All of us make goals, some of us make goals for a certain GPA, others make goals for a salary, and a few of us make goals about getting to the big leagues.
Just like many other kids in this world I had a dream of playing in the Big Leagues, I announced this goal every opportunity I had, and usually people laughed it off but I was serious. If you have this precise goal I want you to do the following on a daily basis.
Go home, get a note card out and write down your goal and hang it above your bed or on your headboard so you see it when you wake up and when you go to bed. I made my note card in eighth grade and it read “I will play shortstop in the major leagues”. Well as we all know I came up a little short of that goal but that is not the point.
Every morning when you wake up look at the card and ask yourself what can I do today to get me closer to my goal? Every night before you fall asleep ask yourself what did I do today to get me closer to my goal? Only you will know these answers and that is OK because there is no escaping yourself. You can always dupe others but you know the truth. No matter what your goal is, you have to write it down, you have to think about it, and you have to actively do what it takes to reach it. It will not be easy I can promise you that and you will have to make some tough decisions along the way, some may even affect friendships or what you perceived as friendships but if you stay the course you will be able to look yourself in the eyes and be happy no matter the outcome.
I can honestly say that I lived my life by that card. The card kept me from getting involved with drinking and other crap in high school because I knew that would not help me reach my goal. When I worked out at my house I would ask myself, is anyone else working this hard right now and if I thought they possibly could have my workout was not over. It was in my head that I was going to reach this goal, and I knew exactly what I had to do to get there and I did it. In the end I simply wasn’t a good enough player and as much as that sucks I can live with that. What I could not have lived with was knowing I could have worked harder, my motto was and still is, if you beat me because you are better then me I can handle that, but if you beat me because I didn’t work hard enough I can not live with that.
Most important thing to remember is don’t listen to people. When people tell you that your goal is impossible, or there is no way you will ever do that, just let it go in one ear and out the other. People would rather tell you your dream is impossible then put the years of work in to pursue theirs. Don’t listen, once you let them put doubt in your head they win, and your goal becomes harder to achieve. You have to believe in yourself.
