Gross Domestic Smiles (GDS?)

Maybe that's

The overall measure

To measure

And optimize for?

Mindset vs goals

Too much 

Too many 

"Goals" 

In life? 

And

Or 

In

Practice?

In addition to setting smart goals

Distilling them

Finding the frequency and level of detail

That work for us:

If we ingrain 

An overall productive, searching mindset 

Along with 

A somewhat objective way of assessment

We 

In a sense 

Are already where 

The goals are supposed to get us :)

This kind of mindset 

Is very closely related to 

The principles I had distilled 

From my own adventure

For example:

* Keep looking for something to improve

* Find a path (and question it from time to time)

* Practice at the edge of current abilities

* Find a way to assess if you're progressing

If any of these start to feel 

Un-wantedly aimless

Then good goals 

Can give direction again

And of course 

Review and re-assessment 

Of our broader 

Vision and mission

Good goals

In line with 

Our 1) Vision and 2) Mission

Let's set 3) Goals 

For along the way

Since it's *our* project

It's OK to iterate 

In and between 

These big 3 at any time

First and foremost

We "report" 

And are accountable

To ourselves

A general best practice 

For creating goals 

Is to make them 

SMART:

* Specific

* Measurable

* Action-Oriented

* Realistic

* Time-Related

First and foremost 

It won't hurt for those goals

To be smart

Themselves :P

If it serves a purpose

We can break 

Those goal rules

As well 

For example

We can set an unrealistic goal 

To find new ways

Towards a real breakthrough

To assess progress

Let's check-in regularly

More so in the beginning 

While we find our path (and ourselves?!)

Maybe first

Per practice session

Then weekly

Then monthly

Then 

As we develop an overall structure and mindset

Maybe quarterly?

Per season? 

2x per year

Would probably be the minimum

To avoid losing 

Focus

At that time

Be open to

Break something 

In the established structure or mindset

Through goal cycles

We can ingrain the search

For something new

What’s temporarily uncomfortable

For 

Little

And big

Breakthroughs

That shift to an overarching mindset

To a life style

Can replace goals 

To a certain extent

Well chosen

Big goals

Can become

Our life's milestones

Probably good also if

Managing goals 

Doesn’t become 

Overly obsessive

In other words 

We're still in control

To switch a constant goal hunt

Off :)

If we ever need

Or want

A break from goals

That's fine too

Maybe set a reminder 

To consider picking up the effort later

With a reference to the work already done 

And where we left off?

Analysis paralysis

Premise: we have set some good goals and want to measure progress against them

But: if we over-record and -measure it can literally paralyze our practice

Generally: more overhead, less fun (might apply to work-life too!)

Measuring (and thinking about it) during practice can keep us from getting into flow

Maybe (simple) measuring is also more something for the repetition stage, after having been focused on ingraining the basics for the specific movement (e.g. learn how to juggle => count how many w/o drop).

 

Trade-off for me: I'd like to record progress and findings, e.g. to see if I'm on the right track, what works, and what's re-produceable. So I'm not basing this whole thing on my subjective experiences and thoughts.

Problem is, once you're past something, you can't go back and re-create the experience (similar to only having one chance of a "first impression"). 

Now that I trained up the forehand on my weaker side to a decent level, I don't have any hands left to be a forehand beginner again :) 

So the less I measure the more I'm missing out on capturing that experience and progress,

but the more I do there's a risk of having less fun and losing focus (=> what gets measured...).

Some ideas for less (perceived) overhead:

* Prioritize what and when to measure, e.g. practice 3x / week but measure 1x / week - e.g. hitting targets, speed, repetitions w/o error.

* Measure the target movement and not the meta movements that may help get there. For serves, having just consciously hit into the fence and into the net, eventually count the ones that were supposed to go into the service box. Based on the goals, maybe their speed, placement.

* If it feels right and somewhat accurate, make estimates. How good was X, 1-10? Better than yesterday? Last week? Why, why not? How many forehands hit today with the still weaker hand? What was the X:1? Need more next time? Against the wall, machine, partner - how many strokes per minute => minutes actively played => # of strokes.

* Measure at the end of a training block. Hit 2 baskets of alternating serves, now get 10 kick serves each into the court without error. How many attempts needed? How many repeats?

* Have someone else count and/or record (and alternate).

* Film and count what counts later. Maybe you'll also re-assess what to count next time.

These are just top of mind ideas to get started, I'm sure there'll be more...

Complementary, maybe even an alternative approach to measuring activity:

Breakthroughs are arguably more fun. 

Keep track of those, the planned ones and the surprises. 1 per session would be great. 

So it's less to measure and more memorable.

A simple table of date and breakthrough, e.g. in the phone's note app, may do for the day of. We can go back to add to it and organize those later... 

For measuring purposes, hopefully not that many breakthroughs per session then :P

For the overall pursuit, as many as possible please!

Vision, mission, goals

From organizations to individuals

It's worth

To think of one's 

Vision, Mission, Goals

To set 

An overall path

For guidance 

Along the way

This big stuff

Is ideally open end 

Always providing something meaningful

To work on

Google's mission for example

Is still great 

Probably underquoted

Almost a quarter century later

Is there

An end

To the endeavor 

To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful?

In regards to 

What's currently called 

"Backhands Optional"

This would be something like:

1) Vision: 

Humans are taking an evolutionary step in their development

Through playful, positive practice

That opens up many new possibilities.

2) Mission: 

To promote

An updated, enlarged view

Of a "complete athlete"

Via ambidexterity.

3) Goals would then formulate

How to become more 

Of such a new complete athlete?

And to inspire others to do so.

For my own practice

I would let 

Vision and mission and goals

Guide me to look for

Improvement vectors

Paths and progressions

Relevant blocks

Breakthroughs

Iterate on the big 3

On the go

And have a bigger check-in

Every quarter or 2

And not forget

Despite all the ambitions and structure

That the whole endeavor is supposed to be

Fun and playful!

For setting actual goals

SMART etc

And ingraining them

Find some ideas here