The New Year’s Resolution – Why some Goals Fail and How to Set More Effective Goals

Welcome to 2010. Did you set a New Year’s Resolution (or 12)? Have you kept them? Have you already written any off as impossible?

Have you ever wondered why New Year’s Resolutions so seldom stick? The New Year’s Resolution is about changing human behavior, which is no easy feat. (Trying to change it in the days after staying out all night and having a little too much champagne doesn’t make it any easier!)

Setting New Year’s Resolutions is but one form of goal setting. The reasons that athletes fail to achieve their goals are the same reasons people in all walks of life may fail using the New Year’s Resolution to change habits and lifestyle. In sport psychology research and literature, goal setting is the most consistently proven factor in facilitating peak performance. However, when goals are not set properly, they are not as effective as they could be, and can even be counter-productive.

Whether setting a New Year’s Resolution, or just a goal in general, here are the main reasons that goal may fail:

1. Too general
2. Too hard or unrealistic
3. Doesn’t account for unexpected events
4. No consistent check in
5. Lack of support system

Let’s take a common example of a New Year’s Resolution that is well intentioned, but destined to fail.

Goal: “I want to get in better shape this year.”

Sounds good, right – who wouldn’t want that? But, as is, this goal is destined to fail because it is 1) too general. What does that goal mean? How is it measured? If you go running 1 time in 2010, compared to 2009, when you went running 0 times, you have accomplished your goal! However, I doubt this is what you had in mind when you set that goal. It is too general; so let’s make it more specific:

“I will get in better shape this year by running every day.”

That sounds a little better, but will most likely fail because it is 2) too hard or unrealistic. Most people do not run everyday, and missing 1 day will serve as a de-motivator, making it easy to say the next day: “Oh well, I have already failed, there is no way to accomplish my goal, so what’s the difference if I run or not today?” So let’s adjust to make the goal more realistic:

“I will get in better shape this year by running 3 times a week.”

More specific? Check. More realistic? Check. This goal is pretty good as set. But there are a few other factors to consider. 3) Does this goal account for unexpected events? What happens if there is a weeklong blizzard? What happens if you turn an ankle and can’t run for 2 weeks? These are the kinds of rhythm-breaking events that can derail a goal fast and permanently. So what adjustment can be made to this goal to account for the unexpected? Have a back-up plan so that running can be expanded to other exercise: yoga at home, a Pilates class, and basketball or swimming at the gym are some examples.

“I will get in better shape this year by exercising 3 times a week.”

This goal is infinitely better than it was in its first iteration, and more likely to be attained. Now let’s consider a couple extra points to solidify this goal further; into a life changing plan. The first point is that, with 4) no consistent check-in, many goals can just drop off your radar (due to the factors already mentioned). A couple ideas can help with this. The first is to make sure you write it down and put it in a place you can see it. Or if you like to write, try journaling on your goal. Even better yet, you can break your goal down into smaller pieces:

“I will get in better shape this year by exercising 3 times a week in January. I will set a new goal for February.”

Last but not least, make sure there is no 5) lack of support system. Goals tend to move along better with someone there to support and push you in your goal. It might be a family member or a friend or a trainer at the gym. No matter whom you choose, it has to be someone who is not afraid to call you out when you are slacking, and tell you the truth. This person can also help with the consistent check-in.

It can be helpful to set this goal with a friend or family member (“I will get in better shape this year by exercising 3 times a week with Bill.”) or by making sure it is in a class (“I will get in better shape this year by taking a yoga class 3 times a week.”) or with a trainer ("I will get in better shape this year by exercising at Bob’s Gym 3 times a week.”)

The New Year is a traditional and natural time to make changes – to improve yourself and your quality of life. Athletes know that this needs to be done more than just once a year. Give yourself the best chance to succeed in the changes you want to make by setting goals properly. The New Year’s Resolution is a good place to start!

Interested in working with a sport psychology consultant on your goal setting plan? Contact SPINw to set up an appointment!

Sports Identities

It happens at all levels. Pros retire and move on to the broadcast booth. High schoolers graduate and get to the next level - some realizing they won't make it big. Older weekend warriors gradually realize they can't compete like they used to.

At all levels of athletics, the transition point is eventually reached for most of us when we realize we can't always go on. Maybe it's age, or injuries, or other factors, but at some point the identity of pure athlete is lost.

What is the impact of losing our identities? How can some athletic identity be preserved, even if competition at previous heights is no longer possible?

Leave your comments about athletic identity, and it's loss, below.

Home field (dis) advantage?

It's assumed in sports that playing at home ALWAYS gives an advantage to a team. The roar of the crowd helps push the team to greater heights, building leads and coming from behind, right?

Maybe not. A new story in the Toronto Star tells us the Maple Leafs win at home only 49.4% of the time since 2005 and a remarkable 39% last season.

The reason may be simple - increased pressure to playing at home. The home crowd comes expecting a win, and good luck to the home team if they lose. One ex-Leaf said "Especially if you're not playing well, there's the pressure of, `Oh God, if I mess up they're going to be talking about it in the paper all week and I'll get booed off the ice'."

