“Big goals are achieved by thinking small”
Every day I think about my goals for Jenna. They aren’t about winning something, or beating someone, or being better at something than someone else. My goals for Jenna are simple and small, and they build on each other to create the overall goals that I have for us as a team. The overall goals are mine to change and add to. I can mold them into anything I want. This is something that I find priceless, the ability to alter goals as you grow and learn.
On the flip side, sticking to one’s goal is so important. Looking at a problem and giving up should never be the answer. Creating a goal that you truly feel is worth working towards is something everyone should do. Although I fear that very few people I know actually can set a goal and stick to it.
Obviously altering a goal is not the same as giving up, but the alterations should not make the goal easier to reach because that defeats the purpose of a goal. Goals should be placed just out of reach so you have to jump to get it and risk falling. Sports related goals are even more complex because they test physical and mental limits. “Great athletes challenge every limit and ignore boundaries.” In agility both the dog and handler are athletes. Both need goals to reach and limits to break.
I do find it amazing that there are so many little things that need to be changed before a goal can be reached. There are tiny little issues that we conquer every time we train. If you can go out and ace everything you train on… then what your training isn’t hard enough. There should always be a challenge. Without a challenge those tiny issues that affect our goals will never be resolved…and in the end that prevents a goal from being reached. Think small and find the little things that can be fixed, so that you can reach your big goals.
