Knowing when to change your goals

Goal setting is important - both in life and weight loss. Setting goals for yourself lets you to see where you want to go and can help you make a plan on how to get there. Goals should be things that are specific and attainable.

Sometimes following through on goals is easier said then done. At time it's a lack of motivation. Other times it's external issues: life, work, illness, injury, the list goes on. At a certain point, you have to know when to change your goals. Continuing to work towards a goal that has become unattainable is depressing and demotivating.

At the beginning of June, I set some goals of things I wanted to achieve in the month.

They were to:

1. Run 3 times a week
2. Ride my bike 3 times a week
3. Complete my swimming class
4. Do a mountain hike at least 3 times in the month

The first week I rocked those goals, going for my three runs, FOUR bike rides, my swimming lesson and a hike. A long hike.

Unfortunately, the result of that first week was a knee that is still limiting me a week later. A knee that made my second week lacking in completion of all those goals, except the swimming lesson.

I suppose I could somehow still try to get there, but realistically, it's not going to happen. Even if I could achieve those goals for the remaining weeks in June, there's no way I could make up for the missing weeks.

And I can't achieve those goals for the remainder of June.

I definitely can't run yet. While I'm hoping that I can get back on the bike by the end of this week, but I don't even know if that's going to happen. While I intend to get the mountains next weekend, any "hiking" we do is going to be at my childrens' pace.

So, I'm setting new goals. They include.

1. Finishing my swimming lesson. (No reason for that to change.)
2. Conquer my fear of the deep end of the pool and swim laps 1-2 times a week (in addition to my swimming lesson.)
3. Get to the mountains at least 2 more times this month.
4. Do what I can in regards to biking, running, and hiking.

The "do what I can" goal is pretty open ended, but for now that's as good as it gets. I don't know how long my knee is going to take to heal. I'm not going to make another dumb mistake like going for a long hike when it's already sore. I won't bike until I can go up and down stairs without pain. I won't hike (seriously) until I can bike without pain. And I won't run until I'm doing all of the above without pain for at least a week.

It hurts. I was really enjoying the level of activity that I had reached. I looked forward to the early morning wake ups and the solitary runs. I was loving packing up a lunch for me and the kids and heading out with the bike and the chariot. I love the mountains, the trees and the views that I get while hiking.

I think one of the keys is to not let go of all of that. Yes, I'm forced to take a break from it for now, but that doesn't mean I can't get back to it.

One thing this is forcing me to do is confront my hang ups with swimming...