Monday Motivation: Setting My Goals
Those
of you that’ve read this blog before, follow me on FaceBook and Twitter, and
who know me personally know that I talk a lot about setting a goal and sticking
to it. I have several favorite goal setting quotes:
“There’s no crime in not reaching your goal; only in failing
to set one.” –Ken Chertow
“Goals seem like false summits. You reach the top of one
only to discover there’s another one a little higher.” –Erik Weihenmayer
These are probably my two favorite goal related quotes. Both
have served me well through my young life thus far. I keep them handy in a
document of motivational quotes that I look at every so often to get a little
mental boost.
Goals serve a lot of purposes. They
keep our mind focused while we push through the hard times. I scream from the
mountaintops about “It’s not the destination, but the journey that makes the
trip worthwhile.” I believe this. But the only way we can enjoy the journey is
by first setting a goal. Afterall, we like to be rewarded at the end of our
journey.
The
first quote, by Ken Chertow, has served me well since the summer before my
junior year of high school. Over the course of my first two years of wrestling
I’d compiled the steller record of…wait for it…15 wins and 20 losses. Oh yeah!
I was a state champ in the making. I thought I was a lot better than I was.
However, that wasn’t good enough for me. I was, and still am, competitive. I
wanted to be better and win more matches than I lost.
So
the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school I attended Ken
Chertow’s Gold Medal Training Camp. And I learned that I had a long way to go
before I could call myself a wrestler. I had my face ground into the mat. My
body ached and it felt like my muscles were being torn from the bone. I tripped
and fell on my face more than once. I have the distinct bragging right of being
able to say that Olympic Bronze Medalist Nate Carr crossfaced me so hard that
my lips were shredded for the duration of the week.
Eventually
I met the larger than life Ken Chertow. Coach Chertow was intense and extremely
high energy. He breathed a confidence and determination into the wrestlers that
he trained. I was no exception. Coach Chertow and I talked only once or twice
that first camp, but he told me that I could become a good wrestler. But I
needed to get stronger and work on my technique. He told me to set myself a
goal for the upcoming season and stick to it. I had to dedicate my mind and
body to reaching that goal.
So
I signed up for Beginner and Intermediate weight training for my gym classes
that year in school. I hit the books hard every day—I was taking three Advanced
Placement courses—and I went into the wrestling room every day after school to
practice the techniques I’d learned at Ken’s camp.
My
goal for the year was to make it to the Regional Tournament. I’d wrestled a
State Qualifier from Georgia at camp and I’d been so overmatched that I knew I
had a long way to go. I pushed through some tough losses and a knee injury but
went into Districts with a 4-3 record. I went 2-1 and took third place at
Districts. I was going to Regionals. I’d reached my goal.
I
finished that season with an overall record of 7-6, having gone 1-2 at
Regionals. But now my appetite was wetted and it was time to set a higher and
more challenging goal.
One
thing that really helped me accomplish that and several other goals was writing
them down. I’m currently reading the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave
Ramsey. Why? I thought you’d never ask. I want to have money so I can support
my wife to be, so we can have our own house, a family, send our kids to
college, and yes, so I can have toys and go on killer climbing trips. But I
digress.
I
read a statistic in Ramsey’s book about one study of Harvard graduates. In the
study, three percent of people that wrote down their goals reached and exceeded
them. This three percent of people also were financially more wealthy than the
other 97 percent COMBINED.
I
believe it. I’ve set goals and not written them down and have fallen short. But
I’ve also written down goals and gone above and beyond. The key is to write
them down and have them visible. So hanging them on the fridge doesn’t do any
good for me. But it might for you.
For
me I need to be constantly reminded of my goals. So I need to write them down
and put them somewhere where I will read them, or someone else will remind me
of them every day.
This
morning I saw on FaceBook that my friend, Terry, had posted his results of the
Iron Man 70.3 that he’d just competed in. And he’d also set himself a goal of
completing an Iron Man next year. I like Terry’s approach. So at the end of
this post I’ve posted some basic goals of my own. But I don’t want you to just
read my goals. I want you to set yourself some goals too.
I
want you to write down your goals and put them somewhere where you are going to
look at them multiple times a day. On the fridge, microwave, in your wallet, hanging
above the TV…I don’t care. But here’s the kicker. I want you to pick the goal
that you most desire to reach and I want you to post it on FaceBook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Instagram…whatever. You can even post to my FaceBook page
or Tweet at me
When you post to me on FaceBook, or
Tweet at me, tell us your goal and when you plan to reach it. Then come back
and let us know your progress. Set long and short term goals. And then start
your journey on trying to reach those goals.
Spoiler Alert: Tomorrow’s blog post
will be on how to reach our goals.
Kyle Coon Goals:
Financial:
Get a payed job by 09/01/2013.
Fitness:
Long Term:
Ride 30 miles in 1 hour by
08/05/2014.
Compete in a time trial.
Short Term:
Ride 25 miles in 1 hour by
02/05/2014.
Don’t let me forget about them now.
Until next time.
Kyle Coon
https://www.twitter.com/@kyle_coon
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