As a college sophomore, deep into stress, loneliness, and the ‘freshman 15’, I decided to run a marathon. It had been a lingering desire since my senior year of high school cross country, despite College wearing away any fitness I had in high school. 

Jumpy with anxiety, I pulled up the website and filled out the form. I hit enter and squealed. And then I sat there in shock at what I had done. My longest run was only six miles, how would I survive training for twenty-six? 

And yet, months later, I endured what was one of the most grueling and most joyful experiences I had yet gone through. I ran that marathon and one more in the coming years.

Goals are the north stars which lead us to new adventures.

I don’t feel right without at least one big goal looming over me. It structures my free time and guides my decisions. But lately, my goals feel out of reach.

In 2024 I hurt my back, an injury which led to continued pain and setbacks. Running is completely off the table. But it is not just running. Any kind of cumulative physical goal feels out of reach. 

We’ve all heard the saying, ‘just show up’, but when that is all you can do, it becomes frustrating. Somedays I show up at the gym, do one or two exercises and have to leave early due to strain or pain. Most recently I had a setback which lasted nearly four weeks and undid all the strength I had built up. I had to start from literal zero once more. 

As we age, we all face changes to our abilities. What we once were really good at, or enjoyed might not be the same as it is now. The question is not whether we do change, but whether we can make the change. Can we adjust to what is happening now, not fixating on how things once were?

And yet, the controversial statement which still rings true is that Goals are not meant to be realistic. We are all familiar with the maxim to make realistic, achievable goals–that if it is too out of reach, we will get demotivated. 

But I was recently challenged and encouraged to do the opposite.

Take on the goals which make your heart sing, which inspire you. The goals which you can see, smell, taste. Set the goals which will get you out of bed in the morning, no matter how improbable.

Reality has its place, of course, we need to make real progress along the road and set achievable objectives. These are the things which slowly, slowly change our lives. But they don’t always have the power to make our hearts race like that marathon did for me.

There may be disappointment. We may never reach the lofty goal which is most precious to ourselves, the one we might not even let ourselves wish for. That is the trade off. We may have setbacks and we may get discouraged. But each step we take toward it is not wasted. Each and every small objective we accomplish moves us forward, closer to who we want to be.

If you were not holding anything back, what goal would you set for yourself? How do you want to set your compass?