What do you want?
Not that cute top you saw in a magazine the other day. Not those awesome boots that seriously made you drool when you laid eyes on them. What matters most to you when you take away all the fluffy stuff? By fluffy I mean the ‘things’ that might make your eyes pop and maybe you really do drool, but these things are irrelevant. You won’t die if you don’t have them. I promise you won’t. What brings you that combination of mega-nerves and awesomeness at the same time? Maybe it’s learning how to play guitar, or getting published. Or being able to run 3 miles. Or 26. Or maybe it’s starting up that candy shop you dreamt about having when you grew up. My personal favourite, writing a screenplay (ha, more like finishing it). Whatever it is, what are you doing about it? What’s the plan? Hmmmm. Goal setting…..a powerful means to motivate yourself. It’s about taking control and giving yourself some focus. And direction. Let the feelings of excitement about what you want override the feelings of being freaked out. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth it. I can list off 365 things that I want to get done in the next year. But unless I write them down and plan out how I’m going to go about making those things happen, none of them is likely happen. Trust me. When you get in the habit of setting goals you build confidence. When you have confidence cool things begin to happen.
So, HOW TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN
First things first. What’s one of your goals? Clarify what you want, and why you want it. Be as specific as possible. If you want to start running, saying ‘Hey I’d like to run the Boston Marathon’, is a great goal to have, but it needs to be broken down more. You’ll set yourself up for success if you start a bit smaller - I’d like to be able to run 10km. Educate yourself. Knowledge is power! Do some research. Research is fun, and empowering! How much time to do you need to properly prepare yourself? Write it all down. Go get your pen and paper. Now would be good.
The Steps…
When do you want to be able to run 10km by? Pick a date. Make sure it’s attainable. Set yourself up for success. You want to challenge yourself, but you also want to be realistic. Telling yourself that you want to run 10km by next week is maybe not a great goal when you are currently running 3km, with walk breaks. Small, realistic steps…..you can DO this.
Are you going to sign up for a race? Or go out and run it on your own? Starting to feel some nerves? Good. Keep going. Put it all on paper.
Do you have a time in mind for how long you want it to take you to run this distance? 1 hour? Is this realistic? Great. Write it down. Don’t freak out. Or do. But do it anyway. Write. It. Down. Figure out a training plan. Get friends involved. Having a ‘tribe’ always helps :). They can help keep you on track if you have a day when you feel unmotivated. And we all have those days. Support is a sacred thing. That’s a whole other blog topic.
Ok, Let’s see how this all looks written down:
Set SMART goals:
S-specific - I am going to run the J Lohr 10km, (don’t google that, I made it up) March 1/16, in 1hr
M-measurable- I will use my runkeeper app to track my distance and time when I train
A-attainable- this is a totally doable goal for me, I have 6 months to prepare
R-realistic- yes, this is realistic, I am healthy and will build my distance slowly over time
T-time- I have 6 months to prepare, by March 1/16 I will be ready to run 10km in 1 hr
That wasn’t too much work now was it? Make it fun - if you’re looking for a 10km race to run….google is your new best friend - get creative - go somewhere to run a 10km. There are plenty of races or fun runs in wine country….I’m not kidding. Google it. My point is, try to make your goal setting fun, or amusing, or challenging. Whatever angle you take, just do it. Enjoy it. Achieved a goal? Excellent. Celebrate. Set another one. Write it down. Stick it on your forehead. Do whatever it takes to get you there. It’s pretty satisfying when you set out to achieve something, and at mission accomplished you are glowing with satisfaction and feeling all happy and proud! And you absolutely should be.