Goal Setting
Winning… It’s a Mind Game
Why It Is Important To Set Goals?
Ronnie O’Sullivan is considered to be one of the best - if not the best -snooker player the World has ever seen. Given even half an opening, it is rare for him not to clear up in one trip to the table.
What odds would you therefore give yourself on beating him in a potting dual. Virtually none!
However given an hour of training I know that each and every one of you would almost certainly beat him. That is if he was blindfolded and spun round several times first – so that he had no idea where the pockets were.
Ronnie O’Sullivan can only be a good snooker player if he can see the goal – the pocket - he is aiming for. Without sight of the pocket- his goal - he has nothing to aim for and whether or not he succeeds in potting the ball is largely – if not solely - down to luck.
Make no mistake - goal setting is the most important ingredient of success - in any walk of life. Swimming included!!!!
An American study, undertaken in 2000, of over 1500 individuals who had left Yale University in the 1950s found that only 3% had ever written down their goals on a regular basis. Yet these 3% of people now owned a staggering 96% of the total wealth of all of these 1500 respondents - a clear sign of success! Coincidence – I think not!
I never cease to be amazed at how few swimmers know their Personal Best times, County, District & National Qualification Times, last year’s County, District & National Winning Times or World Record Times. To these swimmers my retort is always the same. If you don’t know what you’re aiming at - you’ll never get there! These times should be ingrained in your consciousness. You might have an abundance of natural talent, but without the goal you will be directionless.
I even overheard a swimming coach explaining to a group of ambitious young swimmers that “even the best swimmers in the world can’t swim 100m Freestyle in less than 1 minute”. My son, Alfie, correctly pointed out that the World Record in a long course (50m) pool is 47.84 seconds (Pieter Vd Hoogenband) and even faster at 45.83 seconds (Stefan Nystrand) in a short course (25m) pool. If all of those swimmers had gone away and dreamt of swimming 100m in less than 60 seconds, and becoming World Champions, they might have been bitterly disappointed. Establishing your destination and preparing a schedule for reaching it go hand in hand.
As the saying goes “Fail to prepare…Prepare to fail!”
Overcoming Obstacles to Effective Goal Setting
“I think my friends will laugh at me if I say I want to swim in the Olympics”
Don’t be frightened of setting BIG goals – never let modesty get in the way of success. Don’t set yourself the target of climbing a small hill when you know in your heart of hearts that you want to climb the biggest mountain. Don’t be put off by the lack of ambition of others – they may be well intentioned, but it is the nature of less successful people to put down and discourage those that strive for more. They may be well intentioned but they have no direct experience of success. If you want positive feedback ask someone who has been successful.
“People will laugh at me if I fail to achieve my goal – surely it is better to just see how I do”
Of course, just because you have the goal doesn’t mean you will necessarily achieve it – but not having it will result in you definitely not achieving it. Above all – when you’re setting your goals - remember - that there is a big wide world of opportunity outside of Shropshire.
Sometimes that goal is to be the absolute best – to set records – to win, regardless of the challenges in front of you. Sometimes it is to please a parent, coach or someone close to you. Other times it is to be in the spotlight. It could be the goal to win a specific medal, trophy, or financial reward. Visualise what achieving your goals will mean – fame and recognition, admirers etc.
A powerful desire to achieve one or more of these things can give you an edge even over the stronger or more naturally talented. If you have this burning desire to achieve a goal – you train longer and harder, and are willing to make more personal sacrifices and be more committed than your competition. You are willing to do what it takes to overcome enormous odds for success, because of that never-ending well of desire within you.
How to Set Goals
We provide many ladders to climb and targets to reach within the Titans: League Tables, Club Championships, Personal Bests at Open Gala Meets, County, District and National Championships – to name but a few.
Success is a journey not a destination. At first the challenge is to beat the other 4 swimmers in the competing lanes – to be the fastest swimmer out of the 5 in your race. Then you try to beat all the other swimmers in your age group. Then you try to beat all who have ever been in your age group. Then you move onto bigger things. If you keep on beating all comers you will eventually end up being the best in the World.
