Facing the wall: Goal-setting helps us on the climb

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Dan Oosterhous
  • Academy Men's Tennis head coach
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY --  I've lost count of the opportunities the Air Force regularly gives me to set personal and professional goals. As Airmen, we routinely attend briefings, team building sessions and leadership seminars encouraging and helping us achieve our individual and institutional short- and- long term goals.

These events are great, but I've experienced no greater lesson on the value of setting goals than that which came in the wake of the two strokes I suffered in February.

During the initial stage of my recovery, my goals were simple: move my fingers, move my toes, get out of bed, take a step. Setting these short term goals was imperative for my independence. Without these small-target goals, I would have lacked motivation to recover from the near-paralysis affecting my left side.

Throughout my rehabilitation, I learned that goals are essential to our personal development.

Last May, I took my children to a park filled with activities I was in no condition to attempt: bungee-trampoline, zip line, go-carts and rock climbing. It's my nature to compete, so it was tough watching my kids go from activity to activity, but they encouraged me to be a participant after I watched them climb a 30-foot rock wall. I set a goal and decided to give it a try.

I slowly made it into my climbing gear with the help of an instructor and faced the wall. My goal was to climb as high as I could, which meant I had to focus only on what was directly in front of me. It took every bit of strength in my right side to raise my body inch-by-inch, straining with each step and grasp. I was on the wall until the muscle spasms told me it was time to stop, so I made a new goal: to get down safely. At the height of my climb, I was 3-feet off the ground but I felt like I had conquered that wall. My son captured the moment in a photograph now hanging in the men's tennis team's locker room. It's a reminder that without small steps, we'll never reach the top.

I remember looking up at that wall before I began to climb and thinking "How will I ever get there?" Well, I haven't gotten there yet, but just like you, I'll reach my long term goals bit by bit.

The truth is, we can't get there without starting. No one hits a target without first notching an arrow. Long-term goals, like reaching the top of that 30-foot rock wall, should be exactly what we want to accomplish; winning a tennis conference title, scoring 100 percent on a PT test, earning a promotion on our first attempt or even learning to walk again. The key to our success is keeping our goal in sight while we move in the right direction, achieving our long term goals bit by sometimes painful bit.

Through steady progress, I've met several goals since leaving the hospital: returning to work, coaching our conference tournament, commissioning cadets and returning to work. My next long term goal is to play tennis with my team in 2 years. To do this, I must be committed and positive despite of any setback. Regardless of the final outcome, I will give it my best effort and make meaningful gains.

We all have the potential to reach the top of our own rock walls. All of us have the ability to determine how high we want to go. Once we set a goal, we need to get to work and have faith that our attitude and effort will get us there. No matter how far we go, we should be proud of how far we've come. As a friend said after my rock climbing attempt. "You were higher than when you started."

To me, that's success.