Becoming the Complete Golfer starts with setting goals for yourself. You will hear me talk a lot about goal setting, but maybe not in the sense you would think of with typical goal setting. Goals are normally seen as future benchmarks or achievements. They are what motivate athletes to work hard every day. While you never, EVER, want to dwell on the past, you can also do the opposite and get too consumed with what you want to do in the future. If you are constantly thinking about what you WANT, aren’t you taking away from time and energy that should be put into what you can be doing NOW, in the present? We all need goals and dreams that we are striving to accomplish, they are what make us get out of bed every day with a purpose in mind. But if we don’t take care of the many, many small steps (the process) that it takes to reach those goals and dreams (the outcome), then that is all they will ever be. We will get more in-depth on the difference between process goals and outcome goals as we go along. For now, this simple activity will help get you started with setting goals and focusing on the steps it takes to reach them.

Write down 2 short term (within 6 months) and 2 long term (1 year or more) goals for each category: academics, golf, recruiting and personal. Remember to keep the goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely).  Then for each goal write down 3 steps you can be doing NOW to help you reach those goals. These are your actions, they are controllable and doable. You can put this on fun paper and decorate it, either way, hang it up somewhere that you will see it every day. This will serve as a reminder of what you want to accomplish in the future by doing what it takes TODAY.