At the beginning of a new year we are often inundated with “resolution” emails, questions and articles. And yes, this is one of those. That is because a new year is a great time to review your past successes or failures and to set your success goals for the upcoming year.
But the catch is, often a “New Years Resolution” kicks you into action for about a month, and by February most people have conveniently forgotten that they even set a new years goal. As a student-athlete, your goals cannot be forgotten, and your dreams cannot be set aside for next year.
Here is a 2016 challenge to help keep you on track for the entire year.
- Spend some time evaluating and setting goals in three areas. Sport, School and Life.
- Write down those MAJOR performance goals. (The long term ultimate goal you want to accomplish in 2016) If you have a training journal, that is a great place to record these goal in. If not, get a notebook or journal or even find an app that you can record your notes in and review regularly. (If you go digital, Evernote is a great one to use!)
- What are the steps you need to accomplish in order to achieve success in those goals this year? Break down each of your performance goals into quarters; What steps are you going to take in Quarter 1 (Jan-Mar) Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun) Quarter 3 (Jul-Sept) and Quarter 4 (Oct-Dec)
- On the first week of each month this year review your major performance goal, and evaluate how you are doing on your progress. Re-evaluate what you are doing daily and weekly in order to achieve success this year.
If you have lost motivation or inspiration on reaching your goals, think about why. What about your goal is not inspiring you? What about your routine or your daily activity is difficult to fit into your schedule? Perhaps you need to review, re-write or update your major performance goals, or your quarterly goals to help yourself stay on track and stay inspired. Re-commit yourself at the beginning of every month to working toward success.
Those of you that are on our mailing list, we will remind you each quarter to re-evaluate your goals, assess your progress, and will be here to help motivate you. If you are not on our mailing list but want to be, click here to join us!
Here are a few ideas to get you thinking about what kinds of goals you can set for yourself in Sport, in School and in Life.
SCHOOL: What do you want to achieve this year? Is it a certain GPA? Is it improving marks in one of the classes you struggle with? Is it researching and narrowing down your top 5 universities? Perhaps it is completing applications or taking your SAT/ACT? What is your goal, and how can you break that down into measurable steps?
SPORT: How is your fitness level and where does it need to be in order to take your game to the next level? Perhaps you need some rehab or strength training. Maybe you want to work on your speed or agility. Do you want to make the provincial team or a showcase team this year? Have you made your recruiting highlight video? Have you figured out what your top 5 athletic university choices are? What do you need to get this done?
LIFE: Have you been in communication with adults in your life? Your support system, parents and teachers? do they know what your goals are? What skills can you work on developing that will make you more recruitable? How are you developing your leadership skills? Do you have a plan that will help you balance sport and school this year? Having a good work/life balance takes a lot of good time management skills to accomplish. What in your life do you struggle with and what can you do to work toward building your confidence and success in those areas, this could be building relationships, specific job skills, or communication skills for example. Do you have any internship or work experience plans this year that could help your university applications?
Remember, there is no right time to start chasing a goal, and there is no right time to sit down and set out a plan to be your best self, and chase down your dreams. If at any time you find yourself losing dedication, motivation or inspiration that is the right time to sit down and re-write your plan.