“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step.”
-Lao Tzu
We all want to achieve our goals. But it is the setbacks along the way that can make it hard to achieve them.
No one sees all those steps we take by ourselves nor those inner doubts that we struggle with and overcome to motivate ourselves to take those steps. And when we feel that we have failed to meet one of the lesser goals within that larger one, more doubts wash over us.
Because the majority of these first steps are done without a lot of support, most people only see the end of our journey. So without that cheering and rah-rah support, we let those setbacks further cloud our confidence.
This is what happened to me this past weekend. I walk/ran in the Jingle Bell 5K as I wanted to have a baseline on my minutes/mile. I needed the baseline so that I would know how many minutes/mile I would have to shave off to qualify for the Washington DC 1/2 marathon. Registration for that race opens up on July 4, 2011 for their 2012 event.
When I first got my official time from the Jingle Bell 5K, I was disappointed. I averaged 14:07 minutes/mile. I had expected somewhere around 13:30 minutes/mile as that has been my pace on my weekly Saturday morning runs. I also found that my IT Band (for me, knee pain) wasn’t as strong as it should have been when running up hills.
Why was this happening to me? I have been training–some speed work-outs, some uphill workouts, and some strength exercises for my knees. But what was worse was this one major doubt that kept swirling around in my head, undermining my will to continue. If I can’t do a timed 5K at my training pace, how can I get down to 10 minutes/mile to qualify and, at the same time, get my IT band stronger?
Somehow, I had to turn this negative talk of “Why did this? Why to me? Why can’t I?” around.
These types of insidious doubts undermine our confidence daily. And yes, most of us try and do keep them at bay. But when we are hit with a setback especially a setback of something we felt we should have nailed, it is hard to do so. We want to wallow in our disappointments which can and will damage our confidence and self-esteem.
Instead, let’s acknowledge our disappointments but, at the same time, realize our journeys needs to be tweaked from time to time. In other words, re-assess, honestly, what we have been doing and then tweak it. This, then, allows us to continue on to achieve our larger goal. And that seback is only a minor irritant.
I broke down the why of this setback and set a new journey to follow:
- Focus on a smaller goal, not the larger one.
- Training has to be more consistent.
- IT Band needs to get stronger.
- Need more support.
- Celebrate the tiniest wins.
For this new journey to work, I have to set an end date so that I can re-assess again. That end date can’t be too close nor can it be too far out. But then, it depends on what you are doing and how you are personally wired. Some people need weekly checks-in, others are better at monthly. In other words, find what works best for you.
That new date for me is February 12, 2011-about 8 weeks away. I have signed up for Greenlake’s Valentine Day 5K Dash. My goal is to do 13:30 minutes/mile.
Here are my steps to achieve this new goal:
- Two speed work-outs at a track or on the treadmill per week.
- One hill/incline work-out outside or on the treadmill per week.
- One work-out of strength exercises specifically for my knees per week.
- Stretches and strength exercises including knee specific ones before/after each work-out.
- One long run each week with the ladies.
- Increase each work-out by no more than 10% per week.
- Keep a log of each work-out.
- Celebrate the small wins each week.
- And lastly, be kind to myself.
This process of re-thinking and re-assessing our goals, breaking them down into smaller ones, and celebrating the tiniest wins makes any” journey of a thousands miles” easier to achieve as well as strengthens our self-esteem and confidence so that we can achieve our most audacious goals.
And by the way, if you want to do the Valentine Day 5K Dash with me, I’d be honored.