The Mental Performance Corner: Playing SMART & Managing Athlete Expectations

Let’s talk about a student athlete named Jessica, and her story around setting goals and managing expectations (it’s a story I think we can all relate to on some level.) 

Jessica is a high achieving student AND a killer soccer player on her high school team. 

She has big goals for herself, and set a goal to earn the top scorer for her Varsity team as a Junior.

She mapped out her training plan to improve her shot accuracy, nailed down her nutrition plan, organized her calendar to ensure she got all her training and studying done, and set process goals prior to each game to increase the percentages of her scoring and earning that spot.  

She had her plan NAILED DOWN. 

Jessica kicked off the season on a positive note, with a game leading 3 goals. But in game 4 of the season, she got hurt. She had to miss a few games.

So she needed to revisit her plan AND her expectations around her goal.

Was it still reasonable for her to expect to earn that top scorer spot even after missing a handful of league games? Possibly…

Managing expectations isn’t about doubting yourself, or limiting your goals…it’s about understanding what is reasonable to achieve, and managing your expectations as you work towards that goal.

The thing is, things change! Unforeseen injuries, time off, and other things can come up and totally throw off the plan for athletes. The ability to evaluate yourself constantly, and then READJUST your goals and action plan to make sure they fit where you are at, and what you are currently working with is KEY to success & ultimately to confidence building. 

If you’re struggling with your goals because you didn’t manage expectations appropriately, you’re going to feel like you’re failing. And then your confidence will go down. We can’t always control everything (whether or not we get injured, the other teams’ performance, the referees, fans in the stands, etc.), which can make high expectations extremely difficult to fulfill.

Expect little, hope for more. Don’t set your expectations so high that you are doomed to fail. You want to stretch yourself, and reach, but make sure the goals being set are attainable at the same time.

And don’t forget the role your team plays in this. If your goals are dependent on your team, then you need to take into account the timing (i.e. post summer or holiday vacations is always a struggle), how long your team has worked together, and how well your team understands each other's behavioral styles.

Managing expectations comes with a little practice, and a whole lot of understanding of yourself, your skills, and your ability to challenge yourself without overdoing it.

And it’s not just you, it’s something I too have to work on regularly. If you missed it, I recently shared that my book is SO CLOSE to being published and I am thrilled.

But it didn’t exactly go according to plan. It was supposed to be published this past Summer, and I. was. Ready. My milestones had been set, my timeline was solid.

But, just like they do for athletes, things changed. Factors out of my control, things I didn’t know about, popped up and forced me to adjust my expectations.

I was frustrated, and frankly irritated by it too, but I am still moving towards my goal. Being open to the possibility of change and accepting the willingness to adjust as I go is something that really pushes me outside of my comfort zone—I like to be in control, know everything, and have a very detailed plan to get me where I want to go, in a specific time frame. But that isn’t realistic. Especially in the book writing world! Having the right coping strategies/tools to implement when things come up has been game changing.

Next week we’ll be talking about Managing Expectations inside The Empowered Athlete, so don’t forget to join us!