Steps To Achieving Your Goals/Dreams

Sunrise or Sunset?

1)    Dream:  Without placing any arbitrary limits on yourself, dare to dream and establish big goals.

2)    Believe:  Believe in you and that you can achieve your goals.  If you do not believe it can’t happen, but if you believe it is possible.

3)    Plan:  Establish a great step by step plan to get you to your goal, seek help from a knowledgeable coach who believes in you to help you with this.

4)    Align:  Restructure your life as needed to align your daily actions with your long term goals.  As Edwin Moses said so well “I analyze every aspect of my life, because every aspect of my life effects how I run.”

5)    Execute:  Execute your plan one day at time.  Have a purpose for each day and stay focused on that purpose and executing it with excellence.  Don’t worry about yesterday or tomorrow, stay focused on executing today. (Stay in the moment)

I could write a whole blog on each of these 5 steps (and I probably will) but let me start by saying a few things about the first one.

How many of us dare to really do this step, to step outside the box and dream without the arbitrary limits others have placed on us and what we are capable of?

As a coach who has talked with hundreds of runner I can tell you this: very rarely do I talk to a runner who has a goal or dream they can't accomplish because they simply don't have the talent or skills to do it.  More often than not, if they fail to accomplish their goal it is because they failed to execute one or more of the last 4 steps, it is not because their dream was too big for what they are capable of, but because they failed to do what is necessary to realize the potential they do have.

If anything, I see far too many people selling themselves short.  Shooting low so they can be sure to attain their goal.  And that is fine if that is all they really desire to attain.  But I suspect many do that simply because they have been conditioned that way, they have been told by their peers and by society what they can do, and what they are capable of, and what they should expect so much that they buy into it and so settle for what is expected and don't allow themselves to really perform Step 1. 

In the 2016 U.S. Marathon Trials Project, I am seeking out and putting myself out there to be found by people who dare to dream and set big goals (whether it be to qualify for the Olympic Trials or to win the Olympic Trials) without buying into any arbitrary limits.  They set big goals and believe in themselves, and I stand firmly behind them using all my knowledge and experience to help them achieve those goal and maybe, just maybe, show them that even more might be possible.  There is nothing that stirs my soul more than seeing someone believe in a dream and go after it, and not settling for what they have been told they can or should accomplish, but rather laying it on the line to accomplish what they WANT to achieve.  I feel blessed to be able to help them in this journey.

So before moving on to Steps 2-5, make sure you take the time to really do Step 1, so that the whole process and outcome is as rewarding as it can be.