Effective Goal Setting
Michael Jordan dreamed of being NBA champion, MVP, offensive player of the year, and defensive player of the year. Tom Brady dreamed of being Super Bowl champ, MVP, and winning. Messi dreamed of being the best soccer player in the world.
Dreams provide a foundation to work off of, but how do you achieve your dreams?
Sport Psychology Practitioners frequently use goal setting to provide actionable steps toward individual development. Goal setting is one of the most studied areas in Sport Psychology literature and one of the most widely-used interventions. However, what are the most important principles of goal setting and how can you use it to your advantage?
In Williamson et al. (2025) article titled “‘It’s not handcuffing the athlete to success or failure’: Sport psychology practitioners’ use of nonspecific goals in applied contexts" the authors look to elucidate the extent, scope, and outcomes of nonspecific goal setting with athletes.
Nonspecific goals have some ambiguity in the level of performance required to achieve the goal. They resulted from an apparent need to meet the dynamic requires of sport and competition. Examples of nonspecific goals include:
Do your best goals: Doing my best in every aspect of lacrosse.
As well as possible goals: To make as many shots out of 20 as I can.
Open goals: To see how far I can go
Range goals: To run 8-10 miles in 75-90 minutes.
The results of this study show that practitioners use of nonspecific goals are influenced by contextual factors, athlete differences, and practitioner’s experience. That said, the results challenge the traditional idea that effective goals must be specific while reinforcing the idea that effective goals are client-centered and context driven.
In terms of specifics, practitioners mentioned using open goals more often than the rest which led to desirable athletic outcomes like satisfaction, excitement, autonomy, and challenge. Practitioners also used range goals beneficially, specifically in sports with less perceived control and accounting for uncontrollable factors.
Immediate outcomes of nonspecific goals include relief from pressure, anxiety, stress, tension, and fear of failure. Nonspecific goals provide an outlet for moving athletes away from a perfectionist mentality which may lead to negative psychological outcomes and maladaptive responses.
In conclusion, practitioners used open and range goals more often to benefit their athletes. The use of these nonspecific goals led to outcomes including satisfaction, autonomy, challenge, and relief from psychological stressors. However, nonspecific goals lack clarity and run counter to former goal setting literature. Therefore, it is essential for practitioners to ensure their goal setting interventions are client-centered and context driven to provide the most effective outcomes.
TLDR, what does this mean for you? Nonspecific goals provide useful alternatives to alleviate perfectionist mentality in athletes while still facilitating a framework of actionable goals. Practitioners should ensure that their goal setting interventions are client-centered and match the competitive context in which they’re being deployed.
Williamson, O., Swann, C., Jackman, P. C., Bennett, K. J. M., & Bird, M. D. (2025). “It’s not handcuffing the athlete to success or failure”: Sport psychology practitioners’ use of nonspecific goals in applied contexts. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2025.2457986