A new year is a perfect time to reflect, reset & refocus. Creating goals is not just about how to score more points or even win more games. Goals need to be about growth, effort, and becoming the best version of yourself on and off the court. Learning how to write meaningful goals will help you to recenter and keep motivated when things become challenging.
Why Goals Matter?
Goals help to map out the vision you have for yourself. They help you to understand deeply why you are putting in all this time and energy into your craft. When the goals are written down, in front of you they become real and tangible. They give you something to work towards every single day.
Goals especially can help you athletes:
- Gain Confidence
- Create healthy lifelong habits
- Improve focus
- Teach accountability
1. Start With Reflection
Always before writing goals, take a moment to think about the past year. Think about all the highs & lows.
Ask yourself:
- What am I proud of from last year?
- What challenged me the most?
- Where did I grow as an athlete & as a person?
- What do I want to improve this year?
There is no wrong answers here. Be honest with yourself. Reflection is the most import key to creating honest and the most meaningful goals for yourself.
2. Set Goals You Can Control
Sometimes we tend to focus on goals that may be outside of our control to change. For example, we may not always be able to control playing time, wins, losses, or stats. But, we can ALWAYS control attitude, effort, heart, and preparation. Creating goals that depend on no one else except yourself, are the goals we want to make.
Examples of controllable goals:
- I will respond to mistakes with positive self-talk.
- I will give full effort in all drills.
- I will communicate positively with my teammates during games and practices.
- I will practice my shooting 15 minutes before & after practice, 4 days a week.
- I will take a break when my body and mind shows me signs I need to rest.
3. Keep Goals Simple & Realistic
Too many goals can be extremely overwhelming and very difficult to track. Begin with creating 2-4 meaningful goals that excite you and will challenge you in a healthy way.
Write them down with pen and paper. Not on your phone, tablet, or computer. Write them down in a journal or a special paper. Writing down the goals in your own handwriting makes it personal to you. After you have written your goals, post them somewhere safe. In your room, locker at school, bathroom mirror, or somewhere you are often in your house. *If you want to see your goals often, take a picture of your written goals & make the goals the background on your phone.*
Revisit your goals often & check-in with yourself how you are doing with attaining your goals for the year.
4. Write Down Different Types Of Goals
A strong goal plan focus on all areas of the athlete. This means creating goals that will positively impact the whole development of a student-athlete.
Different types of goals to create:
Skill Goal– Focus on improving basketball skills- shooting, defense, ball handling…
Mental Health Goal– Confidence, focus, and mindset matter just as much as physical skills. Goals around positive self-talk, handling pressure, or staying composed after mistakes can make a big difference.
School Goal– Think about school and your different classes.
Positive Habit Building Goals: This could include stretching every day, getting enough sleep, drinking certain amount of water each day.
Safe Social Media and Cellphone Goals: Social media can be a positive platform, if we use it correctly. Create goals around social media and the usage of your cellphone by for example being off of your phone an hour or more before bed, not looking being on social media before games, or creating simply creating a more balanced life with cell phone usage throughout the day.
Personal Growth Goals: Maybe there is another goal entirely different from your sport and other extra curricular activities that you want to track. Write it down. Creating goals will be a lifelong skill that will positively impact your well-being far beyond athletics.
5. Progress Over Perfection
Goals are not about being perfect. Everyone that has ever achieved their goal has experienced set backs, moments of frustration, and possibly been told no. This is okay. Growth will happen when you stay committed, even when things feel really really hard.
Continuously celebrate your effort and progress. Show kindness to yourself along the way.
& remember every small step forward matters.
