Why Setting Goals Is Important To Me

I was raised in Cleveland Ohio by a single parent mother.  I have an extremely large family but unfortunately I was a late in life baby so I didn’t have any sibling rivalry.  My mom took me to the library one day when I was about 5 years old and I saw a VHS tape that had a picture of a man Slam Dunking a basketball.  I wasn’t even sure what he was doing, but I knew I wanted to see more.  My mom took me home and I remember watching this movie over and over and almost feeling sad that I might not ever be able to Dunk a basketball.  One thing that still stands out in my mind is the vision of Spud Webb flying through the air at 5’7″ and achieving what seemed impossible.  From that moment on I Dunked garbage, cookies, and anything else I could.  I even convinced my mother to buy a small circle trampoline.  My mom cut a hole in the bottom of a pot that once held a plant just so I could shoot baskets in our drive way.  I began jumping off the trampoline and seeing part of my dream come true as I flew towards the pot that was nailed and stapled to our garage.  Constantly dreaming to one day Dunk a basketball on a regulation 10′ hoop.  This dream started as one thing but turned into so much more.  Years of vertical workouts, endless hours of basketball, and drills after drills.  What started as one thing turned into what seemed like an endless list of goals.  I won’t share them all but it looked something like this…..

Goals:  Touch the net, Touch the backboard, Grab the rim, Dunk a tennis ball, Dunk a soft ball, Dunk a regulation ball, Score 20 points in a middle school game, Start on a varsity team as a freshman, Play college ball, Play professional basketball, Travel the world, Dunk at a Cleveland Cavaliers game, Become a business owner, Work for an NBA team, Be a great husband and dad.

This list is missing over a thousand goals that I have set throughout my lifetime. It’s only a short list of goals that I was fortunate enough to accomplish so far.  My point of sharing this is that no matter what you have a passion for you should always set goals and continuously add goals.  This will push you to be the best you possible.  You’re going to fall short sometimes and you will experience disappointment.  But those things are only going to make you stronger, wiser, and better.  With that you will accomplish as much as you can imagine and more.  Prayer and faith played a huge part in me achieving these goals and are a vital component to all of my success.