What do you want?
Why do you want it?
How are you going to accomplish it?
What are you willing to do and sacrifice to get it?
Napoleon Hill declared, “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve.” This is an essential element of goal setting and being successful with PMA. Make big goals, believe and accomplish them. Seek out what you truly want in life, write down the plan and work feverishly every day to accomplish it. It will be a difficult path with twists and turns, but when you stay the course and believe in the mission, it can and will be accomplished. What and how we think leads us to who we become. When we convert our thoughts and dreams to goals, it solidifies our belief in our thoughts and inspires us into positive action.
For true and lasting success, set goals for many aspects and time periods in life. Taking the time and effort to put our goals into writing, makes them tangible and more than just a dream. People that write down goals are more likely to achieve them than those that do not put goals to paper. Study after study confirms that setting goals is a powerful and effective tool that tremendously increases our chances to get to our predetermined destination.
Once written, our goals should be read frequently as a constant reminder of what we are striving to become. Constantly reviewing our goals reinforces and strengthens our resolve. When we create a habit of reviewing our goals, we become more invested and plan our daily actions to consciously move closer to what we truly desire. On the days that I feel lazy, I review my goals and force myself into positive action because of the obligation I have to my future. Sometimes, we have to will ourselves into positive action. When we keep our goals in the forefront of our daily habits, we have a constant reminder to push forward and win the day. All worthwhile goals take time, effort and drive to achieve. Daily discipline becomes a habit when we review what we want on a daily basis. We develop the grit that we need for achievement when our resolve is tested.
Our goals are about whatever is important to the writer. In our football program, players are assigned to write their goals on a yearly basis. The players write goals they have for every aspect of their lives. They create a list of short term goals that they have for the upcoming season and school year. They also develop 5 year and lifetime goals. These goals are gone over and discussed with coaches before they are hung in their lockers to be seen and read daily.
This goal setting is an integral element of program development. Writing and sharing goals is an uncomfortable and difficult thing to do because when we share our true aspirations, we become vulnerable. This vulnerability and discomfort is essential for true growth and accomplishment. Success is never easy. We have to reach beyond what we are capable of in the present and declare what we want to become. This is scary even when we keep it to ourselves. It is out of our comfort zone. This is where most ordinary people pull back and decide that mediocre is good enough. However, this is where champions rise up and take the next step.
That next step is to declare our intentions and goals. This declaration is a huge step because it is here where our dreams become goals. This is where we stick our necks above the crowd and aspire to be great. It is terrifying and exhilarating at the same moment. There is a fear that we have stepped away from average with a chance of failure, but in the same moment we are filled with determination to be courageous and attack our goal with everything we have. This determination pushes us forward with unwavering effort and is a key component to achieving our goals.
Writing and revisiting is a huge part in the formula for goal setting. We then need to place our written goals somewhere where we can revisit them daily and adapt them when needed. This serves as a constant reminder of our life’s purpose. This daily reminder of the big picture keeps us focused. Whether it is during a time of prosperity or adversity, reading our goals centers us. It reminds us of why we need to push through the present moment for the greater reward that is out in front of us.
When you have to revise our goals, do so. This actually happens a lot in life. If our football team has a goal to be undefeated and we lose our first game, we certainly do not cancel the rest of the season. Most goals will get revised in some way or another because life happens. Life plans rarely go as expected and goals are challenges that invite struggle if they are worthwhile. Because the original plan we set goes off course, it does not give us an excuse to abandon our goal and quit. Our job is to adjust and get back on course. Our plans and goals, in all probability, will not be achieved without some sort of conflict or adversity. Therefore, we adjust, revise and attack the slightly altered course to our ultimate goal..
The paradox and the key element in goal setting is to set realistic, yet impossible goals. All progress comes from people that have achieved the impossible. These people knew they had the skills and abilities to do something no one else had ever done and then dared to do. They ignored what everyone was saying, stood firm and worked hard to accomplish what others thought they were silly to do.
When Johnny Bench was a second grader, his class was discussing what they wanted to be when they grew up. When it was Johnny’s turn, he told the class that he wanted to be a professional baseball player. The class laughed at this and the teacher told him that he might want to think of other things he might want to do in case that didn’t work out. Johnny disregarded this and stuck with his big goal. In the sixth grade, his class was involved in a similar activity. Again, Johnny informed the class of his goal to be a professional baseball player. Again, everyone laughed and the teacher urged him to come up with a back-up plan. During his junior year, Johnny’s social studies class was visited by their guidance counselor to discuss what their plans for the future were. Once again, Johnny informed the class of his goal to be a professional baseball player. This time, however, no one laughed and the counselor didn’t try to guide him in a different path. Johnny had become an outstanding baseball player and now everyone could see that his once impossible goal was now attainable, something Johnny had known the whole time. Johnny Bench went on to be a hall of famer and arguably the best catcher in the history of Major League Baseball.
Johnny Bench dreamt big and attacked a goal that he knew was attainable even when others thought it was impossible. People mocked Columbus’s belief that the world was round. No one dreamed that Edison could accomplish what he did in his lifetime. These men and all successful people go after goals that others deem impossible. They know they have the skill set to accomplish what they do and work doggedly to achieve goals. When creating your goals, remember to dream big. Go after something that is out of your reach now, but with hard work, can be accomplished.
Win with PMA 