Goals, goals, goals.

At my girls’ gym, they use journals to set and reflect on their goals. Last week, my oldest told me that she struggles with her journal being meaningful to her because they set goals before they practice and often she sets very specific goals and then doesn’t get a chance to work towards them. It’s all very dependent on the focus of their practices from day to day. 

We can’t control how their coaches want them to use their journals at the gym, nor do I want to be judgmental of a strategy that works for the good of a whole team. So, we decided to alter the focus of our conversations at home around setting goals with the hopes that this will help them set more meaningful goals in their daily journals at the gym when they are unable to control all the aspects of their practice. With this little mind shift, it has made discussions more purposeful and now when they set goals they know the obtainability even though they don’t know what the coach has in the plans for the day. 

We use the 5 goal areas to support setting goals. Discussions around these areas allow the girls to set broader goals that are more obtainable when there are pieces of the practice out of their control.

Now that I’ve outlined our goal areas, let’s go a little further in depth about how we use each one and some examples of goals they’ve set within each.

1. Goal for your practice on each event. 

This could be something broad that could cover all events, or something specific for each event. For the purpose of quick goal settings for practices, make it broad as long as it can apply to all (or most) events. Before a competition, set a goal for each event. 

2.  Goal for your attitude/mindset.

There is such a mental part to sports and I think it’s important to point out this aspect of the sport early for kids. They need to know that when they struggle, have strong feelings, experience triumphs, or face a mental block it’s a normal part of the sport. Along with this, our attitude and mindset influence our efforts and outcomes. So, we set a goal about our mindset or attitude for the practice.

3. Goal for your teamwork.

One thing I love about gymnastics is that it is an individual sport and a team sport. Even if your team doesn’t win, you might have individual successes. Even if you feel defeated personally, you might have made a great contribution that helped your team win. Our practices don’t just impact us, they impact our whole team because we are all working for ourselves but also for each other. To have this reminder, we set teamwork goals. These are individual goals (because the interactions of the team as a whole is out of our control) about how we can be the best teammate.

4. Goal for your interaction with coaches.

If you stop to think how much time your child spends with their coach, especially in the world of competitive gymnastics, you will be shocked at the realization. The relationship has to be one built off of communication, trust, and respect. And that’s not always easy to come by (especially when you’re thinking about children and teens that see coaches as authority figures). But even if your athlete has a great relationship with their coach, I still encourage you to encourage them to set a goal for that interaction, as it continues to build the relationship, helps children have better understanding of their coaches views and positions, and bridges communication when the time comes that it’s needed most. These goals could vary greatly depending on what stage of the relationship athletes are with their coach, their individual personalities, or their desires for themselves within the sport, when coach interactions can influence how the coach views motivation and efforts.

Examples: 

• Ask a coach specific guidance on a skill
• Communicate a larger goal with my coach during practice
• Look at my coach during corrections and constructive conversations.

5. Goal for your health/body.

Here we are, embracing sports that take big tolls on children’s bodies. From working through minor pains, recovering from injuries, long practices, working through mealtimes, being a child athlete is no joke. And then, from the parenting point of view, you have to hope that all mention of healthy lifestyle doesn’t start to bring negative aspects such as body image issues or emotional responses to food or working out. It’s all a fine line balancing act. So, we choose to set healthy body goals throughout the week, before/during/after practices or competition, and ones that help us to recognize a need for and draw boundaries.

Now, go set your goals!

Obviously these goal conversations differ drastically for my two kids who are different ages and at different stages in their gymnastic careers, who have different experiences, and who differ in personality. The important takeaway is that goal setting doesn’t have to be so specific, and using these goal areas help children to set broader, more applicable and attainable goals. Enjoy these conversations with your kids! Goal setting can be so fun, because it leads to reflective conversations and so many celebrations!

With a salute and a smile,

-Chalk Prints