Goal setting for athletes is all about direction, focus, and intention.
Depending on the goal you set, you can provide yourself with long-term direction, or you could provide yourself with clear intention for the day.
No matter what type of goal you set as an athlete, though, goals are at the core of you becoming the best player you can be.
But not all goals are helpful. In fact, some forms of goal setting can hold you back and cause you to underperform.
Therefore, it’s important for you, as an athlete, to understand the right types of goals to set and learn how to use them in the most effective way possible.
Why Goals are Important to Athletes
Without goals, an athlete is without direction. They are without an idea of what they want to work on each day. They are without focus during a game.
Goals provide you with a clear target. Whether they are long-term goals or daily goals, they give your mind something concrete to focus on.
Due to this, there are a few key benefits goal setting will have on your game.
- Provides Motivation: setting long-term goals gives you a clear idea of what you want to achieve within your sport. When you know what you are working toward, motivation is easy to find.
- Increases Focus: whether it’s due to a long-term goal helping you focus each day, or a daily goal that guides your attention in the moment, goal setting increases your focus as an athlete.
- Builds Confidence: as you see yourself achieve goals you’ve set, confidence will grow. You will strengthen the belief you have in yourself to achieve what you’ve set out to achieve.
- Helps You Stay Present: knowing what you need to focus on during practice or during a game, due to the goals you’ve set for that day, will help keep your attention in the present moment.
- Calms Nerves: if you set the correct kind of goals for a game, they can actually work to keep your attention present and off outcomes that drive stress and anxiety.
Different Types of Goals Athletes Set
There are two main types of goals athletes can set: outcome goals and process goals.
Outcome goals involve targets athletes set for themselves that have to do with the result of their play. Some examples of outcome goals include:
- Getting on a specific team
- Winning the championship
- Having a certain stat line by the end of the season
- Making an all conference team
Outcome goals are best at providing direction and motivation. Knowing what they would like to achieve gives them the motivation to train hard and stay focused, even when things aren’t going well.
Outcome goals can become hurtful, however, if an athlete focuses on them too much. Especially during games.
When players fixate on the outcome of a performance, this is where anxiety and fear form.
So, instead of focusing on outcome goals, athletes want to use process goals for practices and games.
Process goals involve targets athletes want to focus on and things they would like to accomplish that are part of the process and in their control.
Having a process goal be 100% in your control is crucial.
Outcome goals are not fully controllable. Yes, the athlete influences them and can work hard to achieve them, but they cannot make sure they happen 100% of the time.
Process goals, on the other hand, should be 100% within an athlete’s control.
Some examples of process goals include:
- Training twice a day
- Focusing on having positive thoughts during the game
- Sticking to my nutrition plan throughout the week
- Playing aggressively and giving full effort
Setting Outcome Goals
Remember, outcome goals are used to provide you with direction and motivation. They should be focused on what you would like to achieve by the end of the season or by next year or so.
These are your long-term goals.
Once you set your outcome goals, you can use them as motivation. However, you do not want to constantly think about them. If you do, you will find yourself stressing and worrying about whether or not you will achieve them.
When you stress over your outcome goals, something that used to be positive and provided you with direction and motivation will have turned into a major distraction.
The key here is to set goals that excite you, but then use those goals to turn your attention onto the process. Since it is the process that will ultimately result in the attainment of the outcome goal.
How to Create Outcome Goals
To set strong outcome goals, there are a few questions you can answer:
- What do I want to achieve by the end of this season?
- Where would I like to be a year from now?
- What awards excite me?
- What is my ideal vision of the player I’d like to be?
Brainstorm those questions to help get an idea of what you would like to achieve outcome wise within your sport, then turn them into specific outcome goals.
Now that you have your outcome goals set, it’s time to turn your attention onto the process that will help you achieve them.
Setting Process Goals
Process goals provide focus for the day. Whether it’s a training day or game day, process goals give you a clear idea of where you want your attention.
Because remember, you don’t want your attention to be fixed in the future, on the outcomes you’d like to achieve. That does nothing but distract you.
You can think about the outcome as a way to remind yourself of what you’d like to achieve, but then quickly redirect your attention back onto the process of your game.
Creating Process Goals as an Athlete
To help you set effective process goals, I want to break it down into two subcategories: process goals for practices and process goals for games.
Process goals for practices answer the question: what do I want to work on today?
To have effective practices and training sessions, you need a clear idea of what you’re working on. Process goals provide you with such intent.
Think about what you need to focus on that day. What needs to be improved? Set that as your process goal.
Process goals for games answer the question: what do I need to focus on to help me play my best today?
When it comes to performing your best during a game, a large part of it is about letting go and trusting yourself. You won’t find much success trying to force a good performance.
Process goals help keep your attention in the present moment and keep you from overthinking.
Overthinking is a major cause of underperforming during games.
Keep your process goals for games simple. Set goals like: be present and have fun. Play aggressively and give full effort.
When you become skilled at setting process goals for practices and games, you begin training with clearer focus and more intent and you begin competing with more of a present mind. The more present you are when you compete, the more likely you are to play in the flow.
Final Thoughts
Goals are valuable to athletes as they provide you with motivation, focus, and direction.
But you must know what types of goals to set and when you should use which type of goal.
Outcome goals provide direction and motivation. Set them to give you an idea of what you would like to achieve within your sport.
Process goals are all about focus. They help focus your attention during practices and games on what matters most. On the process that leads to the results you want.
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Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
