The Off Season is a Great Time for Goal Setting    "Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them.  There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them.  There's no telling what will happen when you act upon them" Jim Rohn Are you ready to reach your goals and experience success? Are you incorporating your attitude, ability and talent so that they are serving you to their maximum? Although the road to success has many detours the goaltender that has a plan and the perseverance to follow it, will have more chance for success.  Goals are a way of putting your desire to work. Goals direct your energy. They are the force that you will use to energize work habits, color self-talk and imagery and stimulate your attitude.  Research has shown that setting goals increases success. However to get the best results goals should be a challenge. Achieving half of something is still something while achieving half of nothing is still nothing.  Make them something specific and if possible measurable. Set goals that you can use to assess and acknowledge your improvement. By attaining your short-term goals, long-term goals can be achieved.  The off-season is the perfect time to recharge and work on mental strengths.  List skill goals with regard to specific game or positional improvements. List mental skills (e.g. more positive self talk, better short and long term goal setting, imagery, leadership and team support, etc.)  To make a goal a reality, know what you want, define the progression that you must follow to achieve it. Then write it down, read it, say it and repeat it to yourself constantly.  Words to understand and use to aid you in your goal setting: Accountability: Being responsible for your actions. Achievement: Something you do that you can be proud of. Challenges: Situations that push you to your limits. Communication: How you let others know what you are thinking and doing. Consideration: Caring and respect towards others. Courtesy: Showing good manners or being polite. Cultural diversity: Knowing that people from other backgrounds can live work and play together. Empathy: Understanding other people’s feelings. Expectations: What you believe will happen in the future. Fansmanship: Knowledge about sports and tolerant about other’s views and opinions. Goal setting: Figuring out what you want and planning how to achieve it. Independence: Acting and making decisions on your own. Motivation: Ability to drive you to do your best. Objectives: Knowing what you want to achieve Obstacles: Things or events that may prevent you from achieving your goals. Personal goals: What you want to achieve as an individual. Physical Preparation: Readiness to perform by proper eating, exercise, training, practice and rest. Positive Goals: Goals that you want to achieve not things you want to avoid. Respect: Regard and consideration for others. Responsibility: Doing something because you are supposed to do it. Role: the part you play on the team. Sacrifice: Giving up something to achieve something else. Self-discipline: Training yourself to be in control. Strategy: Plan of action for achieving your goal. Task: The project to work on and finish. Team: Group of others who work or play to achieve success as one. Team Goals: Objectives that are important to the group. Team work: Co-operation of the group to achieve team goals. Tolerance: The ability to be fair and respectful of others. Unity: A sense of belonging within the team.  "Any man who selects a goal in life which can be fully achieved has already defined his own limitations." Cavett Robert Guidelines for Setting Goals Measurable Goals: goals need to be measurable in order to get feed back about your competence.  Specific Goals: A progression of short-term goals that when achieved will lead you to your long-term goal.  Challenging yet realistic goals: Be realistic for the situation at this point in time. However too easy or too difficult does little for self-confidence.  Performance rather than outcome goals: set goals that you can control as an individual.  Short term vs. long Term: you must have a plan and a progression. Short term leads to long term.  Identify ways to reach your goals: Understanding the route or routes that are available that you can take to achieve your goals.  Monitor and evaluate: this will indicate how you are doing and provide motivation, as you get closer to your goals.  Reward yourself:  Acknowledge and reward yourself for achieving short-term goals.    "The most important thing about goals is having one." Geoffry Abert Contact Stuart Musson for a goal setting worksheet.       Original Article found at http://www.mtngoaltending.com