About 15 years ago I complete my first 10 km run. I would love to say I ran the whole thing, but I didn’t. For me, the important thing was to complete it. I remember seeing the mark for the 9th kilometer and deciding that as tired as I was, I was going to run that final stretch. I wasn’t sure where the energy was going to come from, but I knew I wanted to get to that finish line as soon as possible!
Thinking about this recently made me realize the similarities in running that 10 km and pursuing our goals. We can be quick and full of energy at the start and if we aren’t fully prepared, we can start to lose energy when the finish line is nowhere in sight. We have a choice, we can give up and try again or we can adjust our pace so we can reach the finish line.
Here’s the thing, you may think that because you haven’t achieved your goal by now, it’s never going to happen. The truth is that the end of the year doesn’t mean that you have to have achieved your goals. You may have wanted to reach a certain point by this time in the year, and it hasn’t happened. That doesn’t mean it won’t. There are still things that you can do before the year is up. One of them is to reflect on your progress and adjust your plan moving forward.
Now is a perfect time of the year to reflect on what’s worked for you this year and be honest about the things that haven’t. You may have been doing this periodically throughout the year. Reflecting on the year as a whole is a great practice as well. If we don’t have clarity on these things, we won’t know what we should be doing more of and what we need to stop doing so we can make the best use of our time.
If your goals are important to you, don’t give up on them. Unless you had specific submission deadlines to meet, there’s still time to get it done. Persistence really does pay off. Achieving goals takes consistent effort and commitment. This isn’t a 100 metre dash. It would probably serve better to think about our goals as a marathon, never mind a 10 km run. Pace yourself, take care of yourself, and stay focused on the end goal. You’ll get there when you’re meant to. ♥