In running, as in life and business, you need to make sure that you are aiming for the right target. Too high and you might just give up, too easy and you have no challenge.
I competed at RunBalmoral 2011 a couple of weeks ago. For weeks before entering I worried about which race to enter. Last year I ran the 10k and was planning to try again this year. However, the weather and various other distractions, such as work and children, meant that my training was way behind schedule. So should I enter the 10k and stress about finishing in a much slower time than last year, worry about not training enough and fret about injury or should I enter the 5k which I know I can do, but won’t stretch me?
Once I made the decision to enter the 5k I felt so much more motivated. I was now training for a manageable goal but I still made it challenging by aiming for a faster time.
By changing my goal to something achievable but still challenging I increased my motivation, trained more and exceeded my target by finishing more than 2 minutes faster than my personal best!
So are your goals right? Are they challenging enough to stretch you every day and are they achievable enough to motivate you?
If they aren’t, change them.