pur·pose

/ˈpərpəs/

noun

the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.

Similar:  motive, motivation, grounds, cause, impetus, occasion, reason, point, basis, justification, intention, aim, object, objective, goal, end, plan, scheme, target, ambition, aspiration, desire, wish, hope, advantage, benefit, good, use, usefulness, value, merit, worth, gain, profit, avail, result, outcome, effect, mileage, percentage, behoof, boot, function, role, raison d’être

How is your purpose different from your goals? Goals are the outcome of what you do, but your purpose is your why. Why do you play the game of golf? Does the game itself have meaning or can it support your overall why? Before you sit down to set goals, let’s first dive into your purpose for playing. 

This is the question I would often ask my players when I was a college coach before we started goal setting. The answers ranged from thoughtful to b.s., but that’s a pretty normal spectrum when you ask players a question that they think might be a point of judgment. The “why” of playing the game, even at the college level, is often a tough question and the answers really helped my understanding of my players and I think it helped them understand themselves better, too. Here are some examples of answers I heard or read in their journals.

• I love the game.
• I play because I love to compete and win.
• I enjoy meeting people through the game and it’s fun to make new friends.
• It’s always different and I love the challenge of it.
• When I play, I can be completely into the moment and forget about anything else happening in my life.
• I love the skills needed and working to get better.
• I want to play as a professional and win on tour.
• It’s so cool to be out in nature and see birds, trees, animals and clouds.
• I get to travel and see new places because of the game.
• I play to get my scholarship so I can go to college.
• I love to be part of something bigger than myself and I love my team and school.
• I am away from home and part of a new culture and it’s a great adventure.
• To be the best I can be.
• I play because it’s what my parents want me to do.
• I play because I’ve always been good at it.
• I play because I can’t quit.

Let’s talk about the power of that question and how the answers shape your goals and give you a glimpse into the purpose of playing the game. At the age of 18, it’s hard to know exactly why you do anything. The players who could answer quickly and easily often knew their purpose already, but they were rare. There is no right or wrong answer, but it’s good to find an answer and to understand what motivates you and your purpose.

Take 18 minutes and watch Simon Sinek explain the importance of why.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/u4ZoJKF_VuA?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

This is a great explanation of how why is so important to our success as innovators, leaders and business people. It’s what drives belief, buy-in and investment. Can you personalize this and think about how your why affects you instead of how it affects other people or sales projections as Simon talks about? Is your why strong enough to drive you to spend long hours hitting balls? Does it spur you to experiment and be innovative with your swing or shot making to find improvement? Does it motivate you to stay in on a Friday night so you can go to the range early on Saturday morning? Does it inspire you to go back to the drawing board after a horrible round and figure out what you need to do to get better? Does it make you curious about why someone else is better than you and start a conversation with them to pick their brain and learn? Does it allow you to smile when you smell the fresh cut grass and sweep the dew on the first tee? 

It’s the beginning of the year and a great time to set your goals for 2026. Do your goals support your why? Do they help you create your purpose or at least support it? Here’s an example of what it looks like to both feel conflicted and to find a path to your why. I had a player who felt strongly that she needed to help others and that was her why. She was struggling, because she felt like her golf was preventing her from helping others and it made her life all about her. She was ready to quit the game. We sat down and found ways for her golf to become an avenue to help others instead of the hindrance she felt it was. She became a leader in campus ministry for athletes. She started spending time volunteering with other athletes in elementary schools. She got involved with the First Tee program and spent her Saturday mornings with the kids who benefitted from the programming there. She went from a player questioning her why for playing the game to a player using the game to support her why. She also excelled on the course and played great golf. She learned that she could keep her why in front of her while pursuing the game she loved. 

Goal setting has gotten a bad rap over the last ten years. There’s a lot of noise around the importance of process and disdain for result goals. If all of your goals are outcome oriented, it makes sense that your goals won’t serve you as powerful tools, but instead will be that carrot on the end of a stick. Instead of discarding with goal setting, the answer is to find your why first and then figure out your what and your how. Then use the tool of goal setting to help you stay focused on what’s important and to plan the steps to achieve it.

My example of my player’s why of helping others was a lofty one and you don’t need to feel pressure to come up with something altruistic to compete with that why. Your why could be anything and if you’re a teenager, it might be a quality such as independence, confidence or accountability. It might be something as simple as your love of competition. Whatever it is, as you set your goals, make sure they line up with it. How would this look if it didn’t? Here’s an example. 

