Goal setting for an upcoming season is one of the most exciting times of the year. Everyone has a blank slate; the possibilities are endless, and dreams are unfettered.
If you didn’t quite reach your goals from the previous season, you may want to put that behind you and move on as quickly as possible. If you did achieve some milestones, you may prefer to capitalize on the momentum rather than reviewing and dissecting. But if your priorities are longevity, sustainability, and growth in your sport, then executing an honest post-season review can set you up to achieve even more.
Below are seven questions to use as a guide to understanding your results, uncovering where you may have more agency, and warding off even well-earned complacency. As you work your way through the review process, make sure that you address each topic through as many lenses as possible. That means not just swim, bike and run, but also strength, resilience, mental training, focus, confidence, nutrition, hydration, sleep and other recovery modalities.
- What goals did you achieve that you can build upon, and what didn’t go well despite the success?
- Where did you fail or come up short this year? How do your failures reflect your courage and enthusiasm? If you didn’t fail, is it because you didn’t set your goals high enough?
- Did you have any areas of training (swim, bike, run, strength, nutrition, mental, etc.) that you became inconsistent with as the season progressed? What are your thoughts on what you could have done to stay more consistent?
- Did you get flat towards the back end of the season? Or did you continue to build throughout?
- What strengths have you uncovered that you can build upon moving forward?
- What important lessons did you learn this season, and how did they help you grow as an athlete and as a person?
- How did triathlon fit into your life this season? Were you able to maintain the balance between training, family, work, etc.?
Notice that these questions don’t contain action items. That comes next, along with setting more focused and intentional goals. As tempting as it may be to forge ahead to this step, pausing and taking the time for stillness and reflection will promote fulfillment and long-term success over short-term satisfaction.
