The value in setting process goals!
Several years ago I had the opportunity to attend a high level coaching conference at Lindenwood University. They flew in national champion collegiate coaches from all over the country to discuss a philosophy known as, “What Drives Winning.” Brett Ledbetter who is the author and founder of What Drives Winning came up with this idea after playing and coaching several years of basketball. He realized that his goals were too focused on his individual success on the court. He wasn’t accounting for the things he was doing well that didn’t make the stat line. This narrow minding way of goal setting, didn’t allow him to see what he was doing extremely well at.
What Ledbetter and these coaches emphasized was the value for athletes to set more process goals throughout the year. A process goal is a goal that has nothing to do with a specific time or finish place. It’s a goal that we can measure without attaching a time or number to it. For example, an example of one of these goals would be wanting to gain strength and speed in a 12 week training block. How can that be accomplished? We can commit ourselves to strength training 2-3 times a week while training specifically for a shorter distance race. Instead of riding and dying on one specific result, process goals help us accomplish wins along the way that share a different perspective of success.
Although distance running and basketball are very different, one thing I know to be true in all sports is that if you are too focused on a number, it’s harder for you to stay focused on the process. Ledbetter coined the phrase, the character drives the process and the process drives the result. This message really resonated with me because I often struggled as an athlete with setting specific goals for myself that if I didn’t hit, then, I felt like a failure. I think we have all been there and struggle with this at some point in our running or professional careers.
I am also sure many of you reading this have experienced a training block where you ran stronger, healthier, and faster than you may ever imagined. It just so happened in that block you only had one race to really showcase this new fitness. Come race day and for fun let’s call it the starting line of the Boston Marathon, you were primed to run your best race ever. However, the weather and course had different plans for you that day. *Cough 2018*
Were you a failure because you didn’t hit your time specific goal on that day? Absolutely not! What I learned from Ledbetter and this conference is that we need to celebrate and appreciate what we do right opposed to always dwelling on one end result. If your personal success rides on one day, you are going to have a very difficult time improving, let alone enjoying the sport. As a coach I do think having time specific and place oriented goals are important.
However, I also know the value in having process goals can lead to you feeling more committed and determined to give your best on a daily basis. What we know to be true is that if you commit yourself to the process, focus on having a great attitude, and simply giving your best, then, more times than one you will end up beating those specific time or place oriented goals you have for yourself. Continue setting goals for YOU and don’t ever give up on your dreams after one missed race or performance.
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