From Dream to Goal: Reaching the Finish Line

God teaches me many things through training!  Here’s a video blog series on goal setting, plan development, and implementing the plan you developed. I taped this video (“taped”…I’m dating myself here) before my 100-mile ultramarathon in 2018. In this first installment, we’re going to be talking about creating a S.M.A.R.T. goal. So, let’s hop to it and go from Dream to Goal!

 

From Dream to Goal

We’ll be using a S.M.A.R.T. goal set up developed by Dr. Edwin Lockey at the University of Maryland. I’ll use some examples from my life to illustrate good and bad goal-setting.

So, when you’re creating a goal, you want to go through and make sure that it has certain attributes; simply having a vision for your life or a big dream in your heart isn’t enough. You need to focus it into something you can accomplish.

Step One “S”

First, you want the goal to be specific. If you see set a goal: “I want to eat healthier” or “I want to run more”; those are not specific goals. I want to run a 100-mile ultramarathon is a very specific goal because it has a definitive length. The more vague a goal is the less likely you will achieve it.

When I set a goal to write a book proposal for my book, it was terrible. I didn’t outline whether I wanted to self-publish or traditionally publish. The entire goal was murky. Once I set a solid goal, I was able to traditionally publish my book, Ten Iron Principles. However, at the time of this video, the goal was still up in the air.

Step Two “M”

Second, your goal needs to be measurable. For example, “I want to eat healthier” isn’t measurable. A better objective would be to “eat so many calories in a day” or “follow a certain diet plan. With my ultramarathon, my coach scheduled workouts five days a week, and I looked on the app to see what I needed to do.

With my first book proposal goal, I didn’t list out any specific word count or page count to be done on a weekly or monthly basis. Instead, it was whatever I could get done, and the time dragged on.

Step Three “A”

Third, you need to have the resources to be able to achieve your goal. For instance, if you wanted to complete a CrossFit competition, you need to belong to a CrossFit gym, right?  If I worked four jobs and 200 hours a week, it’s not feasible that I would have enough time to run and train for a 100-mile ultramarathon.

Step Four “R”

Fourth, our goals need to be realistic. To illustrate, I could set a goal to bench press 500 pounds, which is specific and measurable. I also belong to a gym and have the resources. However, reaching this particular goal is not very likely.

My caution is this: don’t set your goal too small. The biggest limiter of your potential is right here between your ears. It’s your own mind. Most of the time when I say I can’t and I hear other people say that they can’t, it’s really this: their own mind limiting what they can and can’t do. We are capable of so much more than we think. So, always try to remember that when you’re creating your goals.

Step Five “T”

Last, your goal needs to be timely. You need a specific goal date. Races are great for this because the race occurs on a certain day whether I am there or not. The day is set. So, you have to set a firm goal. With my book proposal, initially, I pushed it off for eight months. I never set a hard stop in the first year, which is so important for good goal-setting.

Okay, so we’re going to take your big dream, we’re going to hone it down into a solid goal, and then we’ll talk about how to develop a good plan next week. Okay?

I appreciated all the prayers for my 100-miler as I was both excited and afraid. You can read the full story here.  See you next week!

Love, K.

Author, Ten Iron Principles

*Originally published 4/2/18