What to Ask Instead of “Can I Accomplish This Goal?” - Coach Tip Tuesday

When you consider setting a goal in endurance sports, what questions do you ask yourself about it?  If you’re like most athletes, one of the questions you ask yourself is probably something along the lines of “Can I accomplish this goal?”

While this can be a good question to ask, I often encourage athletes to ask themselves a subtly - but significantly! - different version of this question.  Instead of asking “Can I accomplish this goal?”, I encourage them to ask “How can I accomplish this goal?”

The distinction here is important.  The first way of asking it - “Can I?” - starts athletes off with a certain level of doubt right from the beginning.  Asking whether they can do it indicates that they are not sure that they can do it.  If they do decide to embark on the path toward the goal, once planted, this seed of doubt often remains with athletes (even if it’s somewhat unconscious and in the background) throughout the rest of their training for the goal.

We Don’t Actually Ever Know If We’ll Be Successful

Let’s be really (and perhaps brutally!) honest with ourselves.  As much as we might not want to admit it, we never actually know if we can do something until after we’ve tried to do it.  While it’s true that we might be able to have very accurate predictions about our chances of success ahead of time, we never have a confirmed answer to the question “Can I do it?” until we give it a go and the thing is either done or not done.  As much as I love Master Yoda from Star Wars, I don’t think it’s always as simple as “Do or do not.  There is no try.”  Our entire existences as humans are spent trying different things and seeing what works, what doesn’t work, what we can do, and what we can’t do.

When it comes to goal-setting for endurance athletes, I want to encourage athletes to have a more positive and encouraging self-perspective right from the genesis of the goal.  I want them to plant a seed of hope, not a seed of doubt.  What we plant in the beginning will carry through the rest of our training.  In so many ways, I believe firmly in what Qui-Gon Jinn (another Jedi Master from Star Wars) said: “Your focus determines your reality.”  Start off with the mindset that you will accomplish your goal, and set your course from there.  That position of confidence - rather than one of doubt - will help you determine your reality, where you do accomplish your goal.

For over 15 years, I have watched hundreds (if not thousands) of individual athletes set goals.  In many, many cases, those same athletes have achieved the goals they set for themselves.  Unfortunately, there have been some times when athletes haven’t achieved their goal the way they originally envisioned that they might.  But the majority of athletes I’ve known over the years - either through coaching or just by my being in this industry - have achieved the goals that they’ve set (even if some of the timelines to those goals took longer than they might have originally anticipated).

I have said this before and I’ll keep saying it…probably forever: I believe with every fiber of my being that athletes can achieve their goals.  Yes, it requires thoughtful and realistic goal-setting.  Yes, it requires very real work.  Yes, it may take a very long time (many years).  But with the right combination of elements, proper timelines, patience, the understanding that they may need to fail a few times along the way, and a willingness to do what it takes, athletes can absolutely achieve the goals that they set.

Be Proactive When Setting Goals

Asking “How can I accomplish this goal?” is also a better question to ask than “Can I accomplish this goal?” because it is proactive rather than merely contemplative.  You are asking yourself what tangible steps you will need to take to achieve your goal, rather than leaving it as a nebulous query.  By doing this, you can start to chart a course toward your goal in a very real way.

I’ve learned that working backwards from where we want to be (aka our goal) is a great place to start when it comes to charting this path.  We start with the goal, and then we need to ask ourselves what needs to be true in order for the goal to be realized.  Once we identify what things need to be true, we can assess whether some of them are currently true or if we need to work or build towards some of those things.

Let’s illustrate this with an example goal: Let’s say that you want to run a marathon.  (Remember: Don’t ask yourself “Can I run a marathon?”  Instead, ask yourself “How can I run a marathon?”)  Running a marathon - 26.2 miles - is the goal we work backwards from.  There are several things that need to be true in order to be able to run a marathon, and the ability to run 26.2 miles is chief among them.  Are you currently able to run 26.2 miles?  If the answer is no, then you work backwards from there.  What distance or duration are you currently able to run?  Depending on how big of a gap there is between your current abilities and what you need to be able to do to complete a marathon, you can now use that information about where you are relative to where you want to be to set a proper and realistic timeline to reach this goal.  By considering what else needs to be true to complete a marathon, you can also address and plan for the other things that are necessary to achieve the goal of running a marathon, such as fueling and hydration, gear choices, and supporting elements such as strength training.

Work Backwards from Your Goal When Planning Training

All too often, athletes “set a goal” by paying a registration fee for a race.  What they’ve really done here is pay for the race.  Race registration on its own is not actually goal setting.  While this “goal setting” (aka race registration) is incredibly common and this external goal and financial investment is mighty motivation for so many athletes, I have long advocated for an alternative goal-setting method.  I advocate for athletes to set their goal, plan for a proper timeline based on their current abilities and life situation (aka how much training they are doing to be able and willing to do), and then pick a target race based on those factors.  This approach may be a bit countercultural in this industry (especially because it often results in goal race dates later than athletes might have wanted to do them), but I’ve seen that it leads to a higher success rate when it comes to goal achievement.  

In many ways, picking a goal race (and therefore a goal race date) is wishful thinking in terms of how prepared one might be for that day.  It may or may not be actually realistic based on where an athlete is at the time that they register for the race.  All too often, athletes do not realize that their preparation timeline wasn’t appropriate until race day is looming very close on the horizon, and this causes a lot of angst, stress, and tears.  (Believe me…I’ve seen it!)

Asking the question “How can I accomplish this goal?” at the onset of the goal setting and training process helps reduce the probability of this happening.  From the start, the athlete is engaging in self-awareness and a practical (versus wishful) approach to their goal and the required training and preparation process for it.  They can plan for a practical timeline and process that leads them to a higher chance of success when goal race day actually does arrive.

The Bottom Line

All athletes deserve to have the highest probability possible of successfully reaching their goals.  By asking yourself “How can I accomplish this goal?” instead of “Can I accomplish this goal?”, you start yourself off with confidence and a pragmatic attitude.  The value of this cannot be overstated; it will permeate the rest of your training and help you unlock your potential.

The next time you are considering a goal, don’t ask yourself if you can do it.  Ask yourself how you are going to do it and kick off your path to your goal with optimism and confidence.