All too often, people will embark on a journey towards self development and improvement, only to become disheartened and demotivated once they realise how long it will take them to reach their end goal. Whilst having an end goal is extremely important, if it's the ONLY goal you set, then you'll almost certainly find yourself burning out, losing focus and even quitting. Read on to find out the importance of goal setting and how to do it effectively.
To really define the importance of goal setting, we'll first define the reasons why you you should set goals, and then how you can set effective goals that will move you towards your end goal.
1. Setting Goals Will Reduce Burnout And Give You a Reason to Keep Grinding
Setting goals will give purpose to your training by allowing you to see progress when you look back and a destination when you look forward. Having these milestones to reflect on is crucial when you find yourself lacking motivation, as it allows you to realise the extent of your hard work. Similarly, having a milestone to look forward to will also help when motivation is dwindling, as you'll keep striving to achieve that rewarding feeling once you accomplish your goal.
2. Setting Goals Helps You to Progress Faster
Imagine trying to build a Lego set without the instructions. You'd end up taking ten times longer to build something that would probably turn out as a disaster anyway. Instead, by following the steps laid out in the instructions, you have a clear and logical path forward to construct your set quickly, efficiently and correctly.
Goal setting is really just writing instructions for your own self development. When you set a goal, you set expectations for your own progress. Our goals are like each new page of the instruction book that adds on a little bit of progress at a time. These steps help us to define clear cut paths towards our end goal that also help us to avoid mistakes and progress faster.
3. Goals Can Make Boring Tasks Fun
Most people have certain activities that they hate doing, especially when it comes to fitness. Examples are running, skipping or pushups. However, you can turn these activities from a mundane chore into a new challenge for yourself by setting goals. Not only are you going to increase the likelihood that you'll actually stick to your training when you set a new goal time for a 5km run, but you'll push yourself harder too!
Now that we've gone over why it's so important to set goals, here's how you can develop better goals that you'll stay committed to.
1. Set S.M.A.R.T Goals
SMART goals are specifically structured goals that are the easiest to grasp and best for success.
S: SPECIFIC
All goals should be specific, meaning that you should be able to clearly define what you want to achieve. For example, "I want to develop my chest and arm strength through weightlifting". This goal is very clear, and gives us a good base to work on.
M: MEASURABLE
Our goals should be measurable. This means that the wording of the goal itself should have a measurable variable in it, or that we should be able to determine whether we have met the goal or not with a quantifiable metric. In the above example, you could re-word the goal to be "I want to increase my bench press PR by 20kg". This is a better goal, as increased strength will be a result of a measurable goal like this.
A: ACHIEVABLE
This is where you need to assess whether or not your goal is actually plausible. For instance, if the above goal was "I want to increase my bench press PR by 100kg", you might think to re-evaluate whether or not that is a realistic goal to set and aim for something that is achievable in the shorter term.
R: RELEVANT
Is your new goal contributing to the bigger picture. This is why it's so important to have a long term goal. Without it, you may find that you're branching off into other areas that aren't going to help you in the long run.
T: TIME-BOUND
Setting a timeframe for your goal is absolutely crucial, and this could be the first or the last step of setting your goal. For instance, if you want to increase your bench PR by 20kg, you might set a longer timeframe of 8-10 weeks. However, you may also decide that you want to get as strong as possible in a 6 week challenge. Both are good options depending on your circumstance and values.
2. Start by Setting a Long Term Goal
Without a long term goal, you won't know where to start with your short term goals. A long term goal should still follow the SMART goal format, but it should be something that you're aiming for way down the track. Think along the lines of months or years! A long term goal should be overarching and somewhat difficult to achieve. A long term goal could be "I want to do my first competition" or "I want to get my black belt". These goals are good because they are still measurable but they take a lot of effort and time.
3. Subdivide Your Long Term Goal Into Smaller Goals or Milestones
Now that you've set a long term goal, it's time to start creating smaller, short term goals that move you towards you long term goal. If you set a goal as doing your first competition, then a short term goal could be to improve your cardio. Written as a SMART goal, that could be "I want to start running 3km twice a week for 3 weeks" This is a goal that has a measurable, realistic objective in a set time frame. Once the goal is complete, you can tick it off and feel confident that you've moved towards you long term goal.
4. Write Them Down And Put Them Somewhere Prominent
Once you've decided on your goal, write it down. This is important as it helps to keep yourself honest and true to your goal. A goal to run 3 times per week might turn into twice or once a week if you don't have some proof for yourself that you decided on 3 times per week. The second step is to also keep your written goal somewhere where you will see it often. A great place can be in your bedroom or bathroom. Ideally, put your goal in places where you are going to be feeling reflective or visiting often.
Goal setting isn't just important for success in martial arts. Having the ability to set realistic and achievable goals is a skill that will propel you to any height you choose in any environment. Goals are the building blocks to your own success, and achieving them is the path to a better, stronger and more confident you!
コメント