“Goals.There’s not telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.”
Jim Rohn
The times in my life when I have felt the most alive and inspired have been when I set an attainable goal and focussed my energy on reaching it.
Setting goals inspires motivation. Without clear goals set, there is no direction. I had forgotten this simple truth! I had been going through my workouts last month dragging my heels. Now that I’m at my goal weight, the motivation to continue on this path is a struggle sometimes, because my goal was to reach a certain weight.
This is a lifestyle, and in order to continue working out and eating healthy I need to set goals along the way…benchmarks to work towards. It took me awhile to reach the goal of running 5K several times a week, but now that I’m here…it’s not a challenge anymore. I needed a new challenge. Recently I set a goal to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. For me, this was a tough-to-reach goal as my comfort zone lies within a slow jog at this point. Seriously people, at the running track it is not uncommon to get passed by a power walker.
After setting the goal of running 5K in under 30, I woke up every morning excited to work out. Would today be the day I would reach the goal? When I wanted to stop or slow down, I knew I had to press on because I wouldn’t allow myself to have a slower result than the day before. I shared my goal with others so I was accountable. When I reached my goal, I was so happy! 5K in 29:31. Within a few minutes after reaching it, I thought: Huh, now what…time to set a new goal.
My new goal is to run a 9 minute mile, and then to sustain it for 5 K. I’ve also started strength training again using Jari Love’s “Get Ripped” DVDs three times a week so I can build some muscle in my un-muscley arms and legs. Good-bye Grover arms (except my grover arms come with an under-arm waddle).
Do you have a goal you are working towards? If you don’t, I want to encourage you to set one today and enjoy the process of working towards reaching it. If your goal is a big one, split it up into small goals and enjoy the pride when you reach each small goal along the way. Small changes & small steps, add up and produce huge results in the long run.
From my heart to yours,
Christine
Reclaiming LIFE 