What if I fell short on last year's goal?

The ever-popular New Year's Resolution time is upon us. So, you set your goal last year and now it's time to evaluate your progress, or lack thereof. How did you do? Did you lose the weight you wanted? Did you save the money you hoped? Did you log the miles you planned or run that race you've dreamed of running? If not, don't let it discourage you.

Take a hard look at your past year and see what you learned and what you didn't. If you fell short on your goal, figure out why. Did you give up by February? Or was there an extenuating circumstance that made completing your goal difficult (sudden illness or injury, surgery, etc)?  Figure out what happened and figure out how to improve in this next year. And, if you accomplished your goal, congratulations to you!! Now set your sights on new and improved goals and get to work.

My goals for 2014 were to run my first half marathon and to log 500 miles on foot (run, hike, walk). I ran my first half marathon in October, and I've got another scheduled in a little over a month. So, that goal was accomplished this year. As far as my miles go, I covered 477.15 miles in 2014. When I totaled up my miles this morning, I was a little disappointed in myself. If I look back at my year, I know that I pulled my left calf muscle  2 or 3 times, and sprained my ankle once.  I know that recovering from those injuries and resting instead of logging miles could have contributed to falling short by just over 22 miles in my goal. But, if I'm brutally honest with myself, I'd admit that there were a few times, and even a week around Christmas where I just snuggled up on the couch with a blanket instead of going for a run. And, if I would have gotten up and gone out running, I would have hit my mileage goal and even surpassed it.

So, are we honest with ourselves when we set goals and fall short? Or, do we find excuses and place blame on others? One of the biggest parts of weight loss is accountability and responsibility. You have to be accountable for your own actions and responsible for your own choices and your own successes. Nobody is going to MAKE you exercise. Nobody is going to MAKE you eat healthy. You have to want it. You have to commit to it. And, you have to decide to do it. But, at the same time, YOU get the benefits. You get to feel better. You get to add years to your life. And, you get to have that feeling of empowerment and strength that comes with not only reaching a goal, but crushing it.