We are in the second half of the year and moving along swiftly. So is life treating you kindly? Is there time to stop and take stock? Or are you just marching on?

How long have your new years’ resolutions lasted? Have you made any new ones?? Or are you still on the right track?

Have you kept your balance of work, private and social life?

What are you currently working on?

What does it take to capture your imagination?

Are you making your dreams come true?

Do you work on creating new dreams/goals?

What are your life goals?

Are you on track?

I was recently speaking with a few of my running friends and we all agreed that it is great to have a specific goal to work towards. Obviously, in terms of running, this means some race you aspire to do. Hopefully, it is a bit of a challenge so it is worth training for. First, you need to enter the event, then you get into planning mode and devise a training plan.

Now you have made a decision and entered the event, you need to buy into the training programme. The challenge now comes when you have to manage your decision as well as your training programme to suit your life and your lifestyle.   Life will invariably throw you some curve balls, making deviating from your plan very easy. You might have to adapt your programme, change some aspects or change your goal altogether. Is it possible to stay focused so you can reach your goal?

Some goals are definitely bigger than others, some are easier to achieve. I find that if my goal is scarily big, the training programme extremely challenging, the bigger my sense of achievement and satisfaction at the completion.

I find planning and completing these challenge easier if I do it in a group and not by yourself. It makes the hardships/challenges easier to share and I seem to be more accountable for staying on track if I work together with someone towards a common goal.

I do enjoy a good challenge and am able to work towards a scary goal quite easily in terms of my sporting life.

Can we take this analogy and adapt it for life in general? Have you decided what your life is about and what you would like to work towards? Have you got a list of dreams, goals and aspirations? And does your daily life tally with those? Do you have a plan of action to reach your goals? Are you able to stay focused on your goal? Can you adapt your goal suit your needs better? Have you taken stock of your life lately and checked if you are on track?