Are you choosing to live a happy, fulfilled life?
That’s right, studies have proven that ninety percent of the factors that make the difference between a happy life and an unhappy life are factors within your control. One life hack proven to help unlock your best life is setting, pursuing, and achieving goals.
Yes, you can choose a happy life, but don’t take my word for it! Here’s an example of how other people – people just like you – are choosing to achieve happiness through their goals.
Amuse-Bouche Before we jump into today's post, I offer you this "dad joke" as a light "amuse-bouche" to entertain your mind before we get serious. Like any other amuse-bouche, you may hate it, but it is worth every penny you paid for it, right? What's a runner's favorite pre-race meal? Fast food!
Marathoning Mom Demonstrates How To Become A Running Role Model (Interview)
Welcome to this week’s Interview with a Goal-Crusher. In these interviews, I sit down with someone accomplishing big things by setting and achieving their goals to learn their secrets. Then I share those secrets with you. It’s like free mentoring from someone already on the road to success. Who doesn’t want that?!
This spring, I had the good fortune of meeting a fellow runner, Jaime, at Indian Lake. We had a few conversations, talked a lot about running, and I got to know her a little.
My story of meeting Jaime could have ended there, but the universe had other plans. Over the next couple of months, the universe kept making our paths cross:
- We ran the Cap City Half Marathon together
- We bumped into each other at packet pickup despite me having picked up my packet hours earlier
- We bumped into each other before the race, though the odds were very much against that happening
- Jaime and her daughter both passed me and said “hi” during the race
- The three of us ran a second race together on July fourth
The universe was obviously trying to point out something important by continuing to make our paths cross. As I have previously mentioned, I try to pay attention when this happens lest the universe hit me with a brick (see Whispers, Voices, Screams, Bricks to learn more about my Oprah moment).
I listened to my message from the universe and started talking more with Jaime. We had an opportunity to do a run together on Labor Day, where we got to know each other a bit better. That’s when I realized the universe wanted me to share Jaime’s impressive story with you.
A couple of weeks ago, I was able to cheer Jaime as she ran her first-ever marathon. I wanted to use this week’s Interview with a Goal-Crusher to share how Jaime went from thinking she’d never run to crossing one of the ultimate finish lines just two years later.
If you have any doubts about how impressive her story is, I will share this stat: far less than one percent of the US population will ever do what she did. I don’t expect to ever do it, and she isn’t done yet!
Please introduce yourself and tell Operation Melt readers what you do.
Hello, my name is Jaime. I have 3 daughters: Ashten (23), Kayla (21), Macy (16). I’m a LPN.
After running a handful of 5K runs and racing mountain bikes in my twenties (not professionally), I have completed 2 half marathons and now my first marathon.
What motivated you to commit to running your first marathon? What was your vision? Can you share some/all of your story?
My vision was to just say, “I completed a half marathon.”
After completing my first half marathon in October 2022, I felt good.
So, I decided to try to complete a marathon to further seek out an adventure.
The next step in my adventure will be to complete the Dopey run at Disney – four races (5K, 10K, half marathon and full marathon) in one weekend.
What was the first step you took to get started achieving your goal?
After having bilateral foot surgery, I didn’t think running would ever be in my future.
I had been working out at the local gym and started running slowly. I gradually increased my mileage over time. Then, I was challenged by my office manager to run a half marathon.
So I did!
What were your biggest challenges in achieving your goal? How did you overcome them?
I would have to say the biggest challenge was just trying to get into shape and figuring out how to properly breathe while running.
I have to constantly tell myself to calm down and breathe. It’s almost a mental challenge.
I have also had difficulty figuring out what to eat before a run and staying hydrated.
What goal success tips and techniques have worked well for you that you would like to share with my readers?
I would have to say increasing mileage is mental.
Yes, your legs are going to hurt, and your body will be tired. But fueling your body is most important. I have tried everything from peanut butter to pop tarts.
What else would you like my Operation Melt readers to know about you or about goal success in general?
Once I get something set in my mind, it’s a goal I will conquer – well, within reason.
My girls give me a reason to keep pushing myself. I want to be a great example that anything can be done as long as you set your mind to it.
How can people learn more about you?
I’m honestly a private person. I don’t put a lot out there about myself. This is why running is so great for me. It’s a way to release anxiety from my daily life.
Wow, Jaime’s journey is impressive!
She never expected to be able to run after her foot surgery, and she just completed a marathon! She crossed that marathon finish line just one year after running her first half marathon. That is amazing!
Let’s look at how Jaime used (perhaps unknowingly) my Project Manage Your Life best practices to achieve this awe-inspiring feat.
- Set SMART Goals: Jaime set multiple, increasingly challenging goals for herself that tied to her big why – she wanted to be a good role model for her daughters. She has proven to them that they can accomplish anything. And she’s not done yet, Dopey beckons!
- Build a plan that works for you: Jaime’s charted a path unique to her needs – how many other people complete a marathon two years into their post-surgery running career?! Plus, she used trial and error to find the proper combinations of food and hydration to support her increasing running demands.
- Don’t go it alone: I’m sure Jaime relied on her team of experts (doctors, other runners, etc.), but she also had her family as her inspiration to keep pushing herself. Plus, peer pressure convinced her to train for that first half marathon… how often do we get to talk about positive peer pressure!
- Enjoy the journey: Most importantly, Jaime has found an activity she loves, that challenges her and helps release her daily anxieties. Not to mention that her next step is a unique race series at the “Happiest Place on Earth” while being a positive example for her daughters. How could she NOT enjoy that journey?
Jaime said she wants to “be a great example that anything can be done as long as you set your mind to it,” and she is nailing it! You, too, can accomplish anything if you follow my six Project Manage Your Life best practices:
- Set SMART goals
- Build a plan that works for you
- Measure progress every day
- Expect and plan ahead for problems
- Don’t go it alone
- Enjoy the journey
What are you waiting on?
The life of your dreams is just a few well-executed goals away. You can start building goals that work by downloading my free Goal Success Quick Start Guide eBook.
Need a little help getting started on that path to your dreams? I am a certified Master Life Coach and would be honored to be your goal success GPS.
Let’s talk!
Please visit the Operation Melt coaching page and submit a non-obligation inquiry form.
I believe in you; let me help YOU believe in you!
Meet Coach Tony
My name is Coach Tony, and I am a coach, author and project manager on a mission. I am working to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
I almost allowed one of my biggest life goals to die without ever being attempted for forty years. My goal almost died, not of failure but of loneliness. But, I took a risk and leveraged a simple, logical process that helped me wildly exceed my goal.
I transformed my life, and you can do the same with the help of Operation Melt.
Operation Melt provides engaging, practical content and hands-on coaching to inspire, motivate and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
Breathe new life into your goals
Download my free ebook to learn how to create goals that actually work and get the jump-start you need in life!
