Set Goals, Make Them Happen––and Celebrate

By Mark Fulton

I’m going to admit something that isn’t going to win me any friends among the denizens of suburbia or the citizens of most European and South American countries: I’m not a soccer fan. Sorry, there’s just too much running around and too little scoring to keep me from dozing off into my Cheese Doodles.

Having said that, however, there is something I really like about soccer — something that sets it apart from any other sport I can think of. I just love to watch the celebration that takes place when someone scores a goal. You’d think the player had just found out that Bill Gates is a long-lost uncle.

Case in point: the scene during the last moments of the Women’s World Cup soccer final when defender Brandi Chastain blasted the ball into the goal, giving the U.S. team a 5-4 victory over China. Chastain whipped off her jersey and waved it overhead as her teammates swarmed around her in an eruption of ecstatic, triumphant joy.

OK, here’s the point. Why shouldn’t you experience that same exultant feeling whenever you achieve an important goal in your life? Why not celebrate, treat yourself to something special or at least take off your shirt and wave it over your head? Noteworthy occasions when we can shout, “Yes, I did it!” punctuate our lives with pleasure. They are moments worth working for.

To earn those moments of bliss, of course, you must have some goals to achieve. No goals, no glory. Well, it’s a new year, decade, century and millennium — if there’s ever been a time to set goals, this is it.

Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” With his own special brand of logic, Yogi put his finger on the essential reason for setting goals: to get someplace other than “someplace else.” In other words, having a goal helps us to reach a destination we have chosen rather than one we arrive at by accident.

If a goal is like the destination at the end of a journey, then it makes sense that a road map would be a helpful tool for getting you where you want to go in your life or career. Here are the elements for making a “goal map” that can help you plot a course to future accomplishments.

• Choose your destination. “Begin with the end in mind,” says Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Visualize the circumstances that reaching your goal will create. Imagine the chang-es that will take place. To paraphrase Yogi, if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?
• Identify the pot of gold. Every goal should have a reward attached to it. That’s your motivation for making the journey. What benefits do you expect from achieving the desired outcome? Write them down, keep them in front of you and review them when the going gets tough.
• Pick a route. My geometry teacher taught me that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But life has taught me that a straight line from Northern Arizona to Southern Utah leads across the Grand Canyon. Sometimes the fastest route to a goal can take you right off a cliff. That’s when it’s better to take the long way and enjoy the scenery.
• Check out the terrain. Take a close look at the road a-head. Try to anticipate the bumps and potholes — and plan for them. If you know the road is going to get steep in spots, be prepared to give yourself a little extra impetus in order to make it to the top. The nice thing about hills is that you can coast a little on the way down the other side.
• Set a timetable. Determine the smaller goals that will take you to your long-term goals and create deadlines for each. “Deadlines have a magical way of motivating us to produce results,” writes personal coach Lee Milteer in her book Success Is an Inside Job. “They allow you to break down your long-term goals into short-term ones that feel attainable.” Do something every day, no matter how small, that moves you toward a long-term goal.
• Take the first step. Ancient wisdom teaches us that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. But that first one can be the toughest one of all. Don’t let procrastination or the magnitude of your journey keep you from starting it. The best thing about the first step is that it initiates momentum — it becomes easier to keep going than to stop.

In sports and in life, making a goal just plain feels great. You’re pumped. You’re smiling. You can’t wait to do it again. So go ahead and treat yourself to the experience. Then take off your shirt, wave it in the air and celebrate.

Copyright 1999 © Mark S. Fulton