Goal Setting for People Who Don't Like Setting Goals - Tero Tommola

"Targeting... stand by."

If you are like me, you don't like to set goals for yourself. You are living "in the moment" and your decision-making is governed by your immediate life situation - the moment you are in. Often this works just fine, you get done what needs to be done when it needs to be done, and it leaves you carefree, floating, and not worried about the past or the future.

But after reading about the subject extensively, I have become convinced that setting goals for yourself and then striving towards them is beneficial in both the short term and long term. You should not overly burden yourself with several goals, but you should have a few short term goals that are easy to achieve and a few long term goals that are harder to achieve, and you should be taking steps towards them each day or week, respectively to the goal and its demands.

Now if the first reaction is that you feel burdened by the idea, then you should think of it like this:

Setting goals does not mean worrying about meeting those goals, or moping after, should you fail to meet them. Setting goals is just a way to identify for yourself what you think is important and what you want to change in yourself. Once a goal is set, of course, you should do your best to work towards it and try to reach it, but even if you don't quite reach it, at least you did something towards it. You made progress. That alone is better than not having any progress.

How does this translate to disc golf? Glad you asked. But before we get into that, think of a few goals you could have for the 2020 season. They can be small ones like "simplify my disc selection" or big ones like "add 60 more feet to driving distance". Once you have a few for yourself, read on.

"Target acquired, calculating firing solutions."

Thought of some possible goals? Good, now it's time for the next step. Now you need to think of that goal and decide on a number of things you can do to achieve that goal. Write your goal down, and list some steps under it that will take you towards your goal.

You want an example? Ok, let me give you an easy one. Let's say I decided I wanted to be a better putter inside the circle. My goal would be "Become a better putter inside the circle".
Off the top of my head, I could have these steps:

1. Practice more, at least two hours per week.
2. Practice indoors, but also find an outdoor practice basket.
3. Practice different stances and different distances within the circle.
4. Decide on a putting routine (something you always repeat before a putt).
I could add steps later, remove some whenever, or rewrite them at my leisure. They are not set in stone, and it is not wrong if you change them. If a step is too harsh, soften it. If it's too easy, make it harder. If it's just right, don't touch it. Simple, right?

Whatever your goal is, write down the steps you think you can take without shaking up your routines too much. If you strive for too much too soon, you will most likely not be able to complete those steps, or doing them will disrupt what you are used to in too big of a way, and you will lose interest. Be realistic, but don't be scared to challenge yourself.

What you write down, you should attempt to do, regularly and honestly. Change does not happen overnight, but also, change does not happen without attempt. No success can come from not trying.

"Firing solutions calculated. Fire when ready."

Once you have your goals and steps written down, it's time to move on to the actualization. Now you need to work towards it.

Do your best, but be realistic. Sometimes plans change, and sometimes you will not be able to meet your steps. If that happens, don't give up. Make up for the lost time, do that step the next day, or double the amount next week. Stay with it.

If that is not possible, then look at your daily schedule and look at the step, and decide if you need to change the step or maybe tone it down. Adversity does not mean giving up. Failure to meet a step does not mean failure to meet the goal. Like Aaliyah said, “Dust yourself off and try again.”
Is that good?

Alright, then you're ready to give it a go.

"Fire!"

- - -

Here are some of my goals for 2020:

Become a better putter
- putting training from nonexistent to once a week
- train as long as it feels good, don't force it
- train only outside, even if it rains

(Seem easy? When compared to my putting training in 2018 and 2019, AKA none at all, this is a huge improvement)

Hold a free beginners’ clinic
- Set up the dates and the clinic information before end of February 2020
- Post and choose participants before end of April 2020
- Host first clinic before end of May 2020
- If you can, host a second clinic before end of August 2020

Fix your back
- Do more walking
- Take up stretching and mobility exercises 3 times a week minimum
- Stop sitting at the computer so much

What are some of your goals? Please share in the comments below!