Strategies for goal setting
“Run the race in such as way as to attain the goal.” Philippians 3:16
There are a number of strategies you can use to motivate yourself to achieve your goals. It is all about what works for you for what may work for one person may not necessarily work for someone else.
It is in the sporting arena that you will see goal setting quite common. A lot of sports people will tell you that theyu do not intentionally go out to break records, it just happens but then a lot of them do use strategies to motivate themselves.
Athletics and fun runs/road races have been my sports in the past. I remember one 10k road race I did where I felt rather lethargic during the first half of the race-this was at the Isle of Bute Highland Games at Rothesay in Scotland in 2011. At the half-way point, I decided to challenge myself to see how many other runners I can overtake during the rest of the race. I manage to pass 22 runners.
As an athlete or rather a former athlete, I know that satisfaction of reaching one’s goals whether that be running a personal best or just completing the race. To me it all depends on the circumstances. I have come back from serious muscle strains which have put me out of action for over a year and on my first race back I may set myself a target of just completing the race and as my fitness increases my goals will be more demanding.
It is important to keep in mind that you are running your race and you should not allow others to determine how you are going to run it. No one can run your race for you. It is all well and good to take advice but you must still take responsibility for how you are running this race we call life. Once again I will use a race I competed in as an example.
It was 1998 when I competed in a vets 1500m race in Aberdeen. There were just four of us in the race and according to the form book I was expected to finish third. Two of the entrants beat me in a 1500m race a month earlier. On that occasion they ran past me in the last 200m. On this occasion I was confident of causing a surprise as I was a lot fitter and was in that zone but I knew I would have to make sure the pace was strong because if it was a slow pace and a sprint home then I was done as the other three were faster than I was.
Prior to the race, One of them asked me how I was expecting to go, I replied, “I’m just going to play it by ear” but I knew exactly how I was going to run the race.
“On your marks, set, bang.”
The race was under way and I dropped back to last place waiting to see if any of the others will set a strong pace but I was cruising with such a slow pace being set and it stayed the same for the first 400m and I decided that I will have to set a stronger place but waited until we reached the straight so as not to cover any extra ground then I looped the field and took over with about 900m to run and gradually increased the pace. This continued for a lap and as we reached the “bell” lap I was full of running that I really make sure that never left anything on the track and opened up a lead on the others. At the 200m mark I still had lots to give but heard footsteps behind me but dare not look back and in the last 100m I had my eyes fixed firmly on the tape and crossed the line in front. I felt so good that I could have gone another lap.
This is a good example of running your race in such a way as to win the prize. Life is like that, you have to run your own race as not all of us have the same calling.
It is important to start small when setting your goals and then when you have accomplished your goal set yourself a more challenging task.
My old headmaster at primary school told us of how a runner started from scratch. In those days there were telephone poles along the road and as the headmaster was saying, this runner jogged to one telegraph pole then walked to next one, jogged to one telegraph pole then walked to the next one etc. after a week or so, he jogged to two telegraph poles and walked to the next one etc. After a week or so, he jogged to three telegraph poles then walked to the next one etc. After a period of time, he was fit enough to jog the entire distance without stopping to walk.
Your personal goals and where you are at in terms of fitness and health will determine what your goals are if you decide to take up running.
You have to be realistic and start from whatever position you are in but at the same time not fall into the trap of believing that your circumstances are your lot in life. The same headmaster who told us about the telegraph pole training method also said there is no point in doing all of your training on the one-day and not train for the other six days of the week because you will be stiff and sore for days the next day. It is best to take your time and do a little each day.
A lot of people set a goal to give up smoking on 1st January and for those people these next two stories may give you some encouragement.
Years ago a lady told us how she was a 70 cigarette a day smoker. She cut down on cigarettes by one smoke day day so that after the 70th day she had finally given then up and has been a non-smoker ever since.
A girl I worked with in Aberdeen told us that her nan had given up smoking and had put the money she would have otherwise spent on cigarettes and had bought an item of furniture once she had saved enough. My colleague told us that her nan can see all of the stuff she had bought with money that she would have previously spent on cigarettes.
People use different kind of strategies to motivate themselves to achieve their goals and it is what works for you that counts.
Happy goal-setting
Bob