll notice under my “Upcoming Impossible Things” on my sidebar, I’ve changed a few things:

  • Instead of talking about running a half-ironman sometime this year – I’ve changed it to a specific time – October 2011. I have a few dates I’m working through, but I will run a half-ironman before the end of October 2011.
  • Instead of saying “I’m coming out with a Manifesto” like I have for a while, I’ve changed it to “The Impossible Manifesto will come out before the end of February, 2011.
  • Instead of talking about running a marathon in the spring sometime this year, I’ve set a date – May 15, 2011. That day I’ll be running 26.2 miles in the Rockford Marathon [coincidently, the same day as Johnny]. Come that day, I will be covering the 26.2 miles whether I have to run, walk or crawl it.

Why Specificity Matters

Specificity does three things:

Creates Limits

A lot of people don’t like limits – they want to be free, so they refuse to let anything constrain them. I totally understand that mindset, I used to allow outside limitations hold me back for no reason. But letting outside limitations hold you back is different than purposely creating limitations in order to accomplish a goal. Outside limitations with no purpose are easy to accept but are seldom useful. However, when you create limitations for yourself in order to accomplish things you want to do, self-imposed limits can help you do extraordinary things.

Creates Accountability

When you say something is going to happen and commit to doing it by a specific date, it creates a specific time frame to hold yourself accountable to. It’s not so easy to let yourself slip on goals when you’ve told people that you will be accomplishing it by a specific date. Not only does it make you confess when you fail spectacularly, but it also…

Creates Urgency

Saying “I want to do x” by the end of 2011 is easy. Doing it is harder. Being specific with your timeline gives you an end date. It’s a lot harder for met to put off running when I know that on May 15, I’m going to have to run 26.2 miles whether I’m ready for it or not. I can either choose to do it and not be able to walk for a month, or choose to do it and be a somewhat functioning human being at the end of the day. Somewhat functioning seems much more appealing to me at this point, and having that date looming creates an urgency that means I’ll be going running as soon as I hit “publish” on this post.

Specificity matters and I’ll be sure to be more specific with my goals here at BIT concerning what exactly I will be doing and when I’ll be doing it by. What things do you need to start being specific about?

[Photo Credit]

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Filed Under: Hacks, The Impossible Tagged With: Dairy Capital of The World, Specificity, Urgency, Woodstock Canada

About Joel Runyon

I started IMPOSSIBLE to push myself to try to live a life worth writing about by pushing my limits, living an adventure & telling a great story by doing the impossible. You can get free updates in your inbox via your new favorite newsletter, free fitness training tutorials, and see all my businesses at Impossible X and our philanthropic efforts at Impossible.org

Comments

  1. David Damron says

    January 18, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    I have been approaching EVERYTHING like this over the last few days. It has been amazing. I have accomplished a LOT more.

    For example…

    -LifeExcursion professional-looking site redesign will be done and live by Monday.
    -After reading an article at CorbettBarr.com by Matt Gartland, I decided I will write my entire manifesto before I hit the hay tonight.
    -A few days ago, I decided to throw a whole overhaul into what LifeExcursion is about. After a long day of mindmapping with Jenny Leonard, I finally narrowed it down.
    -I will make available for free my next eBook by February 14th and it will HANDS DOWN be the most precise and specific eBook I have ever written. (Mind you PROJECT M-31 was extremely specific)

    All of these things will happen because I am committing to a specific thing. Simple as that.

    David Damron
    LifeExcursion

    Reply
    • Joel Runyon says

      January 19, 2011 at 12:18 am

      Wow David. Can’t wait to see everything! Big amorphous problems suddenly become surprisingly manageable when we name them, define them and set out to get them done. Now get to it!

      Reply
  2. Kaari Busick says

    January 19, 2011 at 8:33 am

    This is something I’ve been thinking about too, especially the part about setting specific dates and holding myself accountable. It’s far too easy to make vague plans and goals, but I won’t get far if I do that.

    Thanks, Joel!

    Reply
    • Joel Runyon says

      January 19, 2011 at 9:37 pm

      Great Kaari, so what are you going to specifically do to change things!?

      Reply
  3. Kurt Swann says

    January 19, 2011 at 7:03 pm

    Joel,

    Good post! I’ve noticed this in a similar way when I book a trip to another country. At first I only have a vague idea about possibly taking a trip. But after buying the ticket then I have specific dates and times. And with the specific dates then I have accountability enforced by the airlines!

    Kurt

    Reply
    • Joel Runyon says

      January 19, 2011 at 9:36 pm

      And there’s not much worse than missing your flight!

      Reply
  4. Turbo says

    January 19, 2011 at 8:30 pm

    Hey, welcome to Canada!! I’m just up the road in Waterloo! I’ve been following your blog for a bit now, the list of impossible things has definitely inspired me. I’m currently in week 4 of the 100 pushup challenge.

