Tuesday Shakeout: Goal Oriented

New year, new intentions

In years past, I never thought too deeply about New Year's resolutions. You can just as easily change your life on August 14th as you can on January 1. Yet, as the calendar flipped to a new year I found myself drawn into the cycle of renewal, rebirth, and sure, resolutions. There’s just something nice about starting a new year off with a clean slate.

Still, that word – resolution – feels too finite and constricting. When your resolve gets tested, and it will, is there space in your vision for adjustments, tweaks, or modifications that help you meet the moment? If not, all the grit and determination in the world will only take you so far.

For an activity like running that comes preloaded with hundreds of co-dependent variables that can change as often as the next day’s weather, flexibility and adaptability are the key. In the words of the prophet David Lee Roth: “You got to roll with the punches to get to what’s real.”

Perhaps a better term for resolutions in a running context is goals. Goals can be flexible. Goals can be nebulous. Most importantly, goals don’t need to be lines drawn in the sand. They can, and should, evolve with the passage of time. So, as a new year dawns, let’s take a few minutes to set some running goals for the upcoming year. You can join us by upgrading to a paid subscription.