the tuesday transition - issue 52
June 6, 2023: Important thing to ponder here: how often do you set goals for yourself, but then they somehow become completely forgotten about? And then months later you remember your goal and realize you’ve made zero progress toward achieving it.
It’s a common story – goals can easily become set-and-forget. This is what happens when you identify what you want, but don’t have a plan in place for how to take steps forward to get there.
Lately I’ve been really working with my players to help them get out of the set-and-forget funk and actually move TOWARD getting the things they want. On a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis.
I’ve been leaning heavily into what I think is the best way to make this happen: intention setting, taking action and then self-reflecting. THIS IS THE SWEET SPOT FOR GROWTH. And that is because…
The 2 most important things that you need to become a great soccer player are INTENTION + ACTION. Both of them. Together. Not one without the other, but both. TOGETHER.
Think about this, what happens when a player is full of intention but never takes action? They aren’t able to progress toward their goals because they don’t do the work!
What happens when a player takes all sorts of action but never has intention or any direction with what they are doing? They are all over the place and don’t progress much because they don’t have a focus or a single thing they are working towards and putting their energy towards.
You can have all the intention in the world, but you will never become a great soccer player if you don’t act on that intention. And then reflect afterwards and go at it again.
Intention is the starting point, action is where the magic happens, and reflection is where we figure out what worked, what didn’t, and then reassess and go back for more. So intention plus action, and then reflecting on both, is really at the core of being able to move ourselves forward toward our goals and away from set-and-forget.
When we do this, we put the power back in our own hands. We empower ourselves to take control of our development, to make things happen, and to have our own backs in regards to showing up for ourselves and doing what we said we were going to do.
(1) INTENTION SETTING means mentally preparing BEFORE hitting the field and deliberately setting a controllable objective before training/games. This is SO IMPORTANT because out of sight, out of mind will NOT move you forward.
(2) TAKING ACTION means doing something EVERY DAY to move you toward your goal. Taking action is a fully controllable thing, but something we don’t always do. Action is typically the piece that trips us up. Why? Because deliberately taking action and having the patience and discipline to keep going every day is HARD. But you can do hard things.
(3) REFLECTION means reflecting afterwards on how things went, what you did well and how you can improve and expand tomorrow. This allows us to find success inside of any circumstance and make sure we are mining every situation for its value, value in regards to moving us forward. It is through reflection that we gain and gain and gain from the process of working toward our goals. This is where grit, mental toughness and resiliency are born.
Pro tip - use your notes app in your phone to record your intention/action/reflection each day!
Why is this intention/action/reflection thing important? The big reason is that it helps you keep your goals in front of you daily. If you don’t get intentional and take daily action, your personal goals will fall to the wayside and get lost over the course of the season. Then it’ll come to an end and you’ll realize you haven’t done everything you could have done to move yourself forward.
If you say you want something, don’t let yourself get in the way. What you want for yourself is important. YOU are important. When we state what we want, but we don’t take any steps toward it, (1) we’re not going to be able to reach our goals and (2) we feel bad about our lack of action and we aren’t able to trust ourselves because we aren’t standing up for ourselves and doing what we said we were going to do.
If you want to win big this summer and just start absolutely crushing it and making huge strides in the way of self-improvement, individual development and growing a strong foundation of self-belief – THIS is how you do it. THIS is how you stop the set-and-forget pattern and start flourishing.
Till next time,
💎 What I’m digging: Minnesota Aurora FC are undefeated 4 games into the season. Let’s keep it rolling ladies! Proud to be a part of this team.
👩🏽💻 What I’m reading: My players have chosen It Takes What it Takes for our bookclub this month. It’s all about the superpower of neutral thinking, I highly recommend you pick up this gem this summer too! ☀️
🎧 What I’m listening to: I have a new favorite podcast, Snacks! I started listening to this last week on the road. Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams are the perfect pair – each episode is hilarious, authentic and I always learn something random and awesome!
Grow your confidence through preparedness.
Subscribe to our email list to
Get your FREE Weekly Soccer Planner!
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hi everyone! I’m Jenn and I create content to help female soccer players and coaches maximize individual and team potential by developing healthy mindset skills. Join other subscribers and sign up for the newsletter for all my best tips and advice!
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
