Learn how to set your goals
Most of us automatically set ourselves goals in our day-to-day lives, and we understand how important it is to do so in order to get things done and guide our progress, whether in training or in any other area of our lives.
Setting goals can be a double-edged sword. It's true that when we achieve what we set out to do, we feel hugely satisfied, which boosts our self-confidence, our self-efficacy and our motivation to keep pushing ourselves in every workout. But it's also true that not reaching them can leave us feeling frustrated, disappointed and demotivated. And that's exactly why setting goals the right way matters so much.
Ronald Smith, professor of Psychology at the University of Washington and a prolific author in the field of sports psychology, came up with a play on words (an acrostic) to help us remember the keys to setting goals, built on the word SMARTS:
- Specific (clear and precise). Goals should state clearly what you want to achieve. A goal like “cut 2 seconds off my personal best at the next race” is more effective than a vaguer one like “improve my time” or “do the best I can”.
- Measurable (quantifiable). Goals must be measurable so we can assess whether we've achieved them. Review your goals, evaluate them and reset them if necessary. If we've set our goals properly, it won't be hard to judge whether we've met them or not. Each time we review our goals, we'll assess whether we've achieved them and, that way, set new, more demanding goals in line with our long-term goal.
- Action-oriented (focused on what to do). Goals should be set around a specific thing to do. Define strategies to reach your goals. If, as we said above, we're aiming to cut 2 seconds off our personal best, it's important to work out what we need to do to get there, whether that's adding something to our training plan, doing it in a certain way, or planning a specific race tactic.
- Realistic (achievable). Goals must be reachable despite any difficulties that may come up. This point is key, but it takes a deep knowledge of your own abilities to strike the right balance between ambition and realism. Going back to the earlier example of improving our personal best, it's important to be clear about what our best time has been and under what circumstances we ran it, both in terms of the shape we were in at the time and the conditions of the race itself.
- Timely (time-bound). Goals must be achievable within a set period of time. Set short-, medium- and long-term goals. If, for a motivating end-of-season goal, we set an intermediate goal halfway through the season (medium term) and keep checking our progress in the short term (every week or every 15 days), we'll be more likely to reach our final goal.
- Self-determined (set by you). Goals should be set by, or agreed with, the athlete. It's important to record our goals somehow and keep them in mind and in sight. We can use whatever approach feels easiest and most effective, whether that's writing them on a piece of paper and sticking it on the fridge with a magnet, or setting a regular reminder on our phone.
(Based on Smith, 1994, in Weinberg and Gould, 2007)
Eva Parrado – PhD in psychology, specializing in sports.