Set yourself short term (1-3 months), medium term (3-12 months) and long term goals (1-10 years). A monthly goal might simply be to improve all your Personal Bests by 2%. A medium term goal might be winning a gold medal in the 200m backstroke at next year’s County Championships. A long term goal might be winning a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics.
Whatever they are write down your swimming goals – with a date by when the particular goal will be achieved and a short reason why it is important to achieve it – For example “I will swim 200m Breaststroke in less than 3 minutes 20 seconds by the beginning of next month because in so doing I will capture the all time Club record for 11/u boys – and get all the recognition I deserve – from family, swimming friends, and the Club. Who knows I might even get featured on the Club’s website and in the local newspapers”. Remember -if you don’t have a date by which your goal needs to be achieved or if you can’t think of a powerful reason why you wish to achieve it – it isn’t a proper goal.
How to Achieve Your Goals
Keep a record of your goals by regularly updating your log book (Link to Log book website), on a sheet of paper that you take to school and plaster a poster of them on your bedroom wall so that you are reminded of them day and night.
If your long term goal is to secure the 200m World Record in breaststroke by the time you are 20 calculate how many seconds a month you need to improve by to achieve this. For example if your current time as an 11 year old is 3 minutes 40 seconds and you know that the current World Record is 2 minutes 38 seconds you can calculate that you need to improve by about 67 seconds (62 seconds + a bit to
allow for the current World Record being improved by the time you reach 20). If you’ve just turned 11 and have the goal of achieving this by the time you are 20 – you know that you have 108 months in which to improve (i.e. 0.66 seconds per month). Looks easy doesn’t it? Tell yourself that if you keep improving by just 0.66 seconds per month you will end up being World Champion.
Tackling bite size chunks makes the long term objective seem a lot easier.
Anchoring Peak Performance
Having armed yourself with goals the next step is to create an anchor that you associate with achieving them – being successful.
A behavioural scientist named Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell by teaching them to associate the bell with food.
In the same way the human brain can create anchors when we’re in a heightened or intense mental state, and we receive a specific signal or stimulus at the peak of that state. At this point a link is created in the brain between the stimulus and the mental state.
Visualise your best swimming experience to date. What was it? How did you feel? Recreate that elation. Then anchor it with a distinct stimulus: punching the air; rubbing your hands, licking your lips or any other physical act. Add to this gesture a humming sound of a favourite song. Research shows that the best anchors utilise more than one of the senses – sound, smell, taste or image.
Before your next race – as you get ready to mount the starting block – recreate this mental state by using your anchor.
A Positive Mental Attitude
One last tip is to develop a positive mental attitude. This is crucial to success. Athletes in particular are prone to self defeating attitudes. The mind loves to store negative and self fulfilling scripts like “I always lose”, “I can’t do this”, and “I’m no good at this”. Once ingrained in the consciousness these negative attitudes are difficult to budge.
Prevention is better than a cure. Language is the key. Research has shown that British kids hear the words “no” and “don’t” five times more often than their American counterparts. One reason no doubt that Americans are generally more successful than us.
So avoid using negative language. When someone asks you how you are – never reply “not bad” or could be better. Double negatives such as these don’t make a positive – it’s not like maths (where a double negative makes a positive). Instead tell them you are feeling “fantastic”, “excellent”, or “superb” – “if I was feeling any better I’d be a danger to humanity”.
Ensure that the language that you use in you own mind is always positive. Instead of saying “I won’t lose”, say “I will win”. In the lead up to a competitive race tell yourself “I am a winner”, “I believe in myself”, “I am confident” – keep your statements short, simple and in the present tense.
Above all if you are in the small but elite minority of individuals who set and write down their goals…and you are in the even smaller, but even more elitist minority of people who know how to anchor a positive winning mental state…and you are in the even smaller but even more elitist minority of those individuals who rise above negative use of language – you are superior. Develop a superiority complex - Go out there and show that you mean business!!
For further information on this subject read “Mind Training For Swimmers” by Craig Townsend.
