E30: The What, Why, and How of a Realistic Goal

Welcome to our first in a series of 3 podcasts on goal setting. In this week’s topic, we will be discussing what a realistic goal is, why it is important to set realistic goals and how you know if your goal is realistic.

Transcript

The What, Why and How of a Realistic goal

My Goal is to become the first female president.  I want to qualify for an olympic team.  My goal is to break into the starting line-up.  I want to complete my list of 27 things…..today….

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Welcome to our first in a series of 3 podcasts on goal setting. In this week’s topic, we will be discussing what a realistic goal is, why it is important to set realistic goals and how you know if your goal is realistic. The second topic in this series will talk about how and when you re-evaluate your goals and what to do when you need to change them.  The third and final topic of this series will look at ways you can reward yourself for achieving your short and long term goal. 

We discussed SMART GOALS in Episode 1. A SMART GOAL is one that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Specific. But what are some of the things that you use to evaluate your goal? Today we are going to focus on the Achievable and Relevant part of your goal.

First, I want you to ask yourself a few questions about your goal.

Is this the goal that matters the most to me?  Will I see this goal thru no matter how hard it gets or what I have to sacrifice to reach it? 

Do I have what I need or can I learn the skills necessary to achieve this goal? Are there external influences outside of my control that can prevent me from reaching my goal?

Let’s break these questions and concepts down a little more.  First: Is this the goal that matters the most to me?  One thing to look at when you are deciding on your goal is to assess your commitment level to the goal. As goals get longer or more complicated, they get more difficult to achieve, especially if it is not what you truly want to do. When we have multiple goals, there is a tendency to put aside the harder ones or the ones that we are not as committed to and focus on other goals. It is okay to have multiple goals, but you need to rank your goals based on the ones that you are the most committed to. If you have too many goals that you want to achieve, then you may run out of time to reach any of them.

Do you have what you need or can you learn the skills necessary to achieve your goal?  For example, Let's say that you're goal is to become an Olympic gymnast. AWESOME! But……You are 6’2” 30 years old and have never had any training in gymnastics. This goal may not be realistic in the timeframe that you have and the current resources available to you. You could perhaps start with a smaller version of this goal. Maybe take a class in gymnastics or get some private lessons and go from there. These smaller goals will help to provide you with additional information when evaluating how realistic a larger and more long term goal is.  It is also important to factor in your current and potential skill set when evaluating your goal.

So, how do we know if our goal is unrealistic and so what if it is? An unrealistic goal lacks a plan and a way of tracking progress. Unrealistic goals can leave you with too much to do or a goal too large and this can lead us to be quote-unquote frozen in indecision. When this happens we can shut down or distract ourselves with other things. For example, let's say you have a very long to-do list to have you achieve your goals.  Maybe your daily to-do list includes: 2 hours of training in the morning, 2 hours of lifting, an hour of video, followed by an afternoon training session, an hour of yoga, and a couple more hours of video.  Sounds great right?  What this to-do list has NOT factored in is the other things that you have to do.  Do you work?  Do you still go to school?  What about eating?  Recovery time?  Etc. A goal that includes completing an unrealistic list of thing to do in a short time frame can seem so daunting that we just sitdown and go watch tv or play Settlers of Catan (speaking from personal experience here)

If a goal is unrealistic or too difficult, you may find yourself not completing tasks for that goal or avoiding it all together.  Most things are not all or nothing and instead, they lie on a spectrum.  This is true for goals as well.  On one end of the spectrum are goals that are too easy and not challenging (BORING) and on the other end of the spectrum are goals that are impossible to achieve (FRUSTRATING).  Realistic goals fall within the challenging, yet achievable portion of that spectrum.  Have you heard of Aristotle’s Golden Mean?  The golden Mean is the concept of the middle between two extremes. On one end there is excess, such as a goal that is unrealistic to attain, and on the other end there is deficiency, such as a goal that is so easy that it requires no effort to attain.

So… how do you set a realistic goal and what is the process to follow in order for you to reach your goal? The first thing you need to do is think about the following questions. You can pause between each question to write down your answers if you would like. 

1. what do you want to achieve? 
2. What do you need to do in order to achieve this or what steps do you need to take?
3. What is the timeline for your plan to achieve this goal? 
4. How are you going to track your progress? 

When you are first starting, it is helpful to begin with just a single goal and then work from there. When you have your main goal, you can create smaller goals that help you achieve the main goal. This will give you Milestone markers that you can mark off as completed which will help to increase your self-confidence and give you beneficial positive feedback on your progress through your timeline to your final goal. 

To Review:  Realistic goals factor in our drive, desire, available resources, and schedule.  They are motivating, confidence boosting, and include a plan of attack and timeline for successful completion.  Larger goals are broken down into small goals that can be focused on and completed in smaller, more trackable timeframes.

What if my goals are not realistic and I just realized it?  Don’t worry.  Tune in next week when we continue on the second of three of this goal setting series and look at reevaluating goals and how to make modifications (changes) to your goals as you go.

For more information on the goal setting process, contact me at RattoConsulting.com.  If you or your coaches or organization are interested in hosting a workshop or virtual seminar on this or any other sports psychology or performance optimizing topic, please email me at Laura@RattoConsulting.com.  

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step  ~ Lao Tzu - Chinese Philosopher