By the end of January, many of us have already fumbled our New Year’s resolutions. Maybe we were done by ‘Quitters Day’ or maybe we actually got through Dry January, or dryish. It might be FTP goals, Daily streaks or dietary resolutions.
The lofty goals we set with the best intentions may feel like failures. But here’s the thing: failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s a compass that can give us information about where we are, what might work (or not) for us and ideas for next steps. Those who do not try, do not get this information. For masters endurance athletes, reflecting on goals we didn’t achieve or the things we are struggling with can be more valuable than the goals themselves.
Greatness doesn’t come from nailing every workout or achieving every goal. It’s built step by step through small actions, adjustments, and persistence. Here’s how to turn those missed resolutions into useful information to guide your process and 2025 endurance training goals.
1. Celebrate Success and Learn – Failing Forword
Before lamenting unmet goals, take a moment to reflect on what went well. We often skip this step, eager to move on, start fresh or just forget it! But identifying any little wins, new skills, new experiences will help build momentum and confidence to keep going. This has been called ‘Failing Forward’, you aren’t going back if you can take some information forward to your next workout, race, project or sport!
- Perhaps you went to the gym for the first time, now it isn’t unknown and you know where everything is. Your next trips will be more efficient!
- Did you try a new virtual trainer software? Now you have a new tool to integrate into your routine.
- Did you train more consistently than usual? Perhaps that first week was a bigger or more consistent week then you have done in the past or in some time? What a success to build on! That might have been a heavier load you can now do a little less than as you start back.
Reflecting on successes, new experience and learning, big or small, helps you see progress where you might otherwise see failure.
2. Ask Why It Didn’t Work
For the goals that fell flat, dig into the reasons. Was there a disconnect between your intention and reality? Did the goal align with your current lifestyle and values? It might require a bit more reflection about where you want to be in the future or making sure other aspects of your life are considered. I often say I want to train 18 hours a week every week but work and family objectives require that I recalibrate athletic goals.
A few more examples:
- Committing to 5:00 a.m. workouts might sound like a good idea, but if you’re a night owl, it’s likely a mismatch. You could rejig your plans for when you workout or you could consider pre-paying for a class or personal trainer at the desired time so there is more pain in staying up late and sleeping in.
- You wanted to read more (like me) and you realized the daily goal is tough. You could try adding more ways to read the book with an audio version and perhaps a phone app that syncs to an e-reader so you have more chances to take in the stories. Or you could decide that reading fewer stories in the year is still a great goal and that there is no need to rush through the classical pages!
- Riding more often is a common goal in the new year that gets tough after a week of sitting in your basement or as the weather shifts to be less cycling friendly. Here you might celebrate a heavier cycling period and then replace some of your sessions with cross-training or even readjust what ‘counts’ as a bike ride and add in 10-30 min spins so that you can hit your frequency goal.
Understanding the “why” behind a goal’s failure is not about blame—it’s about clarity and turning the information into your next steps in the process.
3. Turn Outcomes into Processes
Shift your focus from outcomes to the steps that lead there. Those big seasonal goals like winning the race, finishing the event are all tough to be certain of. You are going to miss a few of these, just like every top athlete misses race wins since there can only be one race winner and sport is inherently random or uncontrollable. If your favorite top pro shows up and your chain breaks and your trainer software goes on the fritz, you might miss your outcome goal! But if you followed the process you can take pride that you did what you could.
To support the march towards your outcome goals like a race win or power test goal you could aim for a certain number of sessions each week, you could target getting outside each week for a workout, you can use strategies like attacking or pushing mid-way when you (and others) often let off. Since outcome goals require so many factors to be good you can look beyond simply physically training and set goals around fueling effectively during high-intensity sessions, or consulting a coach or dietitian or sport psychologist.
Breaking a goal into actionable, process-oriented steps makes it more achievable and sustainable for the long term.
Phone Consultation is a great way to run through your goals with a coach and even get a boost from telling someone about what you plan to do! https://calendly.com/smartathlete or info page https://consummateathlete.com/personalized-coaching/endurance-consultation/
4. Alignment
In some cases the WHY of our goal is unclear and so when things get tough, there isn’t a reason to push into discomfort or to expend extra energy when we can just do what is easy. Lots of people decide to go to the gym or start reading more but if there isn’t a longer term reason like a goal or a value then it’s hard to keep pushing when thing get through!
- If I had a reading goal – I can realign to being the type of person who has read many of the classic books or is there a reason in a year or two that I would want to have read these books? A book club or a conference or a next step in education might fit here if values don’t.
- For the person who wants to ride more there should be something about a big ride or event they want to do in a year or two. We try to encourage 2-year goal thinking so that even the big events this year are process goals for something else. In this way you are building alignment from your choices today through your future goals and even out to values like being a healthy, active and capable person in retirement.
Take a step back and ask: where do you want to be in two years? What about 20? Realignment with your core values might just spark a more meaningful direction.
5. Put Mini-Goals and Challenges in the Calendar
Instead of vague resolutions, make concrete plans in a calendar and get other people to join you. Want to ride more with friends? Book a training camp or plan a weekend ride. Want to prioritize fitness? Schedule sessions on your calendar like appointments. Reservations tie your goals to action, accountability, and a touch of excitement.
If you have a race on the calendar it is amazing how training often becomes easier to perform, there is a WHY and some urgency. With a deadline in place for you to be as ready as you can be you are very likely to get ready for it. It is amazing what this social pressure and date on the calendar can do to help motivate daily action.
6. Create Your Own (re)Start Dates
New Year’s Day isn’t the only time to reflect and reset. If you find you get REALLY motivated by these fresh start dates like New Years or perhaps birthdays you can leverage these little boosts by planning periods of reflection, alignment and action into your calendar. Build regular check-ins—monthly, quarterly, or even weekly—to evaluate progress, realign, and start fresh from where you are today.
Remember, you’re not defined by your unmet resolutions. Progress comes from persistence, reflection, and the willingness to adapt. So, celebrate your efforts, learn from your missteps, and keep moving toward the athlete—and person—you want to become.