Wow - what a successful kickoff to lululemon Run Club last Thursday! It was a blast leading an army of over 25 people through the streets of Center City and then along the river. The energy that night was awesome!
One of my favorite parts of the evening took place before the run. After briefly explaining how to state a goal, I asked anyone who was bold enough to share a goal with the group.
My point with this post is not to teach you how to set a goal (show up this Thursday and you'll get a refresher), but rather to encourage you to simply declare your goal. Sharing your stated goal with others becomes the next step that will seal the deal. You are now bound to your goal and have moved closer to achievement.
If you've never done this you may think I'm full of BS, but it really is the freakiest thing. I've had it happen to me and I've seen it happen time and time again with my clients.
So even if you don't know (yet) the most powerful way to verbalize a goal, by simply articulating it you create a world where it is now more likely to happen. Here's an example from the other night.
“I run 18:50 for 5K in May [2012].”
Beautiful. It's got all of the classic ingredients - specific, measurable, affirmative, realistic, and time-bound, but the crucial thing is that she declared it to the group.
By putting it out there, she set an intention and made it real. It's no guarantee, just positioning. She elevated the goal to front-of-mind awareness from murky dreamland and wish-ville. She positioned herself as successful by stating it affirmatively.
In her mind she's already run or can vividly visualize running 18:50 for 5K. She still has to set smaller process based goals and do the work, but now she's not dreaming of running 18:50.
Additionally, she created a certain level of accountability by stating her goal out loud to a group of fellow runners. Until you share your goal to others I feel your odds of success are much lower. Even telling one person can be powerful if they are someone close to you. (Telling a random stranger doesn't cut it!)
So here's the weird part. Even if you FORGET that you ever set the goal and it settles into the subconscious that's ok. Whether it's due to factors discussed above or not, you have set yourself on a path towards accomplishing the goal. Subconscious is better than unconscious I guess!
Why not be bold and share your goal below? Some of you set some amazing goals last January. How did the year play out? I know many of those goals were achieved. Mind writing in and letting us know? Even if you didn't achieve your goal did you move closer to achieving it? Did you learn something along the way?
More goal setting and sharing this Thursday! You won't regret it.