Goal Setting is an opportunity for
athletes and coaches to set goals aimed at a variety of beneficial areas of
their games by providing motivation, confidence, a more focused approach and promoting persistence. When done in an efficient way, setting goals helps individuals to
understand what they are currently attaining and what they would like to attain
in the future. We can start to see the benefit of goal setting already within
those two sentences. Not only does it set up a timeline, it also allows us to
explore what needs to be done along the way.
Here is the interesting part: the
majority of athletes use goals…incorrectly! It has been found that athletes use
goals that are not specific or measurable, and often times cannot be
controlled. This starts to make you wonder, is there more we could be getting
out of ourselves and our athletes if we correct the way we set goals?
Before you begin setting and
planning your goals, it is important to understand what kind of goals there
actually are. There are three main types of goals: process, performance, and
outcome. See the picture to the left to learn more about what these types of goals
are! Process and performance goals bring development to the goal-setter in a
way that is attainable, measurable, and able to build upon. This becomes
important, so that the goal does not become only about an outcome, with no real
plans on how to reach it. For instance, everyone would like to win a
championship. However, how do you prepare for it, what needs to be accomplished
beforehand, and what do you do if factors outside your control interrupt that
outcome goal? The majority of the time, athletes set goals that focus on
winning. But with little control over the external aspects of winning a game
(did the team have a bad game, was the other team better, did an injury happen,
etc.), it becomes important to promote goal setting focus around the process
and performance of the individual, giving them the best skills, mental tools,
and preparation for the big time games they want to win.
Overall, setting goals is a
valuable tool to utilize, both as an individual athlete and as a coach trying
to establish goals within a team. Below is a description of some key components
of effective goal setting – broken down from an individual athlete and team
coach perspective:
*Specific:
Athlete –
Being specific is a key. A broad goal can leave an athlete with reduced
motivation and more chances to deviate from what they want to accomplish. Make
goals more specific by adding dates, measurable outcomes, and working on the
wording of your goal. “I want to be the best soccer player in the world” is a
bit too ambiguous…as well as having a number of other things wrong with it.
Don’t get me wrong, it is good to dream and set goals that take effort and time
to achieve, but without specificity you are losing a valuable aspect that will
help you in the long run.
Coach –
Encourage your individual players and the team as a whole to come up with goals
that are specific. “Being the best team” and “Playing as hard as we can” are
not quite specific enough and “win the conference championship” and “be
undefeated” are very much only aimed at outcome. Remember, being focused on
performance and process goals will help prepare the team and reduce some of the
pressure and anxiety associated with outcome goals.
*Measurable:
Athlete –
Is the goal you are setting measurable? How do you know when you have
accomplished it? How do you know you are improving? Set a measurable main goal,
and measurable short-term goals leading up to it. This will help keep you focused,
maintain motivation, and give you solid evidence that you are making progress
and improvements.
Coaches –
Same questions as the athlete. Help keep your team focused, motivated, and
energized by seeing measurable goals be accomplished in a noticeable way.
*Attainable:
Athlete/Coaches
– Create goals that are attainable. You can set goals that are not within
reach quite yet, but don’t set goals that are so unattainable that you lose motivation
because of it. If you are just starting out running, you probably don’t want
to set a goal that involves you winning the 100m sprint at the next Olympics. As coaches, if your team is full
of beginners, you shouldn’t be hyping them up to win their league and go
undefeated. What you can do is set attainable goes that progress as
improvements are made, allowing your athletes to maintain motivation by accomplishing goals throughout the season.
*Record:
Athletes –
Write down your goals!! Record them, keep track of them, monitor them and watch
the progress you make. Keep them somewhere you can see them daily and update
them regularly. Starting a tracking journal, or wall calendar that allows you
to see your progression will create a positive reminder of what you are working
towards, why you are working towards it, and how far you have come so far.
Coaches –
Write down your team goals!! Put them somewhere your team can constantly see
them and remember what they are working towards. As you achieve and accomplish
goals along your path towards a main goal, make sure your poster, chart, etc.
is updated. Encourage your team to take part in the creation and maintenance of
whatever type of visual recording aide you choose to use. Just make sure the
goals are solid, recorded, and seen by all.
*Get rid of the negatives and stay positive:
Athletes –
You will come across various people throughout your career who will try to
bring you down, tell you you can’t do something, and are just negative influencers in general.
Avoid their negative comments and stay positive in your journey by remembering that the goals you set are for yourself and not for anyone else. There is also
a strong possibility that you come across some personal adversity. Stay
positive by trusting the process, recording and assessing your progress and
keeping up the hard work. The path to your goals is not always clear cut and that’s
ok. Know that this will likely be the case and prepare mentally to have to dig
deep and continue to climb.
Coaches –
Creating a positive environment for your team in all areas is a key to
maintaining and accomplishing any goals that have been set by you and your
players. Eliminate threats to your team’s positive environment swiftly and consistently.
Set team expectations and rules early in the season and stick with them. By not
deviating from what was established from the start, you are in a good position
to keep accountability high and efficiently. Take care to self-assess how you
are coaching and speaking with your players as well. They will look to you
during tough times and how you react will have a heavy influence on how they
react. Is your criticism constructive or destructive? Are you encouraging or
demotivating? Are you setting challenges in a way that is promoting your
athletes to work hard and accomplish them? These are just some of the questions
you should be asking yourself, in order to make sure your team is in a positive
environment and not surrounded by negative words, thoughts, and actions.
*Act:
Athletes/Coaches
– Once goals are set, planned, and ready to be monitored it is time to act! No
more sitting and wishing for things to happen. You make them happen! Get up,
get to the gym and start to put in the work. Goals aren’t accomplished by
themselves and it is now up to you to put your plan into action. When it’s
going well, make adjustments to push yourself further. When it’s not going
well, stay positive and keep working through whatever challenges come your way.
Put yourself in motion and act!
*Visualize:
Athletes –
One great tool that can help with goal-setting is to introduce visualization to
your daily workout routine. You’ve set your goals, so start to produce mental
images of you achieving them. This will provide motivation, sustain focus, and
create a positive feeling. If you want to know more about how visualization
works, check out my previous blog post on how to use it efficiently.
Coaches –
Encourage your players to take some time to work on their mental training tool
of visualization. As you are writing your practice sessions, is there an
opportunity to insert visualization into the plan? At the beginning or end of practice
is a good opportunity to have your athletes take 5 minutes to visualize their
goals and team goals. The use of visualization may not only help with the
development of skills, but also with motivation, focus, and determination.
*Believe:
Athletes/Coaches
– Believe in yourself and in your dreams! When you can get 100% behind a goal,
it’s plan, and its execution, you will be in a position that allows you
to achieve success. Believe in the process, believe in what you want, and
believe in yourself and others!
Why are these things important? Think about being in the
locker room minutes away from playing in a championship game. Wouldn’t you rather be thinking “I’m ready for this, look at
everything I have achieved, I’m fully prepared for this moment in every
respect, I am ready to reach my goal” than “We have to win, that’s the goal,
it’s what we said we wanted to do, our whole season rides on this one game, I’m
only successful if this game is won”. Who do you think is in a better place mentally?
If you don’t know the answer, take a few more minutes to re-read this post :)
All the best on your journey to accomplishing your goals!
-Cat
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