When is a goal complete?

The reason why I said consistently is because I don't understand the point in reaching the goal if you're not going to push yourself. Are you aiming to do 20 and then stop forever, or are you going to aim for ~25 after that?

Two parts to this:

The consistently bugs me for some of my goals...like run a half marathon. Only need to do that once (just to prove to myself I can do it). Or finish an triathlon.

And the second part is NO I'm not stopping forever. It was a goal for a months improvement to be able to complete 20 consecutive double-unders. I'm sure that double-unders will be a focus goal again further down the road, but each month I change my focus to build myself as a more rounded athlete. Last month (March) was consistently hit a certain depth on squats. May is to move from the 12 inch box to the 18.5 inch box on my box jumps.

You can go through life saying that you ALMOST did a lot of things...

I almost lost weight...
I almost got healthy...
I almost did 20 double-unders...

Yet you never quite got there.

Which do you want to do...almost...or...I did it.

Maybe where you went wrong is not setting your goal at 20 but setting your goal to do it in a month. It is not how long that it takes you to do something but rather...that you did it.

IMO

Simply because...this was an opinion thread...

Whatever you choose to do...is really okay by me.

I still want to climb a mountain...even if that mountain is not the tallest...I have a ways to go.

My mountain is figurative...when I reach my goal weight...and I have learned to live...I will have reached the top of that mountain. Almost...won't be good enough.

The consistently bugs me for some of my goals...like run a half marathon. Only need to do that once (just to prove to myself I can do it). Or finish an triathlon.

So....if you run that half marathon, but only make it 13 miles and not the 13.1, is that goal complete?

I think if you set a number, then that number is your goal. It would be different if you said "I want to do more than I can do now". Then, 19 is definitely more than 0. When I was in counseling though, I was told to set a goal not related to the scale, but make that goal firm and specific. In other words, "I want to be better" is not a good goal. "I want to run 13.1 miles" IS a good goal because it's specific. Once I run 13.1 miles, my goal is complete.

Your counselor may have told you that for your benefit, but that doesn't mean the counselor's advice is for everyone. When I was in counseling, I was told that maybe I need to quit my job, and I did. And it was one of the best decisions I ever made and helped me to quit the substance abuse I was into at that time since my job was the underlying lynchpin for my depression, which is what was causing me to self-medicate with alcohol and stimulants. Would "Quit your job" be solid advice for everyone else? I doubt it. I doubt that my counselor ever said that to anyone else.

Wow a lot of responses while I was away from the computer. I'll go through for direct responses on some, but would like to modify my phrase...This is not a failure, it was progress. Thanks for calling me out on that one.

Calling this an aim for the moon, landing in the stars movement for the month.

:drinker: Except that my second attempt today I got 20, 24, 22, 19, and 21...so goal achieved. :drinker:

Congratulations!!!!!

I knew you could do it.

If you put a hard number on the goal, then the goal isn't met until that number is acheived. Have you made incredible progress? Absolutely! And you should be proud. But I wouldn't move on to the next "goal" until I nailed the orginal one. That's me. I am looking at racing times. I have a goal of running a 5k in under 22 min some time this year. If my best race is 22:01, I'll know I came darned close, but didn't make my goal.

So....if you run that half marathon, but only make it 13 miles and not the 13.1, is that goal complete?

I think if you set a number, then that number is your goal. It would be different if you said "I want to do more than I can do now". Then, 19 is definitely more than 0. When I was in counseling though, I was told to set a goal not related to the scale, but make that goal firm and specific. In other words, "I want to be better" is not a good goal. "I want to run 13.1 miles" IS a good goal because it's specific. Once I run 13.1 miles, my goal is complete.

Your counselor may have told you that for your benefit, but that doesn't mean the counselor's advice is for everyone.

See I took that a completely different way...I took this comment to mean to avoid not seeing the forest because of all the trees. Maybe my interpretation is off, but doesn't that seem to be a trend on the pages here...people getting so obsessed with a certain number ("magic number on the scale") and more advanced people trying to explain that not all goals have to be met perfectly and/or could be adjusted as needed?

To that, I think tycho_mx summed it up nicely.

It's easy - it is your goals. You decide.

I am an athlete (amateur). I have process goals and achievement goals. I have vague goals and precise goals.

As an example, I aim to complete a 15 km time trial in 20 minutes or less this season (45 km/h avg). That's a hard goal, you achieve it or not. I also aim to improve my power on the bike by 10%, but that reaches other limits and it's a "softer" goal that's more of a learning power. Same with performance in road races - too much crap going there to be too precise. But there's process goals like "not sleepwalking through a race" or giving up.

That's exactly what I do. If I decide to do a certain program, like Couch to 5k for example, then I'm not done until I've completed each day in the program. In college, I majored in accounting, and numbers are my BFFs to be sure, but honestly, for some things, there is no need to place an exact number, but having one in your head helps you to stay focused. Like, you said if you didn't put the number 20 in your head, then you might have stopped at three. I do the same thing. These types of goals are for ourselves.

Sometimes having a number is good to strive for, and sometimes that number is concrete. Either way, your goals belong to you, and if you set a goal with an abstract (spirit) in mind, then you know when you've reached it, so the number isn't so important. You know that you worked hard, that you consistently improved, and that you've completed what you *actually* set out to do. Some people may not understand how you can place a number on something that, in your mind, is an abstract concept, but sometimes that's what we might need to do to stay motivated and not stop at three. :flowerforyou:

So....if you run that half marathon, but only make it 13 miles and not the 13.1, is that goal complete?

I think if you set a number, then that number is your goal. It would be different if you said "I want to do more than I can do now". Then, 19 is definitely more than 0. When I was in counseling though, I was told to set a goal not related to the scale, but make that goal firm and specific. In other words, "I want to be better" is not a good goal. "I want to run 13.1 miles" IS a good goal because it's specific. Once I run 13.1 miles, my goal is complete.

Your counselor may have told you that for your benefit, but that doesn't mean the counselor's advice is for everyone.

See I took that a completely different way...I took this comment to mean to avoid not seeing the forest because of all the trees. Maybe my interpretation is off, but doesn't that seem to be a trend on the pages here...people getting so obsessed with a certain number ("magic number on the scale") and more advanced people trying to explain that not all goals have to be met perfectly and/or could be adjusted as needed?

Well...I might not be one of those "more advanced" people...I don't know.

Believe me...I have not set reached some goals that I have set. I have gotten either lazy...or...bored...with those goals.

Then sometimes it is because I set unrealistic goals and they need to be adjusted. However...if I change those goals then I never reached the first set goal.

So maybe I am not "more advanced" but I don't want to reach the end of my life and they write on my tombstone...she ALMOST did it. I don't know...maybe I am just the opposite of "more advanced"....maybe I am "primitive" instead!