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Thursday 3 September 2009

Onwards and Upwards

WOC is over, JWOC is over, the analysis has been done. Some have had a break, some have just started having a break and now its probably time to start thinking about where to from here?

So where do you want to go? What do you want to achieve? You need some goals...or if you have already got some you need to re-evaluate. If you dont already know how to set goals then here's a website that might help you. The key things to think about when setting a goal is to make sure it is: Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevent, Time-framed.

Bad example of a goal: "Win Nationals next year"

Good example: "To be M21E National Champion in the Middle Distance at the NZ Nationals 2010"

And remember...

“Goals that are not written down are just wishes.”

3 comments:

Greg said...

I think the 'good example' "To be M21E National Champion in the Middle Distance at the NZ Nationals 2010" is in fact a poor example, as this relies on a variable you can not control, your opposition.

Now if your main goal was "to be in a position so you have the ability to win the Middle Race at Nationals 2010" it gives you solid things to set stepping stones on and leaves it all on the one thing you can control, yourself.

Tane said...

First of all I think the use of the word "good" should have been "better".

By saying "to be in a position to win..." You are already opening yourself up to defeat as your telling yourself you may not actually win.... Sure you cant control your opposition but your goal needs to be Challenging, if you think your opposition may be better than you then you need to plan for it and be better than them.

I think its better to fail in achieving your goals than it is to set yourself a low target to aim for. If you win all the time you wont learn as much as if you fail occasionally. Aim Big, Miss Big.

And how do you measure such a goal? "To be in a position"...well you could have been leading with 3 controls to go, but you made a mistake and ended up 10th. That counts as being in a position to win, so you could claim success of that goal...even though it was through your own mistake that you lost.

But I feel that saying you want to "be in a position to win" is a bit half-arsed because really at the end of the day you want to win.

Anyway goals are up to you and at your own discretion.

Greg said...

I didn't say position to win, I said ability to win, making a mistake that leaves you 10th is not having the ability and work is needed.