You know that at this time of year I have to post something about racing…ha ha.

However, most parts of a running life are analogous to our lives in general. And no more so than when getting to the finish line. Reaching the finish line in life isn’t about death but about achieving something (a goal you’ve set for instance). Just as a runner does not stop running when one race is over, we don’t stop living or setting goals just when one goal is achieved.

You always have to have another goal or plan in mind. If not, you’ll end up with the “is that all there is” syndrome. The bigger the goal or accomplishment, the more important it is to have something planned to shoot for next. Otherwise you’re liable to plummet into depression so deep you don’t know what to do about it.

Your achievement or accomplishment may or may not lead to the next thing you want to go after. Perhaps you’re on a roll and are building up to something even larger – for example a runner might start with a 5K and gradually make it up the scale to a marathon or ultramarathon or even multi-day events. Or, it might be that you’re ready to move on to something different in your life so your next goal might be completely new and unique. There is nothing wrong with that at all. What is important is that you do have someplace else to go.

Give yourself some time to rest and recuperate after you complete the race (goal) – relax and don’t think about much of anything – revel in your success. Then allow yourself some time to reflect on what happened – what went right and what went wrong and what you might have wanted to do differently. Use this as constructive “life” time, not just for that particular goal. Take the lessons from this one event and see how to apply it to your life in general.

Now it’s time to move on to the planning and achieving of your next goal. All you had to do is figure out what your goal was while working toward the other one. You did NOT have to plan how you were going to achieve it. Just having something to aim for next is the key. Once you’ve rested, relaxed and taken inventory, it’s time to plan for this new endeavor. You can apply all you’ve learned previously to your planning efforts now!

What’s your next finish line? Can you see it yet?

Terrie