Write it Down
For a goal to be successful you need to write it down. Revisiting your goals, whether on the fridge or in the notes app of your iPhone, will help you stay motivated.
With all the tech out there, you can really geek out on tracking your goals with apps, online or in spreadsheets, depending upon how detailed you want to get.
Some people keep a journal of their training sessions. By recording what you did during each training run, how far you ran and, most importantly, how you felt afterward, you can provide yourself with an additional motivational tool to keep you going when winter hits.
You will create what’s called “cognitive dissonance,” which is the difference between your current reality and the one you are visualizing.
Think Positive
Have you ever seen a TED talk with Tony Robbins or read a Zig Ziglar book? If you have, you understand the power of visualizing your completed goal as a motivational strategy. One of the things these guru’s teach is that positive thinking is not just pleasant thoughts, but a force for transformative change. Case in point, if I am struggling with the prospect of getting out of a nice warm bed to go running on a cold winter morning, I should visualize the feeling of mental clarity and peace that comes from running. Or I could visualize myself crossing the finish line of a marathon with thousands of people cheering me on.
Of course, these visualizations are only effective when accompanied with action. Any goal without action is just a dream. This is how it works. Identify your goal and visualize the desired outcome as vividly as possible. By visualizing your goal in vivid detail multiple times per day, you will create what’s called “cognitive dissonance,” which is the difference between your current reality and the one you are visualizing. Your subconscious mind realizes the divide and actively works at trying to close the gap. We are not trying to solve all the world’s problems, we’re just trying to get you out of bed and into your running shoes.
Give it a shot. You will be amazed.
Get Out and Run
Now that you have done a personal inventory and figured out your “why,” set your long and short-term goals, typed them into your mobile device, and committed to visualizing your running success, it’s time to get going. This is where your preparation and introspection are put into action. Lace ‘em up, find the perfect playlist and go.
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