“Set goals for life, set them high and persist until they are achieved, set bigger and better goals. You will soon find that your life will become happier and more purposeful by working toward positive goals.”

— Raymond Floyd, Four Time Major Champion Winner

All golfers who genuinely want to get better have goals. Not every golfer calls them goals, for some golfers the word is too overwhelming, and for other golfers, the word goal is not enough. At its most basic level, a goal is an objective of where you want to go, and at its highest level, a goal is a personal dream of what you want to accomplish.

Whether you call it a dream, a goal, an objective, or something else – the most important thing is that it:

Motivates you to work hard.

Focuses you to work smart.

Centers you to balance your expectations.

All the greats in golf have had goals, dreams and visions of greatness, from Arnold to Jack, Faldo to Norman and Tiger to McIlroy. Goals are the fuel of greatness and direct practices to create consistent improvement. It’s impossible to withstand the challenges and struggles of this great game without big goals that are properly managed. Goals helped these and other greats work hard after a great day and bounce back after a tough day.

There is both a science and an art to setting and managing goals. Entire books have been written on the topic, and hundreds of scientific studies have been done within the arena of goal setting. The objective here is not to explore every nuance to setting and managing goals, but provide some practical suggestions that you can use today.

If you already have a consistent goal-setting practice, use the suggestions here to enhance your goal setting toolbox. If you don’t set goals, use this article as a starting point.

Having goals that are general, not written, simply in your head and only thought about occasionally is not a goal setting practice. Having goals that are specific, written and looked at daily, but not followed through with action, is not a complete goal setting practice either. It’s a good start, but action is imperative.

A solid goal setting practice is meant to do one thing: create positive, efficient actions toward a desired objective.

I’m all for having BIG goals. Bigger can mean better, if done properly. Big goals can be the fire and motivation that make golfers practice and work hard. The trick is to remember that these are typically long-term goals and outcome goals. Meaning that the outcome is not completely under your control. Great golfers all strive to win majors, but everyone in the field has the same goal of winning, and only one player can win on any given week. When winning is a golfer’s sole goal, it can lead to a lot of dissatisfaction.

Focusing on your BIG GOALS in the short term can create frustration and pressure. That is why you need to focus on short-term goals that are based on the process. Good process goals keep golfers on task during practice and competition. Process goals are centered around mental and physical actions you control, such as a good game plan and strategy. Sticking to a solid process and game plan provides the best opportunity for long-term outcomes to occur.

One of the best ways to create solid process goals is to set aside time each week to map out your plan. It’s better to do this at the same time each week so it becomes habit. The best time is on Sunday, the end of the week and the beginning of the next week. You can review your goals from the previous week and evaluate how you did at accomplishing your goals. Then, you can reset your goals and make them more challenging if they seemed too easy, or less challenging if you struggled to accomplish them.

All golfers have something they can improve. That’s what’s awesome about golf. You never fully master it.

I love hard work, but let’s work smarter first, then harder. When you know what to do and how to do it, practice and competition become much easier and your work ethic increases almost automatically because you are improving and having fun. Isn’t that what golf should be all about.