Page 174 - Hard Goals

Conclusion: Starting Your HARD Goal 165

three-month mark in order to know that I’m on track to achieve
all of my six-month targets? Maybe you need to have long runs

of five miles, know how to use a heart rate monitor, fit into size
medium running shorts, or be able to run while your kids bike
alongside of you for four miles on the local trail.
Of course, you know what’s coming next. Cut that three-
month time frame in half and answer, what must I have accom-
plished at the six-week mark in order to know that I’m on track
to achieve all of my three-month targets? When you’ve got it
spelled out, do it again: What must I have accomplished at the
three-week mark in order to know that I’m on track to achieve
all of my six-week targets?
Now, once you’ve gotten to a time frame under one month,
do this exercise two more times. Ask yourself, what must I have
accomplished within this next week in order to know that I’m
on track to achieve all of my three-week targets? And then ask
yourself, what must I have accomplished today in order to know
that I’m on track to achieve all of my one-week targets?
The purpose of this exercise is threefold: fi rst, it shows you
exactly where and how to start pursuing your HARD Goal.
Second, it monitors and keeps you on track to achieve your
HARD Goal (and intensify your efforts where necessary). And
third, this exercise shows you that every single day needs to
contain some activity in pursuit of your HARD Goal.
This process is not a replacement for your HARD Goal. In
fact, the only way you’ll do the stuff for today and next month,
and all the rest, is if you’re being mentally fueled by a power-
ful HARD Goal. This process is just here to help you prioritize
your fi rst steps. HARD Goals can be, well, hard. So this breaks
your HARD Goal down, not into easy steps, but into clearly
identifi able steps.