Here we are, the start of a new year, and the start of a new mindset for most people. Goals are set, dreams are dreamt, and many people start off the year with a new vision of how they’re going to crush an obstacle in their way.
The vision part is easy; it’s sticking to it and making it happen that is the daunting part. Making sense of goal setting is also easier said than done. Which is why at the start of most years, people set goals again with the hopes that this will be the year that they stick to them.
The idea of goal setting as a staircase is an easy one for people to visualize. Put your goal at the top of the stairs, you’re at the bottom, and then think of all the things you have to work on, improve, or master in order to get you up to that goal. One step at a time. It breaks it down, it’s easy to understand, and it helps that big goal seem more achievable if we just have to achieve one little step at a time.
I heard an example this week that maybe simplifies it even more. By stating the order that an athlete thinks these steps should go in, they’re putting restrictions on themselves that maybe they find as they get going, they’re not completing them very well. Instead of deciding what those steps are in order, just write down everything that you could do that would help get you closer to that end goal.
The key words here are that you must write them down. You might come up with 15 things that you could be doing right now, today at practice or training that could help get you closer to that goal. Great! Now go do one, just one, of those things. Pick the number one thing you need to work on or improve that will make you feel like you’re getting closer. That will be the most exciting, motivating, and fun thing to do and once you’ve accomplished it, you’ll feel a sense of pride and confidence to keep going.
Now, if ‘get faster’ is one of those things you could do that will get you closer, deciding to go ‘get faster’ one day is a ridiculous thing to focus on. Instead, ask yourself what is one thing you could do today that will help improve your speed, and focus on that. This will help to give you direction, focus, and vision when you’re in the gym, at practice, or training at home. When times get tough and you’re feeling your mind or body give out, remind yourself of that list you wrote out. Think of checking those tasks off one at a time and driving forwards towards your goals. This might be what gets you fired up and helps you achieve your goals this year.
Maybe lists aren’t your thing at all. Maybe this style of goal setting hasn’t been helpful year after year. Why not try something more visual to serve as inspiration to propel you further towards that accomplishment? Vision boards, or dream boards, serve as a tangible representation of the things that you want most in your life, laid out in front of you. There is no rhyme or reason as to how they should be put together, and they can contain whatever will spark your motivation to keep working towards that goal. Traditionally they are made by cutting out pictures and gluing them onto a collage that you can hang in your room or have in your sport bag.
Technology can be on your side too. There are so many apps that you can use that incorporate web images, your own photos, quotes, colors, layouts, and more to design a virtual dream board. The best part, you can save this as a JPEG and set it as your lock screen on your devices, your background on your desktop, you can view it easily whenever and wherever you are when you need a refocus strategy. You can, still sticking with the old school technique, print it off and display it somewhere too, but it makes it so much easier to duplicate when it’s saved digitally in your files.
In sum, it is important that you not only think about what you want, but think about how you want to encourage yourself to keep working towards making it happen. Whether you’re a visual learner and love the idea of a vision board, or you learn best by listening and could record yourself to listen back you reading out your goals or affirmations, your goals are only as good as your efforts to keep them. If you don’t hold yourself accountable, you’ll find yourself in this spot next year, asking how you can make it happen the next time around. You owe it to yourself to design your goals your way, as you’re the only one who can take credit for your successes, and the only one who can do the work to make them happen.
Courtney Marchesin, MA, sport psychology consultant, is the mental skills coach for the Alberta Sport Development Centre-Southeast. She can be contacted at courtneymarchesin@gmail.com.
