Monday, December 27, 2010

Now It's Time to Deal With It

Sorry for being Peter Poopypants yesterday. I'm writing today's blog post as a cathartic exercise. Something to help me to get my head on straight. Hopefully this will also help others. If not, you're allowed to press the "skip" button. I'll understand.

As many of you so rightly pointed out yesterday, the real issue is that for the past couple of months, running has not been fun. Many of you have offered some pretty great ideas to get things back on the straight and narrow. Thanks! I really do appreciate your concerns and suggestions. But, I'm going to attack this a little differently.

One of the reasons for the visit from the FAIL whale was because I allowed myself to become results oriented. Being results oriented is what happens when you concentrate on results instead of concentrating on the process to achieve the results. With my mental state of being and (later on) injuries, there is no way that the results I was aiming for at the beginning of the year were achievable. Back to goal setting 101.

I mean, I should know better. In my career as a Management Consultant, I have helped numerous businesses solve their problems through a series of goal setting exercises. The basic exercise is (1) set goals for the organization (business plan), (2) create some strategies that are congruent with the goals of the organization, and (3) create the tactical plans that keep everyone marching in lockstep with the goals set and strategies created. My problem is like the cobbler's children without shoes. It's easy to give the advice. It's an entirely different issue to take the same advice.

So, tomorrow's exercise is about setting some goals for the coming year. Something that is measurable. Something that is achievable. Something that keeps the FAIL whale away. I promise the are some surprises in store...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

17 comments:

  1. Results orientated is a great trait. You are lucky to have it. At the same time it can ruin things. I know this for sure. usually our best characteristic is also our downfall. Have fun Glen. Maybe I will c u on the trails when i get back to calif.
    You'll recognize me. I'll be the slow one :-))

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  2. Show us what you got. Enjoyed getting to know you in 2010 and definitely want to see you around in 2011...

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  3. So...did Santa bring you the iPad for being nice (despite being a...what did you call it...Peter Poopypants?)

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  4. oooh.. how do you like the iPad? (just a little envy here)

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  5. Strategy and tactics...ok, let's win this war.
    Hey, you're going to run Los Angeles? Let's get together. Last year we had a party afterwards at my daughter's in Hollywood. This year she'll be in a different (smaller) place, but we'll be doing something.

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  6. the fail whale! that's what i say.

    i would have to concur. focusing too much on results is not the way to do it. i think i had a similar issue, now that you mention it. i think mine was more in a sense of "i'm never going to hit my PR's again if i don't run more/harder" which obviously didn't help because then i felt crappy for not running more/harder.

    anyway. it sounds like you are really coming around with yourself. look forward to seeing what the goals are all about!

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  7. yay! i'm looking forward to the unveiling of the plans

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  8. Looking forward to hearing the new aims you have for 2011 and the path to reaching them!

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  9. Sounds like the start of something good........

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  10. Really looking forward to reading about your plan for 2011. I am definitely a results oriented kind of guy, but I think breaking down "results" into small easy to quantify ways can be really helpful in training. At least that is my goal for this year.

    Good luck, Glen, I look forward to reading more.

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  11. So I had to go back and read the Peter Poopypants entry for perspective.

    I think that maybe the first goal should always be to have fun. I understand wanting results...but if you don't have fun, what is the point, right?

    Looking forward to your goals for 2011!

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  12. Yay! Can't wait to read it! Seems we are both dealing with the same sort of stuff for 2011. :)

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  13. I'll be working on the same thing today! No dwelling on the past - just move forward. I can't wait to read your post tomorrow!

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  14. I stopped looking at the results. I like going on the journey.

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