Daily Plan
Setting goals is the easy part. Acting upon them is where the real work begins! It's best to create a structure that gives you the best chance of success, and the develop of a daily plan with actions that link to your goals will certainly help.
You need to 'insert' your strategies and values into your daily life. This will direct your focus towards what needs to be done, and ensure your day-to-day behaviour matches your ambitions.
Competition or Practice
When you think about setting goals, you will probably list the things that you would like to accomplish in competition (e.g. win the state championship), but you should also think about setting goals for your practice sessions.
Setting goals for practice sessions can help you remain focused, and direct your attention to improving the areas that will help you achieve your competition goals. The intention was to get the most out of each session, having a clear purpose of what they wanted to do rather than just go throught he motions.
Orlick and Partlington (1988) conducted a study that included 235 Olympic Athletes who had competed in the 1984 Summer or Winter Olympic Games, to identify common elements of success in regards to application of mental skills. They found the best athletes set clear daily goals, and goals for each practice session.
