How Are Your Goals Coming Along?

Can you believe we have already careened through two months of the year? Hopefully that means all the snow most of us have been dealing with will be disappearing soon.


Around here, and for a quite a few people I know, it’s the beginning of half-marathon training season – I just wrapped up my first week for the Pittsburgh Half, and a lot of people I know are well in to their training program for the famed Indianapolis Mini-Marathon. It’s a good time of the year to step back to assess how all those New Year’s Resolutions are moving forward, or how they have stalled.

I shared a few of my goals with you at the beginning of the year, so I will take you through a quick look at where they are – maybe through my process, you will take a look at your old goals, or set some new ones.

Running – check. I did “some” leading up to the start of this training program, but didn’t take it too seriously. Now comes the serious time – especially with the added accountability of a little side-bet to finish under our old times.

Having a group to train with definitely helps accountability. On those rotten mornings when I don’t want to get up to run, or after weeks and weeks of running on the treadmill in the basement, it’s helpful to commiserate with other people who are going through the same thing. It’s also helpful to hear one person say “I got my miles in today!”, when I am debating making up an injury to avoid running.

Accountability to yourself and to others is HUGE in succeeding in any goal.

Healthy eating / weight loss – so when my running goals are going well, somewhere in my brain a switch is flipped that says, “yeah, you can have that 5th piece of pizza…”. That needs to stop, as the “Holiday pounds” meld into a layer of “Spring warmth”. Now, I know that this training regiment will help with that, but if my unhealthy eating habits don’t change, I will be negating the benefits I could be gaining.

Being mindful of our thoughts and behaviors – those impulses that trigger unhealthy activity – is another key in succeeding in your goals. The first step is to become aware of those negative or unhealthy thoughts that tell you, “it’s ok to give up”, or “you didn’t really want to anyway”. By recognizing them, you can confront them and change them. Maybe just reading this article will give you pause to pay attention to those thoughts – if not, try keeping a notebook of the self-defeating thoughts you have throughout a few days, review them, and change them.

Spending more time with my wife and girls – not perfect, but not bad. I’ve worked hard to try to get out of work a little earlier a few times each week; and rather than coming home to read the mail or watch the news, I have made a conscious effort to take an hour or a half hour to do something active with my girls – we’ve played a lot of Uno, went sledding a few times, tried to fly a kite during those 20-30 minutes of not having any snow, build some lego castles, we’ll be changing the oil in the family cars tonight – I think they’re pretty excited for that one.

I certainly haven’t been perfect in this endeavor. I’ve had to come home late a few times, after they were in bed. I’ve taken a few weekends to go visit friends and left the kids with grandma and grandpa. But that really is the bottom line, isn’t it? You don’t have to be perfect with your goals, but you have to keep trying. Keep getting better at whatever your goal is, but don’t expect to be perfect – “perfect is the enemy of the good”.

Finally, I have gained far more ground on the book goal than I thought possible. I really thought it was going to be a 6-month process, but if you follow A New Direction Counseling on Facebook, or on @Think_Change on Twitter, you’ve heard that I wrapped up the rough draft a few days ago, and I am actively editing and re-writing before I send it off the my other editors. I endured two months of 5am mornings to get it done – and the insanely funny thing about that, I grew to like those mornings and still get up that early! Funny how striving for goals will sometimes change other behaviors or attitudes, isn’t it?

So what about you? Where are you in the goals you set at the beginning of the year? Take some time to reflect:

Have you help yourself accountable, or asked others to? (Thanks guys)

Have you been more mindful of your thoughts and behaviors that relate to your goals? Even if you haven’t achieved your goal yet, sometimes just becoming aware of your thoughts and attitudes is a huge accomplishment.

Have you found your margin for error between “perfect” and “I quit”? Have you found that equilibrium in allowing yourself to be a fallible human being in the process of achieving your goals?

Finally, have you found new benefits that you didn’t expect when working towards those goals?