How to Stick to Your Goals...Long Term

This is Natalie, Owner of Psych Me Up Consulting, providing you expert guidance on how to stick to your goals for the long haul.

Your Goals Should ALWAYS Be Changing

It's important to understand that achieving your goals is not a one-time event, but rather a process that requires consistent effort and dedication. This means that you must be willing to put in the work, and be patient as progress may not always be immediate. Remember to stay focused on the bigger picture and the reasons why you set these goals in the first place. Keeping a positive mindset and believing in yourself can make all the difference in achieving your long-term goals. With time and effort, you can turn your goals into reality and create a fulfilling life that you are proud of!

How Do I Design a Goal Guaranteed to Succeed?

When it comes to design, setting achievable goals is essential to ensure that your progress towards your ultimate goal is successful. Start by identifying the specific changes you want to make and establish a realistic timeline for completing them. Break down your ultimate goal into smaller steps, and prioritize them based on their importance and feasibility. This will help you focus on what needs to be done first and avoid feeling overwhelmed. For example, If your ultimate goal is to become a D1 athlete, what are the yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily steps that need to happen to get you one step closer to your ultimate goal?

How Can I Keep Track of My Progress?

Tracking your progress is always important in sport. Keep a record of your yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals either in a notebook, notes app on your phone, or a document on your computer. Really any place you will have easy access and that is convenient for you. This will help you see your progress and keep you motivated throughout the process. Don't be afraid to ask for feedback from others, such as friends, family, or a professional. This can help you refine your goals and ensure that your progress is on track.

Remember to Celebrate!

Remember to celebrate your achievements along the way, no matter how small they may seem. This will help you stay motivated and keep you focused on your long-term goals. Finally, make goal-setting a part of your daily routine by incorporating it into your lifestyle. This can include setting goals for your health and nutrition, attending goal setting events such as Psych Me Up's Live Digital Events, or using visualization and imagery to see your goals come to life. With these strategies, you can turn your athletic goals into a reality and create a determined mindset that guarantees success.

Sport Psych in Action: Goal Setting 101

This is Natalie, owner of Psych Me Up Consulting, and your goal setting expert providing the ultimate guide to setting realistic and achievable goaals.

Goal Setting 101

In athletic practice, goal setting is crucial. But what is a goal? In simple terms, a goal is a clear statement of what you want to achieve. These can be short-term goals serving as steps leading to a long-term objective.

Why Set a Goal?

The Power of Goal-Setting for AthletesSetting goals is the secret ingredient to an athlete's success recipe. It's like a personalized boost that ignites the fire, provides direction and purpose, and holds them responsible for their progress. Each milestone achieved is a level up, giving them a buzz of excitement and a feeling of triumph!

Brainstorming and Goal Setting

When setting goals, it is essential to ask yourself questions like, "What are my short and long-term dreams?" and "What is my ultimate 'why' in my sport?" Once you have these answers, you can start setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (S.M.A.R.T) goals.

The S.M.A.R.T. Goal Framework

Cracking the S.M.A.R.T. Code: A Secret Agent Mission to Achieving Your Goals!Each letter in the S.M.A.R.T. acronym acts like a secret agent assigned to help you conquer your goals. 'S' for Specific provides you with precise steps and their corresponding leaders. 'M' for Measurable means setting clear checkpoints to track your progress. 'A' for Attainable determines if your goal is realistic and if you possess the necessary skills to achieve it. 'R' for Relevant acts like a detective questioning why this goal is essential and how it fits into your overall plan. Lastly, 'T' for Timely sets up a finish line to cross, with check-ins along the way to ensure you stay on track.

Finalizing Your Goals

After applying the S.M.A.R.T. framework, finalize your long term and short term goals. Remember, these should be motivating, not frustrating!

Dealing with Setbacks

Remember that setbacks are not a sign of failure, but rather an opportunity to learn and grow. Don't be too hard on yourself when things don't go according to plan. Take a step back, reassess the situation, and make the necessary changes to keep moving forward. It's important to stay motivated and focused on your overall vision, even when faced with challenges. With the right mindset and a willingness to adapt, you can achieve anything you set your mind to. So keep pushing forward, and don't let setbacks hold you back from reaching your full potential.

Conclusion

Proper goal setting can encourage desired behaviors, guide focus, increase motivation, and instill a sense of accountability. It's not just about the destination but also about the journey and lessons learned along the way.

Next Steps

If you're interested in learning more about sport psychology, consider signing up for the sport psych in action membership, checking out the mental toughness profile workbook, or reading additional blog posts. Natalie also conducts informative interviews and check out her February Live Digital Events, for which sign-ups are open.

Contact Information

For more information, feel free to contact Natalie at Psych Me Up Consulting via phone at 585-626-5469 or email at psychmeupconsulting@gmail.com. You can also visit the website at www.psychmeupconsulting.com or follow on Instagram and Facebook for updates.

