In 2018 I set a goal. I wanted to run my local park run, in less than 40 minutes. I’m not a natural runner, and our course is known for its challenging hills! I’ve managed 2 other park runs in under 40 mins, but my local one has been a struggle to say the least!
In order to help with my goal, I joined a running club earlier in that year. Whilst they have been very supportive, I haven’t really got very far as I don’t run as fast as they do, I frequently found myself unable to run with them at the weekly club nights. I took to my treadmill, and kept turning up at park run. The club continued to support me and it’s great to come over the finish line to see them all waiting for me, to see what time I’ve achieved.
And then I did it! I turned up to run, on a freezing cold day, with very few club members there for support. I wasn’t looking forward to the run, I don’t do cold weather, especially not in the thin layers you wear for running! I nearly came home as I was worried for the poor volunteers having to stand out in the cold waiting for me to finish. But something made me carry on and I came to the end of the 2nd lap and looked at my watch. 38 minutes and counting. Somehow, something pushed me a bit further, a bit faster and I crossed the line in 39.26!! I will admit I did a little happy dance that cold morning.
My goal achieved, what’s next? Well I’ve kept on running, and my time has reduced down a little further each time, with the fastest at my local park run being 38.12 and my fastest overall time being 35.03. I want to get my local park run time under 37 minutes next …. It’s good to have something to work towards don’t you think?
I can hear you asking, how does this apply to business? We all need something to work towards, be that signing our dream client, always finishing early on a Friday, or a clear inbox. Sometimes we set goals that are not achievable, almost setting ourselves up to fail. Or we don’t push ourselves enough, so we never feel that sense of satisfaction. I like to have a mix of larger and smaller goals – I use Asana and the little unicorn that flies over the screen when I tick the complete button is quite cute and give me some satisfaction (you can turn this off if unicorns don’t float your boat!). These little wins help me focus on the bigger wins that sometimes take a little longer to achieve.
So, if you started 2020 with a huge list of goals, take another look and see if they are actually what you want to achieve this year. If not, its ok to start again, with a smaller list, and include some “unicorn goals” in there if you can ?
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