What You Want Most

"Don't give up what you want most for what you want at the moment."
-- Christie, WeightWatchers leader, Stoughton, Wis.

I love this statement and the ideas behind it. Currently it shapes my life choices in many ways, including:
- Food: I want to eat half the menu at El Taco Loco. But, I'm trying to lose weight and each food choice matters, so I'm going to pass, for now.
- Triathlon: I wasn't sure I wanted to run last night at 9:40 p.m. I went, knowing I needed the workout, and it was fabulous.
- Writing: I want to publish my manuscript via a traditional publisher. Therefore I read, write, rewrite and repeat.
- Parenting: When I'm tired, it's easy to ignore or let consistent discipline slide. But, we want to build boys of character, so as parents we press on with hope.

Have you figured out what you want most, what you're willing to sacrifice for in order to achieve or become? Must you know where you're going to know what you want? Have you defined triathlon and/or other life goals or is goal setting a waste? Let's take a look:

Cecil Murphy, writing craft panelist on The Christian Writers View 2 & author of over 100 books, doesn't set goals. Instead he focuses on the present, he shared in a past TWV2 discussion. "I do what I can do now," he wrote. "That attitude keeps me open to the future; it prevents me from wailing over what I didn't do."

Part of time management and goal setting involves defining what you aren't going to do. Rachelle Gardner, literary agent with WordServe Literary, specifically doesn't scrapbook, garden or follow basic laundry guidelines in order to do what she loves most. Find more time management tips from Rachelle & 33 of her many readers here.

And, if you're a triathlete, the word Kona may mean something to you. Mary:IronMatron wants to qualify for the Ford Ironman World Championships (Kona) before she turns 43.

"So I'm going there. And soon. A lot of life is like that: you must decide you're going to get something, and then act as if it's yours to have," she wrote on a recent post "The Chase, The Pass, The Line."


Questions for you:
What do you want most?
What have you given up to get there?
What distracts you from getting what you want most?

photo credit-my breakfast. It's easy to be good with fruit like this.

8 comments:

Jennifer Harrison said...

I definitely write goals. For Triathlon I write 3 goals per YEAR /season. I put them on a 4 x 6 index card and tape them to my office board...I have to look at them everyday - and that keeps me fired up. They are stretch goals but also realistic. I have been racing for 15 years and there are not many I have missed. I feel with a good plan, support team, excellent coach, focus on recovery, timing of races and workouts, discipline and consistency...anyone can accomplish their Triathlon goals!!

YAY!

ShirleyPerly said...

I have a couple athletic goals I'm pursuing (complete 50 states marathon circuit, do some iron tris to include Kona someday) but the biggest goal, by far, is retiring early and moving to Kona full-time. There's not much sacrifice really involved any more as we're used to living frugally and saving like crazy but the biggest "distraction" or thing preventing it from happening right now is that my husband isn't ready to retire yet :-(

Lora Abernathy said...

Such great stuff, Sara. Your blog is an asset to the tri community!

chris mcpeake said...

Cool blog. You tri people are amazing

Sara Cox Landolt said...

Thanks to all for your comments - I needed your encouragement this week!

Jennifer- thanks for your perspective as a coach & athlete, the index card thing is good. I do that with post-its.

ShirleyPerly- Wow, so many cool adventures waiting for us all! 50 in 50, that's awesome. I see you still have Wisconsin to visit, we live outside of Madison.

Lora- thank you, that lifted me up!

Chris- as well, thank you & thanks for stopping by. The trail runners are also fascinating. :-)

laryssa said...

This was great Sara! Simple yet profound. Love Cec & Rachelle by the way. :)

GetBackJoJo said...

Oh wow! I was quoted and I didn't even know it! :) Thanks.
My goal right now is to stop procrastinating by reading blogs, and get on that bike! haha!

RaceSpy said...

Nice blog. Just wanted to say hello and wish you continued success.

Howard
Howell NJ