It's All About You!

Remember, the journey is all about you. Your dreams, your goals, your progress. So set those goals, face those challenges, and cheer for every victory, no matter how small!

Sport Psych in Action: Can I Truly Be Fearless?

This is Natalie, owner of Psych Me Up Consulting, and your fear expert providing the ultimate guide to understanding and managing your fears in sport!

As an expert in managing fears in sport, I understand the challenges that athletes face when it comes to overcoming their fears. Whether it's fear of failure, fear of injury, or simply fear of specific skills, these anxieties can be debilitating and prevent athletes from performing at their best. However, I have developed effective strategies and techniques to help athletes manage their fears and achieve their goals.

With my guidance, athletes can learn to navigate their fears and perform with confidence, both on and off the field.

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Guess what, FEAR is NORMAL!

Have you ever been scared before? Seems like a foolish question, because your answer is "well, OBVIOUSLY!" So why is fear in sport often looked as a weakness or fault in the athlete's mental toughness? Fear is a natural emotion that can help us stay safe and avoid danger. However, when fear becomes overwhelming, it can hinder our ability to perform to our ultimate best. This is why managing fear is so important. By understanding and acknowledging our own automatic response to fear, we can learn to control them and prevent them from controlling us in our sport.

What is My Automatic Response to Fear?

Are you a fighter, flighter, or here is a new one, freezer? Yes, some freeze in the face of danger, including myself. As a gymnast, I was stricken with fear on all my skills that went backwards, especially on balance beam. I would stand at the front of the beam, get ready to swing my arms to do a backhandspring, and I physically could not move. It felt like there was a wall behind me, blocking me from attempting anything. It was paralyzing and very confusing. It felt like my mind and body were not on the same page. My mind was saying, "You can do it, just go" but my body was like, "Yaaa i'd rather not, this is unsafe". In that moment I realized in the face of fear, I am a freezer.

Automatic fear response is a natural and instinctive reaction triggered by perceived threats. In sports, perceived threats can be competitive situations, individual skills, injuries, etc. This response is governed by the amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure in the brain. When we encounter danger, the amygdala activates the fight, flight, or freeze response, which prepares our body to either confront the threat, run away from it, or strictly freeze.

Let's set the scene. You're calm and relaxed watching your favorite T.V. show. All of a sudden you see a big spider crawling on the ground. You instantly feel your heart rate increase, your hands sweat, and you're contemplating your next move.

Do you:

A) Squash the spider and go back to watching your show

B) Call a friend to take care of business

C) You do nothing and freeze with anxiety

If you chose A, your automatic response is to fight

If you chose B, your automatic response is to flight

if you chose C, your automatic response is to freeze.

Now, applying this analogy to a stressful athletic situation, how do you normally respond? Do you fight through with resilience even though you are scared? Do you avoid the skill and finish all your other assignments hoping to avoid it completely? Or do you feel paralyzed and unable to move?

Once you are aware of your automatic fear response, you can figure out your own personalized solution to managing your fears!

Easy, right? Let's check out some tips

Feeling Empowered Yet?! Let's Learn Some Mental Skills

Mental Skills for Fighters:

1. Motivate yourself through goal setting: set realistic goals that you can tackle and conquer and feel GOOD doing it!

2. Pump yourself up: positive affirmations can change our mood from "CAN'T" too "CAN".

3. Patience is Key: often times fighters do without thinking. Take a step back, assess the situation and trust your mind and body!

Mental Skills for Flighters:

1. Have an accountability partner: tell a friend what you're scared of and ask them to check in with you to be sure you step outside of your comfort zone.

2. Tackle the skill first: set a goal that you must complete the skill you're afraid of FIRST before completing any of your other assignments.

3. Create a reward system: everyone loves rewards, so reward yourself when you do hard things.

Mental Skills for Freezers:

1. Accept your fears: once you can accept you are scared, you will be able to tackle it easier.

2. Breath, Breath, Breath! Research breathing techniques and find one that alleviates your anxiety to a manageable level.

3. Key words: When we are faced with fear, our brain often thinks of worst case scenarios. Let's control your thoughts by giving your mind something to think about such as key words that describe the technique of the skill you are scared of.

Can I Be Truly Fearless?

We just discovered that fear is NORMAL and can only be MANAGED. Meaning, that we are never truly fearless because fear is a very natural response to our environment and situations. Once we can start to understand that we cannot get rid of fear but can learn how to put it in hibernation, we will be able to take control back and not let our fears rule our performances.

Now, TAKE ACTION and MANAGE your FEARS!!

Let's Get Mentally Fit!

Natalie Gurnett, M.S.

Psych Me Up Consulting

www.psychmeupconsulting.com

psychmeupconsulting@gmail.com