Here's a snippet from today's For The Win Newsletter...if you like this and would like weekly insights straight to your inbox, be sure to sign up to my newsletter.
"Focus on a goal that will improve your wellbeing."
Think Small
by Owain Service and Rory Gallagher?
How many times have you considered the happiness and wellbeing of your
athletes when writing an annual programme or setting athlete and team
performance standards?
In a world where we are constantly recording data and measuring ourselves and our athletes against objective markers and KPI's, we may have forgotten that not all goals need to be linked to a number.
In the most recent edition of The Sport and Exercise Scientist (Issue 66, Winter 2020), Dr David Fletcher discusses how accomplishments in one aspect of life can come at a heavy cost in other areas and he suggests that 'high achievers need to be functioning fully and effectively at a holistic level, typically indicated by high levels of well-being (e.g. physical, emotional, psychological, social) and performance (e.g.artistic, cognitive, motor, work).'?
In their book Think Small, Owain Service and Rory Gallagher discuss the importance of setting goals linked to happiness and wellbeing.
In the season that Rachel Atherton regained her world title, in addition to the usual objective markers, we also established how she wanted to 'be' during the season. What success away from the podium would look like (time with family and friends, time to rock climb etc). Happiness and wellbeing are important components to consider when developing a holistic performance programme.
The next time you write a programme for you athlete, consider setting some goals linked to their happiness and wellbeing e.g. social relationships, being healthy and active, learning new things, being more curious
or giving to others.