It’s the time of year for setting goals. Whether it’s to lose 10kg or complete a 5k Park Run in under 25 minutes anything less than achievement will not do. Most coaches or teachers will tell you that your goal needs to be SMART.
It’s true that if your sport is your job, and your job is to win a Gold Medal at Rio, then failure to achieve this means you haven’t reached your goal.
But what does it mean for the rest of us if we don’t reach your goal? Does this means that you’ve failed? I would say not, as long as there is improvement. Did you get better? If so I would call that improvement. As long as there is some aspect that is quantifiable & you can measure progress, then moving in the right direction is not failure.
Think of your goals as points to work towards, but with improvement as the objective. If your current 10 mile Time Trial PB is 23:30 and your goal this year is 22:00, then achieving 22:30 is a hell of an improvement, continue improving at the same rate and you’ll be doing 21’s next season. If you set a goal of 10kgs weight loss in 6 months, would 8kgs be a fail ??
The Japanese have a word – Kaizen, which roughly translates as continuous improvement or development. This makes goals merely milestones along the journey, not the destination.
Scroobius Pip puts it much better than me in this video from Crossfit Liverpool here
If you need help and support in ‘getting better’ in 2016, get in touch.