Spartan Race Completed

I finished the Spartan Race with a time of 57 minutes and change, my goal of completing it in under an hour accomplished. My friend, Rebecca, finished in 48 minutes and change. My second goal was not accomplished.

The SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, Time oriented):

1. Finish the race in under an hour.

2. Finish alongside Rebecca.

I let go of my second goal less than a mile into the race when we were running up an incline and I could not keep pace. Rebecca turned out to be in much better shape than I suspected. She was beyond impressive really, finishing 30th overall and 1st among females. Amazing.

I was happy to reach my first goal. Imagine if I had just missed my goal and instead finished in, say 62 minutes? I would have a whole different perspective, even though my experience would essentially be the same. Instead of being happy with the results, I would be incredibly motivated to take on the course again next year. Why? It is just the type of person I am. I am the type of person who loves the challenge of success. I would need to race again to achieve that goal. This is why I like to set a second goal that is much more difficult to obtain so it creates my next challenge.

Setting goals are important, but more important is setting goals that are in line with the type of person you are. Set "reasonable" goals and if you are motivated by success, then you can build upon that success by setting new SMART goals. (See goal number 1). If you are the type of person who excels against adversity, then maybe you should have certain goals that are less "Attainable" - set just out of reach so that you never stop improving yourself in order to get there. (See goal number 2). I knew that I am a person who appreciates the extreme challenge which is why I set two goals instead of one. The first to reach and the second to keep me motivated beyond the race. I know if Rebecca wants to race again next year that I will be motivated to train harder and reach that second goal I had for myself this year.

My first goal was SMART. My second goal was smart, without the acronym. It may not have been very attainable, but it turns out to be very motivating.

If you are reading this Rebecca, do you think you could give me another chance to meet my second goal?

Set goals. Stay motivated. Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

SMART Goal - Complete The Spartan Race

First introduced in 1981, SMART goals are used by many people today to achieve anything from healthy eating habits to becoming a successful business person. Setting Specific goals where success is Measureable, Attainable, and Reasonable for you to achieve, while also being able to accomplish the goal in a specific amount of Time, is SMART. As with anything else in life, you also have to be flexible. As you gain experience in attempting to achieve a specific goal, feel free to modify. For example, you may find out that what you thought was reasonable is really not. Or that it may take more time than you originally thought.

Earlier this year, I signed on to do one of those obstacle course races that are quickly becoming more and more popular these days. I realized that as I get older, the more important it is for me to exercise in order to maintain good health. I readily admit that although I like to be healthy, I do not like to exercise. I need to set goals around exercising. I also need some sort of motivation to exercise, so I signed up to do a Spartan Race. The  back story is that I have previously signed up and ran ran the Adventure 5k, but  did not train for it. It didn’t look like something I needed to train for. I play in a basketball league every winter and felt like that was enough for a simple 5k. (I am grateful for good genes.)

Also, I was signed up by my brother to do a previous Spartan Race two years ago. I borrowed my brother’s exercise video that required six days of over one hour of exercise routines each week. I lasted a month. The good news came when the hurricane visited our state and cancelled the race. The following year I requested my rain check be postponed until this year because I was in a wedding ceremony the same weekend. So here I was at the beginning of this year, third chance to run the Spartan Race, already paid for, and SMARTer than before.

I purchased the sequel to my brother’s exercise video and with the knowledge of my previous experience, set a more reasonable goal to exercise only three to four times per week. The program is supposed to last 90 days, but I made it 120 days by spreading it out and even skipping routines where appropriate. Something is better than nothing, right?

This weekend I will race over 3 miles and 15 obstacles, through water, fire, and mud. It will be a test of strength, endurance, and will. I am confident that I will succeed. I used SMART goals, consistently re-evaluating them these past four months to reach a fitness level that will allow me to compete in one of the tougher obstacle races out there. My goal is to finish in under an hour. I will be racing with a friend that is a runner. As she motivates me through the running, I will motivate her through the obstacles. I know she has better endurance than me, so my second goal is to finish beside her. I believe that I have a strong enough will to succeed.

Here’s to living healthy and strong, and maintaining goals to stay that way.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

Happy Birthday!

