How to Make Better and More Effective Individual and Team Goals

Do you ever feel like you’re running on a treadmill, but not gaining any ground in life? Do you know where you want to go, but you’re unsure of how to get there? Have you ever given thought to what makes a good goal?

Goal setting is a powerful strategy to get and stay motivated on the journey towards your dreams. Goal setting is the road map to the future that you want. Goal setting is the process by which you can achieve your accomplishments if you stay disciplined and continue to put forth the effort. Goal setting is the key to adopting a growth mindset. In the words of the late great basketball Coach John Wooden, “Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do.”

Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden

However, there is more to goal setting, then just writing lofty dreams down on a piece of paper. Goal setting is an ongoing process that needs to be reflected upon, measured, monitored, assessed, and reassessed. When done well, both individual and team goal setting can be a powerful motivator and play a critical role in achieving desired success.

Here’s 5 tips to making better and more effective individual and team goals.

1. Make your goals specific and measurable. Athletes and coaches should always be able to assess how close you are to attaining a goal.
2. Add time constraints to your goals. When are you supposed to achieve this goal? By the end of the 1^st week of practice? After 3 weeks of practice? The whole course of the season? By the time your team reaches the playoffs?
3. Write down your goals and monitor your progress regularly. Don’t just write them down and never look at them again. Put your goals in a place that you can see them regularly like a vision a board, a locker room, or gym.
4. Set goals for practice as well as games. If you can’t do it in practice, then you’re probably not going to be able to do it under pressure in competition. Always practice what you hope to achieve in competition.
5. Set positive goals not negative ones. Your mind cannot tell the difference between a negative or positive visualization, therefore you should always visualize what you hope to execute. For example, instead of saying your goal is to not lose any games this season, try saying our goal is to win all of our games this season. Always turn your negatives into positives. That goes for both goals and visualization.