So I just had a big disappointment.
One of my 3-Word Goals is Fittest at Fifty — and part of that is to run 1500m faster at 50 than I did at 16. That means four minutes and 40 seconds. I’ve got until March, my 50th birthday.
Today was a checkpoint. My target was 6:28. I ran 6:39. Missed it by 11 seconds. And I was gutted.
Here’s what I realized:
I didn’t put in enough miles. Arrogance.
I didn’t fuel properly. Arrogance.
And when it hurt, I slowed down. Again… arrogance.
In other words, I got the result I deserved.
But here’s the thing. The temptation when you miss a goal is to make the next one easier. Lower the bar. Tell yourself a nice story. I’m not doing that. Next month, my target is 6:00 flat. Harder, not easier.
Why? Because small goals don’t change your life. Boring goals don’t inspire you. And the only way I’m going to get to 4:40 in March is if I keep raising the standard, not lowering it.
I share this not because my 1500m matters to you. But because the way we process disappointment does.
So if you’ve missed a goal recently, ask yourself: did you set it small enough to be boring? Or big enough to actually matter?
