Everyone knows how to set goals and I am sure you have already begun to set your goals for next season, which is great! However, the research shows that even though most of us are pretty good at setting goals, sticking with them is not so easy. One study reported that only 3% of individuals actually end up achieving their New Year’s Resolution! New Year’s resolutions are just big goals that people set for themselves so why is it that so many of us have grand intentions of what we want to accomplish, but we end up falling short?

The majority of the time commitment to the goal is not the problem, but we tend to mess it up along the way by missing opportunities or choosing ineffective strategies to reach our goal. This is especially true when we are trying to reach a difficult goal or there are a lot of obstacles we must face. Goal setting is the most widely researched mental skill and there are thousands of studies that show the significant benefit that effective goal setting can have on performance and the ability to achieve goals. The key here is effective goal setting! Before you embark on your next season and big goal it is important to have a solid plan in place of how you are going to get there and deal with the challenges along the way. Here are a few tips for working toward difficult to reach goals.

1. Be very specific about what exactly you want to achieve. Research shows that vague goals like “I want to eat healthy” or “I want to build this company” are pretty much useless in helping us reach our goal.
2. Think in terms of what you actually need to do to accomplish this goal. With goals we can think of them in terms of why we are doing it (to look great, to feel healthy, to be a better mom) or in terms of what we need to do to accomplish our goal (cut carbs out of my diet, spend 1.5 hours of quality time with my kids each night before bed). If you are looking for motivation, why thoughts work best, but if you are trying to tackle a difficult goal what thoughts cue our brains to the things we need to do to accomplish our goal.
3. Use If/Then statements. The main reason why people get thrown off their goals is because life gets in the way, things get busy and they miss opportunities to work toward their goal. The research behind the power of using If/Then statements for writing out your goal plan is amazing! After identifying obstacles you anticipate facing, come up with a specific If/Then statement for addressing that obstacle (Obstacle-not having a lot of time. Statement-” If it is a Monday, Wednesday or Friday then I will wake up at 5:30 and run for 30 minutes”).
4. Think in terms of getting better not being good. Remember my newsletter from last month? You want to develop a growth mindset toward your goal. This means training your mind to embrace challenges and view setback as opportunities to learn and get better. People with a growth mindset are more likely to try new things, bounce back from adversities, think of creative strategies to get around obstacles and stay committed for the long haul, which is going to be extremely beneficial if you are pursuing a difficult goal!

I just skimmed the surface here with goal setting. There are many additional things you can do to make your goal setting more effective based on the type of goal you are pursuing, the challenges you tend to face and you as an individual! If you are interested in increasing your motivation, your commitment, and your ability to resist temptations that through you off track, I would love to work with you.

Challenge: Pick a goal that you have struggled with or you think will be difficult to reach. Write down all the obstacles you think you will face. For each obstacle come up with 3-5 If/Then statements that help you get around the obstacles or take advantage of opportunities. Then write down one thing that you need to do within the next 24 hours to take one step toward that goal.

 
Ashley Corn is Mile High Multisport’s Sport Psychology Consultant. She has her Master’s degree from the University of Denver Sport & Performance Psychology Program and she is a certified consultant with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. She is also an instructor for the University of Pennsylvania’s Master Resilience Trainer Course, which teaches performance and resilience skills to U.S. Army Soldiers. For more information, Ashley can be contacted at Ashley@milehighmultisport.com or you can visit her website at www.gutscoachingservices.com.