Goals

Success equals goals; all else is commentary. - Brian Tracy

This Sunday, millions of people in 220 countries will watch two premier football teams battling to win Super Bowl XXXVII. These teams began the year with that one goal in mind. In the end, they have played sixteen regular season games and two (or three) play-off games, fought through injuries, adversity, penalties, personalities, brutal weather and bad calls in search of a dream: winning the Super Bowl. (For Seattle, it would be their first ever!)

Achieving your goals is one of the most rewarding things in life ... but if they are worthwhile it won't be easy. There are adversaries you will battle before you reach them.

The more goals you set ... the more goals you get. - Mark Victor Hansen

Adversary #1 - Procrastination. In order to reach our goals, we have to set them. But here's the problem: we know when we set a goal we are saying that something in our lives is incomplete. That there is some area where we could operate on a higher level or we recognize some achievement that we haven't attained. Goal setting means telling myself that I will change ... I will grow ... I will practice ... I will risk ... I will start ... I will ....

Accomplishment is impossible until you recognize a worthwhile goal, and then
set out to achieve it. A goal is a dream with a deadline. - Unknown

Adversary #2 - Problems. You will never achieve anything worthwhile without overcoming obstacles. If it were easy, anyone would do it! No matter what the goal is you've set for yourself, get ready for problems to
appear.

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. - Jim Rohn

And the timing couldn't be worse! You've just convinced yourself to get off your ... couch ... and set the goal of achieving something you've dared to dream. No sooner do you set out on the road to success and suddenly there's a roadblock right in front of you. What do you do? Do you give up, say you knew you couldn't do it, chalk it up to experience, and go back to ... what? Failure? NO!

Fall seven times. Stand up eight. - Japanese Proverb

You anticipate problems ... think yourself around them ... act your way through them ... but you don't let them derail your commitment to pursue your goals!

The greatest obstacle you will ever face is you! When you come to a problem, overcome your fear, the negative self-talk, and the attitude of quitting. When you can attain victory over your self, you will find that any other problem is just a pebble in your shoe ... irritating, but easily discarded!

When you dare to dream, dare to follow that dream, dare to suffer through the
pain, sacrifice, self-doubts, and friction from the world, and you will
genuinely impress yourself. - Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Adversary #3 - People. When you are bold enough to set a worthwhile goal, there will always be those who will tell you it can't be done ... or it could be done, but YOU couldn't do it! There are many reasons why people attack us when we set our goals and start down the road to accomplishment ... understanding those reasons won't make it any easier to take. Don't try. Just treat people with respect, and stay away from people who hinder your dreams.

There's always someone to suggest that you'll never be who you wanted to be.
Your choice is to take it ... or keep moving. - Phylicia Rashad

Goals are necessary tools to success. But success is never easy. You'll have to battle procrastination ... anticipate problems ... and disregard some people. It's not easy. But Super Bowl goals, even personal and seemingly small ones, brings its own reward!