Some more on goals...

We like copying the great coaches from sport who we've worked with and we've noticed they talk a lot about the same things, because they're the fundamentals, until people get it! So, even though we put some stuff up about this last week, it's still important and it's probably useful to keep focusing on goals for a while yet!

We know from working at the Olympics that if you're totally obsessed with the gold medal then when it comes to actually delivering a performance, you'll be thinking about the wrong thing completely. We also know that you have to be totally obsessed with winning the gold medal in order to have a chance of winning! As with comedy, the timing is everything. Focus on the wrong kind of goal at the wrong time and you'll underperform - maybe not by much, but enough to make a critical difference when it matters most.

That's why sports people understand and exploit the complementary difference between process goals and outcome goals in a consistently effective way. If the Outcome goal is the gold medal, little point constantly saying to yourself throughout a race "I've got to get the gold" - that's not going to help. Such outcome focused thinking just gets in the way of the thing that matters most, right now.

Athletes make sure that they have identified, 100% clearly, the gold medal Process targets, the inputs, that they'll need to deliver one moment at a time through a performance. Complete commitment to delivering each one of the inputs, as effectively as possible, creates a much more effective focus for delivering great performances. So, when the pressure's on, they can focus every ounce of desire to achieve the outcome into the controllable, step by step process.

Your goals are probably pretty clear right now, from an outcome point of view. Is there the same clarity and level of discussion about your process goals? Is there the same obsessive drive to deliver on the inputs? If obsession on outputs is not matched by tenacity of focus on the trusted inputs, then you're not setting yourself up to deliver in these challenging times. Worth going back and reading the other stuff we posted on goals!