Achieve Your Goals: Lessons from the Field

When I was growing up in Pennsylvania, my family spent many Sunday afte
oons at my grandparent's house in Corry. In the spring, summer and fall, the kids of the family (Teresa, who's my sister, plus our four cousins, Paula, Debbie, Stephie and Monice) raced around the backyard playing "Andy over," "Spud" and "Mother may I?" Good times--except when I had to go through the "paddle machine! ; )

Winters, though still fun, had to be spent indoors coloring or dealing out round after round of "Uno!" Eventually, especially during December and January Sundays, we all ended up in the living room watching football and munching on Troyer Farm's potato chips and cheese puffs--each from our own pink Melmac bowl.

Since where I grew up is almost equi-distant from Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Cleveland, everyone had a different "local" team. Mine was the Browns and I was a TV witness to "The Drive" and "The Fumble," capitalized plays famous for keeping Cleveland from moving closer to the Super Bowl.

Now I'm in San Diego and a Chargers fan. No matter that we've come oh-so-close the last few years, I've learned something about the people of San Diego--they are an optimistic and forward-looking bunch.

Come to think of it, I've learned several lessons from a few other sports figures who maintain a sense of optimism, preparedness and adventure--qualities we can all use more of in life, don't you think?

Be prepared. Really prepared. Dick Enberg, sports announcer for football, baseball and tennis, does a ton of talking during a three-hour broadcast. My sister was in a classroom one time and Enberg dropped by before a game to chat with the students. One of the gems he shared with the group is that he goes into the broadcast booth with more than twice as much material as he thinks he'll need. If you've ever paid attention to what he says in a broadcast, you know that he gives a ton of commentary, shares dozens of stats and tells many behind-the-scenes player stories. Besides being prepared in case the guy or gal next to him comes down with a sudden case of laryngitis, I'm sure it gives Enberg one less thing to worry about--plus a huge boost in confidence.

The DK Takeaway: Being an expert all starts with knowing your stuff really, really well.

Get out of your comfort zone for your greater good. Okay, I really like football, but last year I started following baseball more closely. (March 31--opening day for the Padres--is circled on my calendar in red.) I was on the Padres' site and read that during the off season pitcher Chris Young is hard at work doing pilates. An athlete doing pilates might not be too surprising, but the idea of Young--all 6'10'' of him--was enough to even make GM Kevin Towers comment that it was hard to believe there was a pilates reformer large enough to hold him. Yet Young needs to strengthen his core if he's going to pitch his best and stay off the disabled list, and he's willing to take the chance of looking even slightly ridiculous to do it.

The DK Takeaway: What is the one thing you need to do to stretch yourself beyond current horizons?

Don't be surprised by success. Back to football with LaDainian Tomlinson, last year's NFL MVP and San Diego's hope to be back on the field this Sunday after suffering a hyper-extended knee against Indy. In early December, Tomlinson passed Walter Payton to become third on the all-time career rushing touchdown list. During an interview about it, he was asked how he felt about surpassing the milestone. He replied, "It wasn't an emotional moment because I expected it to happen."

Now Payton was a hero of Tomlinson when he was a child, and he has nothing but respect for the man. At the same time, Tomlinson had visualized the moment of passing the record so many times he wasn't taken aback by his success when it actually happened. (I bet LT, more than anyone, is seeing that victory over New England on Sunday.)

The DK Takeway: See your own success so clearly and vividly that it will be "no big deal" when it happens.

Okay, I'm getting out the Melmac (but the skipping the chips--Troyer Farms products don't extend all the way out to Califo
ia) in preparation for Sunday's game--no matter the sport! nn