“Seize the day, for today’s tomorrow will soon be yesterday.” Anonymous

I seized the day today. The best I could at least. I woke up early to work out, treating my body the way someone should when they want to live for a century. After a shower (who doesn’t like showers? – my wife would take one for hours if she could) I had breakfast with my two little miracles before heading to work. Normally I would be on vacation for my birthday, but this year I made accommodations with our vacation partners and moved it back two weeks. So I had to work. That was the least favorite part of my day, but I made the most of it. My wife helped too. I talked to her probably a half dozen times. Each time she would lead with “Hey birthday boy!” Sure, it’s kinda corny, but it makes one feel good about one’s self. It made me feel special. It should because it’s my special day! What if I were never born? Never being born is something I normally don’t think about, but in this case I am happy to touch upon it because even though I hate the thought, it makes me want to do more for others. To touch more lives. It motivates me to do more with the gift I have been given. The gift to live.

Maybe I should pretend it is my birthday more often. I was happy all day. I wanted to do more for others. I wanted to make my life more impactful. I don’t see anything wrong with any of that.

I will hold on to that thought, but back to MY day! I went for a walk at lunch time to get a treat. My coworker came with me and bought me my peanut butter brownie. That made me smile. When I got home from work, I got my family in the car and went to have dinner with my extended family. We had ravioli and meatballs with my two brothers and their families and my parents. It can be chaos amongst 17 people, 9 of which are spread between the ages of 0-13 years old, but it’s nice to be with family. I get to end my day by putting my kids to bed and sitting with my bride.

I’m not a greedy man. I don’t want for much. I have a happy and healthy family who I love to spend time with. It makes my every day worth more than yesterday. And I have a bunch of yesterdays that I can smile about too! So as today ends, I look forward to tomorrow. It may not be my birthday anymore, but that doesn’t mean I can’t live with a smile and try to make others smile while I’m at it.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

Engagement, Purpose, and Passion

The president and CEO of my coaching alma mater recently sent out a blog requesting that we, as leaders, begin to ask more questions of those we lead so that they may find their own answers. He is speaking to us as coaches, teachers, parents, or leaders. The blog discusses the topic of disengagement, how many people become disengaged in some aspect of their lives at different points in their lives. That this disengagement begins at a very early age possibly because of how we are told what direction we should lead our own lives in order to be successful. In adolescence, we aren't necessarily taught how to be successful. Instead, we are taught how others have become successful before us. This may be a great plan to follow for some people, but everyone is different. Everyone has different motivational factors that drive them towards success, and everyone has a different idea of what success is. Or do we? How can we truly know what success means to ourselves, if we have always been told what everything entails in order to get there?

Take this opportunity right now to stop and think about what would make your life successful. Define what success means to you. This is not something that can be taught to you. It is something far more personal. Only you have the answer. Look into your heart. Whether you are 20, 40, or 60 years old, the time to figure out the answer to one of life's most important question is NOW!

I spend time helping people to ask the right questions of themselves in order to find out their purpose or passion. I concentrate on students entering, within, or graduating from college so that they don't have to wait years upon years to start asking themselves these questions that inevitably come up for most of us. What will keep you engaged in what you do for a living? Being engaged in what you do will lead to success because you will feel that what you are putting into your work is providing something in return. On the contrary, not being engaged in what you do will surely not lead to success.

As years pass, people may change their passion, they may come to find a new purpose. In fact, it is likely that as your environment changes, for example, as you start a relationship or as you start a family, your desires may also change. However, I would not suggest that you wait for your future years to determine your own passion. Now is the time. Each step you take in the right direction leads you further along the path of success. You will learn more about yourself along the way if you start walking that path now. Become engaged. Find your passion.

To read the blog from iPEC, click HERE.

Enjoy life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP
www.coachsuozzo.com
www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

Time

Today, my wife had something that she doesn’t get very often: time alone. She told me that she had a great road trip. She was in the car just shy of three hours in the morning and a little over that on her ride home this evening.  She did fiddle around with the radio but the majority of the time was spent thinking. At first, she said how it actually felt strange to be alone with her thoughts and how amazing it is the amount of topics you can cover uninterrupted. Most of her time, however, was spent on the topic of “time”. 

We have all heard the many quotes that convey the message of “Seize the day”. Unfortunately, I think, many times that perspective is fleeting. We live with that promise to cherish the day or each other - but then the refrigerator breaks or your child or spouse gets on your last nerve. We go through the motions of the day and tend to our responsibilities and forget to smell the flowers and appreciate what we have.

