Goal Setting for 2021

While you may be of the mindset that January 1st is an arbitrary date to begin a new goal or resolution, setting new year's resolutions is a long standing tradition that dates back over 4,000 years. You can read more about some of the history here. It is estimated that approximately 40% of people in the U.S. alone set a resolution each new year. Approximately 80% break their resolutions in the first week, while only 8% are successful at all.

Whether you are in the camp of individuals that participate in the tradition of setting a new year's resolution or those who think this is just another day, we can all agree that goal setting is crucial for planning and success, especially in sports. We also can all agree, that 2020 was a challenging year, so it is absolutely understandable to be cautiously optimistic and focused on a bright and hopeful future ahead for 2021.

When you set goals, you are clearly defining your objectives of what you are planning to accomplish. This helps to identify what you intend to do, along with how you will do it. Intentionality is crucial when you are consciously setting your goals, focusing on what you are trying to achieve.

Consider goals in all areas and aspects of your life. For athletes, consider your health and fitness in all areas, such as physical skills, mental training, nutrition, and so on. Consider your professional goals with short and long term career development. Think of your personal goals. Take a moment to visualize in great detail, what does success look like and feel like for you? What does the best version of yourself look like in great detail?

It helps to take a few moments to visualize a future version of your best self and write down in great detail about this visualization exercise: what are you doing in your chosen sport or profession, where do you live, what is happening in your personal life, what have you accomplished, how does it feel, what are you doing in your free time, what is important to you, and so on. As a visual person, I personally find that vision boards can be helpful in these types of exercises, not only to help capture those future goals but also to lend as a great visual compass and reminder of that future state I want to be.

Now when you think about your goals, you hear often of S.M.A.R.T. goals for good reason. Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable or attainable, relevant, and time-based. When you think of that future best self version of your life, this may seem daunting or out of reach. As the saying goes, you can't boil the ocean. Narrow your focus to the most immediate goal and be sure it is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant to your long term plans, and time-based. There are often obstacles that may present themselves when you embark in a new journey of goals, and this is where you can draw on your "why" as your fuel of what got you started in the first place. It helps you to really stay in love with the journey and be focused in the present. As James Clear explains, even if you start small and focus on habits that can make you 1% better or closer to your goals every day, it really does help in the long run.

Are you making a new year's resolution, just working on your goals, a little bit of both? Let us know how you are making out and what works for you!