Setting Goals For Running and Elevating Your Life

Every personal journey toward improvement is like preparing for takeoff. As a lover of aviation, this was a great place for me to insert a little bit of fandom. Your goals serve as your flight plan, guiding you to your desired destinations. Yet, life’s unpredictability requires not just clear objectives but also the flexibility to adapt your route as conditions change. So how and why should we set goals?

Why Set Goals?

Embarking on any journey without a destination can lead to aimless wandering. It’s a truth as real in life as it is in pursuit of personal and professional growth. Goals are not just checkboxes, they guide our path forward, providing direction, motivation, and a framework for assessing progress. They are the heartbeat of our ambition, pushing us into realms of potential we’ve yet to explore but strive to be part of.

The Blueprint for Growth: Goals serve as a blueprint for growth. Like a builder who shuld not build without an architect’s plans, we need goals to construct the future we envision. They require us to stretch beyond our comfort zones, to change and evolve. I’ve said many times, “If you aren’t changing, you aren’t growing,” which underscores the ever-changing nature of personal development. Goals ensure that this change is not just random, zig-zag, movement but forward but a purposeful progression toward who and what we want to be.

A Remedy for Stagnation: The absence of goals can lead us into a cycle of stagnation. We may find ourselves repeating the same actions without making any real progress without goals. The familiar saying, “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity,” perfectly captures the futility of seeking growth without embracing change. This concept was vividly illustrated in a Reddit post I came across. A runner couldn’t surpass a specific time despite adhering strictly to his training regimen. Almost unanimously, the community advised him to revise his training approach. Similarly, setting goals encourages us to embrace change, helping us navigate away from redundant cycles and towards continuous personal development.

Measuring Progress and Achieving Satisfaction: Moreover, goals allow us to measure progress, providing milestones that mark our journey. Each goal reached is a victory, a tangible indication of our hard work and dedication. This not only fuels further motivation but also brings immense personal satisfaction. The joy found in achieving a goal is unmatched, offering a profound sense of accomplishment that encourages us to set new, even more ambitious goals.

Encouraging Adaptability: In setting goals, we also learn the invaluable skill of adaptability. Life, however unpredictable, demands that we adjust our sails when the wind changes direction. Goals are not rigid; they are adaptable plans that can evolve as our circumstances do. This flexibility is crucial in navigating the complexities of life, ensuring that we remain resilient in the face of change and are always moving towards our true north.

Crafting Effective Goals: The SMART Criteria

To ensure our journey is both ambitious and achievable, I align my objectives with the SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. This approach is like having a clear flight plan when you are about to take flight. SMART is:

• Specific and Measurable: Clear, quantifiable objectives ensure we have a defined destination and can track our flight path.
• Achievable: Ensuring our goals are within reach prevents us from setting a course too far beyond our current range.
• Relevant: Aligning goals with our broader life mission ensures every step forward is meaningful.
• Time-Bound: Deadlines act like scheduled departure times, adding urgency and structure to our mission. Without a time function of your goal, then you can push it off in perpetuity which is the opposite of what we are trying to do.

Still confused. That’s ok. Think at least the following when creating your goals: What, When, and How. Feel free to add the Where and other information too. Here are two examples of SMART Goals:

Running Goal: To run a half marathon in under 1 hour and 45 minutes by the end of October 2024.

• Specific: The goal is clearly defined; complete a half marathon (13.1 miles) with a specific target time.
• Measurable: Success can be measured by completing the race in the specified time.
• Achievable: Assuming the runner has a base level of fitness and adequate time to train, this goal is challenging yet attainable. If your most recent half marathon race time was 2 hour and 20 minutes, this may be unachievable in the timeline set.
• Relevant: This goal is relevant for a runner looking to improve their endurance and race times. It contributes to their broader running ambitions.
• Time-bound: The deadline is the end of October 2024, giving a clear timeframe for preparation and achievement.

Goal: To dedicate at least one uninterrupted hour each weekend to engage in a meaningful activity with my children, aiming to strengthen our bond by the end of 2024.

• Specific: The goal explicitly states dedicating one hour every weekend to spend quality time with children through activities that foster connection.
• Measurable: Success can be measured by consistently setting aside the specified time each weekend. Maybe a simple chart, or calendar notation will help as recording your success drives further success.
• Achievable: Given the relatively small time commitment and the potential flexibility of weekend scheduling, this goal is realistic for most fathers.
• Relevant: For a father aiming to build a stronger relationship with his children, this goal directly supports enhancing family bonds.
• Time-bound: The goal is to be achieved by the end of 2024, providing a clear timeline for establishing and maintaining this practice.

The Significance of Timing

Just as pilots meticulously plan their flights considering weather conditions and air traffic, the art of goal setting also hinges on timing. This element ensures that our aspirations are in harmony with the current chapters of our lives. For example, embarking on the training required for ultra-marathons might necessitate setting aside aspirations for achieving personal bests in shorter races. Similarly, life events such as welcoming a new family member might make international marathon plans less feasible. Recognizing that life’s various stages demand different focuses is key to setting achievable goals.

