How I learned to set great goals

I might be a slow learner.

It seems like some people wake up and say hey – I think I’ll do an Ironman. Then they just go out and effortlessly make it happen.

I wasn’t like that. I struggled with the idea and then figuring out how I could make it happen. In fact my road to my first Ironman was about 18 months of planning. But I had already learned to set goals so making that initial plan was something I new how to do.

Goal setting took me a long time to learn. This is how I learned it.

When I look back there were three different lessons.

First I learned to make a plan

First was in my 20s when my boss sent me to actually a time-managment class. He sent my whole department I wasn’t singled out as inefficient. That was the first time I learned about having an intentional plan for my day which was a big first step.

Then I learned to Make a SMART plan

Fast forward about 6 years and I was at a weekend seminar about meeting planning. At the time I was part of a team planning about 400 meetings of various sizes per year so it was spot on. The most important thing I learned at that conference was that  I didn’t want to be planning meetings for the rest of my life.

Once I made that connection I picked  a personal growth workshop out of the curriculum to attend. That was where I was first exposed to the SMART method of goal setting. I was very fired up by that workshop. I did take a big step forward by setting measurable goals going forward. But I was still using goals set by my boss although I didn’t actually realize that at the time.

Lastly I learned about finding my own intentional goals

Finally, years later when I had my own business. I fell into a coaching group that had quarterly planning sessions. It was a half day session devoted to setting goals.

That is where for me the pieces all came together.  I went in that morning with a 300 item to do list. I came out with a 90 day action plan and that night I had the best night of sleep I’d had in months. Followed by the most productive 90 days of my business.

For the first time as the business owner I was able to set my own goals and I had to be taught that difference between making a to do list and making an intentional plan.

This was a real aha moment for me and I stuck with this group for 2 years. In fact, in my final quarterly goal setting session with this group I made a very tearful plan to close that business because it was no longer in line with my other life goals.

Ironman is a part of my life

Ironman like anything else has to fit in your life. This is of course an obvious statement.

Still, at least once a week somebody asks me how I make it all work. The simple answer is that I don’t just wing it. I don’t get up every day and say … what will I do today? Should I go to the PTA meeting or should I run my intervals?

Nope, I make a plan and then all I have to do is execute on that plan.  When I said I wanted to do an Ironman it was about 18-months or 2 years before I actually raced one. That was my plan.

This year some things happened that brought me to this point where I needed to put some big thought into this again. First, my coach retired. He was a big part of my plan. Pick a race. Tell the coach. Follow his plan. So I started looking for a coach and they as part of the process started asking me questions … like what was my goal. That forced me to sit down and say to myself hmmm what is my goal?

Do you have a plan? Is an Ironman part of your goals for your future? Would you like to see my plan? I’m happy to share how I do it. Just reach out.