A Champion's Evolution

What happens here at the 0:13 mark?

Look familiar from Federer? Maybe not in recent years, but competing with emotions in check has always been a challenge for Federer.

An amateur opponent from 1996 said of the young Roger, "When things weren’t going his way, he had a tendency to hang his head and just have a negative attitude going on.”

It was so bad early in his career the now 15-time major champ had a reputation as a soft player who couldn't fight

his way through a tough match. How the times have changed - perhaps it was maturity, perhaps it was his work at 16 and 17 with a sport psychologist that helped Roger learn to play with his temper instead of against it.

What are your experiences at playing with, and against, temper and anger during competition? How have you gotten the best of it, and it of you? Share your thoughts in comments below. Also, check out the whole report on Federer from the New York Times here.

Tips for building focus and getting In the Zone

Clinical Psychologist Bryan T. Karazsia, in a recent article, offers some interesting tips for building focus and getting in the zone. Some of his ideas include:

Visualization - Practice seeing performance success in your mind before competition even arrives. That way, when the big moment arrives, you've already lived through it.

Breathing - Slow, regular, deep breathing is key for competitors at any level to relax themselves. As clutch moments arrive, breathing work can serve to calm those jittery nerves and upset stomachs.

Cue words - Another useful skill to learn is that of a cue word which prompts us to think of relaxation. Karaszia himself uses "ocean", while other examples could be "clear", "calm", or "breathe".

Remember, these are all skills to be learned. Just as we hone our bodies for competition, so does the elite athlete hone their mind. Regular practice, with the guidance of a SPINw sport counselor, is the key for developing these techniques.

Of course, for those of you familiar with sport psychology, these ideas probably aren't new. What may surprise you is that these tips were offered for a narrower niche: hunters. That's right, Dr. Karaszia's advice and tips appeared in Peterson's Bowhunting. Said the doctor, in summary of the benefits of sport psychology: "The fields of clinical and sports psychology have proven that these [mental training] methods can enhance your performance in the field -- so much that the best athletes in the world have paid thousands of dollars to get some advice from a sports psychologist."

Interesting to see our field expanding into more and more areas....

Read the whole article from Peterson's Bowhunting here.

Paddy's Psychology

Check out these quotes from 3-time Major Champion Padraig Harrington about sport psychology. Ask yourself if you agree, disagree, and why.

"It ain't rocket science what they, [sport psychologists] tell you."

"It's not going to be some big secret that nobody else but me knows. But knowing it and having the discipline to follow it are two different things."

"You rarely learn from winning...when something is painful, you tend to learn a lot more from it."

"I'm more likely to get into the zone when I'm nervous and have adrenaline going."

"Things like 'inside the present' or plenty of 'respect your routine' or 'acceptance' and 'patience, no judging, no analyzing, [are important sport psychology skills].'"

Good stuff here from Paddy. The first two quotes tell us a lot about the skills sport psychology teaches us. Much of it is not an abstract, new-age concept that's hard to grasp. Skills like staying positive and visualizing our goals are pretty straightforward - but, like Paddy makes clear, there's a difference between KNOWING and DOING. It's important to rehearse and practice the mental game skills we've learned.

The third quote while painful, can ring true - it is in our tough times, in our defeats, when we can learn much about ourselves and our mental game. Acceptance here is key - the nonjudgmental observation of our mental game in order to objectively see ourselves, our skills, and our challenges and areas for improvement.

The fourth quote demonstrates a concept in sport psychology known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law. Basically, it says that humans do their best at performance-related tasks (like sports!) with a certain amount of anxiety - not too little, or we're bored, and not too much, or we're overwhelmed. Paddy is describing this when he says a certain amount of nervousness helps him get in the zone. Check out a picture of the concept here.

The fifth one is up to you to interpret. Tell us what you think about those concepts in the comments section. What do those (inside the present, respect your routine, acceptance, patience, no judging, no analyzing) mean to you and your mental game?

Read the whole article about Harrington's mental game practice from the Minneapolis Star Tribune here.

Book Review - Just Kick It: Tales of an Underdog, Over-Age, Out-of-Place Semi-Pro Football Player by Mark St. Amant

Having been a high school kicker myself growing up in Florida, this book caught my attention right away. And after picking it up, it was such a good read that I completed it in only 3 days. The story spoke to me in a number of ways: going from soccer player to place kicker, fitting in as a minority being one of the only white guys on the team, the thrills and anxiety of competition, and the question that goes through the mind of most over-the-hill athletes - "Could I still do it?" Not only that, but now, as a sport psychology consultant, there are tons of great, experiential anecdotes about the mentality of an athlete in this book.

In Just Kick It, writer Mark St. Amant chronicles his first season as a 37-year-old, first time place kicker for the Boston Panthers, an inner-city Boston semi-pro football team. After researching the history of semi-pro leagues in the United States (which would have made a pretty interesting book on its own), one of St. Amant's contacts asks him if he'd be interested in kicking for the Panthers and before he knows it he's blurted out "Sure, why not?" St. Amant's writing style is compelling, mixing stories about practices, games, his teammates' backgrounds, disappointments, and celebrations.

