Name your goal. Go ahead, write it down. Now write down the date you wish to reach your goal. Be realistic. Now estimate the individual steps you need to take to reach the goal, to the best of your ability (research if you don’t really know).
To reach your goal now you simply have to build backward from your goal date, and plug the things that you need to do into a calendar, and in theory, hit those steps. I will give you a sample list below, but before I do, beware of how you state your goal. Make sure it is something you truly have control over. Be realistic on the timeframe. Don’t set a goal that requires support items you simply don’t have and can’t get. Feel free to reach a bit here, but set one that is clearly accomplishable. One last tip, be careful not to set a goal that is dependent on another person.
- A bad example: I will win the 2021 Ohio State Championship on October 1st, 2021.
- The problem: You only control you. You might train to your absolute best and still get beat by someone better.
- A better example: I will train to possess a winning level of skill and talent and perform to that ability in the 2021 Ohio State Championship on October 1st, 2021.
- This goal states that you took the time to figure out what likely will allow you to win, reach that skill level, and perform to that level in the match. This will have a high chance of putting you on the top. If you do however lose to someone even better, you have still succeeded in the goal and can now figure out how to push even higher if reaching their skill level is realistic and possible.
Now, I want you to back build the practice sessions and action steps you need in order to reach your goal. That means that you look at the target date and actually plug your action steps and practice sessions in from the target goal back to today’s date. Take a look at the big picture now, and consider if that amount of effort will result in accomplishing your goal, or if you need to change your life somehow and find more time.
A sample:
- Goal date: Oct 1st, 2021.
- Private lesson with the Grandmaster Pro 1 X on January 23rd and 24th.
- Dry fire practice sessions beginning on February 1st x 4 a week on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 152 dry fire sessions
- Live fire practice sessions beginning on February 1st x 2 a week on Wed and Sat: 76 live-fire sessions
- Club or small match (game day practice) 1 X a month: +-8 matches
- Gun tune-up session X 1: Sept 15th
Now in theory, you could have printed a calendar with each action item, and practice session and check them off as you do them. Better yet, schedule these in an old school scheduler like you can buy in Office Depot and use that same scheduler to log your practice sessions and what you learned/observed.
The Important Part: Once the day comes, go ahead and look back at the practice/action you ACTUALLY did. If you did your work, then you are likely going to be highly successful. If you missed sessions, then you didn’t actually do everything in your power to accomplish your goal. Don’t expect success!
P.S. Check out this article.
Until Then – Train Hard!
Mike S.
