October 14, 2021
REDLEG STATE OF MIND #7–21
Monthly newsletter of the Cincinnati Reds Mental Skills Program (MSP). What we’re pondering and promoting to optimize your mental performance.
Theme: This month we want to highlight the process of effective goal pursuit. Goal setting organization is unique and individualized to each goal pursuer and is a skill. Some of us are good goal setters and some of us are not so good at goal setting, thus less effective at pursuing our goals. Learning some research-based goal setting strategies can help us up our game, no matter what performance or outcome we are looking for.
Offseason Goal Pursuit
While the offseason is a time to relax, recover, and regroup, it is also a great opportunity to grow in areas you need. In fact, if you prioritize work-life balance in the offseason, you should think about creating a goal-setting system for yourself. Effective goal pursuit streamlines our efforts toward attaining the outcomes we want and can ultimately give us more personal time. (Which could give us more energy and resources to attain even higher goals! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.) How I like to describe goal setting is two-fold: what goal setting isn’t and what goal setting is.
What it isn’t:
Goal setting is not choosing a desired outcome, a target, or a milestone and leaving everything else up to chance. The act of goal setting is a small fraction of the process of goal attainment. This process from goal setting to goal attainment is described as goal pursuit.
What it is:
Goal attainment is the process of effective goal creation, progress monitoring, and the stacking of consistent short-term goal attainment required to make significant performance and behavior change in the long-term.
Visually I think of it like this:
Without effective goal setting and goal achievement, we typically waste energy and effort on suboptimal processes to get where we want to go. However, with goal setting, we maximize efficiency and effectiveness to get the outcomes we desire.
How does goal pursuit work?
· Directs your focus
· Enhances motivation as you see progress and as you leverage values that are meaningful to you
· Builds confidence as you stack small wins by attaining your daily and short-term to goals
· Enhances learning as you create solutions to challenges you create for yourself
Where to start?
Goal setting and goal attainment is a skill. Meaning you can be ineffective at setting goals. Effective goals are specific, measurable, and challenging.
Nonspecific: “I am going to do my best to read more.”
Specific: “I am going to read 30 minutes every day before bed.”
Non-measurable: “I am going to get in better shape.”
Measurable: “I am going to lower my one-mile time by 10 seconds.”
Not challenging: “Lose one pound of body weight per month.”
Challenging: “Lose one pound of body weight per week.”
A big skill is how challenging you set your goals. Goals that are too easy aren’t motivating, don’t create enough change, and don’t add to our confidence. Goals that are too hard are also not motivating and can decrease confidence if we set ourselves up for failure. See the figure below:
Note: Great goals push you out of your comfort zone but are not outside of your capabilities. Great goals also are in-line with your long-term goals so you know you are being efficient in your growth and staying on the path.
Simple But Effective Goal Setting Steps:
1. Where do you want to go? Set your long-term goal
Is this in your control or not? Outcome goals are typically outside of our total control, and we need to pair them with a performance goal that is within our control.
2. Where are you right now?
You need this information so you can set challenging but attainable mid- and short-term goals that directly link where you currently are (point A) to where you want to go (point B)
3. What obstacles are currently in your way to achieving your long-term goal?
Use these obstacles to focus attention on overcoming these barriers during your goal pursuit
4. Understanding what you need to overcome, work backwards and set a mid-term goal that is within your control.
5. Set short-term goals
You can set multiple goals as long they are (a) within your control, and (b) directly linked to your mid-term goal.
6. Set Daily Goals and Daily Goal Achievement Processes
What are you going to do daily that addresses your obstacles and will help you achieve your short-terms goals quickly?
Reach out to us for developing a personalized goal pursuit plan, structured for the goals you are wanting to achieve or grab a mental skills manual to some more info! Organize your goals to organize your life and master the science of efficient and effective growth.
#Trainyourbrain and #Upyourgame
-Tyler Klein
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