At this time of year, it’s common for people to set goals they wish to achieve in the coming year.
It’s a well-known fact that the likelihood of achieving your goals increases if you write them down on a piece of paper, in a notebook, or in your journal.
Setting goals isn’t that difficult. I’ll briefly share a few tips on this topic. Perhaps they’ll help you achieve your wishes in 2025.
Your goals need certain characteristics:
Specificity
This means you need to know exactly what you want. It’s not enough to wish for the young athletes you train to be more successful than they were last year. What does success mean for young athletes? Medals, trophies, better sports performance, higher motivation, or perhaps smiles on children’s faces? However, setting a goal like having fewer injuries among the young athletes you train in 2025 compared to 2024 is already more specific.
Measurability
To make the previous example’s goal easier to achieve, you need to establish a measure. For instance: “I want the young athletes I train to have 50% fewer injuries, or I want 50% fewer young athletes to experience any kind of sports injury in the new year.”
Achievability
There’s no point in wishing for something over which you have no control. The goal in the previous example is achievable. You must consider the level of sports development of the young athletes you train. Adjust the intensity and volume of training to their developmental stage and the individual characteristics of each athlete. You can introduce dynamic warm-ups at the start of each training session and stretching exercises at the end. Plan strength training sessions focusing on core strengthening and enhancing the musculoskeletal system to protect ankles and knees. Work on coordination and proper movement techniques. Ensure proper recovery and provide advice on nutrition for young athletes. This way, your goal becomes achievable.
Realism
Your goal needs to be realistic. Winning championships in all categories may not be a realistic goal, especially if your competitors have similar aspirations. However, achieving better results than the previous year with fewer sports injuries is perhaps a more realistic goal.
Time-bound
Setting a goal without a time frame is not advisable. Set a time period within which you want to achieve your goal.
Let’s Consider an Example of a Goal That Meets All These Characteristics:
“I want us to replicate the sports successes of the previous year in 2025, ensuring that by September 1, 2025, the number of sports injuries among the young athletes I train is reduced by 50% compared to the same period last year.”
When you define your goals for 2025, you’ve taken the first step toward achieving them. The next step is to write down all the actions you need to take to accomplish the goal. In the example used in today’s blog, these actions could include:
Educating yourself on the topic of sports injuries in young athletes (buying a book, subscribing to video streaming platforms, attending seminars, etc.).
Creating a training plan to ensure injury prevention.
Requesting additional training sessions from the club president or secretary, or securing a rest day during the week for recovery.
Procuring equipment for strength training (dumbbells, medicine balls, resistance bands, agility ladders, various unstable surfaces, etc.).
Presenting to the club or parents the new methods you plan to introduce to training in the new year.
Once you’ve set a goal with all the necessary characteristics, written it down, and analyzed the steps you need to take, the only thing left is to decide to take action toward achieving it.
Take some time to think about what you’d like to accomplish in the coming weeks, months, or year. Do you want to become a better coach? Do you want your young athletes to become faster and more agile? To bring smiles back to their faces along with better sports performance? To increase the number of children and youth attending your training sessions?
If your goals are similar or identical to those mentioned above, we can help you with the first step toward achieving them.
In the books Formula for Sports Success 1 and 2, programs, methods, and content are described step by step to help you achieve them. The video content in Integral Physical Conditioning for Young Athletes will assist you in the athletic development of young athletes, regardless of their sport, age, or gender.
BEST WISHES FOR 2025,
and may all your goals (and dreams) come true!
Igor Macner and the Mozaiq Sports Team
