During a recent science lesson with my kids,  we planted some seeds. We are studying botany and are talking about the seeds that we plant and the process that happens when you plant a seed. We planted seeds and put them near a sunny spot, and then we watched them to see what happened. Absolutely nothing happened for a few days. Then we went out of town and upon our return a few days later, we had all kinds of sprouts. Now we continue to watch them and see the next parts of the cycle. If we were to leave them alone and not water them, these seeds would not continue to grow. They would shrivel and eventually there would be nothing left of the small plant we now have. On the other hand, if we continue to water and feed and nourish our seeds, we will eventually end with fruit or harvest from our labors.

Our personal growth and progress is similar to these seeds. If we plant an idea of a goal we have and give it all of the things that it needs, it will sprout. With our goals, it is easy to take the first step and plant the seed.  Sometimes, we make the additional effort to water it, give it sun…and too often we then leave it there. We don’t continue to feed, water, or nourish it with the proper things it needs. We may even think we are doing the “right” thing by watering it a lot, but not giving it the other things it may need. With running goals, it may be that we don’t do strength training or eat properly to fuel our bodies. We may forget how important the mental aspect of running is and completely forget to strengthen this muscle. 

When we plant the seed of a goal, we must take special care to nourish it in all areas. We need to discover what ways it must be nourished. Just as the seed needs water, sunlight, and soil, some of the special types of nourishment needed for our goals include:

• Making them clear and attainable.
• Having a training plan that fits our needs and our goals. 
• Strength training to make us stronger and to support our body for the hard work of training. 
• Working our mental muscles by doing brain training. This can be learned in our daily lives, but is best practiced in hard workouts.
• Fueling and nourishing our bodies. We cannot expect the machines of our bodies to do the work we want from them if we don’t give them the fuel they need.

When we plant the seed of a goal and then supply that seed with all of the things that it needs to grow, we give it the best chance possible to develop into a thriving, successful plant.