Meta-goals and Micro-wins

After a long-term injury I have started running regularly again. My initial big running goal is to get back to the level of fitness I had back in 2024. It is always hard getting started again, remembering how much I was able to run before. As I drag myself slowly along, achieving this goal can feel distant and daunting.

Help came from a Podcast hosted by a very inspirational woman who is a world-class runner, a super positive person, and also happens to be a Christian. Her husband, a more average athlete, shared how he sets himself weekly small goals to help him stay motivated. What a great idea! So, I started setting myself regular, small goals, both attainable as well as stretching. It might be running x amount of hours after dark, or putting in y amount of consecutive days, or pursuing z amount of elevation in one single run. Each time I reach one of these small goals it feels like a little win, which is super encouraging. But what’s more, it also gets me closer to my overall big goal in a playful way. Micro-wins towards meta goals!

One of our biggest goals as Christians should be for our character to become more like Jesus’.  This is clearly God’s desire. ‘For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers’ (Romans 8:29, ESV).

But becoming like Jesus can feel very daunting. He is so amazing, and we are so imperfect! There may be 1001 ways in which we feel we are not like Him at all. It can be tempting to give up, something Satan would certainly like to see. Or we can keep on at it and consider encouraging ourselves by setting smaller goals, steps towards that great overarching aim of becoming like Him. Getting in those small wins will encourage us that we’re moving the right direction and (I believe) God will be cheering us on.

Setting small, stretching but achievable goals is something we can involve others in and ask the Holy Spirit about. Possibilities are endless and it can even be fun. Maybe it’s becoming a better listener for your spouse or responding more gently to that colleague who annoys you, or worshipping more regularly in private, anything that helps you towards becoming more like Jesus.

A tried and tested method is to write goals down (both the ‘small steps’ as well as the ‘big ideas’) and put them in a place you see every day. That way we can work towards them and ask God for help in achieving them. You might even choose to celebrate the small wins and treat yourself after a win. After all, why not encourage yourself in the Lord? Finally, if you really want to get serious, build in accountability and find a partner to do this with. This way you will be moving forward in the Lord, guaranteed!