Hockey’s just a Metaphor. This is WAY More Important!
I heard a speaker ask the audience what would happen if the goals were removed from the ice during a hockey game. As absurd as that sounds, he asked what the reaction of the players on the ice might be. Answers shot out from the audience and included “How am I supposed to score if there aren’t any goals” along with “There’s no value in playing if there isn’t a method of keeping score.” The audience had just played directly into the speakers’ hands as he followed their responses with the statement “100 percent of the shots taken in a hockey game fail if there are no goals. No goals equal no success. It’s the same with life.” Wow, what a profound thought process. The rest of the presentation that day changed (improved) my life.
Why does it seem that whenever Goals in Life comes up, most of us immediately revert to “conversation unpleasantness mode” and dread what’s about to be talked about? Or even worse, if you’re a knucklehead like me, you show a complete understanding of the value of well-thought-out goals but choose not to utilize the valuable knowledge.
Case in point, I was the “Goal Setting Champion” in the Dale Carnegie Sales Course I took when I was in my twenties and had put a lot of thought and effort into winning that award. The real problem I faced after winning was that I failed to put the tool I had created into any form of use in my life. My shots weren’t missing the goal; I wasn’t even taking any shots. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I was taking shots where direction didn’t matter…where the results of those shots were misdirected from having any positive impact on my life. I wanted them to have a positive impact, but it seemed like the only time my shots achieved success, it was luck that was involved versus a perfectly planned shot on goal.
As we grow in life, it’s amazing how often we’re asked the question “What are your goals in life?” It’s not an easy question to answer. When a person responds to that question with a vague answer like “Oh, I plan on being successful” or “I want to be a millionaire” the natural follow-up question is “HOW are you going to do that?” Not having some type of specific plan in place to achieve a stated goal would suggest aloofness or indifference.
“What are your goals in life” may also come up during a job interview where the answer you provide may be the determining factor to you being hired or overlooked for a better candidate. My point is that having goals that are written, with each goal having a step-by-step defined plan for achievement, gives you a huge advantage in life. And it’s FREE. All that the usage of goals requires is a little research and time to get started, and consistent frequency of updating and measuring progress.
Well-thought-out goals took on a whole new meaning for me when I got married. It was important that I was able to create a goal, be able to explain the WHY behind the goal, and be able to articulate the step-by-step HOW I was going to achieve the goal with a system of measurement and timeline accountability associated with the goal. Hint: In practice, it’s a whole lot easier than I just made it sound.
My wife and I have four sons and as they were growing up, we really wanted to present the use of goals in life to each of them in a way that had them embracing the use of goals for the rest of their life in every area of their life. The hockey metaphor really helped us explain the WHY behind all the goals we set in life and the significance of a purposeful HOW for each goal.
When it was clear our sons understood the positive impact goals would have on their future, we had some fun with it. We envisioned a basketball court with backboards but no hoops for the ball to go through. Then they pretended they were a player looking over at the coach asking, “How am I supposed to score without anything to shoot for?”….exactly, just like life. Same with a soccer field with no goals. Can you imagine one parent in the stands asking another “How come every time they attempt to score, they miss?” with the other parent responding “It sure would be easier if the goals were present providing a target. Without goals, all their efforts are misdirected.”….exactly, just like life.
The way we live our life determines the level of joy and happiness we achieve. Believing that kids pick up more on what their parents do rather than what their parents say, I re-write my goals regularly asking myself if the WHY and the HOW continue to work. I question myself as to whether all my actions, based on my new goals, pass the test that leads me to living a more intentional life. A life more focused on helping others rather than myself. It works really well for me and so far, it seems like our sons are finding joy utilizing this method of setting, embracing, and achieving goals in the different areas of their life. You can too!!
There are plenty of worthwhile strategies on the internet to assist you in setting, implementing, and maintaining goals for every area of your life. YOU are worth the small amount of time to pursue goals and the positive impact they’re destined to have in your life. I hope you’ll pursue a new beginning in your life with a “goals strategy” leading your pursuit of success. Now… take some form of immediate action and start living out the goals that you’ve set. Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!