Tune into our special episode highlighting the 40th Anniversary of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society. This episode is focused on goal setting!
Today’s episode is actually a very special one. If you’ve listened to any of our previous episodes, you know that we typically chat about a specific orthopedic injury or surgical procedure. We often dive into the nitty gritty details of diagnosis, selection of the appropriate treatment and returning athletes to sport.
But today, we’re tackling a completely different topic, and that is “goal-setting”. We have a couple great articles for you today that contribute well to our conversation on building new habits and goal setting.
The first article was published in the Harvard Business Review in February of this past year and is titled “What Does It Really Take to Build a New Habit?” The author, Kristi DePaul, starts off by differentiating a habit from a routine. She explains that a habit is a behavior done with little or no thought, whereas a routine is a series of behaviors that are frequently, and intentionally, repeated. A behavior has to be a regularly performed routine before it can become a habit at all. So how exactly do we accomplish that?
Well, this article outlines four key steps: (1) Set your intentions. (2) Prepare for roadblocks. (3) Start with nudges or small changes at first. (4) Show yourself compassion. We explore each of these steps a little further in our discussion today.
The second article we have for you was published in the Harvard Business Review in April of 2017 and is titled “What Separates Goals We Achieve From Goals We Don’t?” The authors, Kaitlin Woolley and Ayelet Fishbach, performed five studies that investigated whether immediate or delayed benefits influenced goal persistence. They found that immediate benefits (such as enjoyment) played a significant role in helping people stick to their goals, while delayed benefits (such as importance of that goal for overall health or career advancement) really only played a role in setting the goal in the first place. Therefore, harnessing those immediate benefits can help you persist and achieve the goals you set.
We are joined today by two special guests. The first is Dr. Giselle Aerni. Dr. Aerni is nonoperative sports medicine physician and founder of Madam Athlete, a organization that is devoted to helping women thrive in careers in sports and athletics. Dr. Aerni received her medical degree from The University of Pittsburgh and completed her family medicine residency at UPMC. She then went on to complete a sports medicine fellowship at UConn, where she remained as the primary care sports medicine fellowship director and team physician for many years. Through her career, she has covered everything from the WNBA to NCAA DI and DIII national championship-winning teams, minor league baseball, high-school sports, marathons, and more. Dr. Aerni has published and presented research at the national level and was part of the writing team behind AMSSM’s position statement on mental health in athletes. In May of 2020 she created Madam Athlete as a space where women in sports and athletics can share their accomplishments, advice, and challenges. Dr. Aerni hosts the Madam Athlete podcast where she shares inspiring stories of professional women in the field of sports medicine and athletics. You should definitely check it out!
Our second guest is Dr. Mary Mulcahey. Dr. Mulcahey was actually our first guest on The Sports Docs Podcast way back in March of 2021. We’re very excited to have her back with us today. Dr. Mulcahey received her Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College and her MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She completed her orthopaedic residency at Brown University, followed by a fellowship in Orthopaedic Trauma at the same institution. Dr. Mulcahey then went on to do a fellowship in sports medicine at San Diego Ar