Swimming Goals with Chris Walker-Hebborn

New year, New me? – for me this is a terrible quote, I like to look at it slightly differently...

 Setting Goals for You

New year Better me. It's always this time of year when athletes are looking to set new targets and goals. When it comes to goal setting, I honestly believe there is no right or wrong answer. Goals are personal and should be for a good reason, it will keep you motivated throughout the year and keep you focused. Don’t worry about what other people are doing but instead really commit to your goals and don’t stop till you achieve them. More importantly, make sure you reset goals every time you hit them. It’s when you don’t reset goals that you run the risk of motivation dropping.

How to set Swimming Goals 

The best way to break goals down is by giving yourself “Short, Medium and Long term” goals. Short term could be anything from daily tasks or even a goal for the week, this gives you something to focus on and is usually quite achievable, I am an avid believer of making your bed every morning, it's good practice and a sense of achievement before your day has really even started. Medium goals could be monthly or yearly targets, whether this be times that you’d like to hit at certain competitions or medals you are chasing, this gives your season some extra purpose. Long term for me is the end goal, my goal was always to compete at the Olympics and once I achieved this it was to get a medal at the Olympics. By resetting my goals after achieving them it helped me keep motivation and focus for another 4 years. 

There is no easy way to tell someone how to achieve their goals, at the end of the day they are YOURS for a reason. You have to take complete ownership of them. You can have support and guidance on your journey, but I think the key thing is that once you realise, they are YOUR dreams and goals and no one else’s, the easier it is to stay focused on them until you achieve them. It isn’t always easy sailing, things don’t always go to plan, just because you have goals doesn’t mean you will achieve them straight away, this is why you give yourself smaller attainable goals so that you can still feel you are progressing even though the end goal can seem so distant.

Your goals are your own

There is no goal to big or too small, and don’t let anyone tell you they are. I like to keep my goals personal and quiet. Why does it matter to someone else what your goals are? Keep your head down and work hard. One of my favourite sayings is “Work hard in silence and let your results do the talking” – I was always told I wasn’t good enough to make it on the world stage, this was more than enough motivation to keep going and prove the doubters wrong.

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