What’s realistic in terms of your goals? That’s a tough question. I think when I started this journey back in 2002, if I said my goal was to lose 80 pounds, I’d have thought of myself as crazy. Yet here we are, more than 80 pounds later.

Of course, that 80 pounds took years to come off (yes, years, not a year, not months), so you can see that figuring out what’s realistic also has to do with your timeframe.

I started this game without a weight goal; instead, my goal was, generically, to get healthier. That then translated into goals like, “write down everything you eat every day,” or “do three bike rides this week of an hour or more.” Further down the line, these short term goals started to build into long term goals like, “do the Century Ride this year.”

In 2008, I had four athletic goals, four events I wanted to do: the Great Aloha Run, the Metric Century, the Century, and the Honolulu Marathon. I did all four, although I struggled through the marathon and got sick after the marathon. Perhaps these goals were too much for me to accomplish well. But I accomplished them nonetheless, and if I had never had them as goals, I can guarantee I never would have accomplished any of them.

What’s your goal right now? Is it to lose a size or two? How about 10 pounds? Is it to finish your own epic run or ride? Or to compete in an event?

Whatever it is, write it down, figure out what you need to do to get there, and most of all, go do it! Next time we’ll start looking at the steps I took to break down the goal I successfully accomplished but struggled so mightily in–finishing the Honolulu Marathon.