As the summer holiday comes to a blissful end it is time again to turn our thoughts and attention to that great sport of football. Football is a challenging sport because of the athletic talent needed and the competitiveness involved. If you are interested in either starting your first football season or training for next year you are going to want to set some goals. This article describes some great ways to not only set appropriate goals, but to achieve those goals. The main things to remember in setting a goal is to first answer the why question and second write them down.



Goal Setting: Answering the Why Question

No goal will be fulfilled completely unless you know the reason behind the goal. Hence it is important to answer the why question. Why are you doing this? Why do you care? Why do you want the benefits of your succeeded goal? Some answers to the why question might be fame, glory, making myself and my team mates proud, a scholarship for college, among others.

The important thing to remember is that every good goal requires effort and sacrifice. It is not easy to stay after school day after day for long practices, giving up Saturdays or mornings for exercise. In order to make a good goal note what changes are going to happen to your lifestyle and decide if that is what you really want. If it is - great we can set some goals. If you are not ready for the sacrifice then either pick another goal that will give you what you want or except the fact that you might be a mediocre player.

Show me a great athlete and I will show you someone who has made sacrifices. The 20008 Olympics in Beijing reminded us all of athletes that are willing to sacrifice all of their free time for one sport. Exercising, practicing, eating right, and setting goal after goal. They have the desire, and have surely answered the why question. Have you?

Goal Setting: Writing your goals down.

It never fails to surprise me how many times people make goals but do not write them down. An unwritten goal is like a faint wish or dream. It is like saying, ?well I hope that I can achieve this goal, but if not I will not beat myself up over it.? Power comes from being decisive, taking control of your live and your situation.

Please follow these steps, or ones similar to them, in making your goal. Take out a piece of paper and your favorite pencil and at the top in bold letters write down the answer to your why questions. Why do I want to be on the high school football team? Why do I want to be a starting player? Why do I want to be in shape for the start of the season? Etc.

Now that you have the why question written down, proceed to write down some goals that will help you achieve your ?why questions?. Make sure to write down big goals and then split them up into smaller increments. The more traceable your goals are the better meaning instead of a goal ?Be the best football player? write down a measureable goal such as ?play in all the games? or ?score 15 touchdowns this season?

The last step in writing down your goals is to make a plan. Writing down your smaller goals and how they will lead you to your larger goal. Also make a note of the sacrifices that you are going to make, and why you are doing this in the first place. After you have completed your plan, put it altogether in a power statement. An example ? ?I, john doe, plan to make the most touchdowns this season by exercising 2 hours a day, never missing a practice, not eating junk food, listening to my coach, and having a winning attitude, because I want to help my team win regionals this season?

Conclusion

Whether it be football any other worthwhile accomplishment that you want to make in this life learning how to make goals will be a great benefit. It is important to remember that when you start setting goals to answer the why question, really understand the reasons of what you are doing, and why you are doing it. Also no goal is really set without writing it down. So find an inspiring spot, answer your questions, form your plan, write it all down, and start to see the effects of a powerful goal.