Tweet

Setting Records and Attaining Lasting Achievement

Written by: Don Doman

Article Overview: Randy knew Joe from track & field. He told a story of one track meet. Joe arrived late. As a member of ROTC and the reserves he had parachuted twice that morning and then rushed to the track meet. Once arriving at Pacific Lutheran University in nearby Parkland, he took part in the one hundred yard dash, the 220, anchored the 440, and did everything but give out towels. He took first place in each of seven events. How many people would have just stopped at jumping out of the airplane?

Setting Records and Attaining Lasting Achievement

Do we do enough? Do we have limits for what we can do? What we should do?

My best friend Randy, took me out to breakfast and we talked for a good hour and a half. Some of
the conversation centered around the University of Puget Sound. Randy and I, along with my wife,
attended school together, but did not know each other at the time. UPS is and was a small liberal
arts institution in Tacoma, Washington. Randy had been a language and business major. Peggy was a
German major, and I was a fine arts major.

I mentioned to Randy that I had almost attended a recent football game. Two weeks before I read a
great newspaper article about a current UPS “Logger” running back who was on-track for being the
most prolific rusher ever in school history. But, I didn’t make it to the game where Rory Lee set
the school record. To my dismay, the game was played in Spokane, which would have been a good six
hours plus drive over Snoqualmie Pass and across the state. I would have started out in the
darkness and returned in the darkness. I also would have probably ended up driving in rain and
snow. That trip was much more effort than I wanted to put forth. I would have driven the two
miles from my home to Baker Stadium on the UPS campus, however. I’m a very fair-weather
supporter.

The UPS Loggers lost the game. “Lee finished the afternoon with 101 yards on 27 carries and two
touchdowns. The game bumped his career rushing total to 4,051 yards and his season total to
1,278 yards, both new school records.” Randy bemoaned that fact that it's hard to compare current
record holders with those from the past. As always, statistics don’t really tell you about the
people. Records fall. Record holders change. Fame is fleeting.

Randy brought up the name of the football hero from when we attended school: Joe Peyton. Peyton
had been a marvelous athlete in multiple sports. Randy knew Joe from track & field. He told a
story of one track meet. Joe arrived late. As a member of ROTC and the reserves he had parachuted
twice that morning and then rushed to the track meet. Once arriving at Pacific Lutheran
University in nearby Parkland, he took part in the one hundred yard dash, the 220, anchored the
440, and did everything but give out towels. He took first place in each of seven events. How
many people would have just stopped at jumping out of the airplane?

Joe set records in many sports and eventually came back to UPS as football coach. His widow still
teaches Physical Education there. Rory Lee still has most of his life to set new records and
achieve goals. The world is waiting. Actually, I think the world grows tired of waiting for most
of us to contribute . . . anything.

So, how much can we do? More than most attempt. How many limits do we have? Fewer than we
suppose. What should we do? I think we should risk failure at every opportunity. We should do as much as we can do. Who knows what records we could break, if we would just try. Like Joe Peyton jumping out of an airplane should be only our first step.

Related Articles
  How to Increase Sales Using a Goal Achievement Mentality Instead of a Goal Setting One
  You Need to Close the Knowing-Doing Gap
  Reducing Cultural Challenges Saves Money
  How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 2)
  Time Management is an Oxymoron

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
Re: How do you monitor what people say about you in the web? - Setting up Google alerts for your keywords can give updates about your site. Also the publicity you create in the social media sites will do help too
Re: What is Your Favorite Thing About Owning A Business? - 1. Not feeling like I have to get approval for anything. 2. Not feeling like I have to please anyone. 3. Not having to ask permission before I do something. 4. Setting my own hours. 5. Sounding really cool when I tell people I have my own business.
Re: Books for Business Owners - Hi DougSchadle, Thanks for sharing your favorite business book with us! A good book I'm reading now is "Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed" by Brian Tracy as it was a birthday gift from a friend. Tracy's book is helpful in identifying what's important in your life and then setting an action plan to achieve it.
EvanCarmichael.com suggestion - Maybe I missed it but I would like to suggest that a Blog be created to support the Forum. The idea is that in the blog you put in snippets of some of the biggest conversations with a 'read more' link to the forum itself. Setting up the Blog and clipping some conversations onto it wouldn't take very long.
Re: how do I get started with Wordpress blog? - GoDaddy is another hosting company that works in conjunction with WordPress.org and makes set up a snap. For those of you entrepreneurs who are hesitant in setting up a WordPress blog due to time constraints or for whatever reason, I can help you with that. Setting up WordPress blogs is one of the services I provide, as well as maintaining it for you. Contact me for more information.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Avoid Burnout: Do the Limbo Regularly

Do You Pretend To Listen To People?

How Many Buckets Do You Need for Retirement?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.