- GOAL SETTING
- VISUALIZATION
- POSITIVE SELF-AFFIRMATIONS
GOAL SETTING
Goal setting is the act of planning for something you want to achieve. A goal is a dream with a deadline. In other words, a goal is not a goal unless you know when you expect to achieve it.
There are short term and long term goals. Short-terms goals can be what you want to achieve today or this week or even during a season. A long-term goal is something you want to achieve by the end of the year or maybe even further away; maybe before you graduate from high school or before the end of an age group you compete in. Long-term goals help us determine our short-term goals.
How to set a goal:
- Decide what you want to achieve (e.g. "I want to run one minute faster in the 3k" or "I want eat better for better health".
- Decide how you are going to achieve your goal (e.g. "I will come to all practices and learn how run pace work at the pace needed to drop one minute in the 3k" or "I will stop drinking soda and eat one serving of carrots everyday".
- Write down when you want to achieve your goal (deadline). Without a deadline, who knows when or even if you will ever achieve your goal.
VISUALIZATION
Visualization is when you see yourself succeeding or doing something well. It is also when you see yourself not doing well. You can learn to control your thoughts thus it is very important to learn how to see yourself as you want to be. If you catch yourself using negative thought (stinkin'-thinkin') then replace those thoughts with positive thoughts. An example of this is: "wow, she is so fast, there is no way I can win this" vs. "oh wow, she is fast. I know I can finish even closer to her than I did last time because I worked so hard since the last time I raced her!"
POSITIVE SELF-AFFIRMATIONS (PSA)
PSA is when you tell yourself (your inside voice) good things about yourself. Instead of focusing on how nervous you are or how hard a XC course might be you can choose to think about how well you ran last time you were nervous or how you could use a hard course to your advantage (accelerate out of turns or charge the hills like you do in practice).
Each of these strategies will help make you a better runner and a better person. If you have any questions regarding subjects of sport psychology ask your coach!