Using Goal Setting to Achieve More

Jill S. Bates, PharmD MS BCOP CPP
Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner
University of North Carolina Medical Center
Associate Professor of Clinical Education
University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Chapel Hill, NC

My daughter Payton is 6 years old. Our family has dubbed her “Pistol Payton.” She is a nurturing, caring, smart, and spunky little girl! She is my joy. But I had quite a bit of drama during my pregnancy with her, one of which included pregnancy-induced dysautonomia. The pregnancy-induced dysautonomia continued postpartum and caused me to randomly faint multiple times per day. Although my cardiologist said it was a benign condition, to me it was terrifying. My doctor instructed me, as part of my treatment, to “retrain my body.” At the same time, my family was going through crisis, and I found myself under significant duress. I was not exactly sure what “retrain my body” meant, but I stuck to my treatment regimen anyway and just got started: first doing yoga, then walking, and finally running. Thus began my passion for distance running.

Running has completely transformed my life. When I first started to run, I could not even run a half-mile without stopping to rest. In 2017, I ran 529.43 miles! I started running during a time of significant stress, which led to personal growth. My journey as a runner began my journey toward becoming an authentic leader, which I am still in the midst of today. In the context of being a new mom (for the second time), I wanted to better define who I was. I needed to understand my values and create a new vision and purpose for my life. I realized that I lacked clarity of purpose. However, when I run, my mind is clear. During my runs, I have to pay attention to my breathing to keep pace. I notice nature, I have creative ideas, I can think without distraction.

After I had been running for about a year and was achieving runs of only 1–2 miles per course, my neighbor approached me to say that she wanted to start running. We mapped out a plan to level our running skills (this was not too difficult and happened immediately) and began to schedule runs together. I welcomed this. First, I really like spending time with my neighbor. Second, she was aware of my medical history, and I felt safe knowing that she would care for me if something happened. Consequently, with her by my side, I felt brave enough to push myself and go farther. We started by discussing what we would focus on in our running. We decided to concentrate only on distance, not on time. This relieved the pressure we placed on ourselves to perform. Focusing on distance was simple and measurable.

When we started to run together, we had many things to learn and discover about what we were capable of. How much running was too much for our bodies? What were the best courses to take? What shoes or equipment did we need? How long did each course take to run? How could we fit running into our busy schedules? How could we avoid injuries? Neither of us was a professional runner, and although both of us had been athletic “back in the day,” we did not do distance running. We had no baseline experience, and so we talked about how we felt on our runs in order to work through questions and establish habits that supported our goals. Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare” helped frame our discussions as we reminded ourselves “slow and steady wins the race.”

When it became clear what our bodies were capable of, my running partner and I began to set goals. We started by looking at our immediate circumstances. We could manage to hit 10 miles per week by running 2 miles 3 days during the week and 3 miles on each weekend day. That actually comes to 12 miles, not 10. My running partner and I always include a buffer when we map out our goals to account for unforeseen circumstances like bad weather. If we did actually run 10 miles per week, we needed to run 40 miles per month to hit our final goal of 500 miles for the year (remember the buffer practice). We mapped out how we would incorporate this plan into our busy lives, considering our physiology (am I a night owl or an early riser?), work schedules, and family schedules. My running partner is a realtor full time, but she has more flexibility in her busy schedule than I do as a pharmacist. So each of us worked to set up habits to support our goals in a way that works for our own lifestyle. We do things differently, but both of us hit 10 miles per week consistently.

After our first year of running 500 miles, we celebrated the New Year together and discussed resolutions. This discussion continued for several weeks. We now hold this discussion annually and include setting goals in different areas of focus, such as spiritual growth, fitness, personal growth, finances, and family. The discussions are meaningful, candid, and humbling. You get to know someone pretty well when you run 500 miles together annually. You see each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, we can check each other to ensure that our goals line up with our values, are achievable, and are realistic (i.e., they are SMART goals—see the sidebar on p. 9). My running partner and I live in different daily worlds and come to the table with different experiences and fears. However, many issues we face transcend our individual circumstances. For example, both of us love what we do for a living, get excited by a lot of things, and as a result have a tendency to overcommit. We work hard to help each other avoid this problem. So when new opportunities arise, we discuss ways to help each of us identify “the essential few from the trivial many.” We are each other’s accountability partner.

Running has completely transformed my life on all levels. I am physically fit with improved mental well-being. I eat better and sleep better. I have more clarity of purpose. I strive each day to be an authentic leader. Each year I grow in my personal and professional development, having set SMART goals and having worked hard to achieve them throughout the year. Key for me has been establishing a connection with my accountability partner. She has motivated me to push myself beyond the boundaries of my fears and set goals that were previously unimaginable. I challenge you to set SMART goals for yourself to achieve more!

Take-Away Points

1. Identify and prioritize your values.
2. Create a vision and purpose for your life.
3. Using your imagination, reflect on who you are and what you are capable of.
4. Identify an accountability partner (I recommend choosing someone besides your significant other).
5. Create SMART goals (goals that are specific, measureable, achievable, and realistic and that have a timeline) in accordance with your values, vision, and purpose.
6. Regularly review your goals with your accountability partner.