Dream Big and Plan for Success

Dreaming about success is a great thing, because it motivates you to want to achieve something more than what and where you are today. Dreams are not always measured by success, but quite often by the journey and the “mini-successes” you have along the way, and what you learn about yourself in the process.
However, your dreams don’t amount to much unless you take action to work toward your goals. This month I’d like to discuss the process by which you can work toward your dreams.

Set Your Goals

The first part of goal setting is to put the goal down in writing. At my age, my first instinct was to tell you to put the goal down on paper, so you can look at it each day and be motivated by it. However, if you have electronic media with which you can record and review this information, it is also very useful. The medium by which you put this down is not as important as the fact that you do record your goals and review them on a regular basis.

You’ve probably heard the saying in snowboarding “go big or go home.” Don’t be afraid to dream big, but realize that the bigger the dream is, the harder you will have to work to achieve that dream. When I see a player in a PBA tournament finishing far from the leader board, I sometimes think back to those who do not compete, but frequently judge or ridicule those toward the bottom of the field. To those I would say that at least those people were willing to take a risk to take a shot at their dreams.

I asked a young student about goals. My student wants to roll a 300 game in the next year. Is this a reasonable goal for a middle-school aged bowler who has not yet averaged 160? Absolutely, because there are a lot of things that make up shooting a 300 game, such as a strong mental game, repeating shots, having a consistent swing, rolling the ball well to generate good carry, etc. This goal has led to the development of a plan of action, which is what I want to discuss next.

Once you have made a commitment to your goals, then you need to write them down, and review them periodically. This is your “anchor” or the thing that you can view as tangible proof of your commitment. So how do you work to achieve that goal?

In order to work toward your goals, you need to make a plan. As in the 300 game example above, you and your coach can construct a series of steps that will move you toward your goal. First, decide on the real changes that you can make that will improve your chances of achieving your goal. Make a list of the changes, then work with your coach to turn that list into a series of physical and mental changes to your game.

Next, you want to put together a schedule that you can follow to work toward your goal. Set a level of practice and a series of competitive experiences that will move you toward your goal. In addition to practice and improvement, you must compete in order to get the experience you will need to learn, evaluate your progress, and focus your attention.

Measure Your Progress

You will want to measure your progress in a number of different ways. For example, in every block in which I bowl, I keep track of the number of makeable spares  that I miss (each is assigned a value of -1) versus the number of difficult spares that I make (each is assigned a value of +1). I add these two numbers to form
what I call the “turnover game.” My goal is to always finish at 0 or higher. This number, of course, is relative to your ability, and this is not the only way you can measure your progress with something other than scores. You can record your target versus the board that you actually hit at one or more places on the lane
each frame, measure your spare shooting percentages, or any number of other methods that will help you and in ways that can be fun. These can be measures that you use during practice, competition, or both. Finally, the most important thing that you will need to do is evaluate your performances. There is a significant difference between evaluating and judging. Evaluation is an examination of your strengths and weaknesses so that you will know what to improve upon before the next event. Judgement is an emotional attachment of yourself based on your performances. The process of taking risks and going after goals WILL NOT WORK if you judge yourself, but it will work quite well if you honestly evaluate your performances and adjust your improvement plans accordingly.

Remember, dream big, even if you stumble along the way. Trying is better than sitting on the sidelines.