Archery and Goals

I find myself awake this morning, not able to sleep, so I am thinking about things. I am thinking about my goals that I am trying to obtain in my life, I am thinking about my training, my diet, my life. Nothing like a little deep thinking to start my day. :)

I have been wanting to write about my goals and such for awhile now, being that it is January and most people write about that. At the end of 2009 I was actually very disappointed in not reaching a certain goal that I had in mind. It actually was eating away at me. I was ticked. I was focusing on not hitting a goal instead of what I had accomplished. My coach, Bob Mitera, had a talk with me and gave me a new way to look at my targets and my goals. I have started to use the analogy of an archer to picture what he was telling me.

We all need targets in our lives. Those BIG accomplishments that we want to hit. Those accomplishments are our targets. I would like to lose 153 pounds, and do my first Olympic Distance triathlon this summer. As an archer I have set those up as my two current targets for 2010. Now, I have to ask myself, "Self, what are you going to do to hit your targets?" My arrows are my small goals that I have set to hit my BIG targets. For my Weight loss Target I have committed to never missing a Weight Watcher meeting, tracking everything that goes into my mouth, and eating 5-6 servings of fruit and veggies everyday. If I hit all of those goals I will hit my target. For my triathlon target I have committed to working with my coach, trusting what he tells me, and doing my best to hit every single workout, logging my workouts, and working with Heart Rate Monitor in my training.

I used to do archery as a kid both with the family and at summer camp. There was never a time when I hit the bulls-eye every time on the target. NEVER. I would try. Some arrows would completely miss the target, some would hit on the edge, and some would hit the bulls-eye. It was exciting when it would hit the bulls-eye, but that was not always the case. When I would not hit the target I would have to collect my arrows, readjust my aim and take shot again at the target. Do you see where this is going?

I have goals for 2010 and beyond. I have set up my targets, I have chosen my arrows, i am taking aim, and shooting them at my targets. Will I reach 153 pounds lost total by the end of 2010? I don't know, but that is my target, but you know what? Life happens. I cannot control every aspect of my journey. If I don't hit my target, guess what? I will not be upset. I will readjust my arrows, I will take aim, and shoot again just like an archer does.

I didn't understand totally the first time Coach Bob explained it to me, but once I had archery as my visual and could see it like that, it finally clicked. Bob wrote about this on his blog at Kokua Mulitpsports. Check it out. Thanks again Bob for helping me understand this concept. It has really helped me readjust my thinking on my goals and I know that at the end of 2010 regardless of whether or not I hit my targets, I will be able to look back at my goals and know that I did everything that I could control to hit those targets.

That is just one thing I was thinking about this morning as I couldn't sleep and wanted to get my thoughts down about it. Let me know if there is anyway I can help you hit your targets this year. If you are trying to lose weight, do a race, quit smoking, organize your house, gain weight, spend more time with your family, whatever it may be, you can set those targets up and start aiming your arrows. and shooting them. Who knows maybe by the end of 2010 you will have hit your bulls-eye.