The fire service is undergoing a renewed passion for fire behavior as of late. It is truly amazing how fire can start as the smallest of embers, grow, and unrelentingly consume fuel to continue burning until it’s out of oxygen and fuel or is extinguished. What’s more, fire does this without a plan, purpose, or thought. Imagine if fire had a plan and it could actually control its own ignition and growth and determine its own uninhibited flow path to reach its fullest potential. Fire would be unstoppable.
Although fire doesn’t have a conscious demeanor, we do. We are self-aware; we can develop a plan, a purpose, and thought. While there are things that can hold fire back from unrelentingly consuming everything it wants of its own accord, there doesn’t have to be anything that holds us back. When it comes to fitness, we are in complete control of our ignition, growth, and flow path.
Dependence List
Ignition: Fire perpetuates when the elements of the fire tetrahedron come together, uninhibited. We know these elements as fuel, oxygen, heat, and the chemical reaction that combines them. Fire is dependent on these elements for ignition. Although the first three elements are around us all the time, fire doesn’t naturally occur without the final ingredient.
Why? Because conditions have to be absolutely perfect for the chemical reaction to start and support combustion. These perfect conditions are a rarity. Unfortunately, people are often the same: We spend way too much time waiting for conditions to be perfect before starting toward our fitness goals. Do me a favor: Write down on a piece of paper every reason (ahem, excuse) you aren’t starting to work, right this minute, toward your goals. Seriously, write them down. I’ll even help you with a bunch: time, energy, education, experience, comfort, money, gym partner, etc.
This is your dependence list. This is what you are dependent on for your goals. These elements have to line up perfectly for you to start. How many are on your list? My list has about 20! Fire has only four elements, and look at how difficult it can be to get to ignition. It’s no wonder people never start reaching toward their fitness goal. OK, let’s make something clear: There will never, ever, ever be perfect conditions for you to start. All the things on that list will never line up perfectly. So how do we solve this?
How about throwing out your dependence list? If you want it, you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. If you don’t, you will make excuses. Your holistic health and wellness have been forfeited to your dependence list–this list is holding you back. By throwing out your dependence list, you are reclaiming your health and wellness and your ability to act. Decide and make the decision through immediate action. Feeling a little warmer? That’s ignition, and it leads to growth.
Growth: There are more fires that die out unnoticed than fires that grow to their full potential. This can happen for a number of reasons. One notable reason is the fuel the fire is using. If too dense or damp, the improper composition of the fuel hinders growth. People are fantastic at starting something but terrible at finishing. People tend to go from their ignition to immediate decay because their fuel is in the wrong composition to keep going. How tragic! Some of us will never see our full potential because we are using the wrong fuel. So what is the fuel we should be using?
S.M.A.R.T FUEL
S.M.A.R.T FUEL is an identifiable acronym of what we should focus our consumption on to grow: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Timely. The S.M.A.R.T. acronym is used in other fire service goal-setting programs and in the business world as a roadmap for reaching one’s potential and outcomes. Let’s examine this acronym to see how it can help us reach our fitness potential.
Specific: People always say they want to get healthier without any elaboration. The vagueness of “get healthier” is fuel that is too dense or too damp because it encompasses so much. It’s the equivalent of saying, “My goal is for this fire to go out safely.” Could you be a bit more specific than that, chief? You need a specific strategy such as forcible entry, vent-enter-isolate-search, or stretching a line to make it happen. For your overall fitness, being specific allows for your direct attention and focus. A few generic examples of specific goals are to lose 10 pounds, run three miles nonstop, or improve your plank time.
Measurable: When your goal is measurable, you can see the progress you are making and become self-inspired. This is where you eventually want to get to. You literally begin to multiply like fire’s exponential growth because you have that internal drive as a result of seeing what you are capable of. Long lasting change comes with this intrinsic and independent self-motivation.
Action-oriented: This is the most empowering part of using S.M.A.R.T FUEL. You are taking total control and ownership of your goal by saying what it is you are going to tangibly do. At this point, you’ve come a long way from being dependent on your environment. Some actions could include increasing your workouts during the week, limiting sodas, or increasing whole grain intake. All of these actions are also measurable and specific.
Realistic: Most people take on too much, too fast. Those who start with unrealistic, unachievable goals usually stop their fitness pursuit prematurely. They start out very hard but then burn out like using oil-based plastics for fuel. However, being realistic encourages you to start appropriately and build. By taking a sincere, humble assessment of where you are, and then seeing what manageable adjustment you can make, you encourage longevity by doing what you can maintain.
Timely: Every day is critical when you work within a timeframe because it acts as a deadline. I recommend working within a three- to four-week timeframe to ensure you establish habits and leave room to evaluate what worked or didn’t and to keep you engaged. This way, you begin to act with urgency. At a structure fire, you act with urgency because you know the situation has to be put under control quickly. Applying that same urgency to how you treat each day and moment as you strive toward your fitness goals prevents you from postponing until tomorrow what you could be doing now. Be happy about what you did today tomorrow. You need to keep adding S.M.A.R.T FUEL whenever your timeframe is up because you are not remotely close to reaching your full potential–you have more in you. The people who decide to stop become stagnant and immediately fall into decay. Don’t decay!
Continued Growth
Underwriters Laboratories has conducted much research regarding the impact of flow paths. A flow path is the path of least resistance a fire will seek to travel based on openings in a structure. As the openings in a structure increase, so does the temperature in the fire area, exponentially increasing the heat firefighters are exposed to. When doors are uncontrolled (left in an open position), an uninhibited flow path is created. Conversely, when the door is controlled (managed in the closed position), temperatures are reduced and fires become ventilation-limited, thereby decreasing in size and intensity. So how does this become a metaphor for fitness goals?
Be an open door! This means be a humble learner, seek out information, and add what you’ve learned into your S.M.A.R.T FUEL. When you stop learning, you become a closed door and knowledge limited. You will never develop beyond that point. You will immediately fall into decay.
Fitness and firefighting are my two strongest passions because they offer endless lessons. As someone who has been involved in fitness for the past 20 years, the more I learn the more I find there is to learn. So seek out credible information, and watch your growth accelerate even more.
Don’t leave your health and wellness up to chance. Take control of your ignition by throwing out your dependence list. Grow by using S.M.A.R.T FUEL, and become the flow path by being an open door.
