Goal Setting: Step by Step

I've always been the type of person who likes setting goals in most areas of my life. I enjoy having something to work towards because it keeps me motivated. Each year I reevaluate my goals and see how they worked for me and how I can change them for the next year. I find it very helpful to break down the big goals into smaller ones to make the process more manageable and to keep myself accountable. This year I have set a running goal based on mileage I want to reach by the end of the year. I am a dedicated runner, but not a marathon or super long distance runner. The longest distance I have run has been 13.1, a half-marathon. I've done that distance twice now, and since I've achieved that goal, I wanted to approach this year in a different way. The mileage goal I have set is 550 miles for the entire year. I know others who will do way more than that this year, easily, because they will be training for the half or full marathon. I haven't decided if I'm going to do the half again, that decision will come later. Right now I'm training for the 10k in March and we will see how I feel after that. Regardless, if I stick to my scheduled weekly runs, I know I can hit that 550 mark by the end of the year. 

Whatever your goals are, using the approach of Daily, Weekly and Monthly short term goal setting is a great way to not feel overwhelmed and give yourself more manageable steps to achieve your long term goals. Here is my process:

1. IDENTIFY YOUR LONG TERM GOAL AND WRITE IT DOWN
Writing things down helps me focus and set my intentions. In this case my long term goal is to run 550 miles by the end of the year.

2. IDENTIFY SHORT TERM GOALS, IN DESCENDING ORDER
*Monthly: I need to run 50 miles per month
*Weekly:  I need to average 10-12 miles per week
                 I need to identify how many days per week I can run
*Daily:     I need to decide how many miles I will run on each running day

3. WRITE DOWN THE GOALS
It helps me to keep track of things to write them down. I keep a day planner (hello, of course I do) and I love to keep goal specific calendars. Accountability people!!

This chart is kept where I will see it every single day.

4. CHECK IN WITH YOURSELF AND READJUST IF NECESSARY

Sometimes we may set goals that aren't practical or just don't work because we are being overly ambitious. So check in and adjust your schedule, just to make sure you aren't setting yourself up for failure. Goals should be challenging but not impossible!

So what are you working on this year?