Back To School Tips: Tip #2 Setting Goals

  It’s August and for high school students across the country that can only mean one thing: the start of another school year is right around the corner. Well, we’re going to help make that transition easier for you this year by offering some weekly back to school tips.   This week’s tip: Setting Goals.   Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher and 10-time World Series Champion as a player, once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Known for having a unique way with words (search the web for more Yogi-isms), Yogi’s quote hits this week’s Back to School tip out of the park. In school, as in life, if you don’t set goals for yourself, you’ll run the risk of not accomplishing very much, personally and academically. When setting goals, the first thing to remember is to make sure your goals are attainable. Don’t make them easy, make them doable. The sense of accomplishment you’ll experience when you achieve a goal is not only personally rewarding, it helps propel you on to achieving more goals. Approach the school year with some set goals – in and out of the classroom. When setting a goal, it’s important to identify the small steps required to follow the path that leads to your goal. To use baseball as an example, before you think of crossing home plate, figure out what you have to do to reach first base, then second base and so on. Below are some additional goal -setting tips from two Major League baseball players who have been actively involved in the Action Team for many years. As you might imagine, these guys live in a world where goals make and break careers. We think their tips will help you start the school year off on the right foot.   LaTroy Hawkins, playing in his 20th Major League season; relief pitcher, Colorado Rockies: “To paraphrase something poet and writer Bill Copeland once said, without setting goals you’ll end up spending your life running up and down the field and never score. Setting goals gives you clarity on what you WANT and what you need to do to keep you focused on the prize. Setting goals helps you be the best you can BE!”   Carlos Pena, playing in his 14th Major League season; first baseman, Texas Rangers – Tip regarding goal-setting in a team environment: “Always have the overarching goal in mind, which is the team goal instead of a personal goal. Sacrifice for the bigger cause, for the team. When you think about the team, all of a sudden good things happen to you.”   To view this blog entry, and others on the Action Team website click here.