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       Setting too many goals: Athletes and coaches tend to set far too many goals, which results in their accomplishing none of them. All the goals you set may be motivating, and make sense, but too many at one time confuses the brain and diffuses energy. Instead, pick the goals that are most important or relevant for you and tackle them one at a time. Try to master one goal and then move on to the next one — instead of trying to accomplish four or five things at the same time.

       Failing to set process goals: Setting outcome goals is fun. You want to win the conference championship, hit a certain batting average, achieve a number of assists or goals, or obtain a college scholarship. Outcome goals go straight to our hearts and excite us! The next challenge is thinking about the process of how to make those goals become a reality. What will you have to do to make sure you give yourself the best chance of reaching those outcomes goals? Most athletes stop short of this, setting process goals because the task feels too overwhelming or too confusing. Just remember that if you don’t put your primary focus on your process goals, your desired outcomes won’t happen.

       Leaving your goals in a drawer: Many athletes spent a lot of time before the season setting both outcome and process goals. Some teams even take a one- or two-day team field trip just to focus on the goal-setting process. As the season gets going, however, these goals seem to fade to the background. As athletes and coaches get caught up in the day-to-day grind, they lose focus on their goals and why they want to accomplish them. Goals need to be living, breathing parts of your team mission. You need to tend to them, monitor them, and adjust them throughout the season. Remember to revisit your goals at least once a week, so you don’t lose sight of what you’re working so hard for. Consider displaying your goals where you’ll see them each day, such as on a bulletin board, on the wall in front of your desk, in your locker, and so on.

       Focusing too much on ego and not enough on mastery: When we discuss ego goals, we’re referring to outcome goals, like winning. Mastery goals, on the other hand, are about improving skill and performance, regardless of the outcome. You can easily get wrapped up into thinking too much about ego goals and not enough about mastery goals. When you focus on the process of skill mastery and continual improvement, you’re always getting better — even if it might not produce the win. You’re still improving quantifiably and being successful. And when you’re successful in this way, the wins will follow!

       Expecting perfection: As mentioned, many athletes expect perfection in reaching goals and when they do not reach this perfection (and they never will), they give up and are hyper critical of themselves. This leads to a loss of motivation. You need to accept that you will make mistakes and then decide that you won’t give up when you do so. This is part of the process. Failing teaches you more about yourself and success and helps you build mental toughness and resilience — two other very important mental qualities we discuss throughout the book.