Success depends on setting the right types of goals; take time to evaluate your goals in order to ensure a clear vision. Assess your goals and goal-setting process according to the SMART principle. Goals should be "specific," "measurable," "attainable," "realistic" and "timely." Developed by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in 1981, these goal ideals apply to any endeavor, whether athletics, business or your personal life.
Step 1
Record your goals in a notebook to create a specific direction. Answer as many questions as you possibly can about your goal and increase the likelihood you will be working toward the precisely desired outcome. Ask yourself who is involved with this goal, what exactly is the goal, where will it be achieved and why am I achieving it.
Step 2
Record progress to your goal in the same notebook. Measure your goals and goal progress to build motivation as you see success along the way. For example, it is difficult to measure a goal of becoming a better baseball player, while a goal to hit at the batting cages three times a week before the first day of season is a goal that can be measured weekly until final achievement.
Step 3
Form attainable goals; you will work harder to achieve an attainable goal, while an overwhelming goal serves as a barrier to the work necessary to achieve it. An attainable goal affects motivation on a conscious and subconscious level.
Step 4
Create realistic goals, such that the materials and skills necessary to achieve the goal are available to you. For example, quitting smoking cold turkey may not be realistic for a habitual smoker, but reducing seven cigarettes per week may be.
Step 5
Set a specific deadline to create urgency. Record the due date in your notebook to meet the "timely" SMART principle.
Tips and Warnings
- Telling someone about your goal increases the odds you will stick to the plan to achieve it. Monitor your behavior. Effective goals change the way you act.
References
- "U.S. Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Training Manual"; U.S. Olympic Committee sport psychology staff; 2002
- "Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology 4th Edition"; Robert Weinberg & Daniel Gould; 2007
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