“We believe that using goal setting is as necessary as having a coach.” — U.S Ski Team
In my column, I share key elements of mental conditioning that improve athletic performance. This month’s topic is goal setting, the ability to set and achieve goals fundamental to success in both sports and life.
As I wrote this column on “Marathon Monday,” about 30,000 people were running the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston in the 2018 Boston Marathon. I could not help thinking about the detailed training program these runners had embarked on in the 18-20 weeks prior as they crossed the finish line on Boylston Street. Training for a marathon epitomizes the deliberate nature and value of setting and achieving goals.
While completing the Boston Marathon might have been their ultimate objective, also referred to as the outcome goal, these marathon runners do not simply wake up on Patriots’ Day and run 26.2 miles. Rather, most runners follow an intense training regimen that begins with short runs in late November and gradually builds to weekly long runs in February and March, before they taper the distances a couple of weeks in advance of the mid-April race. For long-distance runners, goal-setting includes running a certain number of miles, ideally at a certain pace, each week. The step-by-step training protocol increases their physical endurance and helps build their mental fortitude by enhancing confidence. Such confidence, established through deliberate goal setting, is invaluable when runners are contending with the brutal cold, rain and wind they did in the 2018 Boston Marathon.
What is goal setting?
A goal is an aspiration that people generally set to achieve their desired result. The essence of goal setting is changing behavior. The goal and training do not have to be as lofty as an individual’s aim to complete the Boston Marathon or even win the Isobel Cup or Stanley Cup. A goal can be as simple as a hockey players seeking to improve his or her snap shot.
While some athletes can succeed without goals, many who want to excel set goals as a critical element in training their brains and enhancing their mental strength. Virtually every Olympic, professional and college athlete now practices goal setting, and the trend is fast moving to the high school and youth sports levels.
What are the benefits of setting goals?
- Provide structure
- Provide focus
- Supply feedback
- Build self-confidence
- Increase motivation
- Improve performance
Types of goals
Setting goals begins with athletes creating a clear vision of what they determine to be success. When I meet with new clients, they often have an ideal result in mind, an outcome goal. Sometimes success can mean overcoming a personal challenge, and other times it can mean working together with a team to establish a common vision. Either way, the key is to form a clear vision that aligns with personal values. One great example of such goal setting is exemplified through the 2018 U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey Team. Four years ago, after the team lost to Canada in overtime of the 2014 gold-medal game, the Americans created a vision of wearing gold medals around their necks in 2018. The team’s outcome goal was to win the gold medal in PyeongChang. Everyone on the team was aligned with and committed to that common vision by taking the steps to optimize their chance of achieving this goal. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the winning goal in a shootout after a 20-minute overtime, on a sensational move that she had practiced and at which she had failed “thousands of times” in the prior four years.
Outcome goals: Examples of outcome goals include the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team’s dream to win the gold medal, and NWHL and NHL teams to win the Isobel Cup and Stanley Cup, respectively. The distinguishing feature of outcome goals is that they are not entirely within the athletes’ control. Many other factors play a role in determining whether athletes, or teams, achieve their outcome goal or not. Athletes must, therefore, focus on goals that lie within their control.
Performance goals: These are the objectives that are within control and give athletes the best chance of reaching their outcome goal. In her quest to help Team USA win the gold medal, Lamoureux-Davidson committed herself to perfecting her multi-fake shot to improve her performance. One collegiate center I work with set a performance goal to win the majority of faceoffs in each game. Both of these players chose to develop a hockey skill that was in their control.
Process goals: These are controllable steps that allow athletes to develop skills and to achieve their performance goals. The center who was committed to improving his faceoff percentage watched videos of his faceoffs to determine how he could win more. He identified three skills to continue to develop and then practiced a set number of faceoffs each day. Creating process goals that can be checked off is a way that athletes can monitor their improvement. Take pride in your improvement. If you do not improve, keep challenging yourself, remain positive and be open to adjusting process goals.
These goals can be pursued daily, weekly or monthly, both in season and in the offseason. In fact, summer is an ideal time for hockey players to strategize and implement a goal-setting plan.
The key to success is committing to these process goals so they become habits. Repetition allows you to excel, thereby enhancing your chances of achieving your performance goals and ultimately your outcome goal. I encourage all athletes to maintain a logbook for recording their vision, tracking their goals and reflecting on the process.
Think SMART
This acronym has helped guide many athletes in creating powerful goals. I recommend that you find a partner (parent, sibling, friend, teammate, psychologist) with whom to share feedback and to help monitor your progress. Accountability is critical to success.
S = Specific: Is the goal specific?
M = Measurable: How are you going to measure whether you are successful or not?
A= Attainable: Is it a goal that you — in your heart — believe you can achieve?
R = Realistic: Does it make sense for you to be striving for this goal at this point?
T = Timely: Is the time you set to achieve the goal reasonable?
Assignment:
• Step 1: What is your SMART goal? (write it out, ideally by hand. Get a notebook and fun colored pens to write and track your goals).
• Step 2: What are two or three action steps that will help you achieve your goal?
• Step 3: How are you going to hold yourself accountable? If you are self-motivated, more power to you. Otherwise, find a person to check in with on a regular basis.
• Step 4: Get started and have fun!
