Always set 3 goals!

Most of us set goals when we are signing up for a race or participating in another athletic event. We all want to reach for the stars but also walk away from our events feeling accomplished and pleased with the outcome. When I was training for my second marathon, a friend of mine encouraged me to come up with three goals. That was really great advice and I have used that strategy at pretty much every race since then.

Goal 1: Make a “stretch goal”. This goal is something that is within your realm of possibility, but it would be pretty difficult and there is a chance you wouldn’t be able to hit it. This goal takes a lot of heart, grit, training, and wouldn’t be possible without a lot of hard work. Most likely, this would be something you have never achieved before.

Goal 2: Make a “challenge goal”. This is a goal that feels very challenging, but something that you feel fairly confident that you could hit if all of the conditions are right AND you train diligently.

Goal 3: Make a “comfortable goal”. This is a goal that you would be proud to hit and you could walk away from your event feeling like it was an effort well-done. You are pretty confident that you could achieve this assuming that nothing very unexpected happens.

Setting these three goals allows for several things. First of all, it pushes you to reach a goal that seems almost a little impossible. So, even if you hit between goal 1 and 2, you have done something amazing! If goal 1 just isn’t happening, it keeps you from totally giving up because you have two other goals that are still possible! Also, if you just can’t make goal 1 or 2 happen, you can most likely walk away from your event with goal 3 accomplished and feel good about your work. Just remember that there are a lot of things out of your control. Weather, feeling ill, or some other event that keeps you from doing your best happens. Never feel bad about attempting a goal and falling short. Always try again!