¡Goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal….s!

 

I saw a fortune cookie this morning that stated “Failure is the mother of all success”.  I showed it to my wife and she said she liked it. I thought to myself, “I think I like it…I mean, I am a subject matter expert on it. Been doing it my whole life…pretty good at it actually.” However, I have had success; I wouldn’t have married my wife, I wouldn’t have join the Coast Guard, so I probably wouldn’t be doing this “Life Endurance thingy”, so I wouldn’t be doing this blog and would me that you wouldn’t be reading this at this time, scary I know…butterfly effect and all that. A while ago I was looking for motivation and came across this video. I liked the video but I like it even more now after thinking about this…

 

There is also this famous quote from Michael Jordan:

“I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

So what is the difference between those who just fail and those that fail then succeed?

…They set goals for themselves.

Below is a study from Harvard…I think they know a thing or two about … well, stuff… 

“There was a study done at Harvard between 1979 and 1989. Graduates of the MBA program were asked “Have you set clear written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” The results of that question were:

1. Only 3% had written goals and plans
2. 13% had goals but not in writing
3. 84% had no specific goals at all

10 years later Harvard interviewed the members of that class again and found:

1. The 13% who had goals but not in writing were earning on average twice as much as the 84% of those who had no goals at all
2. The 3% who had clear, written goals were earning on average 10 times as much as the other 97% of graduates all together. The only difference between the groups is the clarity of the goals they had for themselves”

SOURCE: http://www.betternetworker.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23456

So what does this have to do with the price of Marzipan in China? Well nothing…really. But it does have to do with me and probably some of you reading this. I have some things I want to accomplish. I have had “plans” almost everyday of my life. I have had many Marzipan moments from opening a cheese shop to becoming a high school art teacher. But none of these came to fruition for a few reasons: One – it was Marzipan, two – I had no real set goals on how to accomplish it. I didn’t have any smaller goals to set to be a launching pad for the larger goals.

So, in theory, goal setting is easy.

1. Figure out what it is.
2. Then do it

Easy right? Wrong…In the Coast Guard they have us set goal using the SMART model:

• S = Specific
• M = Measurable
• A = Attainable
• R = Realistic
• T = Timely

Doing this , or something like it, is why those Harvard MBA grads turned their 150,000 dollar education into a bazillions dollars… give or take a few gazillion. By not doing this, sadly, I am not a Cheesemonger … sad I know. It’s ok, I have gotten over it (Deep inside me the desire is still there). That Marzipan just will not go away.

So, I have goals; I am going to write them down and I implore you to help me.

• Change my Running Cadence to Pose running before my marathon in  April
• Run two full marathons in a twelve month period. I am running one in April and another with my brother in law in October next year.
• Become a level 1 Crossfit trainer before December 31st of next year.
• Become a Crossfit Endurance Coach before December 31st of next year.
• lose 20 lbs. of fat
• Run 75 miles in the Relay for Life 24 hour Ultra Marathon in April. (My marathon will be my warm up:)

I think that is it. whew...when you write it down it looks like a lot. It’s only six things but they are doozies. But, I want to make these not Marzipan. I want to look back at 2012 and 2013 and say, “wow I finished them!” I will do it. It might take the entire time, but I will do it. Anybody want to come along with the ride?  If I am driving this thing, we will probably get lost and someone might lose a limb, but in the end we will have done something great for ourselves and, in my case, my children. Maybe for others it will be for a sister or brother, mother or father, a friend or other family member. They don’t have to be the same goals I am doing, but do something. Don’t wait for the new year, those fail anyway. Start this month, next week,…now.

I will end now, but I will leave you with one more inspirational video…then go forth and do great things, because life is like a mop.