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Making Goals
We all set goals constantly.
We plan what time we want to wake up in
the morning, how much money we want to earn this year, what sort of house
we want to live in, what do we want out of life, etc, etc.
On a daily
basis we set goals; we either achieve them and set new ones, or fail and
then reset with a different goal.
You can apply goal setting to any level of skydiving. For example, if
you are halfway through your AFF course and having some problems with
uncontrolled turns, you could set a goal of getting yourself more relaxed
in the plane before jumping, or to practice the right position on the
ground. These short term goals would help you achieve the long term goal
of finishing the course. If you were to focus purely on your desire to
graduate you may find yourself becoming frustrated with your inability
to reach it. You can use the desire to finish the course as motivation
to carry on, but you should set immediate goals in order to achieve that
long term one.
The same can be said for an FS team. If a team were to look at individual
body positions, flying skills, exit techniques, how to key formations,
block techniques, team harmony, etc, they would cover one short term goal
after another in the journey to achieving their long term goal of, say
winning the nationals. The pursuit of short term goals without the motivation
of a long term or dream goal can also be frustrating, it's a bit like
getting dressed up for a party, calling the cab and going to the front
door without actually having a party to go to.
Photo by Keith Larrett |
Dream goals
These are goals that you know you could achieve if everything went
just perfectly, ie the sun shone, luck was with you and you had
your cake and ate it. An example of a dream goal would be Toby from
our team wanting to score a 20 in time at the '96 nationals, or
the whole team wanting a 15 point average after 10 rounds. We were
very happy to achieve those goals and it keeps us dreaming of bigger
and more outrageous goals. Sometimes you will not achieve those
dream goals; for example, I wanted to win the 4-way in '94, well we lost and
I didn't quit skydiving or think that I was a total failure as a
human being (well only for a minute!), I went on to train and work
harder to achieve the next goal. Dream goals create the fire in
your belly and keep you working when you are tired or pissed off.
Long term goals
These are necessary in order to know where you are going, like the
arrival point of a journey. For a skysurfer it might be the goal
of winning the Extreme Games or for an FS team it could be winning
the intermediate gold at the next nationals or to be in a team that
averages 20 points. Setting the long term goal will help you chart
the territory ahead. If you are in a team you must have a mutual
goal otherwise you may find discord if someone is either more or
less motivated than you. For example if your team mate is only doing
the team in order to work on their skills or visit a few different
DZ's and your goal is to win the World Championships, then your
team mate would have the right to be angry at you for hassling him
to commit more. Get the long term goal sorted as soon as possible.
BUT the thing with goals is that they are constantly being achieved,
surpassed or failed, so be open to adjusting them!
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When I am coaching I am always a bit wary when I hear a goal like: "I
really want to beat that other team" or "I'm doing this to please someone
else." In this sport we are not even in direct contact with opposing teams,
so it is hard (other than psychologically) to affect another team's result.
Therefore we should be focusing 100% on what we need to do, rather than
wasting our valuable energies on worrying about someone else's performance
or feelings. Also, when the meet is over you need to live with yourself
and your success or failure. Be responsible for your goals, pick something
that you can achieve.
Mid term goals
A mid term goal can be a checkpoint, to see how you are progressing towards
your long term goal. For example, with our coach, we set mid term goals
on our block times and exit moves. We picked our dream goal, worked out
how many jumps we could do and then saw how fast we wanted to be turning,
after 100 jumps then 250 etc. Like all goals we have to be ready to reset
them if we are surpassing or failing. If, say, a style jumper wanted to
turn a 5 second set and they were turning 9 seconds right now, they would
set mid term goals of breaking 8 seconds, then 7, etc, rather than constantly
worrying about not being able to turn a clean 5 straight away!
Short term goals
Without setting and achieving short term goals we would remain stationary.
For a team, goals like: in-place turns, synchronous exits, block technique,
a system for remembering the dive, etc, are all vital elements required
in order to achieve the long term and dream goals. A short term goal could
be as simple and specific as; looking up on exit or taking a wrist grip.
On our team, we set daily goals, which we consider as short term goals;
for example today's goals included: 'Keeping calm', 'Making the most out
of a potential bad weather day,' 'Learning more about tailgate exits,'
'Keeping the dives fun.' We sometimes pick non-skydiving goals, such as
'Tidying the team room,' or 'Washing our suits.' Short term goals are
your tools and the language which helps you understand how to reach your
sometimes distant dreams.
- Dream goals create the fire in your belly
- Setting the long term goal will help you chart the territory ahead
- A mid term goal can be a checkpoint, to rate progression towards
your long term goal
- Short term goals are your tools to reach your sometimes distant dreams
In summary
I would suggest that if you are starting a commitment, whether it be a
team or an individual discipline, that you decide your long term goals
as soon as possible, schedule mid term checks and then pick a time on
each training day that you set and then debrief your short term goals.
Have fun and be flexible!
Pete Allum
pete_allum@compuserve.com
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