In my own experience, I found that being a kicker had all the mental challenges faced by a golfer, but with 11 guys way bigger than you barking at you, talking smack, and then charging you at full speed, praying for a chance to pummel the poor kicker. Another mental challenge is that you are not quite looked at as a real football player, but depended upon heavily to win or lose games - in other words, a necessary evil. But perhaps the greatest challenge I faced was getting on the team to begin with. Coming from the soccer team, incorrectly labelled a wimpy sport, being unsure of my ability, and having to learn a new kicking technique (I distinctly remember hitting the center in the butt in my first two practice field goal attempts, and the look he gave me and then the coach afterwards) was not easy.

St. Amant captures these challenges in great detail. Joining the team in the first place, not knowing anyone, and having to prove himself not only to the team and its coach, but in his own mind as well, were the first obstacles. Later, in another instance, he is put in a situation where the amount of extra conditioning the rest of the team had to do was on his shoulders. And then the pressures of kicking live, in games, with fans and teammates looking on, he describes his successes and failures, and the confidence and focus involved in each. His explanation of his mental state in each of these situations contain great lessons that could be applied to any athlete.

The confidence and mental state of any athlete is crucial to the success and enjoyment of any athlete. I highly suggest Just Kick It for athletes and coaches alike. It's well written, funny, and sometimes sad. I found myself a Boston Panther fan at the end of the book, cheering them on as the good guys, and hoping their season would keep going. The details of the sport psych side of his experience: teamwork, positive thinking, focus, and confidence, that he lays out in the book will definitely give you something to use in your own sport.

Slump-Busting Tips

Slumps - we've all been there. Sometimes we know why, and sometimes we don't, but for some reason our performance, energy, and focus just aren't there for a certain period of time. Sometimes it's short, sometimes long, or sometimes in between (check out our article about David Ortiz's early season slump below).

However, most of us aren't a professional of Ortiz's caliber, so we need resources to break out of our own little slumps. Forbes.com has teamed with some sport psychologists to develop some quick tips for exercise and performance slump-busting anyone can use. Shawn Arent, a Rutgers professor of Exercise and Sport Science, had some takes on getting out of the funk, and much of it can relate to life stressors separate from sport. "The brain doesn't distinguish between physiological and psychological stresses. They all add up and can affect your endurance. On the one hand, exercise does reduce anxiety. But on the other hand, your performance may suffer based on your stress level."

Some basic tips for slump-busting and power performance:

Manage Stress. It's key to develop a strong work-life balance. The recreational athlete or Weekend Warrior worrying about Monday's board meeting is unlikely to reach his or her maximum performance at the gym after work. Leave work or other stressors in their place.

Don't Overthink. It's easy to pick up any number of sport-related magazines and get some tips for good performance there. But, once we get to the competition, this leaves our heads spinning with little fixes or improvements and inhibits power performance. Try your best to think positive (see preceding post) and save the quick-fixes for practice.

Forget the Past. It can be difficult to forget about past mistakes or losses in competition. The key here is acceptance - we're all human, we all make mistakes, and nobody is perfect in sports or life all the time. Realizing this can help us forget about the past and focus on a positive performance in the present.

Read more tips on slump-busting from Forbes here.

Let us know - what strategies have worked for you in the past? What is the experience of a slump like, and how did you break out of it? Leave comments for discussion below.

Andy Murray: Sport Psych at Wimbledon

Fan favorite Scot Andy Murray didn't make it to the semi finals at Wimbledon this year just on the strength of physical talent alone. Murray's work with a sport psychologist has dramatically improved both his performance and his notorious emotions. While Murray is still susceptible to mood swings during a match, he has improved from his past behavior. Says performance analyst Emma James: "You have to be very aware of what your conscious thought processes are going through. If you start to have a thought process about what not to do, it will have an adverse affect... By focusing on what you do want to happen, that's the way to make sure the body will follow through with it."

James is describing a phenomenon in which our bodies tend to replicate the thoughts in our mind, conscious or not. Where this can have adverse effects in athletics is the tendency to remind ourselves of what NOT to do. For example, the point guard at the line at the end of a close game may say to him or herself, "Don't miss this one now, we need to hold the lead."

We've all heard of the famous psychological experiment - the one where the researchers instructed their subjects to absolutely NOT think of a white bear, then asked them what the first thing that popped into their minds was. Of course, the participants could think of nothing other than white bears.

Sports performance involves the same techniques - if we are constantly telling ourselves what not to do during competition, we will likely produce poor performance and negative mindset. That point guard at the line would do better to fill their mind with an image of the ball making a perfect arc through the air and swishing through the net rather than tell themselves not to miss. Since our bodies tend to act according to the thoughts in our minds, always try to envision the positive - and never tell yourself what NOT to do.

Check out the rest of the Andy Murray article from the Scotsman here.