MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

 

When thinking about your goals and it comes down to times you have one constant and that is your time in any event at this moment in time.  Remember you need to have SMART GOALS and they must be RELEVANT to you.  You can't set goals that pertain to times based on other swimmers or things that are outside your control.

For our purpose we are going to base everything on one event (you can use any event) the 100 free.  In today's world people, swimmers not immune expect instant positive results and have a real problem when faced with conflict and for swimmers it's the time on the scoreboard.

Sometimes when you look up it's like getting smacked in the face, it stings but it's not the end of the world.  Is there a way that you can avoid that moment, I think YES and it comes down to managing your expectations depending on where YOU are in the process.

Think about setting upper and lower expectations when setting goals based on times in addition to your SMART goals.  When you do this you are creating a situation where it's all or nothing.  The goal is still important but you also allow yourself to think bigger and also give yourself a reality check.  

Now let's take an example such as the 100 free:

• Your time at the moment: 1:03:99
• Bare Minimum:  1:03:50
• Smart Goal:  1:01:99
• Stretch Target:  1:00:99

In this example if everything goes right you are slipping under 1:01:00 and that in itself would be amazing but if you don't get there it's not disaster because you have some other goals that are achievable.  Set some reasonable goals for yourself and at the same time don't be afraid to set a stretch target and you need to WRITE them down in your journal or they become meaningless.

Now is the time to sit down and put pencil to paper and figure out what your dreams and goals are for this season before we get into SWIM and ROCK and the DECEMBER MID CHAMP MEET. Be Honest with where you are in the process when thinking about this.  There are many things that will affect the results that happen outside the pool such as; health, nutrition, hydration, sleep habits.  Are you making your training sessions consistently or are you in and out.  When you are at your training session, are you there both physically and mentally and doing what will make YOU a better person and swimmer   It's not to late to do it, SO DO IT NOW and make it happen.