Banana yellow skateboard & The Beach Boys’ Greatest Hits were my older sister’s birthday presents when she was probably 12 or 13 years old.
While the Beach Boys vinyl got plenty of rotations on the turntable, the skateboard was terrible: Way too flexible it would bend horribly even under a child’s weight and ball bearings that had a crunchy sound while rolling inconsistently even on smooth pavement.
A recent rummage through my parents’ garage resulted in the rediscovery of that yellow wonder and it did not disappoint in being disappointingly horrendous. I tried a few kicks and it clunked forward and stop rolling randomly — though I did not give it much of a chance as it was flexing into a parabola under my now adult weight.
Regardless, new dreams of skateboard glory were sparked: Time to recapture youthful freedom and reignite what all those Bones Brigade videos had promised.
Whether a skateboard, a new hobby to indulge in, a passion to cultivate, or a professional project to pursue, goal-setting can help initiate and frame the process.
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Compare what one could say:
¹ “This year I will buy a skateboard”
² “This year I will learn to skateboard”
³ “This year I will do an ollie”
All are good, straightforward goals and would return their own level of satisfaction.
#1 will get things started and is the optimistic first step.
#2 frames what the whole endeavor is about.
However, it is #3 that subsumes the other two and manifests them as precedents to an awesome skill. If I am able to complete an ollie, it means that not only did I purchase a board (check!) and practice & study skateboarding techniques (check!) but I had a specific objective that fueled the process.
Simply setting the goal of buying the skateboard in the hope that it would initiate the desire to then learn how to skate may have never progressed beyond #1 or #2.
With the goal as a very specific – but achievable – trick, all efforts are aligned in building on skills that lead to its successful completion.
Set a long, specific goal — it will return rewards and learning even if never attained.
(And, you’ll have fun fun fun ‘Til — oh, never mind…)