On Goal Setting and Planning
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Loading ...It doesn’t take much looking to find a wealth of materials on goal setting and motivation. Anybody who has an interest in business has I’m sure heard of numerous titles on the matter.
The acronym to keep in mind when you set goals: SMART.
Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic. Timely (have a Timeframe).
As for what those terms mean to me when I set goals in the context of ultimate:
- Take the time to sit down and plan. Without a plan, you might make progress, but who’s to say that that progress is in line with what you really want?
- Really think about two things when setting goals: What you need to do, and what you want to do. Your priorities might still put the “wants” above the “needs,” but you should nonetheless be tending to all of them.
- Being specific means going in to detail! You hear this all the time–but “get into better shape” is not going to drive you as much (nor give you feedback–what exactly does that mean?) as “Improve my vertical by two inches. Lose three pounds. Add 40 pounds to my deadlift PR.”
- Measurable ties right in with specific–if you can’t measure your goals by some metric, how will you know if you’ve achieved them? Granted, not everything is quantifiable in absolute terms, and we do need some of the broad goals too (I’m thinking in terms of things like “keep the team motivated during workouts–” you’re not going to have everyone quantify motivation, you just go on feel there), but to the extent that those things that can be measured are measured, you’ll find more fulfillment in your goals.
- Attainable and realistic also go hand in hand. What good is setting a goal you’ll never reach, or one that comes at the expense of other goals? Some sacrifice is necessary, but be realistic in the expectations you set for yourself. At the same time, your goals should still be challenging. This is why it’s important to be specific–if I merely wanted to “get faster,” dropping a second would be sufficient to reach my goal. Wanting to “run under 30 seconds per 200 for a set of four 200s” gives you something to strive for and something to rejoice in when you do achieve it (and is hopefully not so fast that you never do). Keep in mind you can always set new goals when you achieve your current set–take the big lofty goals in smaller steps.
- TIMELY. Perhaps the most neglected aspect of goal setting. It is essential that you give yourself some time frame within which to achieve your goals. This can range from season-long goals, to a more specific time frame (“be injury-free by sectionals”). If you’re confident in your ability to work and achieve your goals on a consistent basis, you can perhaps ease up on this requirement, but deadlines give motivation. If you’re not motivated to meet a deadline then perhaps you should re-evaluate your goal.
Another important distinction to keep in mind when you set your goals is the difference between process and outcome goals.
Process goals are directly in your control–improving your consistency throwing is only a matter of your own work. Process goals also tend to be pretty easily quantifiable (improving athletically always yields measurements to gauge yourself–how fast you run, how high you jump, how much you can lift, etc).
Outcome goals, on the other hand, are things that, while you can strive to achieve them, are ultimately out of your control. Things like “winning nationals,” while a great goal to have, is also a goal that undoubtedly dozens of teams and hundreds of players set for themselves, but only one team can achieve.
The danger in goal setting is getting too caught up in the outcome. Just because you did not win a game does not mean you have not improved, doesn’t mean you haven’t achieved. This is why setting goals that relate to the process is so important–it gives you a measuring stick. You can look at yourself and say with full confidence that you set a goal, worked towards it, and achieved it. Results will come, or they won’t. One way or another you will find there is lots of room to improve if you focus on the process, rather than the outcome.
This ties in a fair bit with some of the things Tiina Booth said about what she does with Amherst Regional High School to prepare them to play in tournaments and develop mental toughness. At some point I’ll be making a post relating the outcome vs. process distinction to team leadership, so keep an eye out for that.
If you’re looking for a model to gauge your own goal-setting by or to get some training ideas, feel free to check out my Summer Workout Plan (you can also follow the label for the same on the sidebar). I took the time to make a detailed plan of what I wanted to improve and how I wanted to improve the summer of ’06, and made some very significant gains in that time and in so doing established a fitness habit that carried me through the rest of my collegiate career.
