Tomorrow is the 4th of July. The true opening of the second half of a year. Perhaps you like me set personal goals for 2024. You know. Things like taking on a few “bucket list” items. Losing a little weight or committing to change a behavior or two. When I set goals, I always focus on the outcome. The specific goal itself.

Weigh X by the end of the year. Take that trip, run a half marathon. Always focusing on the final result. What to accomplish. But there was an experience two years ago that changed this entire approach to goals for me.

The occasion? A celebration of the 2022 National College Football Championship. The place? Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia. Where eighty thousand excited fans gathered to honor the national champion Georgia Bulldogs. There were the usual introductions of players. The marching band sounding the college fight song. But it was a speech by the head coach of the team, Kirby Smart, that really caught my attention. Amidst the raucous cheers from the stands, he took the microphone on stage and here is what he said. And I paraphrase here…

“It’s wonderful to be here today. It’s been quite a journey for these young men. But as you know, we’d come close to winning the title a few years before. During those seasons I had this message for my players. ‘The National Championship is out there, guys! What we have to do is reach for it! Go get it! It’s there for the team who wants it most!’ We tried, we worked hard. The prize was ‘out there!’ But we fell short.”

Then Kirby said this. “This year I decided to change my approach. ‘Guys, what we need to do is show up for practice every day. Every day do the things we need to do the become the best we can be. With the commitment and discipline we know we’re capable of? And guess what. The National Championship? WILL FIND US. And it did. It found us.”

I learned a valuable lesson that day. As I celebrate “the 4th” tomorrow, my goals for this year are clear, they are fully attainable. But this time while I will frequently envision them, my focus will be on the steps I must execute daily. Instead of just keeping my eye on the prize, I’ll put my head down. Do what I must do each and every day. And I believe I’ll find that my goals. Their successful completion will at year end by achieved. They will come to me. They will find me too

So, at this midpoint in the year I’m thinking about this. Define the behaviors. What are the things I need to do, execute today… every day. Do them. Religiously. Put my head down. Maybe lift it up on October 1 to take one last look at the goals I set. And drive myself. Run to the tape.”

Like the Geogia football team, I will have realized that the prize may be the win. But the process is the path I need to take to get there.