How to Create Effective Personal Goals

With a new season quickly approaching your head is filled with big hopes and dreams of what you want to personally accomplish. The skies the limit for your goals and you are giddy with the idea of being the best you have ever been. This excitement of all the possibilities that could be is great, however if you do not follow a few simple steps for setting goals you may find yourself loosing steam mid-season.  Here are Coach Kristen’s suggestions to help keep your eye on the prize throughout the entire season.

1. Break your goals down into three categories:
1. Dream Goals: long term goal, 2-4 years from now.
2. Individual Season Goals: personal goals to accomplish by the end of the season.
3. Short Term Goals: something you want to accomplish within the next few weeks.

2. When you write down your goals answer the following questions:
1. How long will it take to reach this goal?
2. What is my first step in achieving this goal?
3. What results may or may not occur due to this goal?
4. What are the steps that are required to meet this goal?

3. Your goals should be “SMART”:
1. S- Specific
2. M- Meaningful
3. A- Attainable
4. R- Rewarding
5. T- Trackable

4. Evaluate your goals often: goal setting is only effective if you constantly evaluate where you are in relation to achieving your goal. Setting goals at the beginning of the season and then never looking at them again is as ineffective as never creating goals in the first place. Every week you should go over your goals, what you are doing to achieve your goals and altering your plan of action to achieve your goals as necessary.

Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Mental Fitness.  She holds a masters degree in Sport Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal Trainer.  With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently, Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program. 

Do I Need Mental Game Coaching? (Assessment Included!)

The truth is every athlete from beginner to professional can benefit from working on their mental game. If an athlete wants to be the best they can possibly be they must not only train their physical game but their mental game as well.

Mental Game Assessment

Here is a list of statements, put a check next to all that apply to you.

~You do not have well-defined goals or goal specificity. You lack direction.

~You perform better in practice than during competition.

~You are so self-conscious; you worry about what others think about your game.

~You maintain many self-doubts about your sport before or during competitions.

~You worry about letting others down by not performing up to others expectations.

~You are too self-conscious and worried about how others may perceive you.

~You suffer from anxiety, worry, or excess tension when in competition.

~Pre-game jitters do not go away after the first few minutes into the competition.

~You are motivated by fear of failure and it affects your performance in competition.

~You have a fear of success and sabotage yourself when you are winning.

~You are not sure why you play your sport or let others be your source of motivation.

~You are motivated by external rewards, recognition, or praise.

~You attach your self-worth to how well you perform in sports.

~You lose focus or have mental lapses during critical times of the game.

~You go through the motions physically without mental focus or intensity.

~You are not excited enough or are too excited to perform your best in competition.

~You are distracted by things that go on around you in your environment.

~You have doubts or negative thoughts before, during, or after competition.

~Post-injury you cannot perform the way you did pre-injury even when 100% physically. When performing well you may sabotage your performance with a comfort zone (protect your lead) or expectations that limit your ability to press forward.

~You become easily frustrated because of high expectations.

~You cannot perform with freedom or trust in times of adversity or pressure.

~You focus too much on your mechanics or technique when competing.

~You do not concentrate in the here and now or focus only on execution.

~You think of too much about consequences of your performance, good or bad.

~You over analyze mistakes (technique) and thus think too much about technique.

~You suffer from low self-confidence or self-esteem.

~You limit your performance with negative self-labels such as “I am a choker” or “I can’t do this skill.”

~You have trouble forgetting or letting go of bad past performances.

~Your anger or frustration gets in the way of peak performance.

~You are frequently disappointed with your performance and wish it was better.

~You have a burning desire to be the best ever at your sport or just want to know how to improve your mental game.

If you have checked off 3 or more of the boxes above you are a good candidate for Mental Game Coaching.

Just like your physical skills take the time to acknowledge the mental skills that you are weak in and create a plan with your Mental Game Coach to help take your performance to the next level. 

*Are you interested in working on your mental game one-on-one? Did you know Cheer360 offers individual mental game coaching which can be done at the Cheer360 facility OR by Skype in the comfort of your own home! Contact us for more information.*

Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Mental Fitness.  She holds a masters degree in Sport Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal Trainer.  With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently, Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program. 

Are you making the most of your off-season? Don't forget to Train Your Brain!

Did you know that the off-season is the most crucial and important time in making you the athlete you want to be?  You will have the most physical and mental growth during this time if you create a training regimen and stick to it!  Here are two important tips on how to keep your mind strong and become prepared for the challenges the new season will bring. 

Set off-season goals:

When the season comes to an end your head starts to spin full of big ideas and dreams for next season.  Use that excitement as the fuel to kick start your off-season training and to set personal goals.  Take the time to sit down and evaluate your performance from last season and decide on 2-3 skills that you want to improve on.  Your goals should be specific and realistic. 

Sit down and take the time to choose goals that are meaningful and important to you.  When you have selected your off-season goals write them down and post them somewhere that you can see them everyday.  Writing your goals down and then shoving them in a notebook or desk drawer creates the “out of sight, out of mind” issue….and we don’t want that!  Post them on your mirror in your room or in the bathroom, places that you look everyday.  Having a visual cue of your goals will keep your mind focused on what you want to accomplish.

Visualization:

Now that you have set your off-season goals its time to go out there and work on them everyday!  While your immediate thoughts on how to improve your skills will probably be to physically practice them (which is no doubt very important and the first step) do not forget the most under-trained muscle in your body that can help you, your brain! 

Visualization is when you create a mental image or scenario of what you want to happen or feel.  Your visualization should include all of your senses to make it as realistic as possible.  What do you see, hear, smell, and taste when you perform this skill.  Once you have visually set the stage, perform the skill perfectly that you want to improve.  Focus on all the components that you need to improve on.

Once you have created a visualization routine take 5 minutes everyday to go though it.  Find somewhere quiet, take a few deep breathes in and let them out slowly and then go though your visualization routine 3-5 times.  By working on your skills mentally a few minutes everyday you are building experience and confidence in your abilities.

Kristen Perri is Cheer360’s Co-Founder and Director of Mental Fitness.  She holds a masters degree in Sport Psychology, is a certified Mental Game Coach, Sport Hypnotist and Personal Trainer.  With over 8 years of cheer coaching experience, Kristen has coached all skill levels including middle school and junior varsity. Currently, Kristen is the Head Varsity Coach of a major Long Island Cheerleading Program.