How To Set Personal Goals – Worksheets For Marathon Race

Below is a five-step plan about how to move from “vision into reality” which you can use if you want. The plan will help you to clarify and make your Marathon vision specific – with a goal. It will be a good idea, if you use a PC /device, so you can write it down in the process. I call it Personal Goal Setting Worksheet for your ultimate marathon. How to set personal goals – worksheets for marathon race is about imagining the result in advance and writing it down on your personal goal-setting worksheet.

Know Your Personal Goal Result!

The precondition to setting up your running goal is that you are aware of, what you want with your marathon training. What result do you want? You have to be conscious of, what you want because knowing what you want, decides what you get.

Before something happens in the outer world, it must first occur in the inner. This can either be motivated by a specific problem you have, something you want to avoid e.g. being overweight, or something you want to be good at, win or obtain for example a better quality of life.

Now, in a marathon training context, use your imagination and focus on the questions:

“If everything was up to me …?”

“If I knew with certainty that it could not go wrong …?”

“If I was sure of success, what activities would I start up and pursue …?”

Be aware of your senses, what do you see, feel and hear…

Forget thoughts about having the time or no time skills or no skills etc.

As you become more and more excited about your running goal, you will discover new positive aspects of yourself, which support your goal.

Write Down Your Personal Marathon Goal on Your Worksheet!

Now you have to define and describe your personal marathon goal like: I want to run the Chicago Marathon in 6 months from today… The safest way to maintain yourself on a goal, so you do not “forget” it and to keep it alive in your mind is to write it down. From time to time, you can then read your goal description, to see if there is consistency between this and your current status. Start by writing your goal down, expressed positively in the present.

The reason why it should be expressed positively is that it opens up your resources in relation to the goal. You can find a worksheet that fits you from the many apps about the subject or just use a simple word document because it’s about your imagination and your personal words. That is most important in this step.

How Would it be to Reach Your Personal Marathon Goal?

Now you have to create the arguments. To develop a strong motivation by finding many important arguments to do it, develop a large internal drive, and large amounts of energy. It is like a river, which receives its water from many tributaries – it does not dry out but becomes larger and stronger. Ask yourself:

-“Why is it important for me to reach this goal?”

– “How would it be, crossing the finish line and seeing all the happy and enthusiastic runners and spectators?”

– “What will it give me to achieve it?”

– “In what ways, would my life be easier, funnier, richer and better by having reached the goal?”

The answers you get from inside yourself are your values, and values are moving us in life. It is the values, which give the motivation – your inner drive to reach your goal. If we are not in touch with the values behind our goal if we cannot feel something, nothing is happening. We are not motivated. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep asking and answering questions, until you get in contact with your values until you feel something.

Write down with paper and pencil on your Goal setting worksheet use a PC if it’s easier. How is your life, when you have reached the goal? What can you do now, that you did not believe you could do before reaching the goal? Who are around you? How did you celebrate your success, when you reached the goal? What do you hear and see? How would you feel?

Make eventually a detailed description of your life with the goal. Can you feel the energy (motivation) now?

There are no lazy people. Some people just have impotence (unclear) goals, and often it is because they do not know how to find the goal that really arouses their motivation.

Visualize your Personal Marathon Goal!

Now the subconscious has to be involved in the project, so it can work for you. There is one important thing you need to know about the subconscious. It does not speak Chinese, German, English, Spanish or other languages. The subconscious is “nonlinguistic” and works primarily in images and feelings. Therefore, if you want the subconscious to work for you in the project, you have to think in images and feelings.

Find a place where you can be undisturbed like in the morning before you get up, in the evening or just before you sleep, but sit up! Take a few deep breaths and think a few minutes on something relaxing and pleasant – eventually a previous success. Now, use your manuscript from step 3 and play it as a movie for yourself in your inner.

Visualize your goal, as if it is already a reality. Also, do this as often as you can – like every day until it feels natural and okay. This means that your subconscious has accepted the idea, and begins to work on realizing the goal for you.

Use Your Personal Goal Setting Worksheet to Take Action 

Once you have found and chosen your goal, like running the XX Marathon 6 months from now, then your success will consist of, how effectively you can stay focused on the goal. An important concept in this context is the strength of character, which arises out of your internal dialogue:

– Be aware of your thoughts, because they become to words.

– Be aware of your words, because they become to speak.

– Be aware of what you say, because it becomes to action.

– Be aware of your actions, because they shape your character.

The connection is clear: Your thoughts will end up creating your character.

As you see, it is important with thoughts and the internal dialogue, you have with yourself in light of those thoughts. The way is not long. Positive and constructive thoughts enhance performance, and negative, destructive thoughts reduce performance.

You now have to back up, your “subconscious” work by thinking and acting, as if it is already a reality. Check your thoughts and your language and remove words and phrases like “cannot”, “impossible”, “difficult”, “failure”, etc. Use instead “do not yet know how,” “challenging,” “feedback”, etc.

Think positive about yourself, your skills and all other persons involved in the realization of the goal. Let the goal as already achieved in your thoughts. Since your goal is marathon training, then start buying some running clothes and a pair of running shoes with good shock absorption and make small similar acts further on, as to choose and follow a marathon program in practice.

It reinforces and supports your motivation, because with this type of action, communicates to your subconscious that you are ready to live the goal, both mentally and physically. You can also meet up to running events as a spectator to learn and feel the atmosphere.

If you are a Visual Goal-Setter, I hope you like this post and if you have any questions about this Goal Setting process or want to leave your own Personal review, please leave a comment below.

What is a good first marathon goal?

The goal should be to take it easy, experience the event and complete the race. You don't know yourself and your reactions yet for such big a challenge, especially after 35 km in the race - when you still have 7 km left! Next time you can set a time goal, based on this first race.