The Dream Series Part 1 - D.R.E.A.M. to your goals

"Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal." Earl Nightingale

One of the great things about golf is that we can always learn to be better at part of the game.  And just like anything else in life, improvement takes time and persistence.  For those who stay to the task, the rewards of lower scores will come.

When I think about goals, I like to use the word dream for an acronym.  I'll do the short version here and then go into depth a little more later.

• D - Dare to dream big.  Most people settle for the things in life that come easy and give up on dreams.  For the golfers who are reading this, set your goal to break a barrier whether it be 70, 80, 90, 100 or 120.  And make sure that the goal is a little bit of a stretch.  What makes golf a great game is that we can always strive for continual improvement, no matter what level we are at and no matter what age we are, we can still hit a great shot at least once a round.
• R - Be resourceful.  Surround yourself with people that support your goals and especially those who can help you get there.  In addition, if our goal is to become better golfers, our understanding needs to grow.  More than ever before, there's never been a time  when so much information and learning is available immediately at our fingertips from downloading books to videos on YouTube.
• E - Energy and Excitement is key.  Any goal requires belief and desire to be excited about.  The information and encouragement you received from your resources leads to belief.  And belief feeds emotion.  "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."  Napoleon Hill 
• A - An attitude of Action.  Every journey starts with a single step and the first step is always the hardest.  Take the first step daily and track your progress towards your goal.  If you falter a little get back up and continue on your path.  Sometimes things don't always go right and this is the time you need to be especially excited about making your goal.  "There is no failure, only learning."  James Ray
• M - Mission.  Every successful company has a mission statement.  As individuals, we need one also to let ourselves know that we are "on a mission" to better things.  For me personally, it is "to touch one life daily in a positive way".  When it comes to my golf game and teaching, I try to learn one new thing daily so I have can always have something new to share with others.  The important thing about a mission statement is that it has to more than just words on a wall.  It needs to be something that burns deep down inside from your soul and fires you up as you inch closer to your goals and dreams.

In the next post, we will meet Keith Gockenbach.  He is someone who represents the importance of chasing dreams.

Mom, Dad and my friend Cameron - Setting life and golf in perspective.

There's a lot of parallels in golf and life.  A lot of golfers lose their enthusiasm when things start going bad and it just isn't any fun.  Sounds kind of like life in general, doesn't it.  Let me share a few stories that help me keep life in perspective.  I learned them from Mom, Dad & my friend Cameron (pictured on the left).
On September 9, 2001, Mom & Dad came out from L.A. to visit me in Indiana.  Two days later, we experienced the terrorist attack on The World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  We were out for dinner at the Olive Garden that evening and only two other tables were occupied.  As we were talking, my Dad said two simple words, "They win."  What he meant was that the terrorists broke our spirit and our feeling of being invulnerable.  This came from two people (my parents) who after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, despite the fact they were born on American soil, as teenagers were told that they were not worthy of being American citizens because of their Japanese ancestry and sent to "relocation" camps.  In addition, my mom has been through Cancer twice and my dad has gone through the numerous surgeries for heart conditions.  I've not been through anything so traumatic in my life.  That evening, I learned a simple lesson.  Greatness comes from doing the basic tasks in life like waking up and going to work every day to the best that we've got to give.

A few years back, I had the opportunity to meet an amazing young person, Cameron Howard.  Cameron is afflicted with a condition called Progeria.  Progeria is a disease that causes the body to age at a highly accelerated rate, and most people with Progeria seldom live past 13 years of age.  If you've read my first blog post, one of my basic "rules" of golf is "golf is a game for a lifetime".  Maybe I should change the phrase to "life is a game for a lifetime!"  From Cameron's example, I've learned a lot.  He has a great attitude and a huge smile.  He approaches life with great enthusiasm and his parents, Jason & Stephanie, share that enthusiasm and make the most of every day. 
It's that example of the attitude of the Howard family that has given me the inspiration to approach life with a great enthusiasm and treat each person I meet if more important than myself.    For myself and anyone who's ever met Cameron, he's a bright shining light to those of us who've lived a full life and makes me appreciate the life I've lived and have yet to live.
So although all I may be is a golf pro in Benton Harbor, MI, I hope I can affect someone else's life along the way by sharing some of the lessons I've learned and living each day to the fullest possible.  Thanks Mom, Dad & Cameron.

To learn more about Cameron Howard, visit http://www.iamcam.org/.  In August we will have our annual charity day at Lake Michigan Hills to bring awareness to Progeria Research.