Swim Goals!
I swam my first ever kilometre on Saturday. Well, 1.2 kilometres to be exact. A sea swim, with waves, wind and a visit from a seal. Those last 200 metres seemed endless so I shouldn’t ignore them! This was the culmination of three months of training, and the sense of achievement was fantastic. To swim that distance wasn’t even a consideration at the start of summer—no, the goal was to perfect the breathing technique for the front crawl. I was going to use the phrase ‘freestyle’ there, but crawl is definitely a better description in my case!
I could always ‘swim’—that crazy, speedy thing with arms flailing and head above water that you see people do. But being able to swim correctly, with a calm, steady stroke and breathing technique is something I’ve wanted to do for years and this summer, I was determined to master it.
The first day in the water was a disaster! I went to the beach unprepared and just ended up doing what I had always done. Immediately holding my breath as my face hit the water, then sporadic breaths through my mouth, panicking a little, stinging eyes from the salt and ears full of water. This was no good!
I went home feeling a little dejected but determined to get it right. I sat down and put a plan together—I needed some help, proper equipment, and to apply structure to my training. So, first I ordered special earplugs to keep the damn water out of my ears! Definitely a good start. I bought goggles and did what everyone does these days when they want to learn something new—I went to YouTube!
I knew my stroke and kick were ok, but it was the breathing technique that was holding me back. A quick search and one video in, I had a eureka moment! I learned that when you swim, you should invert the regular pattern of breathing we use on dry land. When you swim, and your face is underwater, you exhale through your nose! This tip changed everything! The video also included some training exercises that gradually helped to master the technique—I gave myself two weeks to do it.
So off I went to the beach, happy in the knowledge I had the right tools to make a decent start. With ears plugged and eyes goggled in I went! After several sessions, and as my body got used to the water temperature, I implemented what I had learned, my breathing became calmer, I found a rhythm, and yes, I was swimming! I met my two-week target and realised because my fitness had grown I was able to swim about 15-20 meters without stopping.
I achieved my first goal quicker than I imagined and was chuffed with the progress. I was bitten by the bug! I loved swimming! Now I wanted to push myself further and I needed to set a new goal. I started to look into doing my first big swim, how about kilometre! What training did I need to do, what incremental steps did I need to make to achieve that goal?
Here’s the thing, if you have any goal in life, whether it’s in business, fitness or financial, you can apply the same techniques as I did. Clearly define the goal, make sure it’s measurable and set a deadline for completion.
Clear Definition
Define your goal and write it down — it must be clear and achievable. Seeing it written down on paper, clarifies it in your mind. Having a clear intention will help you achieve clear results. Also, find the right tools and seek out guidance that will help you.
Measurable
The goal must be quantifiable—you have to be able to measure results and the progress you make. At the beginning of a process like this, the goal can seem huge, overwhelming even, and this can stop people before they even get started. To remedy this break the goal up into smaller chunks, more achievable daily, weekly or monthly targets. Concentrate on achieving or mastering each target before you move on to the next one. Incrementally you’ll get better—you’ll slowly build up the skill, technique or craft you are trying to master.
Deadline
You must have a deadline for your goal. Open-ended goals will not work, you’ll procrastinate, waste time and nothing will get done. There needs to be a finishing point where you can say whether you achieved what you wanted to or not.
Here’s Chris Do explaining all this in a very slick video presentation!
What goals have you set recently? Were they business driven or personal? Were they clearly defined, quantifiable and did they have a deadline? Did you achieve what you wanted?
Brian Byrne is a graphic designer and founder of Lands.
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