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6: Goals - GOing After Life’s Successes

Goals help you achieve what you desire. This is your success. Going after life’s success is striving toward your dreams, your passion and your purpose. I define going after life’s success with three elements:

a)Develop a clear goal

b)Acquire the resources to make it happen

c)Relentlessly focus resources on your goal

Your goals must reflect your values. When your goals and values are in sync your chances of living both are exponentially enhanced.

The first element of going after life’s success is a GREAT© goal. This is an acronym to guide you in setting goals: Gratifying, Reasonable, Explicit, Achievable, and Time-based.

Gratifying: Your goal should fulfill your desire. Its completion should bring satisfaction. This aspect of your goal creates the motivation and the drive to complete the tasks necessary to claim your prize. The reward is sweet and you are pleased. When I was a youngster the idea of making the school basketball team gave me goose bumps. When I finally made the team it was gratifying!!

Reasonable: Your goal should be within the bounds of your common sense. In other words, whatever makes sense to you. Remember, you will determine what your goals are and what they mean to you. In my case, making the basketball team made sense to me based on my experiences on the playground. I grew up and played well against guys who made my school’s basketball team. I figured when the time came for me to go out for the team I could make it also.

Explicit: This step is your first step. Your goal should be definite. You should be specific in what you want. Just like your values assessment, you need to know what your goal looks like. You should easily be able to recognize it when you achieve it. Next, write it down. Writing your goal down is commitment. How does it look on paper? How does it sound when you say it out loud? You can review it, revise it and hone it down until it is exactly what you want. My goal was to make the school team. The words “making the school team” were melodic to me.

Achievable: You goal can be accomplished by mental or physical effort. Your ability to think, learn or work hard will make your goal possible.

“Leaders aren't born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”

Vince Lombardi

I believed that if I ran enough and practiced my ball handling, free throws, and jump shooting that I could make the team. I knew as much about the game as my peers so I felt mentally prepared to play.

Time based: You goal should have an end date. If lifelong learning is your goal then you do not need an end date. However, the majority of goals should have a completion time. Time based also contains an element of measurement. You need both so you can gauge if you are progressing toward completion of your goal. The last cut sheet would be posted a week after tryouts. There was no doubt when my goal would be complete. I was still there going into the last week so I was progressing toward my goal.

The second element of going after life’s success is acquiring the resources to make it happen. What resources do you need to make your goal happen? You could seek help from others. You may determine you need specific machinery or materials. My resources for making the school basketball team were a basketball, a basketball court with rim, a pair of sneakers and the neighborhood guys to play against.

The third element of going after life’s success is to relentlessly focus resources on your goal. Your must focus your management of people, machinery and materials in a matter that completes your goal. So, I had a basketball, a dirt court with basketball rim, my sneakers and my boys to play against. I played every day after school and practiced and practiced and practiced to make the school team.

Now, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. The thought of making the team was gratifying. I was reasonable in thinking I could do what my peers had done. My goal was explicit – to make the school team. I was physically and mentally ready and I knew when it could happen.

Here’s what happened:

Eighth grade – did not make team.

Ninth grade – did not make team.

Tenth grade – finally made junior varsity. I did not play much.

Eleventh grade – made Junior varsity and started every game.

Twelfth grade – made varsity and started every game. I earned All City, District and Regional honors.

College – played four years. I earned All Conference three years, honorable mention All-America my senior year and was inducted in Case Western Reserve’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

Post College – I tried out for the Cleveland Cavaliers – did not make the team. But oh what a run! And all I wanted to do initially was make the junior high basketball team.

Everyone can reach their goals. Every can embrace going after life’s success.