How often do you get in your car & just drive, without knowing where it is that you want to get to? What do you think the chances are of making an efficient journey and ending up where you actually want to be, if you take this approach? The answer is “not good”! You need to know your destination.

Considering this makes it easy to see that before you embark on any sort of adventure, you first need to know your destination. There’s no point climbing the ladder if it’s up against the wrong wall! This is where goal setting comes in and the key importance of setting goals for all areas of your life, is that it provides absolute clarity of focus and energy that literally propel you towards success.

Imagine for a moment what it would be like to know exactly what you wanted. Imagine that you could see it, feel it, taste it & enjoy it at every level. Imagine if it was the only thing that you had to do in your day, how much you could achieve with that single focus in your life. Surely your results would be better & achieved more quickly. Realize how much simpler it would make the whole planning process and you can start to see how vitally important it is to set your destination before you depart. You need a “goal”.

The new year is a great time to really explore what your goals are for the coming season and to make a comprehensive plan for achieving them. It will be one of the most important processes that you’ll take, on your way to optimal success in sport and all the areas of your life.

So, very simply, “What is it you want?” …..take a few moments to think about this and write down your answers. Now, let’s look at what you’ve written and find where perhaps a little more clarity is required. For example, you may have written…..

“I want to do the Ironman”.

Now this is a good starting place, but “How do you want to do it, when do you want to do it, with whom do you want to do it, and so on”? A more precise goal would be…………..

“ On Sunday Nov 14^th 2017, I want to complete the Arizona Ironman in 12 hours and 30 minutes.”

This immediately makes the planning process a lot more focused, for you could work out exactly what you would need to average for each mile and how much you need to improve from your current level and so on.

There are several key points that you need to be aware of when setting your goals. They need to be:

• Specific and Precise – make the goal as detailed as possible. When, where, with whom.

• Positive – it should read “I want x” rather than “I want to avoid Y”

• Optimistic – extensive research has shown that optimistic people outperform pessimists.

• Challenging – something that will make you proud to achieve & make you a better person. Perhaps it is beyond your current beliefs. If so it doesn’t matter as we can do some work on your beliefs that will further empower you.

• Motivating – to ensure that you actually “Take action” towards it

• Desirable – is it what you really want?

• Measurable – otherwise how will you know when you‘ve got it

• Desired Date – when do you want it by – is it this year, this month, this week?