Dillon accepted a challenge to make a goal public and achieve it within three months. Here's the blow by blow account:

Month One

Dillon Jearey
Age: 30
Managing Director - Kilowatt Audio Visual
Height: 183cm
Current Weight: 104.7kg
Current Level Of Activity: None
Flexibility: 26cm
General Fitness Level: Bad

Dillon Jearey from Kilowatt AV has set a challenging fitness goal for himself. By the 5th of September 2009 Dillon wants to complete a triathlon ( 20km cycle, 5km run, 2km swim) within two hours. This goal was designed to go hand in hand with achieving his goal weight of 88kg, and improving his diet.

What makes the goal so challenging for Dillon is the fact that he stopped doing any training in Feb 2008 after a bad snowboarding accident in which he tore the ligaments in his right ankle and damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. This injury, coupled with his extremely busy business schedule forced training and exercise to take a back seat. Dillon travels frequently for business so bad eating habits have also formed over this time.

The journey to achieving this goal will allow Dillon to have more energy and have better overall health. He will look better, and feel better. This will have a positive effect on his whole life by balancing out his "Wheel of Life".
As with most things worth achieving there will be obstacles in the way of Dillon achieving his goal. The first one is travel, business travel is a reality for Dillon and this will make it harder for him to make all of his training commitments. He has identified National gym chains as one way of dealing with this, the portability of running shoes is another.

As mentioned already Dillon is also carrying some injuries. He wants to address and work on these, as a part of improving his overall health. He will need to do "rehab" work, as well as consulting a biokineticist. There will be a financial factor here, resulting from the cost of appointments. Dillon feels that despite this it is worth the time, effort and money to reach the goal.

The final challenge is motivation. To achieve the goal Dillon will have to do a fair bit of training, and change his daily routine. To keep on track Dillon is going to implement a training and tracking system to monitor his progress. Using this with visualizations and affirmations will help him to stay focussed.

Dillon has decided on the following course of action to achieve his goal:

1. Assessment with biokineticist and nutritionist
2. Draw up a training plan and train with the guidance of a personal trainer
3.Draw up a nutritional eating plan.
4. Implement a tracking system.
5.Complete the event.

Dillon says: "SMI has helped me achieve many goals over the last 3 years, even starting Kilowatt AV was a goal set through the program. I find that achieving material and business goals have been easy, but the one area of my life where I have always struggled to achieve goals has been related to fitness. My career is very demanding and the hours I work are long and intense. I cannot commit to team sports and I am often forced to make unhealthy dietary decisions. I know this goal is going to be tough and that I have many obstacles to face, but strategising the goal the SMI way will help me visualize it and assist me in making this dream a reality."

To kick things off Dillon has decided that he will start training 4 times a week. The training will be mostly gym based and Dillon plans to establish a routine that includes regular training.
He will also commit to a new eating plan that supports the goal.

Month Two

How did your goal's action steps go over May, which ones did you achieve or struggle with?

May was a really good month, I am starting to find my rhythm with this goal and I am really enjoying the training. I completed my detox (no meat, no dairy, no wheat, no alcohol, no coffee, no sugar) with the help of loads of supplements and I feel great. I am on track with my weight and training goals, but I have set the bar very high on the nutritional side and I am scoring it very critically. I will continue to try reaching my goal of 90% competency on the nutrition side.

After living with your goal and action steps for a month, are there any revisions that you are going to make to your goal?

I was very tempted to lower the goal on the nutritional side, I hate the fact that I am not achieving it, but I decided that I will continue to chase this goal. I may very well increase the overall difficulty of achieving the goal by changing the triathlon time to 1hr 45min and not 2hrs. I did my first pace test and I completed the 5km run and 20km cycle in 1hr 03min 13sec. This means that I have the rest of the time for the 2km swim! Let's push the boundaries...I'm aiming for 1hr 45min now!

How are you feeling about your goal, a month into the process?

I am feeling great, not only do I have more energy, but I am planning time into my busy schedule for myself! The rehabilitation of my injuries is going very well and the goal tracking is helping me to visualize my journey.

What action steps have you identified for June?

I would like to focus more on my swimming and upper body strength this month. I am getting fitter and stronger, but I need to train sensibly so that I don't injure myself and create setbacks while recovering. I need to focus 100% on my eating and ensure that everything I eat is thought about. 

Month Three

Dillon Jearey is well on the way to achieving his goal of a 1hr 45min triathlon. He has been on track, and even moved the achievement date forward from September.
How did your goal's action steps work over June? June was a very challenging month for me, leaving me slightly frustrated and really relying on my visualization to stay focused. I started the month feeling fitter than ever and my goal was to concentrate more on my swimming. After the first week of swimming training I had to stop, because I contracted a bad ear infection.
So I focused on pushing myself on the running side again. I managed to get my 5km run down to 28 minutes and then... injured my hamstring! ARRRRGH! Along with loads of travelling this month it has been tough. I am still on track though and I have managed to get my weight down to below 97kg, however, I have lost some muscle mass. I look forward to July being less frustrating!

How do you feel about your goal and the impact it has had?
I am truly amazed at how this goal has benefited other areas of my life. I love challenges, but this goal has had so many positive side effects that I am really enjoying. I am feeling and looking great, I have loads of energy and it really feels great to be working daily towards achieving my goal.

Are there any alterations for July?
Don't get injured! Stay focused and eat more protein! (According to my nutritionist, I am losing muscle mass as I am not consuming enough protein. I had to do a week food diary for her to asses this).
 
Nearing the completion date of your goal do you feel confident that you will achieve it?
My initial goal was to complete the triathlon in September as I was really unfit and the time that I set felt so impossible to reach, but now that I am fitter I think I can aim to do this goal by the end of July. It is going to be very touch and go as I still have a lot of work to do, but let's go for it!

The Result

I'm really glad to report that Dillon did a triathlon in July, with six minutes to spare! Here's his take on the last month of the challenge:

How did your last month go?

This was by far the most exciting and fun month of the challenge! Training went exceptionally well and I managed to avoid injuries. My body is changing daily now and I wake most mornings stiff and tender, I have started enjoying these feelings because they remind me that I am getting stronger and fitter every day.

Yes! I completed a triathlon on my own in 1hr 39minutes 09seconds. I would have liked to do this in a competition, but unfortunately there were none in this time. I have entered the Energade BSG triathlon, which takes place in November, and I hope to better my time.  

Regardless of the outcome how do you feel about the process and your result? 
I feel great! Besides the benefits of being fit and healthy it really is extremely rewarding reaching a challenging goal. 
What are you going to do to maintain the momentum?
Training has become a habit for me and my body actually craves it. I will continue to value fitness and an extreme nutrition program. Next year I want to run a marathon!