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I set a scary goal in January. I think I did it wrong.

I want to share something I only just realized. Literally, I'm writing this about 30 minutes after it hit me, and I haven't fully processed it yet.

As you know, the whole premise of SEAR is that we are building an agnostic toolkit for helping professionals while trying tools on ourselves first so that when we bring them to clients, we're not reading from the map, we've actually hiked the trail. Angie and I are learning how to build something we've never built before. It has put us in a lot of new rooms, with a lot of new ideas and approaches we've been trying on.

One of those ideas is a different way of setting goals. My go-to approach is setting an ambitious yet attainable goal—one that challenges you without setting you up to fail. But this January I was in a different room. One with a different energy and philosophy: the "hairy scary goal."

The number that makes people go, "Whoa".
The one that's supposed to unlock a different level of thinking.

And honestly? I jumped in. I was curious. I wanted to see what it felt like from the inside, and when a room has that kind of energy, why not?

Looking back, I think I was chasing a goal that fit the room, not one that fit me.

What does is really look like?

What I didn't realize until about 30 minutes ago is this: I set a number without truly knowing what the daily life of the person who hits that number actually looks like. Because I've never been that person before. I've never had to build visibility online, market, or grow something from scratch in this way. The closest I've come is filling a yoga class pre Facebook and honestly, word of mouth did most of that work.

But I hadn't asked myself the question I always ask my clients: What does your average week look like if the goal is real?

And there it is.
A big scary goal can be two different things:

• a thinking exercise meant to expand your vision, or
• a real commitment where the discomfort is the fuel.

Most of us name the number and leave the room without knowing which one we just signed up for. My brain wasn't being difficult, it was asking a fair question. Am I dreaming or am I committing? Because that answer changes everything about what you do next.

We're almost at the end of Q1. And slowly -- very slowly -- I'm starting to see the adjustments I need to make. The picture is getting clearer, not because it's gotten easier, but because I've been in it long enough to see what's actually in front of me.

It's mile 7. (I've run four full marathons, so I know this feeling.) You signed up in January when you were feeling yourself, you've been training, and now you're mid-run wondering what on earth possessed you to think this was a good idea. Everything hurts. The finish line is theoretical. And there are still 19 miles to go.

But I also know that mile 7 is not the truth. It's just the beginning.

This is the time of year I see it most, businesses are reviewing Q1 numbers, executive coaches are in the room for those conversations, and everyone else is also quietly reckoning with the gap between January's ambition and March's reality. There's even a name for the early wave of it: Quitter's Day lands in mid January, but the real quiet giving up? That happens right about now.

I'm sharing this not because I've figured it out, but because this is common. We all know this happens. What we talk about less is what to actually do about it.

Which brings me to you.

If you're working with clients right now, here's your challenge this week:
Are the goals they set dreamy or committed?
Do they actually know?
Do you?
And before you say "of course they know, we set it together", I thought I knew too. I was in the room when we set mine.

It's not about giving up. It's about getting clear. There's a difference between a goal that needs to be abandoned and goal that just needs a better map.

The helping professionals who can say, "I am currently in the middle of this" are the ones the people they serve trust most.

Where do you land right now? Does your goal need a full reassessment, a slight course correction, or are you actually more on track than mile 7 feels?

And what about the people you work with? Are they dreaming or committing, and do they know the difference? I'd genuinely love to hear what comes up.