Let’s say your why is to turn pro and play on tour. That could be seen as an outcome goal, but you’ve stated it as your why. I’ve coached a lot of players who had that as their why and it was a powerful why for them. These players didn’t get too up or too down with results, but had the ability to see the bigger picture of their results helping them on their path to the tour. These players worked on skill building in a way that allowed for steady progress and not in a reactive way on what wasn’t good in the last round. These players asked a lot of questions about what they needed to do to get to the next level, what it would look like when they were there and what would help them when they were there. In other words, they were asking for help, knowledge and envisioning their steps. The why led to their what and how.

How could a goal get in the way of this? Let’s say you set a goal to play college golf at your dream school. Perhaps your game isn’t where it needs to be to make the lineup at that school, but since it’s your dream school, you’ll walk-on and keep working to be good enough. Without competitive reps and tournament play, will your game continue to develop to help you reach the tour? Is your dream school a goal that’s actually important to your why or is it a goal based on a desire that’s separate from your why? How many of your goals are based on desires separate from your why or chosen to impress others? Understanding your why will help you focus on the essentials instead of chasing random goals.

Let’s talk about goal setting with your why in place. The goal is the what. Then there’s the how you’ll achieve it. Finally, does it support your why? My goal as a coach was to guide players to understand and state their why and then to help them support it through their goals and their achievements. There really isn’t a bad why, but often they clear things up as a coach and lead to better understanding of my player’s motivations. If a player’s why was for her parents, she might play better when she had her dad on the bag in the summer or when they were following her in a tournament round. Why’s are often chosen due to what’s in a player’s background, such as cultural norms, good and bad experiences or people who are important to them. It isn’t our task to judge or even understand their why, but it is important to support them and to help them form goals that allow them to build on it. Let’s look at a concrete example. 

A player who’s why was “I love to compete.” Goal = “I want to be in the lineup and travel to every tournament.” What or Plan = “These three things will help me achieve my goal to compete for the team.”

1. Scoring average of 73 in qualifying.
   1. My short game needs to improve to be at least 60% up and downs so I can score well on any day, not just when I’m hitting it well.
      1. I’ll spend 1/3 of my available practice time working within 50 yards of the green. 
      2. I’ll ask coach for help with shot choice decisions and technique.
      3. I’ll pay attention to my DECADE targets so I reduce the number of short sided misses.
      4. I’ll check my stats after every qualifier series or tournament to see where I am and if anything needs more attention, like bunker shots or chipping from the rough.
   2. I need to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night and I’ll keep track on the calendar when I’m successful.
      1. I’ll stay on top of my studies so I don’t need to pull any all-nighters.
      2. I’ll get some ear plugs so I can’t hear my roommate on the phone to his girlfriend when I’m trying to sleep. 
      3. I’ll plan for social time based on our qualifying schedule and how I’m doing in school. I’ll go out when I can, but I’ll be good so I don’t ruin the next day, too. 
      4. I’ll put my phone down by 9 pm so I’m not on screens and I’ll stay away from energy drinks from 5 pm on.
   3. I’ll take a tournament mentality into each qualifying round.
      1. The night before, I’ll do my bag check to make sure I have 14 clean clubs, clean shoes, my laser, an extra battery, 6 balls and 2 gloves. If the weather forecast is bad, I’ll make sure to also have my umbrella, rain suit, rain gloves and bag hood. 
      2. I’ll be friendly with my teammates, but I’ll stay emotionally removed from their game and their reactions. If I don’t like the chat, I’ll walk faster than them. 
      3. I’ll focus on golf when I’m at the golf course and not worry about things like tests or problems with my parents or girlfriend. When my mind goes there, I’ll be aware of it and come back to what I’m doing now.
      4. I’ll have a game plan, a mindset goal and pay attention to my pre-shot routine and have a positive post-shot routine.

This is how you set an outcome goal that’s important to you, helps you with your why and has action steps that are clear, defined and measurable. 

Your goals need to be a WHAT, be supported by the HOW, be able to be MEASURED and most importantly, support your WHY. This is how using goal setting as a tool makes it a strong aid in helping you achieve what you want. You’ll start to really understand how your actions create your outcomes and how those support your why. Check in on these goals in time periods you choose, such as monthly or every six weeks. Adjust them if needed and it’s ok to also check in on your why. Remember that goal setting is a tool or skill and your goals are there for you to have a clear path to the destination of your choice.