“Goals” vs. “Plans”
It’s February! New month, new goals, right? But first, let’s look back on my January goals. Fitness-wise, I wanted to run every other day, do three yoga classes a week, and add some running-specific strength work twice a week. My other goals were to read four books for the month of January, and address my sleep issues by getting in bed eight hours before my wake-up time. As I was reviewing these goals, one thought came to mind… Seriously? Those were my January goals? I’m not putting myself down, because I had just recovered from Covid and was getting over the post-Christmas blues. But I would say I went pretty easy on myself. Let’s start with the fitness goals. I really don’t need to set a goal in order to get myself to run. I love running, and would run every day if I could. Setting a “goal” to run is like setting a goal to eat- it’s going to happen anyway. Moving on- yoga three times a week is pretty easy considering I do it in the comfort of my own home, using the Peloton app. Adding in two days of strength was an admirable goal, but easily achievable. The sleep goal I didn’t even do (although I did have a sleep epiphany- more about that coming up on Friday!) and reading four book a month is not that hard. Yep- those were pretty soft goals. Was that bad? For where I was- no, it wasn’t bad. I guess I needed some easy goals that I could achieve and come out of the month feeling good about. But it made me think about goal setting in general. Chris McClung, host of the Running Rogue podcast, always says if you’re scared before a race, it means your goals are big enough. None of my January goals were big enough to scare me. The last time a goal scared me was when I participated in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) where I committed to publishing thirty blog posts for the thirty days of November. I literally woke up on October 31st saying “ACK!!! WHAT did I say I would do???” I couldn’t fathom how I was going to post every single day. But I started, somehow kept going, and finished the month with thirty blog posts- and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in a long time. That same month, I committed to doing a yoga class every single day. That goal was a little easier, but I still had to work on some days to fit that class in. Again, it taught me so much- mainly, what a vast, deep practice yoga is, and how I’m still at the very beginning. At the end of the month of classes every day I was just starting to understand what yoga is about. Right now my “goals” are more like plans. For this week I’ve written down “Run M-W-F-Sun, do three yoga classes, pushups or pull-ups 5x, finish The House in the Cerulean Sea.” A plan is an intention, a method for getting through the week. On the other hand, one definition of goal is “an aim or objective that you work toward with effort and determination.” Goals require effort and determination because they’re meant to stretch you. A big goal is something you believe you can accomplish, but you’re not entirely sure. That’s why it’s scary. So why set big goals at all? It’s not for the outcome, which is unsure, but for the process. When I achieved my goals of blogging and doing yoga every day for the month of November, I didn’t become a professional blogger or win some kind of yoga award. But being immersed in those projects made every day seem richer and fuller. Having that sense of purpose made the month more fun. Isn’t that what life is all about, anyway? Right now I still have my plans for this week written in my planner. But I’m thinking about setting some new big goals to spice things up a bit. I don’t want to “plan” through this month- I want to enrich my life with a goal that’s a little scary. Stay tuned- I’m mulling over some ideas. Big goals are coming! What about you? Do you have any big goals for the week, month, or year? Or would you say it’s enough right now to have plans to get you through each week? – Sometimes getting through is all you can do!