Top athletes come totally prepared before competition. They worked on improving their skills, ate properly and immersed themselves in mental and behavioral rituals that help them push distractions aside. They don’t just show up and hope for the best. Instead, they are well aware that competition starts way before the referee blows the whistle.
To meet their expectations, they set goals that address each one of the areas they need to focus on: skills, nutrition, and mental. They typically write down each goal and set a clear timeframe to meet each objective. Their goals are written by separating what they need to achieve before, during, and after competition. They push themselves every time just enough to continue their forward momentum. But, how do they know if they are meeting their goals?
Doing a daily evaluation of their work against their set goals is the easiest and most reliable way to know how they are progressing. This self-evaluation is done after a week of practice or even after a tournament. The athletes set aside time to clearly write down how they performed in each of the areas they needed to focus on. If the goal was to run five times a week for 45 minutes, a self-evaluation would look at the process goals that lead to meeting this goal. For example, a process goal looks at the mental preparation the night before going to bed. Is the athlete going to bed at the specific time? Is he/she doing a mental imagery that incorporates a positive outcome of getting up in the morning and getting ready to run? Has he/she put aside proper proteins to eat/drink before running? Has he/she prepared positive self-statement to encourage him to get moving?
Setting and meeting goals are two different things. To meet goals, the most important variables are doing the little things that lead to eventually meeting goals. We tend to overly emphasize big goals and see ourselves achieving success. Well, everybody wants to achieve success, but those who do pay more attention to the little steps by making sure these are met are the ones who eventually lift the trophy.
To meet goals:
1. Write down specific and doable mini-goals and prepare yourself behaviorally and mentally to do them.
2. Follow up and do a self-evaluation to find out what areas you need to continue improving so next time you will reach your desired goal.