Some years my wife and I literally set ourselves a path for the year. One year we walked the Cotswold Way (a UK National Trail) another year we cycled along the Kennet and Avon Canal (this joins the River Avon to the Thames). This year it’s going to be the Thames Path starting at the Thames Barrage in the east and walking to Thameshead near Cirencester in the west. We don’t do these trips on consecutive days but do sections over weekends depending on time and the weather.
Rather than setting off immediately on this year’s trail we thought we’d start with some training.
The training is to get plenty of walks in so that we can build up to the challenge of doing 15 to 20 miles a day two days at a time. This weekend we’ll do 15 to 20 miles but spread over two days. Good training as well as seeing how ready we are for the real walk.
With a new year many of us will have set big goals for the year. It’s still early so there’s every chance of success whether it’s reading the complete works of Dickens, starting a new business or building your own house. Of course you can dive straight in if you’re confident that you’re ready. But if your reading speed is a bit slow, your sales technique rusty or your bricklaying skills uncertain then some training could be in order.
Training is quite simple. It’s practice to build up skills, strength (mental and physical), technique and confidence in a safe environment. By safe environment I mean where failing isn’t going to be a disaster. If I get blisters on a training walk close to home because my feet aren’t yet tough enough or I’ve got the wrong socks then it’s no disaster as it’s not ruined the achievement of my goal. In fact correcting or learning from practice will make what you’re training for much more likely to work out.
So if you’ve set yourself a big goal for the year start by working up to it. Build you skills and strengthen yourself so you can make your goal a reality rather than a pipe-dream.
What are you training for?
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6 comments
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Lisa @ The Meaning of Me
January 9, 2013 at 5:58 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Training for the rest of my life, Peter. There’s a biggie. I look at the life I’ve lived so far – for better or worse – and consider the life I want to live and that makes me want to put practices and processes in motion to allow me to move slowly but surely in that direction. Your training metaphor is great. Thanks for the post.
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Peter Hall
January 13, 2013 at 4:40 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Lisa,
Moving in the right direction however slowly is worth putting in the effort for,
Peter Hall recently posted..What are you training for?
Steve
January 9, 2013 at 7:29 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Those look like fun paths to go on. That’s such a great thing to do with your wife. My wife and I don’t set out our paths for the year like that, but we do often figure out what our travels for the year are going to be. Well, we actually set general travel outlines like how many trips we’re going to do and where we want to go and then change them as the year progresses, but we usually stick to our plans.
What I’m training for this year is I’ve been planning on writing a book this year. I’ve been building up my writing skills over the past few years so I think I’m ready. I have my plans down for it so it’s just a matter of sitting and writing down the words. Just like your Thames path, I won’t be doing it in consecutive days. It will have to be one of those things I do little by little until it is completed.
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Peter Hall
January 13, 2013 at 4:43 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Steve, booking writing can be tough work but the best advice is to keep going word by word.
Peter Hall recently posted..What are you training for?
Armen Shirvanian
January 11, 2013 at 5:40 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Hey Peter.
I am training for strength as of the beginning of this year. I have done pushups and situps every 3 days. It is a good thing and I like the way it is going. I’m not following some forum thread or some example someone set, but just made it up near the end of 2012.
When you set a goal that fits you only, and it is only based on your own desires, it is one that progresses smoothly.
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Peter Hall
January 13, 2013 at 4:17 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Armen,
Hope you get strong in 2013. I think you’re right about matching goals and desires – why would you want to attempt someone else’s goals?