By Kelly O'Brien, NFF Center for Youth Development Through Sport, Springfield College
As shown in the articles about "Effective Goal Setting" and "Creating a Game Plan for Life," it is very important to have a plan to reach your goals. Unfortunately, it is much easier to set goals than it is to achieve them. For example, just think of all the times that you said that you were going to do something like run three miles four times a week or study for three hours every day, only to find that you gave up after a few days or weeks. To achieve your goal, you need to not only adhere to the principles of effective goal setting, but also plan for things that might block your path to success. These "roadblocks" are challenges or obstacles that must typically be tackled in order for you to reach your goals.
For the most part, goal-setting roadblocks usually occur in one or more of these four areas:
You lack the knowledge or information necessary to achieve your goal. You lack the physical or mental skills needed to achieve your goal. You lack the self-confidence or are afraid to take the risks necessary to reach your goal. You lack the social support you need from friends or family to encourage and assist you during the process. Normally, situations arise that include some combination of these roadblocks. For example, you fell short of obtaining a B+ average in your Biology course. Before you can develop a new strategy, you need to consider the type(s) of roadblocks that face you. The following questions may help you make that distinction:
1. What do you need to know to achieve the goal? Are you studying the appropriate information? Do you need to know more information?
2. What new ways of acting or new skills would you have to acquire to achieve the goal? Do you need to try a new study or note-taking skill?
3. Since you know what to do to reach your goal, what makes it hard for you to take the chance? Do you have enough confidence in yourself and your ability as a student to try and reach your goal again?
4. Whom should you talk to about your goal? Should you ask for help from a teacher or obtain a tutor?
Once you have identified a workable goal, one that is positive, realistic, action-oriented, and timely, you can now begin the process of goal attainment. During this step, it is important to develop a game plan for tackling the roadblocks that you identified earlier. Consider the following points as you devise your game plan:
To develop knowledge, you should consider both formal and informal sources of information. Formal sources include books and newspapers whereas informal sources include suggestions or information from family, teachers, counselors, or coaches.
To develop a skill, you must develop a step-by-step process similar to a goal ladder.
To develop more self-confidence or take the appropriate risks necessary to reach your goal (e.g., asking a teacher for help), ask yourself if the perceived benefits of reaching your goal outweigh the perceived costs, and then develop a plan to get the skills or social support that you need.
To get the social support you need, ask yourself what kind of support do you need, whom could you get it from, and how and when are you going to ask for their help.
Once you have devised an appropriate game plan, you may be well on your way to reaching your goals. Remember, it is okay to adjust your game plan as necessary. Just as you need to develop a unique strategy to be successful against each opponent that you meet on the field, you may also need to try a different strategy for each roadblock that you need to tackle in life.
Adapted from: Petitpas, A., Champagne, D., Chartrand, J., Danish, S., & Murphy, S. (1997). Athlete's Guide to Career Planning. Illinois: Human Kinetics.
This information was taken from the NFL/NFF Coaching Academy program that was designed under the leadership of Dr. Dan Gould at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and Dr. Steve Danish at Virginia Commonwealth University. The program is designed to further educate youth and high school coaches in not only the areas of football skills and strategy but also the game's character building and social benefits.
Whether it's a strategy for keeping a team academically eligible, the development of a life skills curriculum for a coaching clinic, or the latest research on sports in society, the NFF Center for Youth Development through Sport at Springfield College in Massachusetts has the answers. While supporting Play It Smart remains the primary focus of the staff's attention, the NFF Center is quickly becoming a source of information on using sport to develop the qualities of leadership and academic excellence in America's young people.
For more information about the NFF Center, click here.
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