Setting and achieving remarkable goals

Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru

Aung San Suu Kyi has been released in Burma after being under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years! Amazing to see her finally released. How do great things occur? Even more interesting to me is how do great people, achieve such remarkable lives? Her life has been strongly influenced by another remarkable soul, Mahatma Gandhi who in his 78 years influenced (and was influenced by) South African politics, created a new form of effective non-violent political opposition, imagined and then “fathered” modern India and influenced generations of people around the world, particularly empowering those who feel disempowered by their circumstances, such as Aung San Suu.

Just like great sport people seem to have more time in the field of play to foresee and respond to the competition, great achievers seem to have more time in their lives to make extraordinary things possible between the mundane requirements of day to day existence we are all encumbered by. Some of the differences come from talent, but everyone knows the most talented kid at school doesn’t often become the most successful. In my view great achievers seem to fairly consistently posess unusual courage to set audacious goals, the ability to work out how they may get there, or at least start the journey, effective adaptive capacity, and then amazing energy to sustain the effort despite obstacles.

“Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” Dennis Waitley

For me personally, I use goal setting to motivate me to try for seemingly large goals such as racing with top 10 results as a pro in 4 key large races despite only a few years in the sport and being eligible for veteran (over 40) category. Two years ago I would not have dreamed that was feasible. At the time I hadn’t raced tri seriously for nearly two decades. It also helps me consider what should gain priority on any day, like today. Is it better to spend my time playing outside with the kids, helping them with homework, going out training, writing my blog, catching up with friends or doing my French homework for Monday? Reality is I would like to do them all, so do I try and do them all incrementally or a few. If a few, which takes priority? Well set goals help me make these decisions.

It’s also topical for me as it’s that time of year to consider resetting my goals. No, it’s not NYE yet, but the end of the year is heading our way, my season is over and it’s time to start planning and preparation for next year. So I'll share some of the process I go through for you to take and adopt or adapt as best suits. I set my goals in the following, generally sequential stages.

• Take the learnings from your last set of goals (these may or may not have been explicit)
• Consider new goals in consultation with others
• Make the goals SMART and consistent
• Accept and share your goals with your “team”
• Go for it!

When I think about goals, I tend to consider them in three parts; the desired outcome, expected/ planned process and core values. Looking at them as a set of three inter-related parts helps highlight a basic truth about goals; it is usually the journey, not the outcome that gives you the greatest pleasure and long term personal growth. So you don’t want to let focus and commitment to an outcome compromise you to a point that you don’t get to fully appreciate the path to it.

Outcome: Measureable result such as; establish a new business, complete your first triathlon or ironman, run 10k under 45 mins, complete your studies with an average grade of 80% etc

Process: How you expect to achieve the goal. When you consider the goal what do you think you need to do differently (start, stop or change/adapt) to successfully achieve it. Eg for the 10k run time example above this may be something like: join a club and train with them 3 times a week to keep motivated and build skills, add a key interval session and a strength workout each once a week, lose 2 kgs and determine a race schedule that gives you some 5k lead up runs and at least a couple of options to achieve your target time in case of injury/illness/work or family commitments etc.

Values: The way in which you achieve the goal. When you need to compromise or reprioritise on the way through (as you always need to do) this is the basis on which those difficult decisions will be made. It is all good to have established a successful new venture, but was it was done with the integrity that you expected of yourself. Hopefully so!

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony” Mahatma Gandhi

So the process of goal setting.

1. Take the learnings from your last goals

Before setting anything new, it’s always worth looking at your last set of goals (whether explicit or not) to honestly consider how you went. If you understand both how you went and why, then the next goals will be even more achievable and able to stretch you to greater heights.

In review consider, did you achieve the goal outcome or not? Either way did the process support the goal as you expected? Did you get some good or bad luck (uncontrollable elements) that intervened? How well did you adapt? Did your values assist guide your difficult decisions? What did you learn from it all that you can use again? Then let go of any other attachments to the past outcomes as best you can in order to fully focus on the new set.

