Coeus

A new year often leads us to consider what we want to accomplish in the coming year. Coaches, personal trainers, bosses, parents, students and more can have daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. For many, making the leap from establishing a goal to completing it is often daunting, but did you know how you set up your goal can impact your success? SMART goals, or establishing a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-sensitive is a great approach we’ve covered previously, but if you’re looking for a different approach, try thinking smaller.

What Is A SMALL Goal?

The sciences love acronyms, so SMALL goals are:

• Self-selected

• Measurable

• Action-oriented

• Linked to your life

• Long-term

This goal-setting style is part of a larger concept called the Small Changes model (SCM). SCM was designed around a protocol that guides people to make small consistent changes to their behaviors with the ultimate aim of creating changes that last a lifetime. While this may not be appropriate for all performance-focused goals, it’s often appropriate for many of them. 

Process Over Outcome

When we set a SMALL goal we are looking for our goal to meet each SMALL criteria with a focus on process over outcome. We’ll start with the latter as it will inform the components of your goal. 

When we set a goal, many of us focus on the outcome we want to achieve instead of the process necessary to reach the outcome. How many of us have said to ourselves: “I want to lose 20 pounds”, “I want to place top three in the state championships”, or “I want to own a Ferrari”. These are all outcome-based goals, and the issue with most outcome-based goals is that your success is based, at least partially, on events outside your control. What if it’s not feasible/possible for you to lose another 20 lbs? What if you double flat while in the lead at the state championships? What if the bonus you expected to receive doesn’t happen? Each of these occurrences outside of your control would lead to a failure to reach your goal through no fault of your own. So how do we rectify this issue?

The solution is simple if we focus on what’s within your control to put yourself in the position to meet your desired outcome. By focusing our goals on the process of improvement we gain far more control over our likelihood of success. Let’s take the example of wanting to place top three in the state championships. While outcome-focused, we can guide an athlete to a more process-focused goal by asking them open-ended questions. Here are a few examples of what these discussions with your athlete might look like:

• What do you need in order to be in contention for a top three finish?

• I need to work on my downhill speed and my sprinting. I am towards the front of the pack at the top of the hill, but I keep losing them on the downhill. Also, whenever they sprint I have a hard time keeping up.

• Where do you feel uncomfortable or feel like you need improvement on the downhills?

• I’m not comfortable with higher-speed corners. I crashed really hard last year when my rear wheel slid out on a corner and I don’t want to crash again. I also don’t like having to ride at high speeds where there are trees close to the trail. I’m worried I’ll hit one of them! 

• For the higher speed corners, what do you think you need to practice in order to improve this area of your riding?

• I’m not entirely sure but I get anxious and feel like the bike gets really twitchy in these corners. Maybe I need to work on my cornering technique and balance.

A conversation like this one helps athletes think about concrete skills directly under their control, and highlights ways they can shift outcome goals to process goals. In this example we shifted from focusing on “top three” to identifying that, among other things, the athlete can improve their cornering technique. Not only is improving their cornering technique something we can turn into a SMALL goal, but it provides the foundation necessary to compete for a top 3 position. 

Setting A SMALL Goal

After guiding the athlete to identify a potential goal focus (improve cornering) we can start to apply the SMALL goal acronym. Our aim is to have the athlete set their own goals, however, this doesn’t mean we can’t provide support and guidance throughout the process. In this example, we could discuss the skill progression to cornering (ready position → body bike separation: side to side → cornering 1) and the components of each part. We could even do quick “parking lot” demos to give them the space to see where they feel they can improve. Once they pick what they’d like to focus on, we help them ensure it’s measurable and tied to an action they will perform; within this we would also include details such as how often they should perform the action. Lastly, we can help them assess how this is linked to their life (can they actually do this goal?) and if it’s a long-term goal (can you continue to do this for ____ time, which may be months, years, or the rest of your life). Let's continue with our example:

• Original goal “I want to be top three at the state championships”.

• Process goal “I need to improve my high speed cornering so I don’t lose time on the descents”.

• Discussion and quick skills session show the student that while they understand the components of cornering they are having a hard time staying in the low ready position during cornering and leaning their bike correctly.

• SMALL goals:

• I will stay in a low ready position for all cornering by (1) practicing low ready every day for five minutes first on flat terrain and (2) slowing down on downhills so I can focus on maintaining the correct position. 

• I will improve the angle I can lean my bike by 20 degrees by (1) practicing the body bike separation drill five minutes per day and (2) slowing down on descents in order to practice the drill on singletrack trails.

You may have noticed that the two “L” components of the SMALL goal do not seem to appear here. That is acceptable as they are components we would discuss with the athlete rather than writing them into the goal. These are also fairly small goals that the athlete will probably achieve relatively quickly and that is okay because we can adjust these goals as the athlete achieves them. Regular goal achievement helps boost an athlete's self-esteem and self-efficacy, increasing the likelihood they derive enjoyment from the process and continue it. 

Why Process Over Outcome Matters

There are many reasons we focus on process over outcome when goal setting, regardless of the model used. Refocusing our efforts on things we have control over sets us up for success. When we do this it ensures that even if the ultimate outcome goal isn’t met successfully there are still many accomplishments throughout the season to reflect on and learn from. Athletes can continue improving their performance, skills, mental abilities, etc. in preparation for their next big goal. Ultimately this approach gives athletes control over their success and reduces the probability of negative issues like frustration and burnout. 

Incorporating SMALL Goals With Your Athletes

The method of helping your athletes set SMALL goals completely depends on the athlete you are working with. If they are a bit older and more psychologically mature you may be able to have a sit down conversation with them as a goal setting session. Younger riders, however, especially in groups with their peers, may quickly lose interest in the conversation. Instead of a formal goal setting session completed in one sitting, use your riding or training time to have an ongoing discussion about what they want to achieve and drive the conversation towards establishing process-oriented goals. This could happen in one session or over several. Regardless, you could let all of your athletes know prior to starting these conversations that they have a task to bring a goal to you (or another coach in the group) by a certain practice date. Then your conversations will act as guidance for them as they approach that deadline. 

When done correctly goal setting is a very effective tool to help create athlete progression and enhance self-esteem and self-efficacy, both of which play a role in enjoyment of an activity as well as reducing the risk of burnout. Establishing a goal-setting habit with an athlete or team can receive initial resistance from athletes who don’t see the purpose of or relationship to their reason for participating in their sport. Work to make this a part of your coaching philosophy and culture and it can quickly become a norm as athletes start to see “painless” results. If you are looking to learn more about different techniques for working with athletes check out the Skills Track courses. 

To continue learning while earning NICA CEUs, be sure to check out our recommended courses below!

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