Is it a dream or is it a goal?

“Is it a dream or is it a goal? A dream is something you fantasize about that isn’t going to happen. A goal is something you set a plan, work for and achieve.”  

I heard that quote the other day listening to Triple H (yes, the WWE superstar) tell a story Evander Holyfield told him, and I thought it was brilliant. It felt appropriate, too, as I’m thinking about setting some running goals for 2017.

As I think about setting those goals, I have to ask myself, “is it a dream or is it a goal?” Am I willing to put in the work to accomplish the goals I want to set for myself or are they just dreams that I’m going to think about and fantasize about, and not reach because I’m too lazy to actually put in the effort?

I can’t answer that question, yet. I know how I want to answer that question — with a definitive, “It’s a goal, I’m going to set a plan and I’m going to work to achieve it.” That’s what I want to believe I’m going to do, but I have a lot of work to do in the routine and motivation departments, so those goals may turn into dreams.

But what if I set a goal, and work my ass off to reach it, and don’t?

To be honest, a piece of me will be pissed off if I set goals and don’t reach them. If you don’t care about the goals you set and reaching those goals, what is the point of setting them? I’m not saying that if I don’t reach goal A, B or C that my life is going to be ruined and I will be miserable, but those goals matter and if I don’t reach them, it will hurt.

The above is true and I believe in it whole-heartedly, but at this point in my running life, it is just as important that I put in the work necessary to reach those goals. Like I said, I have a lot of work to do in the routine and motivation department. I run a fair amount (35-40 miles a week right now). I get in plenty of miles and, when I’m training for a race, do plenty of workouts, but (stop me if you’ve heard this before) I’m lazy in some many other departments. My diet sucks. I pretty much don’t strength train. I don’t sleep enough. Stretching and rolling, well…

As I think about my goals, I think I want 2017 to be about — to steal a phrase term from my friend Dave Kerschner —”Big Audacious Goals.” For 2017 to be about “Big Audacious Goals,” I need to change the way I do things. I need to “set a plan, work for and achieve it.” I need to change my routines and my diet and be motivated every day. To turn my dreams into goals (make that, “Big Audacious Goals”) I need to work my ass off, way more than I do right now.

Speaking of right now, right now is not where I need to be. Right now, I’m sitting here writing a blog post, drinking a beer, eating peanut butter and thinking about my running goals. It’s OK. I’m not thrilled about my habits lately, but I promised myself I would cut myself some slack after the marathon. It was a long year of training and I definitely suffered a little bit of burnout. I’ve made up for that in the last 2 1/2 months by just running whatever I feel like, eating pretty much whatever I want and doing not much else.

So as I sit here thinking about my goals for 2017, I realize the biggest goal I have is to be a better runner, to stop being so lazy, to actually dedicate myself to this hobby. I’m thinking about some “Big Audacious Goals” (specific time goals for specific distances — specifically the marathon and the 5K), but actually, my “Big Audacious Goal” is to just be better. And to enjoy the process. It is not always fun to work your ass off, but honestly, actually, most of the time it kind of is.

That probably doesn’t make sense, but I guess what I am trying to express is as much as I sometimes dread doing the hard work and as much as sometimes the hard work hurts real bad, when it is over it is just about the coolest feeling ever. I wish I could express that better, but the words escape me right now.

I will set some concrete goals for 2017, goals that I hope are more than just dreams, but for right now, the Big Audacious Goal is to train hard and don’t suck.