Are you living life by design or by default?

Another way to ask the question is: are you drifting, or are you deliberate?

As a child, I used to love sailing in the lakes in the Nilgiri Hills in South India. You set off from one side of the lake and you aim to get across to the other side. Now you can push yourself off in the general direction and hope that the winds and currents take you there and you sit back and wait. Or you get busy and deliberate. Set yourself some measures, some markers, some goals and you work with whatever way the wind is blowing to achieve those goals.

I’ve got a lot to learn about creating and working towards goals (hence listening to the podcast). However, recently I set myself a goal and signed up to run the TCS World 10K in Bangalore.

I hadn’t run for over a month due to a strained knee cap, which has mostly recovered. Sunday before last I decided it was time to start training again. So I set myself a goal to run for 45 minutes. I wasn’t going to worry about pace or distance but just keep running for 45 minutes.

It wasn’t the best idea because, a. I hadn’t run for over a month at all, b. it was 4:30 pm and Bangalore was 34ºC, c. I wasn’t carrying any water with me, d. I was running outside in the heat (i almost always run on a treadmill).

By 25 minutes (my usual run time) I was pretty much done. I wanted to stop. My mouth was dry and my lips were caked in salt!! (yes, it was as disgusting as it sounds). But I had set myself the goal of 45 mins run no matter what the pace. So I just slowed it down, I didn’t stop and I didn’t walk. But I kept going and I ran/jogged/plodded for 45 minutes.

The reason I share this is that if I hadn’t have set myself the goal before I started, I would not have continued for the full 45 minutes. The goal kept me being appropriate in the moment — knowing that I have a 10k race coming up at the end of May.

So if you don’t have goals that you are working towards, chances are you’re drifting. There’s a quote I like which says

Is there a promotion you’re aiming for?

Is there a level of fitness you want to achieve?

Is there a relationship you need to work on?

Is there a qualification or skill you need to develop?

Set some goals, be deliberate about it. Those goals will keep you appropriate in each moment — they will keep you using your time appropriate to what you want to achieve.

Don’t drift. Don’t live life by default. Live it by design — your design. Every moment.

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