Goal-setting: the Key to Progress
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Loading ...I sent this out as part of a longer email to the team today. Good goal-setting makes a world of difference in any aspect of your life, not just ultimate.
Set measurable and attainable goals to work towards. It’s easy to rally yourself to work hard for a few days, a week, maybe even a couple months, but you want to be working towards some ultimate (pun intended) goal. Working without goals is journeying without a map–you’ll get somewhere, but perhaps not where you want to be, and certainly not as swiftly as you could’ve.
No doubt you already have some goals in mind (e.g., “improve my throws,” “get into better shape,” etc). I want you to break those goals down into more bite-sized chunks. Thinking in broad strokes is good, but taking the time to design details will pay off. If your big goal is to improve your throws, commit to making 50 passes every day, or throwing for 10 minutes every day. Instead of working the broad scope of all of your throws, really hone in and focus on putting touch on your step-out flat forehand until you get comfortable with it. Don’t just work to get “in shape.” Work towards adding an extra 20 pounds to your squat, or adding 2 inches to your vertical, or shaving a half-second off of your 100 time. PLEASE blitz me if you’re having trouble quantifying your goals.
Write your goals down. Put them somewhere you’ll see them every day, as a constant reminder of what you’re working towards. Set goals that are reasonable enough that you’ll complete them in time. Set and maintain 3 process goals–3 things entirely in your control and entirely doable (e.g., “throw for 20 minutes every day for two weeks”)–and to continue to set more ambitious goals as you meet your old ones (“throw for 1 hour every day for two weeks”). It’s important that your goals have a timeframe–this will guide your work and provide some motivation. If “add 20 pounds to my squat” is a good goal, “add 20 pounds to my squat by next month” is great. Even if you don’t meet the goal, you’re still working hard and gaining knowledge of what you’re capable of.
I’ve written about goal setting before, give the “goal setting” tag a look if you’re interested in more depth.
While I agree setting goals is an important aspect of achievment, just make sure that you are flexible and able to change courses and not blindly following goals if they not longer make sense.
Although it may be more about buisness, this article on boston.com Ready, aim… fail is an interesting read.
Brad,
Thanks for the link–interesting read indeed.
I started to reply to this via comment, but it grew into its own post–should be up soon.