We spend a lot of time talking about goal setting and role models as major tools of drug prevention. This weekend we saw examples of some of the best role models take the world’s stage with the conclusion of Wimbledon and the beginning of the Tour de France. The Williams sister won the singles and doubles women’s tennis championship and Roger Federer won a remarkable 15th men’s Grand Slam Title on the center court of Wimbledon in London, England. The winners of these events are not the only focused athletes performing at their best, which was proved hit after hit by Andy Roddick who came in a very close second place in the men’s tennis.
As the tennis came to a close, the Tour de France began, with some of the fittest cyclist in the world coming together to prove they are the fastest sprinters, the best mountain climbers, and the most focused riders over a grueling 3 weeks of racing. Lance Armstrong is back on his bike, surrounded by an amazing team including Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador and many other amazing athletes.
Not only have most of them found their element that they excel in, but they have expanded past their primary focus. The Williams sisters have gone to school to make sure that they have expanded their personal interests in fashion, languages and business. Roger Federer speaks several languages fluently and will soon become a new father. They all have foundations they have created and causes they believe in, but the most famous is the 7 time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, who has a goal of raising awareness about cancer eradication with his foundation called Livestrong (www.livestrong.org.) We have both participated in Livestrong events several times! Also, all the aforementioned athletes have competed in the Olympics, and most went home with medals.
Each of these competitors has trained since they were very young to achieve a single goal of being the best they can be in their chosen field. They didn’t just train their bodies, they trained their brains to be disciplined enough to follow a path. All of these athletes have been accused of drug use (called doping) more times than they can count and passed many, many drug tests to get here. Does this mean that they will never have an incident of drug use or never become an addict? Nobody can predict what choices these people will make for themselves in the future, but what is obvious is that they have worked extremely hard to make it happen and to be drug free.
These examples of success are people who found something they loved, set a goal, made a plan, and executed that plan. It’s that simple! Anyone can do it, they just have to find one thing that they love and make it happen. You don’t have to achieve greatness on the world stage, you just have to set a goal and make it happen. I have several goals: to make a great chocolate chip cookie, to finish my Ph.D, to be an active parent and to go on another big Disney Cruise. I calculate and recalculate over and over how to meet these goals with charts, plans and dates while trying to jump over all of life’s obstacles that are thrown at me each day. My daughter has a “dream board,” with pictures of snapping her fingers, doing a cartwheel, and whistling. Jonathan will ride a 125 mile bike ride on his “Tour of Southern California” goal this summer. You can do it, and you can teach your children and students how to do it, just set one little goal today and then take that first step down the path to unlimited achievement.
