It's official...

It's official...

Today marks one month since turning 40 and I have mustered the courage to enter my dream event, which is taking place in around one year's time.

I saw my health care practitioner earlier this week to ensure that I'd be okay to go for it. To my delight, he has given me the green light... and a training program.

I now have information, an action plan and a vision. I am so excited.

I still don't want to spill the beans at this stage as I fear that telling you might deflate my enthusiasm. There's something about secrets that make them exciting, and I want to keep it that way. I'll also ask that you don't try and guess what I'm doing in the comments section at this stage. As the event draws nearer, I may change my thoughts on that.

I imagine there's going to be a lot of ups and downs on this road, and I want to push through it all. It's about keeping the end in sight. In fact I'll be taking on board a lesson that Pat often reinforces with me (and his coaching clients) in challenging situations - envisage the chequered flag Grace... and indeed I will.

Until tomorrow, may you find something that is worthy of the chequered flag talk - and go for it!

Grace xx

Meaningful goals matter

After finishing yesterday's MTS [Moving Target Syndrome] post, I was less than enthusiastic about heading outside in the rain to return a DVD (which by the way was The Soloist - a fabulous film).

This was a classic case of MTS manifesting and thankfully, I managed to nip it in the bud.

I knew that if I wanted to really get ahead in my health and fitness, it was high time to set a meaningful goal that mattered - one that stirred a fire in my belly and inspire me to spring into action, no matter what the weather was like outside.

There have been a few things that I've long fantasised about, but have never had the courage to pursue them. I jumped onto Google to do a bit more research and learned that what I envisaged was in fact possible for me. I felt a thrill of excitement pulsate throughout my body.

With images of possibility playing in my mind, I put on my running shoes, grabbed a spray jacket and darted out the door. As I did the 'Cliff Young shuffle' for 55 minutes in the drizzling rain, I felt a sense of purpose. I wasn't returning a video nor was I going for a run. I was taking the first steps towards my new goal - the one that matters.

Now before you scream out wanting to know what that goal is, I have decided to keep tight lipped about it. I have a tendency to deflate my enthusiasm by being too verbose about certain things. So for the time being, it's just my big dream that I've shared with Patrick and have his full support.

I am now in the process of devising an action plan and will be seeking the advise of experts to help me achieve my goal, which is big. In fact, it's huge. I am so excited.

Until tomorrow, set the wheels in motion by aiming for something that matters to YOU!

Grace xx

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MTS [Moving Target Syndrome]

Does anyone else out there suffer MTS [Moving Target Syndrome]?

I thought I'd just invented that term, but a Google search revealed otherwise. Nonetheless I will continue with my own definition.

I was once very good at setting goals and achieving them. However over recent years my goals have become moving targets, which has made reaching them all the more difficult... if not impossible.

How did I contract MTS? Does knowing the answer solve the problem?

Hmmmm...

Let's first look at a couple of big goals that I achieved and explore why I was unstoppable in achieving them, perhaps that'll reveal some insights:

• Winning $15,000 in a Body Transformation Challenge
  
  I wanted to win the money for our home loan deposit, which was down $15,000 after a car purchase. I was highly motivated and I would chant "home loan deposit, home loan deposit, home loan deposit" to get me through tough times (like running in the rain, riding into headwinds and getting up at 5.00am). The goal was never about loosing weight - it was about buying a home, which we did five months after I'd won the money.
  
  
• Publishing 'Nubsy McNoodle Wanted A Poodle'
  
  I made a promise to two children who'd helped write the manuscript, that I would publish our work and launch it by Christmas. I found the process terrifying yet I would remember my promise and push through the challenges. In nine months and four days, our story was edited, illustrated, printed, bound and launched by Bud Tingwell on November 28th that year. Publishing that book was about making good on a promise to young siblings who had been repeatedly let down by their biological father. I wanted to restore their faith in people, and promises. It was never about the book. I have since written another four manuscripts and have illustrations for two of them, however I've not been able to take further steps in having them realised - perhaps I need to make a new promise(?)
  

Now that I have written all this down, it is crystal clear. A bit like staring into those magic 3D patterns and the picture appears.

Worthy goals are solid. They do not have moving targets. They mean so much to those that set them that no obstacle can stand in the way. The goal is the priority. It ignites a fiery passion that is worth sacrificing and striving for, no matter how big the challenges are.

It's been years since I've had a goal that has stirred me that way.

In the absence of a worthy goal I've made a whole lot of superficial ones and, truly, they've been as inspiring as choosing what type of coffee I want to drink. It's no wonder the targets are constantly moving - so are my coffee preferences.

Does MTS lie in the types goals I am setting myself?

This begs the next question (or questions) - Am I setting uninspiring goals because I've become too afraid to set big worthy ones? Or is it because I have no idea what I really want to do and why I want to do it? If the truth be told, the first answer is the honest one. I do have big goals, only I have become too scared to declare them and action them.

That's enough for now, I'm off to return a DVD (in the rain and without a car). I'm going to use this time to do a bit more soul searching. I need to revive some passion into my life, and that'll start with defining that illusive juicy goal. Perhaps then my MTS will resolve.

Until tomorrow, see where you can ignite passion into your life and declare a worthy goal.

Grace xx

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