New Year's Goals and Resolutions


Ok, so it's the New Year. In our team meeting most of us established goals for the coming season. The question now isn't just do you have your goals and are they posted (remember your "Nobody Blocks™"?) but do you have a plan to get to your goal and are you acting on those plans TODAY.

A major difference between successful and unsuccessful athletes in relation to goals are the following:

• They have a PLAN.

• They take ACTION everyday on those goals.

• They remain FLEXIBLE and adjust goals to life.

• They seek SUPPORT and assistance and create an environment conducive to success.

• They LEARN from the past.

• They exhibit PATIENCE.

At the meeting, we wrote down goals. Keeping goals that are important to you is essential in maintaining your focus. It is difficult in our busy lives. Every bit helps. Posting those written goals is essential.

Some of you have created plans to get where you want to be. The plan is the road map. There are many ways to get from Phoenix to Boston (both the city and the race) but without a map you could end up "going South", get it?

A plan is only a piece of paper. In order to get somewhere, you have to take action. The key question at the end (or beginning) of the day is to ask: What one thing will I (did I) do today to get closer to my goal? If you don't have an answer, GO. take one action and get one step closer.

Goals and plans are not written in stone. Part of what the most successful athletes do is read their bodies. Learn the difference between an "athlete's" normal aches due to conditioning and that of being on the edge and needing to back off. It is a skill. And what is both wonderful and difficult is only YOU can know for sure. No one else knows or can feel what you feel. A coach or health professional can help but, ultimately the subjectivity and objectivity is within you. Bottom-line - be flexible. Is the goal worth being sidelined with injury? Or is it smarter to back off and reset more realistic goals?

We create our environments. We choose who we hang around. Life is a series of choices. Successful athletes create a supportive atmosphere and make choices conducive to their goals. They have people in their lives who facilitate goal achievement. They have outlets for those times they need them.

It is key to learn from the past. "If you always do what you have always done, you'll always get what you've always got." If you don't like the results you've had in the past, you have to change your approach. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is insanity. (Do you keep dialing a wrong number expecting to get someone else to answer the phone?)

Do you have the staying power to achieve your goals? Persistence and patience. Though the actual goal achievement itself is only a moment in time it is a long gradual build up, following a plan, learning and adjusting as you go that makes it happen. (Think about it, a goal is actually achieved the instant you cross the finish line and the clock stops.) It requires time to build. That doesn't happen overnight.

So, check the list. How are you doing? The year has begun. Now is the time to take action. Every step gets you closer.

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