Moreover, the climate in which we live can significantly influence the feasibility of our training routines. Attempting rigorous speed workouts or preparing for an ultra-marathon during the harsh winter months may present undue challenges for those residing in colder climates. Thus, aligning our goals with the seasons can enhance our likelihood of success. Equally, assessing our current abilities is vital; for someone who has only completed 5K races, setting a goal to run a marathon within a month may not be a realistic timeline. By thoughtfully considering timing in all its facets—life stages, environmental conditions, and personal readiness—we can set goals that are not only ambitious but also within reach

Staying on Track: Navigation Tools

Maintaining course toward our goals is easier with the right tools:

• Fitness Watch: If you aren’t using a watch designed for fitness and running, now should be the time you invest. I purchased my Garmin watch nearly 5 years ago and it runs perfectly still today. Garmin Fenix 5 is the one I have, but I have my eyes set on the newest model.
• Training Apps: Using tools like Garmin Connect, Strava, MyFitnessPal, or something else is important as it downloads and keeps records of all your running. It saves a lot of work trying to record your workout manually and you can go back and look at runs years past.

Adjusting Your Course

Navigating through life’s journey, we often encounter unexpected turbulence that can divert us from our planned route. When I was in flight training, a key thing they teach you is to search for alternatives along the route when you plan as well as you fly. Recognizing the need to adjust our goals is not an admission of failure but a testament to our resilience and adaptability. It’s about making informed decisions in response to life’s fluctuations, ensuring we can continue our path towards growth under more favorable conditions. Adjustments are a natural part of the goal-setting process, reflecting our ability to respond dynamically to the world around us.

Incorporating alternative goals into our planning is a strategy I find particularly effective. These are objectives we aspire to achieve without binding them to a strict timeline. They serve as backup routes that can be activated when our primary goals become impractical or less relevant. This approach ensures we maintain momentum, even when faced with obstacles that might otherwise stall our progress. For instance, encountering an injury or falling ill could temporarily ground our ambitions to run 1000 miles in a year. Instead of viewing this as a setback, it presents an opportunity to pursue different objectives that are more suited to our current situation, like finally starting that blog while recuperating. This pivot not only keeps us engaged but also enriches our journey with new experiences and achievements.

Embracing the flexibility to adjust our goals ensures we remain in the pilot’s seat of our lives, capable of steering towards success, even when the original flight plan changes. It underscores the strength found in adaptability and the wisdom in recognizing when a course correction is necessary. By viewing each adjustment not as a step back but as a strategic maneuver, we set ourselves up for a fulfilling and progressive journey towards our aspirations.

My Goals for 2024: A Personal Itinerary

As I stand on the threshold of 2024, I’m setting my sights on a series of ambitious yet deeply meaningful goals. These objectives span the realms of physical endurance, family engagement, personal development, and professional growth. Here’s what I’m aiming for in the coming year:

• Run a 100k in October 2024: This challenges me to push my limits and explore the depths of my endurance and willpower.
• Run at Least 1 Mile Every Day of the Year: A commitment to daily movement. This goal is about consistency and discipline.
• Run 1 Mile Every Hour for 24 Hours Before September: Testing both my physical stamina and mental resilience, this unique challenge serves as a precursor to my ultimate 100k goal, preparing me both physically and mentally.
• Spend 1000 Hours Outside: Alongside my family, this goal aims to deepen our connection to nature, each other, and our community. It’s about embracing the world beyond our screens and creating lasting memories.
• Improve My DadJogger Blog: By posting at least once per week, I intend to cultivate a vibrant community of parents and runners. This platform will not only share my journey but also inspire, engage, and connect like-minded individuals.
• Volunteer as Cubmaster for My Son’s Cub Scout Pack: Embracing a leadership role, this goal allows me to invest valuable time with my sons and contribute positively to our community, guiding the next generation in their growth and exploration.
• Enhance My Business Presence: Aiming to develop meaningful connections within the data analytics community, I plan to expand my network by 100 connections and grow my followers to over 1000 on LinkedIn and other personal channels. This goal reflects my ambition to share knowledge, foster community, and build professional relationships.
• Spend 1 dedicated hour per weekend playing with my boys: It is important to build on your relationships with your children. I think this one is going to be easy with our game plan in place, but sometimes we have some crazy weekends that make this difficult. This is really for the hard weekends!

Each of these goals was crafted with the SMART criteria in mind. They are steps on a journey toward growth, connection, and discovery. They represent not just the ambitions I have for myself but also the legacy I hope to build and the example I wish to set for my family and community. I’m committed to navigating the challenges and embracing the opportunities that each goal presents.

Keep track of my goals with me here.

Final Thoughts

Setting, pursuing, and sometimes adjusting our goals is essential for personal and professional development. Goal setting is about planning your journey, navigating through challenges, and, when necessary, being prepared to adjust your course to reach your destination successfully.

Here’s to plotting a course toward your goals. May your journey be rewarding, your progress steady, and your achievements fulfilling. Remember, when you encounter turbulence, it’s not just about weathering the storm. It’s also learning from the experience and emerging stronger on the other side.