In the early part of this year I decided to get a road bike to cross train. I thought if I did it would be fun do an Olympic triathlon just to prove I could. A few days later, it hit me that I picked that distance because it didn’t scare me; I knew I could do an Olympic distance without much of a change to my current workouts.
So, I decided it would have to be a Half Ironman. I knew it would hurt and be tough to get to, but just maybe I could squeeze it out. I only had 7 weeks to prepare for the Deep South Tri. Until then, I had never road biked, nor done an open water swim.
The next 7 weeks were an all-out grind that tested me mentally and physically…but the reward of finishing a Half Ironman last weekend was all that I hoped it would be!!
One of the biggest takeaways from the experience I want to share is the importance of setting goals that scare you, make you nervous, that you know are going to take all all-out effort to achieve. Far too often, we cut ourselves short on what we can actually achieve because we let that little voice in our head convince us that maybe that goal is out of reach.
Some people said things like, “You have never done a triathlon before, maybe you should try a shorter one first” or “don’t you think 7 weeks is a little short to try to pull this off?”
People often say things like this because they care; they don’t want you to miss a goal and be disappointed. I am so thankful for Blake, Margaret, Sam, and Mark who all never questioned me once on this effort. Every week they pushed and encouraged me, ensured me that they had faith I would get it done if I trained hard and stayed focused.
As you set your goals for this last quarter of the year, I encourage you to try this little test. When you write down the goal or think on it ask yourself, “Does this scare me a little bit,” or even “Does this make me nervous?” If the answer is no, perhaps you aren’t giving yourself credit for all you could achieve. Big goals take big effort and big commitment, and they should make you nervous! But big effort and big commitment lead to big rewards.
“It is better to aim high and miss, than it is to aim low and hit.”
Les Brown
So, aim high with your goals! Push yourself and you will achieve more than if you aim low. Let’s set those Big Hairy Audacious Goals high and push each other to achieve them!