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Boemker Speaks Goals
 Photo by Carol Goodrow Hello Everyone,
First of all, I'm not going to be specific about what a person can and
can't
do because that suggests all of us are the same and we definitely know that
is not true. I'm also not trying to send the message that people can't
accomplish amazing things. In my next article, in fact, I plan to tell you
about two remarkable people who others refer to as disabled but whose
accomplishments can easily inspire us to attempt much more. I am trying to
send the message that many young athletes feel a sense of failure when they
have actually accomplished something that should make them feel proud and
good about themselves.
I get really aggravated when I hear a coach (usually someone who is new to
coaching) tell a young athlete "You can do anything you set your mind to."
I get so upset because I know that the athlete who truly believes this
usually sets his or her mind on something so challenging that failure is
almost always the outcome. And, failing to achieve their goals, the
athletes remember the coach's remark and concludes that they must not have
wanted it enough, tried hard enough, or "set their mind" to it.
There is a big difference between setting challenging goals and unfairly
telling young athletes "you can do anything." When I work with athletes I
like to set two types of goals.
The first set of goals mirrors a report card. Young athletes should have
three to five goal levels. The highest level is the goal you think it
would
take a perfect season and maybe more to reach. The middle goal is one that
you should be able to reach if you work hard and "give it your best." The
lowest goal is one you ought to accomplish and if you don't reach it, it
would mean you didn't put out a good effort or something beyond your
control
happened and kept you from reaching it.
Living in Rhode Island, a state with about 50 high schools, a set of goals
for a really talented athlete that parallels our report card analogy might
be:
A. Winning the state championship and setting a new state record
The second type of goals has to do with time. People need to have goals
for
the present, for the next few weeks or months, and goals for a season,
year,
or longer. If a freshman were to set just one goal, getting a scholarship,
how would he or she evaluate his or her progress and feel good or feel they
needed to work harder? They couldn't.
Goals need to parallel what someone wants to accomplish. An example of a
set of goals for an average young high school cross country runner over the
10 week summer vacation might be the following:
Short - To run five days a week and average no less than twenty miles
a week
These goals would seem to fit the C goal above for a Rhode Island athlete.
The idea is to have a plan that will allow you to accomplish what you want
and give you a way to know how you are doing. You also have to be bright
enough to know that some plans need to be reevaluated and changed. It
isn't
something you should be doing all the time but it certainly does happen.
You should make sure you have a good reason when you do change.
You might ask why not have just 10 one week plans for the summer. Even the
best plans rarely go like people hope. We don't want people to think that
once they miss their weekly goal they cannot succeed. You could miss one
of
your weeks but still make it a successful month or have one weak month but
still make it a successful summer.
Why not have just one summer plan? If there was just a summer plan an
athlete could run all 250 miles in half the summer. It would fulfill the
goal but likely not get an athlete ready for the season. It also risks
injury and would not likely be as enjoyable. Runners should learn from
their past experiences, plan for the present, and set goals for the future.
You might not be able to do anything you set your mind to but with
realistic
goals set by you, your coaches, and your parents MOST OF YOU CAN DO A LOT
MORE THAN YOU THINK. DON'T BE AFRAID TO SET AN "A" GOAL. JUST MAKE SURE
TO
HAVE OTHER GOALS AS WELL.
Ron Boemker |
Email us with comments on Boemker Speaks Goals carol.kids@rodale.com
