Reaching My Goals
A few years ago I was visiting my family for the holidays. It was cold, snowy, and slightly dark outside. While they were baking cinnamon rolls, I was lacing up my shoes to head out for a 15 mile run. My brother looked surprised and asked why I was doing such a long run on a late December day. “Because I am 15 miles away from my yearly Strava goal,” I said. That motivation to finish my yearly goal, to get out for a run that I would normally not have completed, gave me important and precious time with myself and my family as they walked and biked on the path next to me. Then we ate all of the cinnamon rolls.
While one week I have a goal to run a certain distance, other weeks my goal is just to make it outside. Sometimes my goal is just to make it home safely. With most things in life, having a goal really motivates me. Having something to work towards and achieve drives motivation and consistency in my daily life. The goals feature on Strava is something I return to weekly, monthly and yearly to drive my motivation for the activities that mean the most to me.
How to access the feature
Mobile: You Tab > Progress > scroll down> See All Your Goals
Web: Dashboard > My Goals > Set a Goal
How We Use Goals
Strava subscribers can set weekly, monthly, annual, segment, and power goals for all of your favorite sport types. You can also choose the type of goal: distance, time, and elevation. All of these features are completely customizable and help you reach all of your personal goals. I choose to use goals for running distance, biking distance, and a time goal for weekly yoga.
Weekly Goals
When I complete an activity towards the end of the week, I get so excited when I see the notification on the activity that I completed my weekly distance goal, or weekly time goal, for that sport. It gives me a huge sense of accomplishment! These small wins keep me engaged and motivated in continuing to do what I love each week.
Yearly Goals
The yearly running mileage goal helps me the most with consistency, as it displays if I am “on track” for my yearly goal, and chipping away at that goal each week keeps me motivated to get out for even a 1-3 mile run on those days I am indecisive (and I am always happy I get out!). The yearly goal helps me keep the bigger picture in mind, and helps me improve year over year.
Different Kinds of Goals
While running is my primary sport, other activity types like biking and yoga are great cross training options that I can often let slip pretty easily over time. By creating smaller goals for these sport types, it keeps me from ignoring them! It’s not always about distance or mileage, and I love the option to customize goals for what makes the most sense for the sport type. For example, I know I feel the best when I incorporate yoga into my weekly routine. Yoga is not something that I measure in terms of reps, power or calories. It is something that is important for my mind, so I decided to use the time goal for yoga. By using time, I get so much freedom in how I can incorporate yoga into my lifestyle. For the week, I know I want to do two hours. It can be 30 minutes on my own, or attending a 60 minute class with friends. By having the option for a time goal, I let go of the metrics and allow flexibility in creating the time and space for the practice.
Our Goals Are Personal
Goals are personal, so I love the option to keep my goals private. They are for my own intrinsic motivation, so I don’t feel the need to make them public.
Goals motivate me. They give me something to work towards. By having these goals, I am more consistent. I am able to challenge myself, and bring some fun and joy to the everyday routine. I don’t need a race and I don’t need money to travel to reach these goals, because the goals are right at my fingertips each week.
Learn More
Understanding how your Goals show up on Strava