Ways to Make Your Goals Achievable and Fun
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Summer is a time to enjoy the outdoors. As I mentioned last month, I set a goal this Spring to walk regularly while listening to books on audible. So far, I’ve been doing great and decided to set my most challenging long-term goal to date – to walk 600 miles by next July. I want to share how I am making my goal meaningful, fun, attractive, and more likely for me to achieve. Perhaps you can apply the principles to an important goal YOU want to set.
WHY THIS GOAL?
I tend to set walking goals prior to traveling. I like to remind my body that I can roam about Rome, Switzerland, or the Poconos like a youngster, even though I am nearing retirement age. Walking is a way to get in shape and to help prepare my body for all the activities I typically do while on vacation. Just a few weeks ago I walked 30 miles in one week while on vacation in the Poconos – at the water park, on hiking trails, on the resort property, etc. It was a very active week and I would’ve been exhausted and miserable if I hadn’t already walked over 75 miles in the last few months.
MAKE IT MEANINGFUL
In early June my husband and I decided we’d go to Ireland next summer. For past trips, I have picked a walking goal about a month before my departure, like walk the circumference of Rome, or walk the distance from Lucerne to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. This time I have a full year, so I am making a very lofty goal of 600 miles by July 1, 2022. Why 600 miles, and why that date? We leave for Ireland the next day, and our trip around Ireland will traverse about 600 miles.
MAKE IT FUN
Our tour starts in Dublin and from there we travel to Kilkenny, Cork, Killarney, Galway, Ashford Castle, and back to Dublin. I thought, “Why don’t I walk the same distance that our tour will take?” I had so much fun with Google Maps; plugging in the itinerary to find the distance between cities, converting Km to miles, and creating a chart to monitor my progress. I even bought a map of Ireland to put on my office wall and have stickies to mark the cities and my virtual progress.
MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE
I look forward to checking my Fitbit (a new gift from my daughter), and seeing how many miles I walk each day. I REALLY love putting the miles into my chart and seeing my new total at the end of each week and each month. Counting the 75 miles I walked in May, June and July, I have already walked the distance from Dublin to Kilkenny, a Medieval city with a castle and cathedral dating back to the 1200s. As I add my mileage in August so far, I have walked over 125 miles and have reached the halfway mark between Kilkenny and Cork, our next stop on the trip.
MAKE IT ACHIEVABLE
If I had decided a month before my trip that I wanted to walk 600 miles before leaving, it would have been impossible. Since I thought ahead and have stuck with my goal, staying motivated by making it fun and energizing, my goal is not only realistic, it is absolutely achievable. I have 10 months to walk another 465 miles. That averages to about 1.5 miles per day. Just think of how many books I’ll listen to in that time!