QT: Address Obstacles to Your Goals Proactively (Best Of-ish)

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This post was originally part of Episode 670 released in January of 2019 and is more or less copied and pasted from that post. The audio, however, is a new take on the topic.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m excited for 2023!

I’ve got big goals and I’m already getting to work on making this year the best year ever in just about every area of my life.

Big Things in Store for 2023

Running goals. Business goals. Family/marriage goals. Personal goals.

I’ve set my sights high, and I’m very serious about achieving my goals in each of those areas.

But can I be real for a minute?

Simply setting your goals high and telling yourself you’re serious about doing what it takes to be successful isn’t enough to be successful.

Because if there’s one thing that we can all be sure of, it’s that life is going to life at some point this year. Probably at a multitude of points, if we are being honest.

It’s easy to have confidence in our ability to achieve our goals in the first week of the New Year.

The goals are still fresh in our minds and the obstacles haven’t really emerged just yet.

But don’t kid yourself.

The obstacles are going to come. If you think they won’t, you’re just kidding yourself.

And I bet that you already know the obstacles you’ll likely face in 2023.

So why not get out in front of said obstacles to your goals instead of waiting for the inevitable to happen?

Have Your Plan in Place Before You Need It

Based on what your goals are and what you’ll need to do to be successful, you know what obstacles you’re most likely to face.

That’s why I’d encourage you to put a plan in place now so that you have it when you need it.

Being proactive in this gives you the best chance of staying on track, or at least not veering too far off track when the inevitable obstacles show up.

And being able to avoid a major detour is huge in your ability to be successful in 2023.

So get out in front of your obstacles. Now.

My Plan for Avoiding Obstacles This Year

One of my goals for 2019 is to complete a run each month of at least 26.2 miles.

Ideally, that would mean I’m in a proper race/event for most of those months. But it also means there will be more than a few months where I’ll be running 26.2 miles around town.

What are the most likely obstacles that would prevent me from being successful on this front?

Injury and procrastination.

The injury bit is fairly obvious, yes? Good.

But what about procrastination? Let’s say I look at a month and decide that the last Saturday of the month will be my 26.2.

Sure, I could have done my run any of the prior weekends, but I’m just putting it off until the last weekend because reasons.

And what happens if there is a terrible storm/hurricane that weekend and Rebekah won’t let me out of the house to run a Shits and Giggles Marathon through our neighborhood while dodging lightning bolts the whole time? Or if I get sick? Or if something happens to Adi and we end up in the hospital for a few days?

There are no shortage of reasons that a run could be derailed at the last minute. And if I’m putting off my run until the last weekend of the month and then something comes up, I’m pretty much fucked.

Indeed.

Instead of waiting for one or both of these obstacles to get in my way this year, I’m doing everything I can to get out in front of them now.

I’m planning to keep up my regular cycling (cross training) routine on my DIY Peloton this year, and I have a goal of being more consistent with my strength training as well. (And yes, I have identified the biggest obstacles to that goal and have a plan in place to avert said obstacles as well.)

Not all running injuries are preventable, but if I can do a good job staying on top of the little things it’ll certainly reduce my risk of a physical break down.

As for steering clear of my propensity to procrastinate, my plan is to tentatively schedule any S&G marathons for either the first or second week of the month. That way if something does happen and I can’t run, I have at least two other weekends that I can make 26.2 happen.

Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best

Hopefully, the number of obstacles you will face as you chase down some (hopefully) big goals in 2023 will be small.

But like I said earlier, life has a tendency to life. And if it does, it’s better to be prepared than to try to react in the moment.

So if you’re serious about being successful this year, and I know you are, do yourself a favor and prepare to face some likely obstacles before they arrive so that when they do you can get over them and keep making progress without missing a beat.

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Have a plan for overcoming the obstacles you're likely to face in the pursuit of your goals BEFORE you actually need it! #runchat Click To Tweet

What are the Most Likely Obstacles to Your Goals this Year?

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