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"Goal Setting"
By: Robert Key Founder of Faithful
Soles
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 I have a saying, There is no great goal
achieved without greater sacrifice. What this means to me is that
anything I want to do in my life that I feel is truly worth
accomplishing will take much harder work and dedication along the way to
achieve that goal. For example, I set a goal in December of 1997 to
qualify for the Boston Marathon by the year 2000 to celebrate the
millennium and my 40th birthday on December 1, 1999. The
Boston Marathon is the only marathon in the world other than the
Olympics for which you must qualify. To qualify, I had to run a marathon
in under 3 hours and 20 minutes or better for the 40-44 year old age
group, which required very hard training and many weeks where I would
run as much as 50-60 miles, and some weeks as many as 70 miles. Since I
set that goal on December 1, 1997, I have run over 11,500 miles in hot,
humid, cold and rainy weather, and gone through periods of injuries
sometimes lasting weeks and months where many times it seemed I would never be able to get to where I
needed to be. I have run on days where I hated the thought of having to
train, but I knew that if I did not train I would never make it. I
completed 7 marathons before I finally made my qualifying time on my 8th
try in February of 1999, and all of my failures helped me to learn and
appreciate my successes even more. I set that goal 9 years ago and have
now run the Boston Marathon 3 times and completed 15 total marathons, as
well as countless other races from 5K to 30K (3.1 to 18.6 miles). I
understand and accept that failure and success are both part of the
journey to reach any goal. I want to share with you what I have learned
throughout these years about how to set a goal, regardless of what you
are wanting to accomplish:
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A goal
should always be written down (or even have a picture associated
with it), and this information should be displayed where you can
always see it (For example, I had my Boston qualifying time written
down and posted in several places around my office and home). You should try as often as possible to visualize
yourself accomplishing that goal. Write down a plan for how you
will achieve your goal and make changes to the plan as you learn
more about what it takes to achieve it.
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Have more
than just one goal in your life. For example, you may have multiple
goals about your spiritual life, sports or exercise, business,
grades in school (for youth), or making friends.
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Share with
your family and friends what your goals are. Accountability is one
of the most important aspects of accomplishing a goal, and they will
be aware of what you are trying to do and offer you support. Also,
your goal will inspire them to do things they have wanted or wished
they could do, whether their goal is the same as yours or not.
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Many very
high goals require that you set intermediate goals along the way to
achieve them, much like steps on a ladder where the top step would
be your ultimate goal. There are
very few goals that should be set so high that the only result is
success or failure, so be realistic in setting your goals. I
recommend you set all of your goals in at least 3 stages:
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Minimum goal This is the very least that you hope to
accomplish (for example, my goal in any race I enter is to
finish, period, regardless of my time)
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Medium goal This is somewhere between your minimum and
maximum goals
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Maximum goal This is
the ultimate of what you aspire to
accomplish (this is typically the best case scenario, where
everything falls exactly into place and you accomplish 100%
of the maximum that you set out to do, such as a personal
best in a race)
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Any goal
that is truly worth the effort will rarely be easy. This means that
there will be small, medium or even major failures along the way. If
you understand that failure is part of the process of success, you
will be successful in reaching your goals, and accomplishing that
goal will be even more gratifying.
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