Our Life

People have goals. It’s a fact of life – well, a fulfilling life, anyway. We need goals, we need motivation, we need accomplishment. It’s just healthy, if it’s done right. As a running coach and someone who is prone to diving right into new things (against warnings and my own better judgment) and getting anxious when I’m in over my head, I have gotten a good sense of how to set attainable goals that I can be proud of achieving. For example, I just overcame some huge fears by finally getting certified as a scuba diver, after having bailed out about 9 years ago on my first try. It took time for me to be ready to try again, but the accomplishment and the experience of being weightless far away from the stresses of my every day world were certainly worth the wait.

To keep me on track and avoid panic and/or defeat when it comes to goals, I’ve learned to do a few things differently. I’ve shared this wisdom (OK…what I’ve learned from experience, at least) with the people I’ve coached, and I’ve seen it work for them, too. So I think I’m doing something right, at least, and it begins with starting the goal planning and commitment out right. Here are a few tips to do just that:

1. Ask Yourself Why – a goal that is for you is easier to achieve and more rewarding than one that’s for someone else. Now, this doesn’t mean that running a race that supports Breast Cancer research for a close friend or family member is not a good goal. People who value their friends and families and do something to support them actually feed themselves in the process. However, dieting and exercising to look good for a partner is likely to be less rewarding than doing those things to be healthier and stronger, for example.

2. Be Realistic – a goal too far beyond your reach will be hard to keep striving for. So, if I can’t walk a mile and I decide I want to do an Ironman in 6 months, I’m likely to be disappointed and discouraged fairly quickly.