The Importance of Goals

I just completed my first 5k today, and the feat is something that was unthinkable to me just a month ago.

At that time, I was thinking about things I could do to get in better shape, and decided to try going for a run. I was in for a rude awakening, as I cut it short at a half mile.

On the way home I saw a sign advertising a 5k in my town. I decided that was something I was going to do, despite the training regimens that suggest taking anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks to ramp up to a 5k.

But I established this goal and did what I had to in order to accomplish it.

Why does that image say 2.89 miles? Apparently, I didn’t calibrate my Nike + iPod Sport Kit perfectly. Here’s a quick new goal – I’ll run a couple miles on a track tomorrow and recalibrate.

Similarly, I decided back in the fall of 2006 that I wanted to learn how to edit video. I grabbed a copy of Sony Vegas Movie Studio software to edit video.

And it sat on the shelf for a couple months. I decided I needed a hard deadline to learn it, or I would probably never get around to learning.

So, when I was creating my Christmas card for that year, I included a message pointing people to a special URL for a video message from me.

There was no more time to slack. I had to figure out that software an make a video before the cards hit.

I’m sure you have some goals in business that you’ve been putting off. Stop the excuses, set up a date to accomplish them, and make it happen.