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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Essay on Goal Setting

Essay on Goal Setting

Everyone, no matter who they might be, has set a goal or two for themselves. As a coach for a high school swim team, I sometimes find it difficult to help my team implement goals for themselves. Although everyone just assumes that they are going to accomplish what they want by putting their skill forth, a goal will help them to obtain what they may what to achieve.

When dealing with high school students, one knows that they have busy lives. They want to hang out with friends, do well in school to provide a good future, and they want to progress on the varsity teams that they participate on. However, all of this cannot be accomplished without setting goals.

Goals can be defined as plans for the future, something that gives you direction. Goals also keep us focused on a purpose. My team, for instance, lacks motivation from time to time. By setting a group goal, all team members work together to achieve that goal while all staying motivated.

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Goals can do many things for a team or a group. The first thing that they do is providing a course of action and give direction. Goals motivate members and clarify and communicate what the group is striving for. Goals define the group and help them to provide a basis to measure success and accomplishments. Goals save time and help to allot plans for the future. Goals make each member feel important and allow each person to express their own personal intentions.

Since my team has a hard time finding motivation within them selves, I decided to give them all a lesson on goal setting. After researching the topic, I found a few steps that will help my team create and obtain their goals.

Before going over the step-by-step process, I wanted my team to learn their abc’s. Now, not the abcs that we all have to come to learn since we were little. I’m taking about the abc’s of goal setting.

Goals should be:
  • Achievable
  • Believable
  • Controllable
  • Desirable
  • Evaluated
  • Flexible
  • Growth-facilitating
  • Helpful
  • Inspiring
  • Justifiable
  • Knowledgeable
  • Listed
  • Measurable
  • Noticeable
  • Optimistic
  • Prioritized
  • Quantifiable
  • Realistic
  • Success-oriented
  • Time-bound
  • Understandable
  • Valuable
  • Worthwhile
  • Xciting
  • Yielding
  • all of Z above!
After my term learned their abc’s, they had many questions on how to create and obtain these goals. Now I knew that my team was ready to learn the step-by-step process.

The first step in setting any goals is to consider what you want to achieve. Maybe you would want to win the state championship. Obviously this is a large goal. With creating a large goal comes several small goals. If wining the state championship is what my team wants to obtain, then what can they do in the next day, week, and month to achieve that?

For example, the team’s first goal may be to win as many meets as they can. They may want to put in more hours of practice. I would come up with a workout that consisted of more yardage. The weight room may also come in handy.

Individually, they want to get their times down. Paying close, personal attention to each individual on the team can help the team, as a whole, to obtain his or her goals. If I know what each individual needs and wants to achieve, I can develop personal workouts. By each member of the team setting a personal goal, together they can work to obtain the larger, team goal. All of this can be done in the first few weeks.

Closer to the end of the season, tapering would come in to play. I would also have the team wear more layers, that way, when it came time for the championship meet, they would glide through the water faster with only one suit on. Also, I would have the girls consider shaving their arms.

The next thing to think about is staying on track. Even though the goals are all set, they won’t develop them selves. Everyday, the team should think about how far they have come and how much further they need to go. Keep a picture in your mind of what you would want to achieve.

By constantly thinking about it and visualizing the success, the more one would want to work on obtaining it.

Another thing to keep in mind is desire. If you really want something, than you need to work hard for it. If you want it, then you’ve really got to want it.

Finally, there are some common guidelines that one should follow when creating goals. First, set goals as a positive statement. Don’t set goals because you are down on yourself. Set goals to because you want to achieve them.

Be precise with the goal. I want my team to set dates, times, and amounts so they can measure their achievement. Set priorities among all of the goals. This would help the team to not feel overwhelmed. Go after one goal at a time. This way, direct attention can be given to each goal. With this, the ultimate goal can be achieved.

I also would like my team to write their goals down. This would crystallize them and give them more force. Most importantly, I would help my team to set realistic goals. I feel that this is the most important. I also wouldn’t want them to set their goals to low. By already knowing their abilities, I know what they can and cannot do. As a coach, it is important not to push them towards an unobtainable goal.

After informing my team members about goal setting, now it’s time to create the goal and figure out the small goals that would help them to get closer to and achieve the larger goal. As I mentioned earlier, my team lacks motivation. By setting team goals, they will now be able to work together and keep them selves focused.

My team’s goal: To be the district champions.
Steps to take: Talk with them about small goals. Everyone would have to work hard to get their individual times down. More time in the pool and more yardage. The weight room can also be an option. Closer to the end of the season, insert taper workouts. Increase intake of carbs and have the girls shave their arms. Wear extra bathing suits at practice in order to go faster at a meet.

If my team does indeed achieve this goal, it is important for them to take the time to celebrate and to realize how far they have come and what they have accomplished. In order to keep this going in the future, I feel that it is important to have a team meeting early on in the season to go over the potential goals. This way, we can get a head start on the season.

Michael Jordan once said, “I had always set short-term goals. As I look back, each one of those steps or successes led to the next one.” As a coach, I think that the most important step in creating goals is to set many small goals in order to achieve the larger one. No matter who you are or what you are affiliated with, goals are important. If goals aren’t set, desires won’t be met.

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Warning!!! All free online essays, sample essays and essay examples on Goal Setting topics are plagiarized and cannot be completely used in your school, college or university education.

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