Developing and Achieving Goals for Sport and Life
Many people have heard of SMART goals. A way of developing well thought out and measurable goals which will make them easy to accomplish. It works well when done correctly but so many people write down the goal and place it in a draw where they will never see it again.
SMART stands for:
Specific: The goal should be as precise as possible
Measurable: The goal should have an element which can be measured
Attainable: The goal should be as realistic as possible
Relevant: The goal must sincerely mean something to you
Timely: There must be a time frame in which you wish to complete the set goal.
e.g.: I will complete the Melbourne Marathon on October 13th in under 4hours.
T
he example here shows all the SMART goal principles within one short sentence. It also describes the goal in a positive way “I will”, to increase confidence in the statement.
So now you have your goal written down what do you do with it? To me, all that goal is at the moment is a sentence on a piece of paper. What you need to do is turn that goal into an action plan and the easiest way to do this, is to break it down into smaller goals and tasks which need to be complete in a specific amount of time.
Let’s break down the goal we began with:
“I will complete the Melbourne Marathon on October 13th in under 4hours”
Specific: Melbourne Marathon
Measurable: Under 4hours
Attainable: I have been completing 10km a day 5 days a week and strength training.
Relevant: I have wanted this since I began running
Timely: October 13th – 3months away (12 weeks)
Of this break down of the primary goal there are 2 areas which we need to take into consideration; the time in which we wish to finish the marathon as this affects the type of training we wish to complete over the coming weeks, and how long we have until our set date for goal achievement is reached. The reason these are important is that, if we create 12 small goals in the lead up to the Melbourne Marathon we are more likely to stay committed to the larger goal which is set and not lose track of what we would like to achieve. This may look something like the following:
Week 1 – I will to complete 60km in one week
Week 2 – I will to complete at least 2 15km runs this week
Week 3 – I will complete 70km this week and 2 strength sessions
Then of these established goals you break them down into daily tasks including the run itself, rehabilitation activities, dietary requirements and hydration/recovery. By doing this you always have your primary goal front of mind and something you will never forget in the lead up to the event date.
Other handy tips include writing the goal somewhere where you will always see it and be able to state it out loud three times every morning in a powerful and determined way. This is where writing the goal in a positive context becomes so relevant as speaking in positive terms out loud can really increase your confidence in completing the task ahead of you.
Until Next Time,
Jackson McCosker
Director/ Chief Editor
FootNotes Publishing 