Goal setting is a practice used to progress through different aspects of life and ultimately come out of those experiences a better, more-equipped person than before. But how do we goal set? Forbes.com documents in its article titled “Why Olympic Athletes Are Smarter Than You” that to set goals effectively, one must set goals like that of an athlete would. For example, the article states that Michael Phelps, an Olympic Swimmer, sets his goals in the following manner, “At eight years-old, Michael Phelps wrote a set of goals. At the top: ‘I would like to make the Olympics’…In addition to his Olympic goal, young Michael Phelps also included several smaller goals. For each event, he set goal times for the beginning, middle, and end of his season” (Carlin).
This quote showcases that goals cannot be set too high above one’s expectations otherwise they cannot be achieved instead, the idea is that to elevate the bar slightly higher as one continues to progress in their list of goals, starting from smaller simpler goals, to larger, more grandiose ones like a young Michael Phelps dream of making it to the Olympics and how with that strategy, he was able to become an Olympic Champion.
To continue, the Forbes article goes on to say that the procedure for achieving goals effectively is also known as setting S.M.A.R.T goals. The first step is to set a specific goal, meaning the goal must be exact with no strings attached, such as deciding to perform one extra rep in a usual set in one’s workout regimen. The next step is setting a measurable goal, a goal that’s progress can be measured throughout time and dates.
The next step is setting an achievable goal, which is a goal that is within one’s limits, this could be performing an extra rep in a workout like mentioned previously or finishing an essay before 11:59 PM for a subject you could care less about but would gladly sacrifice your time for a good grade.
After this step, setting a realistic goal, this means your goal can’t be to jump off a 5 story building expecting to walk it off and be fine, but instead a goal that works in the limit a human being can be tested, like finishing all your assignments on time for school. Finally, the last step is to set a time based goal, which is just a goal that has a start and end date, like saying that in three months you’ll lose weight, gain muscle, gain weight, etc. Overall, goal setting as complex as an idea as it sounds, when simplified are just the small seemingly insignificant steps taken that ultimately to taking even bigger steps along the way that eventually lead to an accomplished goal and a refined sense of pride that could uplift even the most unhappy of spirits.