On Setting and Achieving Goals

This summer I finally achieved a goal I have been pursuing for seven years. It has nothing to do with raising my children or my work (my two main priorities for the last 21+ years) and it wasn’t a lofty goal, it had nothing to do with contributing to world peace or saving the planet.  It was strictly a fun goal that I set to challenge myself physically so it had been put on the back burner countless times.  Last summer I got so discouraged that I actually gave up and didn’t try at all.

I wanted to be able to ski on one water ski, in waterskiing lingo: slaloming. In addition, I wanted to be able to get up on one ski which is known as a deep water start.  Why?  Well, my husband is a fantastic and fanatical water-skier.  He has trained me to drive the boat for him so all summer I am rousted at 6 am so he can get the best water.  So, in some ways it is a case of “if you can’t shut ‘em up, join ‘em”.  Plus I thought it would be a fun thing to share – I will never join him on the black diamond runs in the winter, and golf puts me to sleep so I thought this could be “our thing” we do together.

I had long ago mastered getting up on two skis; I learned as a kid, and had experimented with dropping one.  That was OK, but I was always worried about another boat hitting the dropped ski, or losing the ski.  And, it required one more piece of gear, and let’s face it, it was just not cool.  I wanted to slalom.

One summer I tried so many times that I drank gallons of lake water and exhausted even my angelic husband’s patience.  Our lake neighbors got into the game and provided coaching and extra help.  This summer I got re-inspired.  My husband and I spent the entire spring working out the gym religiously and I felt strong.  Plus I hate quitting.  Anything.

So it was time to try again and much to my surprise, I got up on the second try.  OK, now we were cooking.  So the next day when I went to recreate my achievement and  got up but also put my back out so badly that I couldn’t even pick up a wet towel much less myself on a tow rope.  A colleague actually suggested I might be too old for these shenanigans. Oh, the frustration, boy was I mad.

Three weeks later, back all better, it was make it or break it, I had 3 more days at the lake and I got up the first try.  The next day, again and then, a third time.  No drinking 10 gallons of lake water, no being dragged sideways yelling epithets.  Just up on the ski and back and forth across the wake until I was too tired to hold on any more.

And who cares?   Well, no one. But I had so much good natured support from people who love me.  It was so touching to see how much pleasure my small success gave them.   It is true that all the research says that learning new things and pushing oneself physically is one of the key ways to ward off aging.  But really, having a challenging, complicated goal with nothing (my pride aside) of true consequence at stake was simply fun.  It made me forget everything else during the time I was doing it.

I laughed, I whooped, I felt like a kid again.  I realize how serious my life is – raising teenagers, running households, employing and managing people. The goals I set for myself these days are so complicated and involve so many moving parts, and although I accomplish a lot, I always fall short of them.

I was reminded how fun it is to actually set and achieve a goal.  Any goal that seems a little out of reach but possible with enough persistence. I highly recommend it.