August 26th, 2006 by Brent Johnson
It was a Friday evening last fall and my wife was nervous. She’d set a goal to compete in her first triathlon and had trained diligently for the first few weeks, but then “life” had gotten in the way. Too much to do, too little time, and as a result, training had taken a back seat. So there she sat, the night before the triathlon, afraid she wasn’t ready, and wondering if she should drop out and wait to compete in another one the following spring.
Fortunately, Cara had done something that is critical to achieving your goals. At the time she hadn’t realized she was following a proven success technique, but she’d done it nonetheless. And that one “thing” was perhaps more important than all of the training she’d done.
Early on, Cara had TOLD OTHERS about her goal. In doing so, Cara had created an implied commitment to herself and her friends.
So, while the fear of the unknown (after all, Cara had never competed in a triathlon before, so she didn’t know what to expect), and the fear that she wasn’t ready were tugging at her to quit, Cara’s fear of telling her friends that she’d backed out was tugging at her to push forward.
The result? Cara competed in the triathlon, accomplishing three things she’d set out to do: (1) She didn’t quit before she started. (2) She didn’t die. And (3) she didn’t come in last. In fact, she did pretty well for her first triathlon. Since then, she’s run a 10k and is training for her next triathlon–with a goal this time of placing in the top 3 for her age group. And most importantly, she’s still telling others what she plans to accomplish (plus now posting her goals on LifeTango.com).
Is there something in your life you really want to accomplish? Then set a goal (preferably using LifeTango) and TELL IT TO OTHERS.
Enjoy the journey!
Brent
Posted in > Goal Sharing |