Posts

Re-Focus

The one way to FAIL at your goals…

fail at your goals

The One Way To Fail At Your Goals 

There are tons of ways to achieve your goals. I don’t think it is a lack of information, we all know what to do.

In fact, I can do without hearing any more people touting off about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. It’s like they came up with the acronym or something.

This is about how to FAIL. We as a society know more about failing anyway, so shouldn’t we learn to avoid the mentality that happens and why we FAIL?

I’m under the belief that more games are lost than they are won.

Here’s how to fail at your goals

As a professor, every semester during the first few days, I was adamant in communicating that if a student  showed up to class, they would get no worse than a “B.”

All bets were off however if they missed even one class.

I was not giving away grades, I was just demonstrating that tenacity is more important than talent, and if someone showed the discipline to show up to every class, then they were eager enough to learn and make it happen.

When 9/11 occurred, I was a graduate student at Temple University and they did not even close the school (imagine that). The professor did not cancel the evening class either, so I showed up. I was with two others. I felt so fortunate to be in graduate school, that I made the commitment to do whatever it took to thrive.

A funny thing happened as a professor though when my students would eventually miss a class. They would miss another! I was so keen on this phenomenon of people who missed one class that I kept track of it. Only about 20% of the time did a person only miss one class. 

Here’s how to fail at your goals.

The way to fail is to say “screw it, I blew it.” 

This is the opposite of PUKE & RALLY! 

However, this quit mentality is pervasive, check out health club attendance in January and then in March.

Over 50% of people drop out within 6 weeks.

Once they miss once, they miss again…

If we give in or go through the motions it actually makes it easier to do it again. Quitting has now become an option for us.  The science behind this one mistake or lapse is abstinence violation effect.  

All it takes is that one mistake or slip up and the mentality becomes “screw it, I blew it.”

The shame and guilt of messing up hurt a lot.

It often hurts worse than quitting because when we quit, we don’t have to keep returning to the scene of the crime. There are no more painful reminders and we can move on. Hence, the “screw it.”  The sad part is that we aren’t quitting on ourselves, we are quitting on who we want to become.

How would you explain your vacation to California if you got a flat tire on the way there, so you turned around and headed back home?

It’s not about the setback, it’s about the comeback. The one workout you missed or one piece of cake that you ate does not define you. If you miss, it’s how you respond to the setback.

Can you learn from it and approach your goals with an even stronger resolve and enthusiasm?

Mental Toughness is NOT about messing up, it’s about not giving up. When the thought or option of giving up enters, it is an impostor trying to derail you.

Move on from the mistake, change the tire, and just keep going.

But this post isn’t about mental toughness it is about how to fail at your goals. 

 

dr rob bell speakerDr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. DRB & associates coach executives and professional athletes. Some clients have included three different winners on the PGA Tour, Indy Eleven, University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. 

/by

Use This Top Gun Technique for Goals…

technique for goals

Use This Top-Gun Technique For Goals…

In the movie Top Gun, Tom Skerritt, tells the fighter pilots, “You are the best of the best, the elite,” and “we’ll make you even better.”

The Top Gun school made them better fighter pilots, by flying, not by trying to make them fisherman or painters.

Stay with me here, because too often, we set goals addressing an area where we really struggle. 

This rarely works.

Why There is Only One Reason That Destroys Your Fitness Gains

Three reasons why SMART goals are stupid

Try This Growth Technique INSTEAD 

Make Goals NOT Deals

The one way to FAIL at your goal

Three ways professional athletes crush their dreams.

What happens AFTER you reach your goal? 

Over 50% of New Year’s resolutions fail within the first six weeks.

Typically, most people set a goal to change, which are usually on areas we already feel bad about ourselves, the worse part, and we start from a point of  “I am no good.”

Use this top gun technique for goals. 

The purpose of setting goals is to improve and this occurs through gaining confidence and momentum. If you want to beat the odds, try this technique instead…

Improve upon your greatest strength.

For instance, my weakness is multi-tasking. In 2020, my issue was distraction!

I would “like” to get better at stopping it, but come on’, I’m already distrac ted on zoom calls and still multi-task. So, instead, my technique for goals is based upon my strengths of discipline, sport psychology, mental toughness, and creativity.

The goals I set are based upon “I rock at this stuff.”

If we try to address our biggest weakness, even if we succeed, then we’ve really only improved to the level of “kind of bad.” We just suck less at it. 

But, more than likely, half way through the six-week process, we’ll stumble, begin to make excuses, and feel bad as a result.

We do much better in life, using our existing strengths to improve. Confidence is a powerful tool in sports and in life, because when things are going well, we are more energized, positive, and relaxed. When we have momentum, we “keep doing what we’re doing.”

The purpose of setting goals is progress, not perfection.

Thus, the technique for goals is to improve on your greatest strength. Make your greatest strength your greatest strength. We’ll make you better 🙂 

Find small ways to improve by doing what you already do…

 

dr rob bell speakerDr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. DRB & associates coach executives and professional athletes. Some clients have included three different winners on the PGA Tour, Indy Eleven, University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. 

/by