And a Few Words About Goal Setting
By: Mike Murray
STC Fellow and Former Three-Time Chapter President
Orlando Central Florida Chapter, STC
I recently found out that I am an STC Fellow! Achieving this honor has been one of my goals for many years, but one that I expected not to reach after developing Parkinson’s disease. In fact, my original STC goals after completing a three-year tour of duty as president of our chapter included serving on the STC Board of Directors for a few years before setting my sights on the STC presidency. I had even planned how I was going to appear on stage for the first time (assuming I won the election, of course! J). Whatever city we were to be in, I would don the uniform of the city’s baseball team. Over the intercom would come the song “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play!” I would burst upon the stage with a few of my expected antics, and the crowd would clap and laugh, knowing that it was going to be an interesting, if not downright exciting year for STC!
While I am disappointed that I was unable to reach my lofty goal, I do not regret setting it that high. As Michelangelo once said, “The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” Our chapter has never been, nor do I ever expect it to be, mediocre. We have never been average or ordinary. We challenge ourselves by setting lofty goals. Whether we achieve them or not, raising the bar high as we set our goals has kept us operating at energetic, creative, and consistent levels of excellence
My thanks for receiving the special honor of Fellow goes out to all of you and especially to the Fellow who nominated me and the three Fellows who endorsed my nomination. Having that many Fellows in a chapter our size is indicative of the quality of our supporting members and the ongoing vitality of our programs.
I fully intend to keep setting lofty goals, and I encourage you to do the same. To paraphrase Robert Browning, “Your reach should exceed your grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” You never know. By reaching for the stars, even if you never get there, think of all the Excellent achievements you never dreamed possible that you can snag along the way!