2. Consider new goals in consultation with others

Setting new goals is exciting. Imagine the possible! For me next year I’ll be able to race as a pro thanks to Triathlon Australia granting me a licence after a good season this year. This is a really exciting opportunity that I hope to fully appreciate by racing well in some great ironman and long courses across Europe. I am also focussed on building a great business running triathlon and yoga camps in the Aravis Valley with Adventures in the Alps while developing personal skills (such as language) and relationships to make life here in France easier, more enjoyable and connected.



For any big goal you are unlikely to be able to reach it alone or without impacting those around you. So when you consider your goals, consider them in relation to “your team”. Who will need to be involved with you in reaching these goals? Do they understand the goal, their role in it and are they equally happy or hopefully excited by the opportunity?

My team - 2009 World Champs Perth



Your team includes the obvious people such as a coach (business or sporting) and professional service providers (physio, accountant, etc) as well as people you will impact through your goal orientation such as family and friends. Before you make a commitment, make sure they are part of it, understand and are supportive of it. It is not much fun celebrating a birthday without having a great family and good friends around you, even if the cupboard is full of medals / bank account numbers / university honours ...

So by the time you have committed to a set of goals, you and your team have discussed options, established boundaries and reprioritised as needed. Make it easy to deal with the tough stuff before it is even there by recognising where it may come, discussing it and either working out an approach to make it acceptable or rejecting it.

3. SMART and consistent goals

So now to write the agreed goals down and ensure they are smart. By that I mean, will you know if you’ve achieved them or not? Do they sensibly stretch you? Is your team on board and are all aware of mutual expectations? To make it easy, SMART can form an acronym that summarises this nicely.

SMART goals are

• Specific and stretching
• Measurable
• Accountable (the whole team likely to be involved is aware of their expectations)
• Realistic
• Timebound

Secondly, are the goals consistent? Consistent goals are those that do not conflict with each other (internally consistent) or the requirements of the external environment for them to be achieved (externally consistent). Internal consistency from my perspective includes all of my outcomes, values and process elements. If you need to spend all of your leisure hours training yet espouse a key value to be a good family member and friend, then you have a problem coming your way!

4. Accept and share your goals

So now the fun bit. Commit! I think one of the best ways to commit is to share your goals with others and initiate the first step or two. I tend to also write my top three goals on a little card I keep in my wallet. It includes each goal including a time for completion as well as my key values. On the flip side is a picture of the Aravis Valley in winter (taken when the dream to live here was still a dream and seemed a long way off) and a quote on each side. Both quotes are included in this blog.

As you share goals, two things happen. Firstly they can appear more real, explicit and considered to you as you extrovert them in different ways with different people. Secondly, I am always amazed at how many people add value when you share a goal. The team widens beyond your expectations as people share their thoughts or their skills, ask questions that make you realise where you still need to find answers, answer questions or solve problems you have or just offer a kind word of encouragement at a point in time when it is really needed. Big goals are very rarely achieved in isolation.

Sharing goals helps others engage with you in a meaningful way and assist which makes them feel, and truly be valued. Equally it is wonderful to actively assist others achieve their goals, so look for this to always be a mutual or even just outbound activity. To me, this is what community is, people assisting each other achieve what they couldn’t in isolation. It is what makes life rewarding and fun.

5. Go for it!

Commit, or don’t. Once committed, make it real. “Do or do not, there is no try” Yoda

So you have set your priorities, determined how you expect to achieve them and with who. Now time to do the hard work, commit and make the sacrifices that are needed to achieve anything great. That may mean something as simple as foregoing your weakness for citron tarts (not so simple for an old tart-aholic friend of mine!) or getting up at 5am for training in the dark and cold when you’d far prefer stay in bed. If you have set the goals well, including a good understanding of the process, you shouldn’t be surprised by the sacrifices required to achieve them. Additionally unforeseen obstacles can be managed through decisions based on clear, coherent and prioritised goals and values.

Now it does happen that along the way things change and goals need to be reset. I’ll deal with that in a later blog. For now, set your sails for the moon and plan to get there!

So, all the best in achieving your dreams, whether they are simple, great or truly audacious! I’m off to focus on the next priority in my evening, making dinner for the troops!

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagine. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler" Henry David Thoreau