None of us knows how much time we are given on this earth. Sometimes it takes some tragic event to remind us – an event like Sandy Hook, a natural disaster like the recent tornadoes or fires, or maybe a family member becomes sick. Growing old is a privilege denied to many.

As my wife told me about her drive with “time” today, we both recognized that we need the constant reminder of how precious it is. As we were reminded today, let this remind you to love stronger, smile longer, and live better. Smell the flowers. Kiss your husband or wife. Be there for a friend. “Pick More Daisies” (Nadine Stair).

Enjoy your time. Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

Failure leads to Success

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." - Eleanor Roosevelt.

How many of us never leave our comfort zone...never chancing to be hurt, to fail, or...if I can be crazy for moment....to succeed! Think about all the successes you have had in your life and ask yourself this, which are the most gratifying? I would be willing to bet that the ones that you either had to work for the most or the ones where you failed first, once or many times, are the ones that are the most gratifying, the ones you are the most proud of, the ones that are the most fulfilling. Eleanor Roosevelt was right on when she encouraged people to live life, and said "to taste experience to the utmost". There is no success without failure. But what is failure? Thomas Edison said that "many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." He also said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

There is no success without failure. If you are afraid to fail, maybe you could try on Thomas Edison's viewpoint that it is not failure, it is experience. And our former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, suggested that you "reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." These are two very notably successful people in our history. Go ahead and follow their lead. Leave your comfort zone from time to time. You just might enjoy it.

Enjoy life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP
www.coachsuozzo.com
www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching

And here is a story of one person's journey in pursuit of 100 days of failures taken from Sherold Barr's most recent blog...
Surprising Lessons From 100 Days of Rejection:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWyseydTkQ

Zac Brown Band - Country Rock

I am very passionate about music. I believe that music has the power to shift one’s state of being. I know my spirit lifts and I stand taller when I hear the words to a particular song and I feel an excitment to be alive! “Well it’s funny how it’s the little things in life that mean the most, not where you live, what you drive or the price tag on your clothes. There’s no dollar sign on a piece of mind, this I’ve come to know.” (Zac Brown Band – Chicken Fried). 

The Zac Brown Band will be playing a local venue this weekend and unfortunately, I will not be in attendance. I grew up on rock music and have been looking for a quality band to follow since Def Leppard retired. Along the way I turned to country music. I believe that nowadays country music is very similar to 70’s rock. So I call what I listen to “country rock”. The Zac Brown Band is presently my favorite country rock group. (The Zac Brown Band frequently covers rock songs and plays with other rock stars such as GregAllman and Kid Rock)

The writing is brilliant. When I first began to listen to rock music, the words didn’t mean much to me, but I have learned how valuable really good lyrics are to a song. This makes it especially difficult for me to miss this concert. Not only is Zac Brown a great writer of lyrics, opening for them is Levi Lowrey who co-wrote Colder Weather and who wrote a couple of his own songs that I have heard and also have great lyrics. 

I guess I will have to take a page from Zac Brown himself this upcoming weekend and just let it go…"Save your strength for things that you can change, Forgive the ones you can't, you gotta let 'em go." (ZBB - Let It Go). At least I will be enjoying my time with family on Cape Cod, a place I can be without a hurry, or worry, in the world. “Ain’t in no hurry, I’d be a fool now to worry, about all those things I can’t change.” (ZBB - No Hurry). 

For those of you who happen to be attending the show this weekend, enjoy the show and pay attention to the lyrics if you can. Let them take to a place where you feel a sense of free. “Just as free. Free as we’ll ever be.” (ZBB - Free). It is Independence Day weekend after all. And on that note, I would simply like to take a moment to remember our heroes who fought bravely for the freedom that we enjoy today as Americans. 

“I thank god for my life, and for the Stars and Stripes, may freedom forever fly, let it ring. Salute the ones who died, the ones that give their lives, so we don’t have to sacrifice, all the things we love.” (ZBB -Chicken Fried). 

Feel free to find music that will allow you to escape your surroundings and enter into a different state of mind. I believe music has that power, but only if you give yourself over to it. Ultimately, you are in control and music is just a tool.  Feel free to use it. Enjoy it.

Enjoy Life.

Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP

www.coachsuozzo.com

www.facebook.com/PassionDiscoveryCoaching