Sam Woods - Goal Setting
Achieve more than you thought you could!
So, it’s the new year and your parents will be setting New Years resolutions. We often think of these as goals, your parents might want to lose weight, exercise more or even something as simple as start a new hobby.
So how does this relate to you?
Sport Psychologist often help athletes set goals and they do this to improve their performances, increase the speed they are improving at and to increase enjoyment. Almost all professional athletes set goals to improve their performance, most of them have set goals since they were as young as 5 years old, but, some didn’t start until they were older. It doesn’t matter when you start but setting goals will help you unlock and reach your potential.
How can goals achieve all that?
Setting goals provides direction and focus, enabling you to improve quicker whilst enjoying the achievement it brings. Setting goals that challenge you is the best way to keep your enjoyment and motivation high. Be careful though, if you’re goals are too hard they won’t be fun. Sit down with your parents or a coach to find goals that are the right level for you!
Athletes set SMART Goals and that helps them achieve. Can you do the same?
Specific – Goals should be clear and straight forward, including exactly what you want to happen.
Measurable – You should be able to know if you’ve achieved your goal or not.
Adjustable – No one is a robot! If your goal is too hard you should be able to change it to make it a challenge but achievable.
Realistic – Ask yourself and your parents, can I achieve this? Maybe not instantly but with work?
Time – Set yourself a time limit for goals. How long should it take you to achieve it?
Let’s look at an example…
A 15-year-old 100m Sprinter.
Goal – Improve speed out the blocks from the start of the race.
S – Improve leg strength to improve power out the blocks through gym work with a coach.
M – Improve time over first 10meters by .3 of a second.
A – If this is too hard, can reduce the improvement down to .1 of a second.
R – The sprinter has had conversations with the coach and thinks that through improving their leg strength they’ll get more explosive power out the blocks. The coach also thinks that they can improve by as much as .3 seconds if they work hard.
T – Talking with the coach, they have suggested that this can be achieved in within 2 months.
I will leave you this month with My favourite metaphor about goals and the task to set your own SMART goals.
Goals are like magnets. They can attract us to higher ground and new horizons. They give our mind an aim, our eyes a focus and our strength a purpose. Without their pull, we would remain forever stationary, incapable of moving forward… A goal is a possibility that fulfils a dream.
