The Power of Goal Setting

[Joe Messina]

 

“Repetition is the Mother of Skill” In order to master something you have to do it over and over again. What I am going to do in this article is talk about not only how to set goals but also how to achieve them. Remember, you must not get bored by fundamentals but excited about the ongoing improvements you’re creating each day.

With the power of goals, we create our future in advance. Some players never set particular goals but for those that do, they will affect you. Goals can create the power to develop our skills. When setting goals, it’s essential to establish goals that are beyond your present ability. Regardless of what your belief’s or spirituality is, if you operate from the belief that if you get inspired enough you can figure out how to achieve that goal even if it seems impossible at the time. If you limit your future based on your past, you’re not going to go anywhere!

Many of the goalies that I talk to do set goals. However, setting goals is not enough! Make sure that you’re clear why you want them. The fundamental key is purpose which is stronger then outcome. What does that mean? Purpose of a goal is what everyone will make of you not only as a goalie but as a person. Set goals and know why you’re doing it. Setting a goal to one day play in the NHL is not enough. You have to know why this is important to you. In other words, why does making the NHL excite you? Make your dreams real. When you set a goal, it becomes apart of your life.

Remember, setting a goal is not enough. Come up with reasons for accomplishing it. Remember, reasons come first and answers come second. If you get a big enough reason for accomplishing something you will find the answer. In every great success, the person finds the “why” behind their goal and that’s their power to achieve it. With the ability to have a goal, instantly comes the ability to achieve it.

Now to set your goals, I want you to pretend that you’re writing a letter to Santa Claus (it might sound silly but think about how excited we all got when we wrote a letter to Santa and told him what we wanted for Christmas). You need to get excited about this because if you really fall into this… IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

To start, set a stop watch for six minutes or have someone time you. In six minutes, write down everything that you’d like to accomplish as a hockey player this season. Be sure that you don’t stop writing! Fill the page with everything you can think of!

Once you have a FULL PAGE of things you’d like to accomplish, you need to go thru and pick the top 5 things. Once you pull the 5 aside, write a paragraph on WHY you are absolutely committed to achieving that goal.

Finally, write down your top 5 again but this time you’re going to write down what it would mean to you if you didn’t achieve each goal. Pick 5 or 6 things that it would cost you. The more creative you can be with this the more you’ll IMPOWER yourself to fulfill each and every goal you have set. This is what is called the carrot or the stick. What becomes more powerful to you? All the positive things that you’ll get if you achieve them (the carrot) OR all the disappointment you want to avoid by not following through (the stick).

Written by: Joe Messina 

Bandits Goalie School - 2017

Check out our website at www.banditsgoaltending.com