I don't mean this as a rant whatsoever, but sometimes I wonder if we (men and women) get caught up in the idea that we must always be winners. That is, if we set a specific performance goal we run the risk of not achieving it and feeling like a loser. So we set goals of just having fun so that we can feel like winners 100% of the time.
I'm not saying that running purely for participatory fun is wrong at all. For many it's a genuine and legitimate goal. But for some (myself included sometimes) it seems to be a goal driven by fear of failure .
Does fear of failure hold you back? Do you strive for less than you might be capable of because you're afraid of failing?
My own perspective - I picked up a quote a long time ago along the lines of "if you hit your target all the time, your target is either too close or too large".
In my everyday life we have to set business targets and this is our philosophy as well. If we hit our targets every month there's a perception that we're not being aggressive enough but are playing it safe to ensure we don't fail. Hitting my targets 12 months out of 12 is perceived as WORSE than hitting them 8 out of 12.
In running life, I fail as often as I succeed at hitting my time goals. I don't treat this as failure, I treat it as evidence that my goals are challenging but attainable. And I've made a conscious decision that when I miss a goal I won't take it personally (i.e. leave my ego in the parking lot).
Thoughts?