Set Goals Void of Expectations

Helping young athletes set goals without expectations is a big challenge for parents, coaches and young athletes. Too often, kids confuse goals with expectations. They then set high expectations for themselves and get frustrated when they don’t achieve them. This hurts their confidence and undermines their performance.

To help your kids avoid working toward goals in ways that create unhealthy expectations, you want your kids to establish mini goals. Kids need to view goal setting as a step-by-step process and understand that they can modify their goals. Focus on one point at a time is one example.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 Visit Kids’ Sports Psychology for more articles and tips for parents and sports kids.