Scott Houston is one of Australian table tennis' rising stars, who has made the decision to live and train overseas in order to improve his skills. He will be contributing to this website from time to time as training and competition permits, offering his perspective on various ping-pong subjects. You can find out more about Scott at Scott's 2006 Australian Open Results and Scott Houston's Photo Profile
Hello About.com fans,
First, I wish to take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas, as well as a safe and prosperous 2007.
The new year period is quite often a time that people make resolutions about what they wish to achieve in the immediate future, so I thought it would be appropriate to give an insight into what I believe goal setting and planning for success is all about.
Aim High
When it comes to goal setting, I believe it pays to aim high. You can quite often surprise yourself at what you can achieve; and usually the limitations people place on themselves is a major factor into what is holding them back from going to the next level.
A good example of this comes from my own personal experience. In 2001 I was elevated to the first division in the State League in my home city of Adelaide. I had had some good results and shown some good improvement in the lead up to that season, but the previous year I had only played fourth division. Naturally, I was a little cautious about if I really belonged in first division.
Before the season started my coach sat me down and asked me what I wanted to achieve. I told him that I wanted to win 33% (in each teams match you play 3 singles matches, so this equates to 1 win each week). I thought this was a realistic goal for me at the time. Thankfully, my coach pulled me up straight away and questioned me as to why I was limiting myself to wanting to win only 1 out of every 3 matches. He advised me to rather just go out there and play one ball at a time, and give 100% each week and just see what I could achieve. Consequently, I exceeded my own expectations and came away with a 66% winning record for the season. This achievement was very minor in the big picture, but very quickly it made me realize that you can achieve well above what you think is realistic at the time.
The point I am trying to emphasize here is to not limit yourself as to what you can achieve. A good guide that I like to use is to give yourself an honest opinion of what you believe is a realistic goal for yourself to achieve. Then set your goal around 20-25% above this level. In the vast majority of cases you will find that even if you don't reach the highest point of your goals, you will achieve results above what you originally thought was realistic at the time. On the flip side, even if you do not happen to achieve your goals the first time around you are still infinitely better off than the person who does not dare to dream, and at least you will know that you gave it your best effort.
Dare to Dream - But Don't Fantasize
Having said this, it is also important not to set goals that are simply unachievable. For example, a local club level player probably should not be setting the goal of becoming world champion within 5 years. Even with all the dedication and hard training you can give, chances are a world championship title would be out of your grasp. So overall, aim high, higher than what you think is achievable at the time; but also make sure it is reasonable.
Make it Measurable
Another crucial factor with goal setting is that goals should be measurable and you should be able to evaluate them on a regular basis. There is no point simply saying or writing down that you want to achieve something if you can not see how you are progressing over time. Your goals should be clearly defined, for example you want to achieve a particular result, in a particular way, in a set time period. Not only will this enable you to measure and evaluate your progress, it will also keep you motivated and on the right track.
Reward Yourself
Finally, with goal setting make sure that when you achieve your goals you reward yourself. It is important that you can put a tick in the box next to your goals. Not only is this good for self esteem, but it is also very important for keeping the fire inside you burning strongly. If you can see you are improving and achieving this will push you on to greater heights in the future.
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Setting achievable and challenging goals is one thing, but unless you have a plan to achieve them they can be very quickly rendered useless. Quite simply, without a plan of attack, goals are just dreams that you are hoping will come true.
Use a Safety Net(work)
I believe the most crucial point to achieving your goals is to surround yourself with a network of people and resources that can help you to climb to the top of your mountain. This point was drummed into me by my coach from very early on, and I have read about it in numerous books also. If you want to give yourself the best opportunity of getting to where you want to go, this is a must. A network of people and resources for a table tennis player can include (but should not be limited to) a coach, a club, a training squad, sports psychologists, nutritionists, a gym, a mentor, contacts for travelling to overseas tournaments and playing in overseas leagues, family, and friends. Immerse yourself in this network and utilize the skills that the people in your network have, and you will see the improvement. Of course from time to time you see the odd person come along who is only interested in themselves and has an us against the world mentality. Whilst these type of people can still be successful, overall I feel your chances for success are far greater by maintaining a network of people around yourself.
