{"id":309,"date":"2026-05-16T12:07:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/?p=309"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:07:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:07:31","slug":"excite-me-goals-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/?p=309","title":{"rendered":"Excite Me, Goals Do"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n Oh, for the love of all that is good and holy, why on earth would I follow up the clich\u00e9d listicle with GOALS<\/em><\/strong> of all things?!? Seriously, most days I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m thinking, either. But hang on\u2026\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n My youngest son waved at me to get my attention and pointed to the TV (where he was watching VA Tech swim against\u2026 someone) as I walked up from my office and into the kitchen (I swear<\/em> that sink was empty when I went downstairs, how do those dishes replicate themselves like that?!?). I wrapped up my call (I am enamored of the \u201cwalk and talk\u201d of The West Wing<\/a>, and emulate that style of meeting whenever possible), and asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \u201cDad! He got a 51! I\u2019m at 55, and my goal is 51 this year! I can DO THIS!\u201d*\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n I\u2019ve seen my son excited before, but not quite like this. He started swimming about the same time he started playing soccer, 6 years old or so (my wife will correct me as I\u2019m sure I wrong about that age, but note for the record I said \u201cor so\u201d). He tried two different year-round swim teams in the past, but decided to focus on soccer and stick to summer swim. After a terrific summer season a couple of years ago he asked us if he could try a new year-round team. Our deal remains the same with both our boys: we\u2019ll gladly support you and pay the necessary, but if we agree to support you, you\u2019re committed for at least<\/em> that full season \u2013 no bailing out midway. He was, and remains, all-in, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder of his commitment.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n But that excitement today! I\u2019ve not seen the like, and NEVER in the context of a goal. In fact, I\u2019m pretty sure the only prior goals he ever spoke about were those scored on the soccer field (or pitch, when we\u2019re watching Arsenal<\/a>, let\u2019s go you Gooners!). What changed? What had him excited, and what can we learn from him, when it comes to goals? So very glad you asked:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He moved out of his comfort zone <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Much has been written on this by others, but it certainly bears repeating. By approaching your work, career, hobby, family, or any other part of your life with a different perspective, and challenging your status quo, you glean insight that can yield new excitement. My son decided to challenge himself by committing to a sport for a full season, minimum. And by changing his mind, by being open to the new and unfamiliar, as hard as it\u2019s been, he\u2019s grown.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He found a great coach <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Again, much has been written on the benefit of a coach in your professional life (mine has been essential to my success and growth, and any failures are completely my own because I ignored or failed to execute on the coaching!). But truly, my son would not be nearly as excited about getting to practice, let alone setting and working towards goals, as he is were it not for his coach. He scolds, corrects, encourages, teaches, cheers and consoles every one of his swimmers where they are, and where they need to be. The coach is that impartial-yet-involved third party that sees what you can\u2019t and keeps you honest with yourself. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He set goals, better <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Not set better goals, though that may be something to consider. But I do mean set goals in a better manner, one that is more conscious and intentional. Yes, this will mean work, and not the kind you can rip out the night before it\u2019s due like back in school. This better goal setting needs to leverage focused reflection and careful scrutiny of where you are (or better, who you are), and where (who) you want to be, by when. Goals need to be clear, concise, and time-bound. As you know by now, I\u2019m a fan of the work of Michael Hyatt and the team at Full Focus. I use their SMARTER<\/a> framework every wintertime to structure my goal creation and setting.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He measures, reviews, resets and recommits as necessary <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Yes, I know I\u2019ve mentioned the whole Druker thing<\/a> before, but here\u2019s another one. What gets measured gets managed, sure, fine (and yes, I know this quote is from Drucker). Except measuring isn\u2019t enough, and everyone hates management (I mean, you\u2019ve seen the news about all the strikes, right?). But reviewing goals on a regular basis help you understand where you are in relationship to where you started (le duh, as a colleague likes to say), but also where you are as it regards the goal itself \u2013 is it still relevant, challenging, helpful? Sometimes a reset is warranted, a return to \u201cgo\u201d and a do-over. Other times a recommitment to the goal after missing or not quite completing the identified milestones is the most helpful and effective tactic. Regardless, review, review, review. And cut yourself a little slack, too.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Thoughts of you own on goals? A comment, critique, or conundrum? You know what to do\u2026 \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh, for the love of all that is good and holy, why on earth would I follow up the clich\u00e9d listicle with GOALS of all things?!? Seriously, most days I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m thinking, either. But hang on\u2026 My… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4bqFE-4Z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309\/revisions\/310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}