Goals are supposed to be specific. Mine was very specific.  I wanted to set a PR (personal record) in my hometown.  Last fall, I ran in the Columbus Marathon.  I haven’t lived there in almost 30 years, but it is still, and always will be, home.  I would have friends and family that I haven’t seen in years providing much-needed support along the way.  I wanted to have my best run ever to mark the occasion.  Even if I only beat my previous best by one minute, it would be a PR, and I would be satisfied.

My goal was specific and so was my plan: Hillwork on Mondays; easy runs on Tuesdays; tempo runs on Wednesdays; intervals on Thursdays; long runs on Saturdays; rest on Fridays and Sundays.

As hard as it was sometimes, especially in the hot and humid days of the summer in Central Florida, I was focused enough on my goal to maintain the discipline necessary to stick with the plan.  You know, it’s true what they say about visualizing your goal.  Through some of the toughest training sessions, I would conjure up a mental image of me crossing the finish line with my friends and family there.  It kept me going.

In many of my prior races I made the all-too-common mistake of starting out too fast only to crash late in the race.  I needed the discipline to calm the emotion of the race start…especially this race.

And then there’s the inevitable pain.  26.2 miles puts a lot of stress on the body and around mile 18 or 19 the pain found me.  But I expected it and knew I could get through it.  It helped when Mitch, my best friend from high school, surprised me at mile 19 by popping out of the crowd of spectators and running a short while with me.  And I knew my aunt and uncle would be at mile 25…that helped too.

As an investment manager, my job is to help my clients reach their goals.  We spend a lot of time discussing what is important to them.  I try to get them to visualize their goals.  If their goal is a comfortable retirement and I can get them to create a mental image of what a comfortable retirement feels like to them, it will become more meaningful.

Then we create a specific plan to reach that goal. Together, we develop an Investment Policy Statement that details our investment strategy.  A good IPS will specify your goals, your time horizon, your risk tolerance, tax issues to be considered, asset allocation, and the investment vehicles that will be utilized.

While emotions can derail a good marathon plan, they can wreck a good investment plan.  We’ve seen too many bursting investment bubbles that were caused by the emotion of greed.  The dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and the real estate bubble of just a few years ago are the most recent examples.  On the opposite extreme, the financial crisis that we have experienced over the last two years has caused a lot of fear and panic.  With a specific goal and a long-term strategy in place, it becomes much easier to maintain the discipline that is needed during emotional times in the markets.

It doesn’t mean that there’s no pain.  Over the last two years there has been a lot of stress.  That stress has led to a lot of pain.  It’s not the physical pain you feel when running a marathon.  It’s a mental pain…and that can be worse.

Around mile 18 or 19, I was expecting the pain.  It still hurt, but I was prepared and was able to maintain the discipline I needed to push through.  Not many investors were expecting the pain we’ve seen in the markets recently.  But, those investors with a solid strategy in place have been able to maintain their discipline and are pushing through towards their goal.

What about the rewards?  Living the retirement lifestyle that you have envisioned, buying a home, or paying for an education are examples of the long-term rewards of investing.

My reward in the Columbus Marathon was not nearly as tangible, but it was every bit as important to me.  I am not an elite runner, so there was no prize money waiting for me.  But as I turned the last corner and saw the finish line, I knew it was worth all the hard work and the pain.

Caught up in the emotion of the moment, with tears streaming down my face, I ran hard to the finish.  I had accomplished my goal!  Not only did I PR, I bested my previous time by 20 minutes!

The lesson here is that whether you are investing or running a marathon, to be successful you need a goal, a plan to reach that goal and the discipline to stick with it through the pain that will inevitably be a part of the journey.

And remember…Life is not a Sprint, it’s a Marathon!