I am a huge believer in goals. I write them down. I tell them to everyone who will listen.I internalize them. I often think about them. I visualize myself accomplishing my goals.

There’s a lot that goes into reaching goals. Finding the time to stick to your training is hard enough when things are going well in our life. But what happens when life knocks you to the ground? It can be easy to give up on your goals and just stay on the ground. When you’re stressed out, it’s simply easier to stay in bed or crash on the couch after work than to drag yourself to your next training session.

Here are three things that I do when life tries to push me around:

Embrace my goals
I find that it’s those very goals I feel like giving up on that help me through the tough times. I focus on my goals instead of the tough times and use it as support to get through life’s struggles.

Train
Sweat is good for the soul. And training is an escape for my mind.

Train with a friend
Not only can I escape from life’s stresses but I do so with the triathlon community. No sport that I have been associated with has a stronger community than the triathlon community.

For me, there’s no better cure for getting knocked on my butt than combining focusing on my goals, training, and companionship with other athletes.

The next time you’re stressed or life has knocked you down, don’t give up your goals. Embrace them. Call an athlete and go bust your butt. Get on the forum and schedule a workout with someone you have not trained with before. You’ll feel better and most importantly you’ll be standing (and not laying on your back). You will also be closer to that goal!

So when life tries to knock you down, what do you do to stay on track?