Knowing Your Goal

I never really started to see results in my badminton until I realised the importance of having goals .

The only problem with goal-setting is that it always seems like such a chore , and because the results are so gradual it never seems like it is doing any good.

But I was concerned with what was going to make long-term differences to my success in badminton, and am glad that I attended to this basic principle quite early on.

You must have goals.

Unconscious direction

Goals give your mind something to focus on, but more importantly it gives you unconscious direction .

Let me explain.

The vast majority of everything that you do on court is governed by your subconscious .

The subconscious is the part of your brain that you do not have direct access to, but it is the part that you need to influence to make real change in your game.

How do you do that?

By repetition , which is where having a well-defined goal comes in.

Anything that seeps into your subconscious has to go through the conscious mind , and it has to go and knock on the conscious mind's door a number of times before it gets let in!

So by defining your goal , writing it down, you are getting a consistent message to your conscious mind, and because it is consistent, that message will eventually seep down into your subconscious .

And when it is down there, without you knowing it, your actions will lead you towards that goal.

Because if goal-setting only worked on the conscious level, we would all set a goal and then go out and achieve it.

But of course it doesn't quite happen that way!

Setting goals correctly

Once I knew that I didn't just 'want to play a bit better', but that I wanted to be the best player in the club by a specific date, all of my energies were then focussed on achieving that.

And, though it seemed quite impossible at the time, I did reach that particular goal - as I'm sure that you will reach yours.

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Source: Badminton Secrets