Hello again. We made it to the 5th kilometer, and this is only because you had a goal. You wanted to go for those 5 kilometers or for that project or that thing that moves you.
Goals are that essential element that when clearly stated and followed can help you when you are not clear on what you are looking to achieve. For now let’s say you decided to give running a try, the 1st step as we mentioned before is clearing the excuses and putting in place a partner or someone to hold you accountable.
That got you running, you are starting. Now the important part at this moment to keep momentum coming is to have a goal. What you want to achieve.
And the goal could be as simple as I’m going to run continuously for 30 minutes, or I’m going to finish my 1st 5K without walking. The important is not which is your goal, the important part of this journey is to have a goal.
A goal serves as motivation, it guides you, when things are not going the way you want it, reminds you of what you want to achieve so you don’t derail.
In our early years running, Linnette and I shared some great goals. We started from the most basic of all, we are going to run 5km without walking. Is going to be continuous jog, it doesn’t matter the time, at first the important thing was to achieve a full jogged race. Then we move on to times, we where already running steady for 35-40 minutes to so we went for 5k in 30 minutes. Today we are talking about our first marathon by our 45th birthday year.
When you are working is the same. You need to have goals and clearly they need to be SMART. My friends from FMCG are going to laugh now, this are like the most used acronym in goals definition, yet so important.
SMART goals, stand for
- S – specific. You need to be very clear on definition. You want to run a 5K or you want to run a 10K in 3 months or you want to go for a half marathon in a year. When defining do it so in a way that is challenging yet Achievable (more on that on A).
- M- measurable. It needs to be something you can track. For instance if you are going for 10K you need to run 5K first, so you will define milestones to track your progress and be ready by the time you are on your set target.
- A – achievable. This is very important, if you define a target that is low probability or unreasonable, chances are you are going to feel disappointed in the process and not reach your goals. As I said they need to be challenging yet achievable.
- R – relevant. This is vey company driven as the idea is that your goals should be aligned and relevant to companies goals. But you can make it relevant. Why are you running, for good health, for fun. It has to connect with what you enjoy, with your why. Why go 3 or 4 times a week to spend and hour or so in the sun or in the treadmill. If its not relevant for you, it’s probable you are going to leave it a some point.
- T – time related. This is related to the specifics and the measuring. It has to be time defined. You can’t say I’m going to run a 5K someday. Put a date on it, or better subscribe to a race 3, 5 months in advance. This way you have already your goal, with a specific window of time and a clear picture of the final picture.
Now things to remember in order to achieve your goals, you need a plan. A goal is not a plan, is the consequence of a series of actions that you define and follow through to reach your goal. If well defined it’s very easy to write your plan, if not is going to cost.
So wish you the best on defining your goals. I have mine clear for this month, for this semester and for the year being. And I will be here to share with you whenever you want to discuss yours and team up on building your plan.
Best of lucks, keep running and meet you in the 6th kilometer.
Running Lessons 