Setting Goals is Important

 

I am a teacher.  One of the most important skills I teach my kids is how to set small goals when you have a big one to tackle.  By creating a checklist of tasks to achieve, I show them a way for big projects to seem like many small projects which build on each other.  Take my running goals:

Big Fat Juicy Goal:  Run in the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon. (1-2 years)
1st Goal: Train 3 times a week
2nd Goal: Run in a timed 5K once a month
3rd Goal:  Once able to run a 5K without stopping, begin training for 10K.
4th Goal: Continue training 3 times a week for 10K
5th Goal: Run a 10K every other month (5Ks in off months)
6th Goal: Once able to run a 5K without stopping, begin training for 15K.
7th Goal: Train 4 times a week for 15 K
8th Goal: Run a 15K every other month (alternate 5 and 10Ks in off months)
9th Goal: Once I feel confident that I can run 3/4 of a 15K, begin training for 1/2 marathon.
10th Goal: Train 5 days a week
11th Goal: Run a 1/2 marathon every few months.

These goals may shift and change.  I teach my students to keep a calendar to keep their deadlines visual but training for a physical event is different.  If I get injured at some point that will push things back.  You never know when you will bump up against an obstacle like weather interference, mental blocks, or scheduling conflicts. 

I don't feel a rush to complete my Big Fat Juicy Goal.  It's a dream but I certainly don't want to sprint into it and feel overwhelmed.  I often get Big Fat Juicy Ideas.  I am a big picture person; an idealist; an optimist.  I tend to run full steam ahead without a care of the obstacles or consequences.  This is great when studying a new topic or wanting to experience new things (like food or cultures).  Not such a fantastic thing when the results often end in half finished projects, a messy house, and frustrated students. 

As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I am starting to realize that I should make a plan.  Look closer at the details.  Think smaller (at times).  In my training, that means run often, increase my distance and interval training as I begin to feel stronger.  Pay attention to what my body is telling me, and care for it when it needs a massage, pedicure, a steam, or a soak.

Reflection is a skill most teachers use as a professional tool to assess their success or to analyze there lessons.  We use it with our kids too.  Needless to say, it is a skill that carries over into my personal life.  I have been reflecting a lot about why I am running.  I hated running for a long time.  I came up with every excuse of why I couldn't run.  As most things, it stems back to an elementary school experience where I could not keep up with the athletic kids.  I didn't play sports.  I wasn't very fast.  I also didn't practice and wasn't pushed to be any better.  I was adequate and so that was enough. 

This is no longer acceptable.  Mediocre isn't good enough.  I don't feel the need to be THE best.  I just need to be MY best.  I've spent too much of my life making excuses that I wasn't good enough, smart enough, pretty enough.  I am enough but it doesn't mean I have to be complacent.  I am my daughter's first example of what it is to be a woman.  I don't want their self image to be self-depreciating.  I want them to be strong, independent, and healthy.  And so...I run.