How To Help Yourself Stick With New Softball Goals

Ah! A new year has begun! Everywhere around you people are setting new goals, announcing the words they will focus on for the year, joining gyms, and trying to start this year with a fresh focus. If this is you, it is not a bad thing to want to get focused and make changes if you feel unsettled or have goals to reach.

But, the famous “New Year’s resolutions” can become a nuisance or be forgotten. Studies show anywhere from 60% to 88% of people quit New Year’s resolutions set in January by the end of…(wait for it)….January (Barnes, 2024; Mikhail, 2024). There is plenty of evidence that setting goals helps performance and motivation along with various other psychological outcomes (Williamson et al., 2022), so why do we fail or quit them so quickly?

This massive failure to stick with goals is not unique to New Year’s resolutions. Think about how many times you have said you will work towards a goal only to look back weeks later and realize you forgot about the goal or lost interest (and quit)? It happens to all of us.

You may have heard to focus on process goals (or steps) and follow a goal-setting model (SMART, HARD, WOOP, etc.) (Trisca, 2024). These are well-supported and useful strategies that absolutely work to achieve goals. Keep reading to find more ways to help you stick with your goals in this new year so that you do not become a “failed New Year’s resolution” statistic.

Goal setting can be fun and, at the same time, daunting. Often, people focus on the outcome (or result) they want to achieve and never take their focus off of it. To achieve goals, you have to identify the outcome you want, but you don’t want to only focus on that desired outcome because you never fully identify the steps it will take to achieve that outcome.

This is why the common advice of setting process goals and putting your focus on those steps is successful. Focusing on the steps it will take to get you closer to that outcome/result goal you want forces you to take action forward versus staying stuck on the outcome.

Another issue that can lead to quitting on goals is trying to make changes that aren’t doable for you or that you’re not ready for yet. This leads to (often) failed goals, frustration, and a lack of confidence. One model that can help you think through what changes or modifications you want to make (or even the goals you set) is the Stages of Change Model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1977).

This model presents six stages people pass through when trying to change behaviors, and it can be useful to consider when you want to make any kind of change, including reaching goals. Baker (2023) provides a brief overview of key indicators of each stage and how you can help yourself move into the next stage. Use this model to help you set process goals toward your ultimate outcome goal that are aligned with the stage of change you are in and that will help you move to the next stage. Using this type of model can help you stop making goals or attempting changes that you really are not ready for or committed to make.

Whether you use the Stages of Change Model or not, one sure way to stop your goal progress is to try to make too many changes at once.

Softball process goals often involve creating new habits and routines. For example, if you have a long-term goal of batting .300 for the season, you may realize you need to practice hitting more. So, you set a process goal of adding more practice time, but you have to change your schedule to make this work. This may mean to get this extra time in, you need to get up significantly earlier before school to add time to your day. You can choose a variety of tasks to do in this added time, but the act of getting up earlier is a change you want to commit to.

One way to help you make this adjustment in a way you are more likely to stick with is to habit stack. Habit stacking is adding something you want to start or something that will help you be more productive toward a goal to something you are already doing (Clear, n.d.).

Let’s take our example of getting up earlier to add time to your day, which will free up time later for you to practice hitting more often. First, decide how you want to use that early-morning time. Be intentional and have a plan in mind, rather than just getting up early to get up. Remember, you want to use that time to do tasks you normally complete in the afternoon so you can insert hitting in that afternoon space instead.

So create a plan or think through your morning time. Next, while you’re brushing your teeth before bed (current habit), think (new habit) about how you’ll feel accomplishing this new step, visualize yourself getting up early, and think about how you’ll feel later that day after getting extra hitting in.

Habit stacking can really be that simple, but change can also be uncomfortable, making habit stacking more difficult at times (Cleveland Clinic, 2024). The key is being intentional and picking the habits to stack that you will commit to trying. You can explore habit stacking in a variety of ways to find something that works for you. It can take 2.5 weeks to 6.5 months to create new habits (even with habit stacking), so be consistent.

Lastly, take a quick look at how you are orienting your goals. Sometimes, we set goals to avoid negative outcomes. For example, you may set a goal so that you will not strike out (avoid striking out) X number of times. This method of goal setting is called avoidance-orientation. Instead, set goals with a focus on the positive outcomes you want to achieve. This is called approach orientation to goal setting.

To change the avoidance goal to an approach-oriented example, set a goal that you will put the ball in play X number of times within a pre-determined time frame. People who set approach-oriented goals are more successful in sticking with and reaching those goals than those who set avoidance-oriented goals (Oscarsson et al., 2020). Essentially, this mindset for goal-setting is focused on using language and self-talk directed toward what you want to do/achieve v. what you don’t want to happen.

The strategies mentioned above will help you supplement the common knowledge about goal-setting. Use these in combination with a goal-setting framework, a combination of outcome and process goals, and various methods to provide support on your goal-setting journey. If you want more information or help with this process, please contact me.

Dr. Megan Buning is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (C.M.P.C.) with over a decade of experience training the mental game.

Baker, J. (2023, December 4). The Stages of Change Model and how to implement it. Relias. https://www.relias.com/blog/the-stages-of-change-model-and-how-to-implement-it

Barnes, T. (2024, January 11). New Year’s resolutions: Why do we give up on them so quickly? Baylor College of Medicine News. Retrieved from https://www.bcm.edu/news/new-years-resolutions-why-do-we-give-up-on-them-so-quickly

Clear, J. (n.d). How to build new habits by taking advantage of old ones. James Clear. https://jamesclear.com/habit-stacking

Cleveland Clinic. (2024, June 18). Everything you need to know about habit stacking for self-improvement. Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/habit-stacking

Mikhail, A. (2024, January 12). Today is ‘Quitter’s Day,’ when most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions. Here are 3 ways to restart yours. Fortune Well. Retrieved from https://fortune.com/well/article/quitters-day-new-years-resolutions-how-to-restart/

Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1982). Transtheoretical therapy: Toward a more integrative model of change. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 19(3), 276.

Trisca, L. (2024, August 12). 7 effective goal-setting frameworks analyzed (+tips for selecting the right one. Deel. https://www.deel.com/blog/goal-setting-frameworks/

Williamson, O., Swann, C., Bennett, K. J., Bird, M. D., Goddard, S. G., Schweickle, M. J., & Jackman, P. C. (2024). The performance and psychological effects of goal setting in sport: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17(2), 1050-1078.