Hey ya’ll! Hope everyone is having a great week! I have been
thinking a lot about goals lately so I decided to take the next few Fridays to
share with you my thoughts. Each week will be a different aspect of goal
setting. Each post will end with a challenge. Take it or leave it. It’s up to
you. If you take it, I can promise that something in you will change. Enjoy!
For those of you who don’t know, I have recently taken up
running. I have always been one to get my conditioning or cardio in during my
lifting sessions (cutting breaks, super setting, etc.), but one of my New
Year’s resolutions was to start running. Running has always been a punishment
to me. Growing up I heard “EVERYBODY ON THE LINE!” way too many times. It made
me hate it. But I wanted a goal to work for so I made a goal to run this year.
On January 1st, I made the goal. I even wrote it
down on my wall, “Run more this year!”. I looked at that sign everyday as I
left my house. It was a constant reminder to achieve my goal. I felt motivated,
rejuvenated, ready to tackle this goal of running more! But ask me how many
times I ran in January? ZERO TIMES. Even with my constant reminder, I didn’t
even attempt my goal! Why you ask? Because my goal wasn’t even a goal, it was
something I wanted to do; it was a wish.
“A goal without a plan is simply a wish”. One of my favorite
quotes. If we set goals for ourselves and we don’t take the time to figure out
a game plan to achieve them, it’s not a goal. It’s a wish. It is something we
hope will happen, but we aren’t taking ownership in what we want to do. That is
where society fails itself. Of the 20% of the US population that set goals, 70%
of these people do not achieve them. The #1 cause: failure to plan.
Planning to reach a goal is the key to success. If you want
to lose weight, how are you going to do it? If you want to bench press your
body weight, how are you going to do that? If you want to get in shape, how
will you and what will be your determining factors? After setting the goal, you
have to ask yourself, “How?”.
In February, I made my goal specific and wrote, “I want to
run a 5k” on my wall. I was driving the route that I was planning to run and
noticed something weird. There were a TON of red fire hydrants along this
certain stretch of road. I thought to myself, “that’s my plan! I’ll run to the
fire hydrants. A different one each week”. I had my plan. I went home and
physically wrote it down and posted it (very important step I will touch on later).
The next day I started at the first fire hydrant and began my run. IT WAS
HORRIBLE. I was breathing heavy, my legs hurt, I hated it. BUT, I knew how far
I needed to go to achieve my goal. I had my eyes set on that next fire hydrant.
Every step I got a little closer, never taking my eyes off of it until I
finally got there. I made it! I accomplished the goal for the day! I was so
proud of myself! I yelled with excitement! Yeah, it was not a long distance,
but I had done it. I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I did that
every other day for a month until I ran my first 5k (3.1 miles). The joy that I
felt when I finished that race was amazing! It was an emotional thing. Running
was no longer a punishment but something I was getting better at!
Goals are key to success in life. If you want to accomplish
a goal, create a plan. If you create a plan and stick to it, there is no better
feeling than the sense of accomplishment you will feel when you reach your
goal.
CHALLENGE: Set one goal this week and create a plan to
achieve it!
YOU CAN DO IT!!
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