From Idle to Active: Effective Goal Setting Post-Pandemic

by Lindsay Runge, MA

Girls volleyball team work together

Goal setting has been a strategy to reach excellence in sports for many years. It also has been considered a helpful coaching strategy that allows autonomy for athletes while also including them in the goal-setting process. When athletes are offered the opportunity to contribute their ideas and values, they feel more connected with their teammates, program, and coaches—while also gaining confidence in their abilities to contribute to the team. This type of empowerment is crucial; it fuels their motivation to reach the goal(s) they have collectively set.

The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t just keep us stuck at home for months on end; it impacted our motivation, which is inextricably linked to effective goal setting. COVID-19 created a sense of uncertainty for both athletes and coaches. As a result, coaches and athletes may need to rethink the goal-setting process.

Having been in “idle mode” for quite some time, coaches can play a pivotal role in helping athletes get back on track in setting goals, working on reaching those goals, and finding success in achieving them. One way to do that is to create a goal-attainment mind map.

A goal-attainment mind map (GAMM) is a mind map with the focus on reaching goals. The first step is to reflect on what’s most important to achieve. Too many goals will likely become overwhelming, so it’s important to rank your goals from least to most important. This type of reflection is essential; it’s a simple yet powerful way to gain perspective on where your priorities lie and the level of commitment necessary to reach success.

Girls volleyball team wins championship

Using a GAMM with athletes requires them to create a strategic list of tasks they would need to adhere to in order to reach their goal. One consequence from the pandemic was an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality, leading people to neglect goals that weren’t at the forefront of their daily lives. GAMM helps to address this habit by providing a structured approach to break down goals into manageable and actionable steps. It offers an opportunity to monitor progress and receive immediate and personal feedback. Coaches can use GAMM with their athletes to reach team goals too, which brings in the sense of relatedness as a team strives to create and reach a goal together.

We can improve the well-being of our athletes by guiding them to create effective goal strategies and to redeem a sense of autonomy, relatedness, and competence that may have been diminished in our post-pandemic world. Before you buy into this coaching tool, try it yourself. You may be surprised to find that you, too, have been in idle mode since the COVID-19 pandemic.