A New Year’s tradition my family honors annually stems from my grandmother and her Czechoslovakian heritage. On New Year’s Eve, everyone in our family places a coin or two under the welcome mat on the front porch. We never forget to do this as my grandmother—and now my mom—carries on the role of reminding family members to put the coins outside.

The warning was always the same: If you do not put your money out, you will be broke next year. When we were young, no one wanted to chance it, so the coins we had saved went under the doormat. They were picked up on New Year’s Day and were not spent. Those coins made their way to our savings account.

THE GODDARD WAY

Most families probably have some type of family tradition, but the one that affected me the most was when I was 13 and my mom told me about John Goddard. As the story goes, on a rainy afternoon Goddard sat down at his kitchen table in Los Angeles and wrote these three words on a yellow, legal-sized notepad: My Life List.

Goddard, who became a famous explorer, adventurer, anthropologist, and lecturer, was 15 at the time and listed 127 goals he wished to experience or achieve in his lifetime. Some of the 127 goals were not easy. He, for example, wanted to study primitive cultures, explore the Orinoco River in Venezuela, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, learn jujitsu, circumnavigate the globe four times, and the list goes on.

Readers might be thinking bucket list right now, but it was Goddard who started me on my goal-setting habit. From him, I learned that the goals must be written down without hesitation. Just write quickly, enumerating ideas of places to visit, things to accomplish, books to read, financial ideas, family goals, purchases to make, health ideas, and so forth. Keep making the list without contemplating all the details and costs.

Think of the Goddard List as a written plan to mark off and date when accomplished. Let me stress again that the list must be written on paper or typed on the computer.

Now this is vital. Do not keep something off the list because of the price or cost. If there is something like a new Audi or a cruise to Alaska, put that on the list. At this point, money is not the issue. The next part of the planning involves the who, what, when, where, and how.

I know that this type of list making and goal setting works, and I have been setting my Goddard goals each January 1st for 19 years. I also know that I have been a goal setter since second grade when I decided to graduate from Syracuse University. I had developed a plan for grades, for obtaining academic scholarships, and for working three jobs, and my list went on.

GOAL-SETTING TIPS

As I travel forward in my life, I know that goal setting produces results. I still diligently set goals to be a good husband and father to my children and to travel to faraway destinations as often as I can. My Goddard upbringing makes that list grow. Similarly, I use my knowledge of the Goddard process to develop goals as a local government manager.

There is a discipline in achieving goals. The first step, again, is to write them down. This does not guarantee success, but it increases the probability of the goal being achieved. And the great part is, there is no cost involved—just a little time.

Second, the goals need to be visible. I put my personal goals on the refrigerator along with my children’s artwork and school papers. The goals need to be placed somewhere visible so they serve as a daily reminder. My work goals are on a yellow legal tablet right on my desk.

Finally, pick a reasonable date to achieve a goal. Deadlines work wonders. Jot down the obstacles to overcome. Think of supportive people who will help you along the way.

STEADFAST PURSUIT

Goals also have a sense of priority. There needs to be an action plan in which the person actually begins to do something, anything. Every day keep moving in the direction of the Goddard goal to develop momentum. Then, work diligently on this goal until it is achieved.

Vince Lombardi once said, “Leaders aren’t born; they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”