Setting goals, I can not stress the importance of this enough! Practicing goal setting and then accomplishing them has taught me so much about myself and all the hard things I am capable of if I put my mind to it. To be able to turn around and see this same sense of accomplishment in my boys has been so rewarding!
The wakeboarding goal was a legit one for me you guys, because the first time I tried I spent the entire two hours face planting off the start. I had whiplash so bad that my neck, chest, jaw and even up behind my ears hurt for a week (did you even know you had muscle there?!?!). But I didn't give up. I kept trying. Not because I really wanted to, because I really DIDN'T want to, but because I could see my boys loved this sport and we were going to be doing it a lot so the desire to be able to it with them outweighed the whiplash.
I would be lying if I said it hasn't been a slow learning process for me BUT, want to know what else I can say? I can say that I can do a jump start, I can make it around the cable park, I can go off of the railings and kickers and I am learning how to do some cool tricks. Our days spent at the cable parks are some of my most cherished memories. Having an activity that the whole family participates in, sets goals for and can encourage one another in has been so much fun! Now, when I think of summer, I think of the cable parks with a cooler packed full of cold drinks and snacks and our good friends, the Fish, who often come with us.
Like so many other things in life, wakeboarding has a steep learning curve and setting goals has been a huge help in getting past some of the hard parts. Lets look at the five golden rules for goal setting and see how we applied them to wakeboarding.
1. Set goals that motivate you.
This was not hard for my boys, they naturally loved this sport so for them they were excited to set goals and try and achieve new things. While my excitement didn't lie in the sport itself, I was excited to get better at an activity that would provide some interactions with my kids and allow us to spend time together.
When setting your own goals make sure they are something that are important to you! Something you value. Take some time and write down why you're doing this as a reminder of the value that lies in this goal. For my boys, it was important to get better and for me, I greatly valued the family time together. Both of these were a perfect formula to get started!
2. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals.
Specific goals. Measurable Goals. Attainable Goals. Relevant Goals. Time Bound Goals.
Specific goals, make sure they are well defined and clear goals . For our boys and wakeboarding our goals very specific. If they got 200 points by the end of the summer (October 1st here in Dallas) they got the allotted money. If they didn't, they wouldn't get any of the money. It was an all or nothing approach. We did it that way so they would really give it their all.
Measurable goals, this means something you can actually measure your progress against. Think dates, times, amounts, things like that. We gave each obstacle and/or trick they could do a point value and each time they did it they would receive the set amount of points for that obstacle or trick. Once they did a certain trick 3 times, they could no longer get points for that trick and they had to move on to something new to try.
Attainable goals, make sure your goals are realistic! This is key! If you set goals that can no way be achieved you'll end up more frustrated than motivated. Be realistic with yourself, with your kids. Are you excited about your goals? Thats a good sign! Are you intimidated but also excited? Also a good sign! Are you feeling defeated just looking at them? You'll probably want to think them over and set some more realistic goals.
Relevant goals, obviously you'll want your goals to align with the desired outcome. This seems to go without saying but sometimes it can be really hard to zone in on specific goals that will get you to where you want to go. This was not the case with wakeboarding. They wanted to get better, we knew which goals to set, wakeboarding goals!
Time Bound Goals, put a end date on your goals. A deadline. Again make this realistic but don't skip this step. It's an important one to make sure you actually complete what you're working on. With our wakeboard charts, the boys deadline was by the end of the wakeboarding season, which for us is October 1st.
3. Put your goals in to writing.
WRITE THEM DOWN! In a journal, on a big pasteboard that you can see every day, in your phone, wherever, just make sure they are written down! This all of a sudden makes your goals real, tangible! Than take those goals and place them someplace visible where you are likely to see them. This step is huge and makes a very big difference with the end results.
4. Create and action plan.
Don't skip this step. Sometimes people get so focused on the end result that they forget to put any work into how they're going to get there. You need an action plan that is going to walk you through how to get the end result. Otherwise you have this lofty goal that is written down but nothing ever happens with it. Also, this step is rewarding! As you complete each step to get you to your end goal you can physically see how much progress is happening that is getting to the final destination. Who doesn't love to see that?
My boys absolutely loved adding up all the points they earned each day we went wakeboarding and seeing how much closer they were getting to the money they were working so hard to get.
This is video of the first time Austin landed his back flip. I love how you can hear all the kids cheer for him.
5. Stick with it
I know, this is so much easier said than done. But you got this! One day at a time. One action step at a time! One thing I have found helpful is to make sure that I have dedicated time that I reserve just for my goals. I schedule it in my calendar and I keep that commitment like I would a dr's appointment for a sick child.
This video is in slow motion so you can see as Caleb masters his first grab off a kicker.
For our boys and wakeboarding, we helped them complete this goal by taking them almost every weekend. They knew that each Saturday we would load up the car and drive the two hours south and they would have the opportunity to add up the points they learned from the day.
These are the 5 golden rules to goal setting. Now get out there and set some goals! Set some as a family. I can not even tell you how awesome it has been to do this together. We cheer each other on and play games together. My boys have a blast trying to teach me how to do some of the cool things they've learned. They also found so much joy in accomplishing their goals and it was so much fun to watch them. In fact, they've gotten so good with these charts I'm thinking of making my own next season.
If wakeboarding is on your list of things to get better at, we'd love to have you join us at BSR anytime. It is truly our home away from home. Who knows, maybe I'll see you there sometime with a chart of your very own.
I would love to hear what things your family does together! Do you have any goal setting success stories? I'd love to hear about them!
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