“Goals should be realistic, attainable, and shared among all members of the team” – Mike Krzyzewski

Have you thought about what you want to be doing in five years’ time? Are you clear about what your main objective is for your basketball mental game is at the moment? Do you know what you want to have achieved by the end of today?

If you want to improve your techniques and succeed, you need to set goals.

Without goals you lack focus and direction. Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your life’s direction; it also provides you a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding.

To accomplish your goals, however, you need to know how to set them. You can’t simply say, “I want” and expect it to happen. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it.

In between there are some very well defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow you to formulate goals that you can accomplish.

Here are four golden rules of goal setting:

Set Goals that Motivate You – When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim.

Motivation is key to achieving goals.

Set SMART Goals – You have probably heard of SMART goals already. But do you always apply the rule? The simple fact is that for goals to be powerful, they should be designed according to the SMART format.

• Specific.
• Measurable.
• Attainable.
• Relevant.
• Time Bound.

Write Down Your Goals and Visualize Them – Your goals need to be an active part of your daily life. They’re not just far off pipe dreams; they’re the things that inspire you every day. That’s why visualizing your basketball goals isn’t just about putting them in writing, but putting your goals in writing where you can see them every day.

Evaluate Your Goals Regularly

It is important to continually evaluate your progress. This should be done throughout the entire goal setting process, as well as after the goal is met. The idea is to create a progress report to evaluate where you are in reaching your goal and to adjust your goals regularly to account for any changes.

Goal setting is much more than simply saying you want something to happen. Unless you clearly define exactly what you want and understand why you want it the first place, your odds of improving your mental game in basketball considerably reduced.

By following the Four Golden Rules of Goal Setting you can set goals with confidence and enjoy the satisfaction that comes along with knowing you achieved what you set out to do.

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