    Reply
    • Joel Runyon says

      January 19, 2011 at 9:36 pm

      Hey Turbo! Canada is a little cold these days but thanks for the welcome! Don’t be deceived by the week numbers in the pushup challenge. Mine has taken me way longer! Thanks for de-lurking Turbo!

      Reply
  5. Marnie says

    January 21, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    I’m not always a fan of limits, but I can see its merits in terms of specificity.

    Accountability and urgency are very important for me, with the former being even more so than the latter.

    As for being in Canada, welcome. Going to Ontario any time soon?

    Yes, it’s pretty cold here. We seem to get similar patterns to Northern New York.

    Reply
    • Joel Runyon says

      January 22, 2011 at 3:39 am

      Unfortunately no :(. I was just there for 3 days or so. It’s a little too cold for my tastes 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Week Links #3: Too Many Lists Edition | Pocket Changed says:
    January 21, 2011 at 12:33 pm

    […] Specificity Matters For goal setting it is really important to be specific on what you are trying to achieve. Vague goals are less likely to be achieved and Joel Runyon explains why. (@ Blog of Impossible Things) […]

    Reply
  2. 4500 Miles, 70+ Hours And Going Big: The BIT RoadTrip Roundup | Blog Of Impossible Things says:
    January 25, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    […] Also, throughout the trip, I got to meet up with several blogging friends including Jenny, David, Alisha, David, Chase and a lot more friends that don’t always hang out in the blogosphere. It was good to see everyone and I really enjoyed the trip, but I have to say that I’m excited to get out of the car for a bit and start using these legs of mine as I’m starting my marathon training. […]

    Reply
  3. How To Run A Marathon Barefoot (And Not Die) | Blog Of Impossible Things says:
    May 17, 2011 at 11:06 pm

    […] a few months back after being cooped up all winter, I decided I was going to run a marathon. The weather started to warm up and I’ve been training quietly for a marathon for the last three […]

    Reply
  4. 4500 Miles, 70+ Hours And Going Big: The BIT Road Trip Roundup | IMPOSSIBLE says:
    October 18, 2013 at 3:13 pm

    […] Also, throughout the trip, I got to meet up with several blogging friends including Jenny, David, Alisha, David, Chase and a lot more friends that don’t always hang out in the blogosphere. It was good to see everyone and I really enjoyed the trip, but I have to say that I’m excited to get out of the car for a bit and start using these legs of mine as I’m starting my marathon training. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

the-impossible-shirt

Hi, I'm Joel Runyon


I created IMPOSSIBLE to help people push their limits by taking on impossible challenges and living a good story.

Follow @joelrunyon

My I recently finished running 7 ultra marathons on 7 continents and raised nearly $200k for Pencils of Promise. Read more about my story here.

Subscribe & Listen To The Podcast

How To Start A Blog Walkthrough

how-to-start-a-blog-guide
impossible abs

no-excuse-workout

cold-shower-therapy

The 777 Project

THE IMPOSSIBLE FAMILY

  • IMPOSSIBLE • Blog + HQ
  • IMPOSSIBLE Fitness • Tutorials & Training
  • IMPOSSIBLE Podcast • Podcast
  • IMPOSSIBLE X • Businesses
  • IMPOSSIBLE.org • Giving
  • IMPOSSIBLE Gear • Apparel + Supplements

"How To" Guides

  • How To Start A Blog: The Definitive Guide
  • How To Start A Podcast: The Definitive Guide

Looking For Something?

About The Impossible Shirt

IMPOSSIBLE®

  • Impossible X®
  • Impossible.org
  • Impossible Gear™
  • Impossible Fitness ®
  • Impossible Nutrition ®

RECENT

  • Vulnerability is Overrated
  • 12 Things I’ve Learned From Running IMPOSSIBLE ® For 12 Years
  • How I Got In The Best Shape of My Life at 35
  • Why I Created Impossible Sleep™
  • It’s almost too late

Inspiration

  • An Unexpected Ass Kicking
  • How Bad Do You Want It?
  • The Iron & The Soul
  • The Only 2 Real Excuses Why People Refuse To Take Cold Showers

We Built a School! (2012)

impossible-pop-school

And We Built 7 More! (2017)

777-project

| Copyright © 2022 | Built on Genesis & Hosted By BlueHost | Affiliate Disclosure | An Impossible X Company

IMPOSSIBLE®, the IMPOSSIBLE® logo, IMPOSSIBLE HQ®, IMPOSSIBLE X®, IMPOSSIBLE Nutrition®, and IMPOSSIBLE Fitness® are registered Trademarks of IMPOSSIBLE X LLC.

The IMPOSSIBLE List™, Push Your Limits™, and Cold Shower Therapy™ are trademarks of IMPOSSIBLE X LLC.