Friday, June 1, 2012

Goal Maintenance 101


June 1 - Most of us set goals for ourselves at the start of the new year. I am no different. How can we ensure successful completion of the goals that we set?

1. Check Progress: To be successful at achieving our goals, we must take time to reflect. We should not only decide what we want to achieve, but also determine a plan for assessing our progress. Every day? Once a week? Monthly? Find what works for the type of goals you have set.

2. Big versus Small: Many of us set large goals for ourselves: i.e. "run a marathon." This is good, but by making smaller sub-goals we are more likely to see the results we want. A sub-goal to "run a marathon" might be "run a half marathon."

3. Adjust: If you find that a goal you set for yourself feels out of reach, change it up. Extend the end date. Reduce the total miles. Tweak the goal pace. Making accommodations is better than giving up.

In January, I wrote about my goals for the year, and although I think I have been keeping up with them, I haven't assessed my progress since the end of February. Yikes!

No time like the present:

1. Keep Running: Although my miles have decreased as I struggle to get through my calf issue, I have maintained a fair amount of miles for March, April, and May.


2. Run a Race every Month: This goal has been fun to keep. Sometimes I even ran more than one race because so many of them sounded fun.


3. Continue to improve my blog: Running Escapades was nominated for Fitness Magazine's Fiteratti Award, featured on Fitblogger, and nominated for a One Lovely Blog Award.


4. Add another New England state to the list of places I have run: Not until August...



5. Keep meeting new running friends: Met up with some FFAs at the Saucony Find Your Strong Event and another Rhode Scholar Blogging Ambassador in Providence.




How do you make sure you keep your goals?





18 comments:

  1. yay youre coming to maine!!! that is a BEAUTIFUL AWESOME RACE... OMG I LOVE THIS RACE!!! hehe... im biased since i grew up in cape elizabeth and ive run it 9 times, i hope you enjoy it. and you can meet me for your #5 goal ;)
    i also ran a road race every month in 2010, i really loved that resolution. good luck!!

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  2. Great tips! Just reminded me I need to actually go take a look at my goals LOL.

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  3. You run a race every month goal sounds like a lot of fun! I'm doing my first ever race in September and I hope to catch the racing bug!

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  4. Amy - great goals!!! & I am still happy you'll be doing B2B this year. I'll be there cheering you one as well as the rest of my running pals! :)

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    1. I'm really excited too! It looks so amazing and we're coming up on Friday to sight-see a little.

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  5. Looks like you're well on your way to meeting all of your goals! I love these recaps- I just did my Map recap on Friday. It really helps hold me accountable!

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  6. congrats on all the awesome blog awards! Nice list xoxo

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  7. I set a bunch of goals at the beginning of the year. So far, I've done really well. In fact, I think I'm going to do a mid-year re-evaluation to add more.

    I love your goal of doing a race a month. There are so many great races but I'd go broke trying to do them all!

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    1. Races are one of the things I allow myself to splurge on...but I do keep myself in check with the fees by signing up early if I can.

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  8. I love your goals, especially "run one race a month"!

    ❀Barbara❀
    My Running Shortz

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    1. Thanks Barbara. It helps keep me motivated =)

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  9. What is the name of the app/program you are using to keep track of your weekly miles?

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    1. The screen shot in this post is from Daily Mile, but I also use Nike+.

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