A Goal is a Tool, Not a Rule

Let your training or achievement goal be a servant of your needs, not a master.

Whether you are aiming for fitness or a competitive accomplishment, a goal is a very useful tool.

Set a skill achievement goal – even if actually accomplishing the goal is not that important to you. Make it big or make it small, but just make one that will give you something realistic to work toward.

The goal is what gives you direction and helps you recognize the specific skills and fitness that you will need. By this you establish your priorities in how to spend your time, and how not to spend your time. It will help you distinguish between what is useful and what is not in your precious practice time.

The goal does not have to be a master of your time. Let it be the servant, simply as a tool to give you something to plan your practices by. Whether or not you end up participating in the event, or accomplishing the goal does not need to be the measure of success, unless you want it to be. It can instead be something you use to give you direction and measure progress by, to keep you moving in a positive, productive direction.

The skills and fitness you develop will be useful to you in swimming in general and in maintaining overall satisfaction in training.