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Welcome back to the Raising Elite Competitors podcast. I'm Coach Sailor, an athlete coach in the Elite Competitor program, and I am so excited to bring you today's episode to teach you the one thing that you can do to maximize your performances and your practices. So this episode is specifically a special episode for athletes. Thank you for tuning in. Today we are going to be talking about and really diving into this one thing that you can do to maximize your practices, and that is setting an intention. So we are going to go over a framework that you can use to set goals and why it's so important to set goals in the first place. Before we get started, I want to give a special shout out to Alicia. She is in the Elite Mental Game program with her two daughters and she said that the pre-game and practice routine have been great. They set practice and game goals and reflect on how they did on the way home. I actually forgot to discuss their practice goals on Wednesday and they reminded me we made up for it on the way home, but I love seeing them feel accomplished every day when they achieve those smaller goals. It has definitely made an impact on their overall confidence. This is exactly what I wanted for them. Alicia, thank you so much for sharing. This is exactly what we love to hear from athletes in our program that they are conquering the big goals that they have for themselves and really focusing on the process and all the progress that they're making. So I'm so glad that they have that pregame routine and are locked in to get the most out of their practices and competitions.

Speaker 0: 1:44

So now let's dive into today's episode, which is all about goal setting and setting an intention so that you can really get the most out of your practices. Because, let's be honest, you can show up to practices and actually get worse. Right, you can show up and be unfocused, be unprepared and not get what you want out of those practices, but you can also take accountability and ownership over your experience and actually set a goal before practice so you know exactly what you're wanting to focus on and improve on going into that practice. So a really great framework for goal setting is called the SMART goals, and SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-oriented. This is something oftentimes taught in school, which is great, and it can also be applied to sports settings and it just has a really great groundwork for what your goals need to consist of. So when you're setting goals, they do need to be specific. You can't just say I want to get better. You need to be really specific about what you are wanting to get better at. So maybe you're wanting to work on footwork, right, maybe it is? I'm going Get really specific and break down your goal. And then your goal needs to be measurable. So you have to have a way to actually check in at the end of practice and see if you reached that goal. So if you can put a number on that goal or have a stat attached to your performance, that is going to help you measure that goal.

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And then the A your goal needs to be achievable. This is important because we can sometimes set really high expectations for yourselves. I know that you, as an athlete, have all of these big goals and dreams and probably want to play perfectly a lot of the times. You have to be able to achieve your goal and set yourself up for success. So make sure that your goal is actually within reach, make sure it is achievable, and then R. Your goal also needs to be realistic. Right? Can you actually reach your goal in that practice? Is that something that you can do with the skill set that you have and the focus that you have in practice that day. So make sure to check in and make sure that your goal is achievable and realistic and then, last but not least, time oriented. Your goal needs to have a timeline so you can definitely set goals before practices. You can also set them before your season, so you have to have a timeline attached to that goal. Is that a goal that you're wanting to work on for that practice specifically and you can achieve it in that practice? Or is this a more long-term goal where you are going to be focusing on this goal for a few months and thinking about the long-term outcome that you're wanting to get out of it? So that is the SMART goal framework. That is a great framework to get started and check in on your goals, and you're really wanting to set goals before your practices, before every single practice and competition. Get in the habit of it now, because it is going to pay off for you in the future.

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Everybody is setting goals at all different levels and it is so important because you have to be able to track your progress and the one way you can consistently do that is by setting a goal. So you can do this in a lot of different ways before your practice. Maybe you actually start bringing a journal to practice and you have a goal journal where you can physically write down your goal and commit to that goal. Maybe you use the notes app in your phone. That is also a great tool to use. Maybe you tell your parent or a teammate and have an accountability system for your goal. Whatever it is, find what works for you and stick to that. And I want you to try to stick to it for the next week and then, if you need to evaluate and reassess where you need to go and what needs to happen for you, to try to stick to it for the next week. And then, if you need to evaluate and reassess where you need to go and what needs to happen for you to consistently set your goals, then you can adjust the process to do so.

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It is so important to set goals because our brain is not going to prioritize goal setting on its own. It is something that we have to intentionally do ourselves or else our. So you have to get really specific for what you want your brain to focus on for that practice. And a big reason why we need to do that is because one of the ways that we build confidence is through our preparation. So if you are not setting a goal in your preparation, that can start to knock your confidence down. But if you are able to set a goal, set an intention, have a focus going into practice, that is going to pour into your preparation and preparation helps you develop your confidence on and off the court. So preparation is key for your confidence and a huge way that you can prepare is just by setting a goal. It is really that simple.

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And another big reason why goal setting is so important is we actually sometimes don't know whether or not we are successful. We can have this big idea of what success means for us and it is not actually tied to anything. So when we set a goal we can actually set ourselves up for success. We know exactly what we are wanting to accomplish and then can assess after practice whether or not we reached that goal, whether or not we were successful. And that's not to beat yourself up if you didn't meet your goal. That is to have something constructive so that you can reflect and then go out to improve that very next practice. Or and then go out to improve that very next practice or competition.

Speaker 0: 7:48

So when you set goals, make sure you do it before practice. Have a time and place that you're going to do it. Make sure that you write it down, either physically telling someone, have an accountability system. And then, after practice, you actually do want to check in with your goal Did you meet that goal or not? Because if you use that SMART goal framework, you're going to know if you met that goal because it was specific and measurable. So check in and then see what do you need to do to meet that goal tomorrow or do you need to adjust your goal in some way to make it achievable and realistic for you in that moment? It achievable and realistic for you in that moment.

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So these are some quick tips for goal setting. Make sure that you have a really solid pre-competition routine. This is so important and something that we develop in the Elite Mental Game, because you need to be familiar and consistent with getting yourself checked in and locked in for a practice or a competition. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. We are always here to support you. Hope that you can continue to listen to these athlete tips that we will have and, if you can please share this episode, send it to a friend, a teammate, a sibling, and we always love to hear your feedback. So again, thanks for tuning in and we will see you next time on Raising Elite Competitors.