Show me your race face & get SMART

If you've ever taken part in a race or other competition you probably remember that there are 3 major stages. The start, the middle, the finish. You may also picture your face during each of these stages. The excited face at the starting line - all that potential out in front of you. The grimace when the adrenaline has worn off the the finish line is still a ways off. The relieved face when you see the finish line and you can't wait cross it. Or the face of pure joy when you realize you might actually win the race!

It is now the end of February and for many of us we're walking around with our grimace face on. We're just trying to get to the next thing. The holidays are over and we're looking down the road for what comes next. For some it's spring break, for others it's Easter. For the die-hards it's warm weather or summer. As moms it sometimes seems like an endless cycle of cleaning, grocery shopping and dinner preparation interspersed with wonderful memories and milestones as our kids grow up. (If you're like me it might be laced with major clean-ups too - read here a one year old who got into a tub of Vaseline.) This is the middle of the race. The time before the next big thing, whatever that is, arrives.

Personally, I'm in the middle of a healthy living challenge that I started with several other Stroller Strides moms in January. I am plugging along and I am seeing results from making a few key changes in my life, but there is still a ways to go. I've definitely got my grimace face on.



What keeps me going are the SMART goals I have set for myself along the way. I once participated in a cross country ski race. I'm not a ski racer but it sounded like fun. Um. Yeah. As I skied along I realized that it was a lot harder than I had expected but there was no way I could quit. So I started to make little goals for myself along the course. I'd strive to reach a tree, then pass the person in front of me, then go hard and fast for 2 minutes, then not let the person behind me pass me by. Before I knew it I could see the finish line. I got a new burst of energy and I finished strong. I didn't win, but I sure skied a great race.

It was the goals I kept setting that kept me focused and motivated. In my current challenge I have set some specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and timely goals as I go along. One will come up in a few weeks at my son's second birthday. Another will come up just before the end of the healthy living challenge. And finally after the challenge is over I have a timely long term goal already set to keep me motivated and energized.

goals are:

• Specific
• Measureable
• Attainable
• Reasonable
• Timely

So, make yourself some goals while you are wearing your grimace face around. The only way to change your race face is to make it to the next stage. The only way to make it to the next stage is to get through the stage you are currenly in. The only way to get through it is to set some SMART goals.


Show me your race face and get SMART!