The 10 Essentials: Essential #2

The second Essential is learning to Set Goals. Goals tell you where you want to go. They put words to dreams or ideas and solidify the path required to get there. Goals also let others know what you want out of life so they can determine how to help you achieve those goals. Some goals are individual, others are identified with a team. When it comes to setting goals, there are many components that go into being an effective goal setter. Today, we are going to dive into two of them.

Set small, medium, and big goals.

You, like most athletes, are probably great at setting big goals. This could be earning a scholarship to play in college, getting a starting position on a specific team, or hitting a new PR. These are all great goals! However, they are often the big massive goals that will take a great deal of time and effort to achieve. The bigger the goal, the longer it takes to get there. So to help you stay motivated, you need to create small and medium goals that you can accomplish along the way. By setting up these smaller goals, you’ll be able to see the progress you are making and know without a doubt that you are well on your way to achieving that big goal.

To do this, think about goals like setting up dominoes. Your big goal is a tall massive domino that is all the way down at the other end of the room. In order to knock it over, you need to set up a bunch of other dominoes that will line up and generate the necessary force to knock that final domino over. Think about your big goal and identify a few check in points that will let you know that you are getting closer. These would be your medium goals. Then start to look for the smaller, daily or weekly tasks you must accomplish in order to reach those medium goals. This sets you up to know exactly what to focus on to get you where you want to go. Remember: a marathon can be broken up into 26.2 miles and each mile takes a whole bunch of little steps.

Balance outcome goals with process goals.

As an athlete, you likely set outcome goals. These are the outcomes you want to achieve: a specific time in a race or a batting average, winning a championship, or getting a scholarship. There is nothing wrong with having outcome goals. However, if you remember from our first Essential, Distinguish between Controllables and Uncontrollables, outcomes fall in that Uncontrollable category. You want to make sure that you are balancing that outcome goal with process goals. Process goals are the things within your control that you have to do in order to put yourself in the position to accomplish the outcome goal. Think about your outcome goal again and ask yourself: What do I need to do, that’s within my control, that will put me in the best position to accomplish this goal?

Use your answers to this question to create a list of process goals. Little note: you may have to generate your own way to measure those process goals. If you take the time to create this balance between outcome and process goals, it will ensure that you are doing the things necessary to give you the opportunity to achieve your outcome goal.