Setting goals is easy right? Just think of what you want and boom, it’s a goal. Not so fast my friends (in Lee Corso voice).
When it comes to golf goals, most students will tell me they want to shoot a certain score, or reduce their handicap by a certain amount. Before a tournament, a player might tell me that they want to win, or finish in the top 10, qualify for the next event etc. These are all “Result Goals” and can be dangerous. They can be dangerous in the sense that the goal itself does not define the route to achievement. In order to give yourself a chance to attain the goal, there must be a set of process goals that work towards the result goal.
A process goal is just as it sounds. Rather than just an outcome, a process goal is one of the steps to attain the overall goal.
So let’s take a player who decides that in 2013 the Number 1 Goal is to break 80 on a consistent basis. He now has one goal.
#1 Break 80 Consistently.
If his (result) goal is to break 80 on a consistent basis, a very real and needed process goal would be to average hitting 8 greens in regulation in a round. So now he has two goals.
#1 Break 80 Consistently
#2 Hit 8 Greens in Regulation per Round
Not surprisingly just deciding that he wants to hit 8 greens in regulation will require some attention. What does our player need to do in order to make 8 GIR’s realistic? There may be some practice time required and perhaps some help from a great golf instructor.
#1 Break 80 Consistently
#2 Hit 8 Greens in Regulation per Round
#3 Take 4 lessons with the a Golf Instructor
#4 Practice three times per week
Using a systematic approach like we illustrated above is how you can achieve your goals. Decide what you want to do, determine what steps need to occur to achieve the overall goal and then; get to work on the process goals. By committing to those goals you are working intelligently towards the overall goal. As you take care of the process goals you are inching always closer to overall success.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. What steps do you need to put in place in order to reach your Ultimate Goal?
connorgolf 