Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are soon approaching…..so let’s focus on your Goal Achievement in the same way.

How would you successfully eat an elephant? ….one bite at a time! and the same goes for goal setting: one step at a time.

So how do you raise your game….and achieve your goals one step at a time?

Anyone interested in swimming will be aware of the achievements of the Australian 1500m freestyle World Record holder & 2-time Olympian, Grant Hackett. In the course of a spectacular career, Hackett has rewritten the record books when he became the only man ever to win back-to-back 1500m freestyle gold medals, in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics. At times he is, quite literally, ‘in a class of his own’.

The world will be watching in Beijing to see if Grant Hackett can become the first man in history to win three consecutive Olympic gold in the 1500m freestyle. The distance champion climbed back after sinking to an unlikely low at last year’s world championships when he finished seventh in his signature event, bringing his 11-year 1500m reign to an end.

Hackett showed the world he was coming at Australia’s Olympic trials in March when he produced some of his best times in years. Hackett’s disappointment at missing out on a berth in the open water 10km marathon swim event has only added fuel to his quest for a place in the record books.

….And GRANT Hackett’s bid for Olympic history in Beijing lifted a gear on Sunday 20th July 2008 when he smashed his own 800m freestyle short-course World Record, warning rivals there’s still a lot to come.

However, according to the man himself, his achievements are based not purely on talent and hard physical conditioning, but on mental strength and a clear vision of where he wanted to go.

Grant Hackett developed a plan of how to get there and mobilised his extraordinary talent through effective goal setting.

***How goal-setting enhances performance by 78%***

You may not have used goal setting before. Or if you have tried and discarded it, there’s a good chance you misunderstood how it works.

One of the main problems is that not everyone is are aware of the principles of goal setting and how to apply them effectively. So a key purpose of this section of the Go-for-Gold Blog: Goal Achievement is to give a better understanding of how to use goal-setting to enhance your performance and productivity and avoid disappointments.

Not everyone has the talent to be a Grant Hackett, but anyone can achieve significant improvements in their performance and productivity by the same means.

Many people associate goal setting with New Year resolutions, and are quick to dismiss the process as ineffective, since most well intentioned, if vague, resolutions have failed before the end of January.

Let’s get one thing clear straight away:

***Most such resolutions are perfect examples of how not to set goals!***

Research on goal setting in the world of business as well as sport and exercise has consistently shown that it can lead to enhanced performance.

In fact, a recent meta-analysis (evaluation of pooled data from a whole series of studies) showed that goal setting led to performance enhancement in 78% of sport and exercise research studies, with moderate-to strong effects. So how is it done?

***Short-term goals – the key to success***

Top athletes like Grant Hackett have understood that, although dream goals such as Olympic gold medals are important in helping to direct our efforts, it is the day- to-day ‘short-term’ goals that provide the key to success.

Let’s classify goals into three types:

*Dream goals are the ones that seem a long way off and difficult to achieve. In time terms, they may be anything from six months to several years away

*Intermediate goals are markers of where you want to be at a specific time.
For example, if your dream goal is to achieve your target 70 kgs weight (currently 86 kgs) by reducing 8 kilograms over 4 months, an intermediate goal could be a 4 kilograms improvement after two months or half a kilogram per week.

*Short-term or daily goals are the most important because they provide a focus for our training in each and every session. Past research on Olympic athletes found that setting daily training goals was one factor that distinguished successful performers from their less successful counterparts.

What action do you need to do in order to take the necessary steps towards your ultimate dream goal and set goals not just for the outcome, but for daily and weekly tasks.

***Why goal setting so often fails***

The dangers of ‘outcome goals’ that tend to focus on an objective competitive result, such as winning a medal or beating an opponent or achieving the number 1 ranked salesperson, can never be completely under your control since the ability and form of your opponents can influence the result.

You might even swim a PB (Personal Best) or achieve the sales targets but still fail to achieve your specific goal and so damage your confidence. Outcome goals can provide motivation, but focusing purely on the result can lead to increased anxiety.

That’s why it’s important to include ‘performance’ and ‘process’ goals in your training plan.

***Performance and process goals***

Performance goals can be easily readjusted to provide meaningful and realistic targets. ‘Process goals’ are to do with the actions or techniques that are required to achieve success.

Coaches in both sport and business; have a preference for performance and process goals, since these can be more easily and precisely adjusted than outcome goals, although all three types of goal should be used as appropriate to the individual and situation. One recent study found better results when using a combination of goal strategies (outcome, performance and process goals) than either one alone.

Here’s the technique coaches use to help remember the key principles of goal setting: think SMARTER. That is, your goals should be:

*Specific – Indicate precisely what is to be done. Avoid vague alternatives
*Measurable – You should be able to quantify your goal
*Accepted – Goals must be accepted as worthwhile, realistic and attainable
*Recorded – Write your goals down. This is the basis of a contract with yourself
*Time-constrained – Set specific time limits
*Evaluated – Monitor your progress regularly
*Reversible – In the event of injury, or failure to achieve over-difficult goals, reset your goals accordingly

Cheers to you achieving your PB’s - personal bests and …..successfully eating an elephant one bite at a time.

Go for gold! Shelley Taylor-Smith