How to Accomplish Your New Year Resolutions

Okay, it's 2013, and if you are like most people, you have a set of new year resolutions. (Come on, admit it: One of them is to lose weight and get in shape, isn't it? My son is irritated how the gym parking lot is overcrowded until mid-February, when most of those people will give up on their fitness program.) However, when 2014 rolls around again, how many of the items on your list will you have accomplished?

I speak to many organizations about dealing with change or rejuvenating their job searches, and both topics involve accomplishing goals. I make to-do lists every year, and I fulfill a fairly high percentage of my goals. For example, over the last five years, I built a new website, read a number of new books each year, published my own book, earned two advanced Toastmaster designations, created two new keynote speeches, learned to speak Italian on a conversational level, and got a solo with my singing group (singing in Italian, incidentally). I'm not exactly Tim Ferriss, but I can claim to have done many of things I set out to do. Here are the steps that will help you reach your annual goals.

1) Presume that time management is achievable.
Don’t let anyone tell you “no matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day.” I find that thinking limiting and negative.  While it’s true that each of us have the same number of hours, we can always optimize them.

2) Find out where you're wasting time and eliminate them.
What are your time-bandits? Don’t spend too much time surfing the Internet, reading e-mail or social media, or making personal calls. Tracking your daily activities will disclose what you are actually accomplishing, which is an important step in time management. (Example: I don’t turn on the TV during the day unless I see that an important event has happened.

3) Use a time management tool.
 This is the most important step. To physically and actually manage your time, you need to know where it's going now and then plan how you're going to spend your time in the future. You can use a calendar or a software program, such as Outlook, to schedule events know in advance what you will be doing. I'm low-tech, so I use an ordinary to-do list.

4) Set Your Priorities.
No matter which tool you use, it is still important to set realistic expectations, or else you are bound to be disappointed. That is the problem with to-do lists or other lists of goals: They may enumerate all the things you need to do, but they don't actually help you accomplish them. If you simply make lists of the things you need to do, odds are that they will remain unfinished far longer than you think they will. There are two reasons for that. First, we need to break down our projects into specific actions that will help us reach our goals. For example, if your goal is "write an article," don't just have "write an article" as your goal. First, set your objective. Then, set a deadline to write your outline. Next, set a goal of writing each day. And have a deadline to have the final draft completed. 

 

 I use the A, B and C priority system. A's are things you need to accomplish ASAP. I try to do as many A's each day as I can. B's are "nice to do" things, like cleaning the bathroom or buying a new in basket for the office. These can wait. C's are low priorities, but they are often the things we use to fill our days to make us feel as though we really accomplished something, yet they make no meaningful impact on our lives. Push the C's off as much as possible.






5) Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible.
Know each day which tasks will help you meet your long-term and short-term goals as described above. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish what you want to do? Prioritization will help you with that. Get up at the same time every morning. Exercise and eat breakfast at the same time. Take a break around the same time.  End the day at a prescribed time and get to sleep at the right time every night. Rinse and repeat.


Setting a routine includes limiting the things you shouldn't do. Distractions to avoid includes e-mail, social media, eating meals, and needless appointments. Either avoid these things altogether or schedule them so they don't get in your way.
 6) Learn to let go.
My most simple advice are these five words: You Can’t Do It All! And you should not expect to do it all. For effective time management, you need to let other people carry some of the load. Is it really that important that the bathroom is dirty when you are preparing for a critical job interview? Clean the bathroom after they make you the offer!

I wish you luck in all you do and all you want to do in the coming year.

To Dick Clark and The People Who Make It Look Easy

We humans often devalue talent.

There is the story of the Parisian woman who was on her way to a fancy ball when she realized that she needed a hat. Panicking, she rushed into the shop of a local and famous hat-maker who was in the process of closing his shop for the night. "Quick, I need a hat immediately."

The hat-maker had no materials but for a single ribbon. He took it and gracefully wrapped it around her head until it adorned her beautifully.

"This is perfect," she gushed. "What do I owe you."

Sizing up the situation, he answered, "Ten francs."

The matron was outraged. "Ten francs!," she exclaimed. "For a ribbon?"

With that, the hat-maker lifted the ribbon off her head and handed it to her, unfurled. "Madame, the ribbon is for free," he told her.

With the passing of Dick Clark, I thought of all the different things he seemed to do so easily, emphasis on the "seemed." He hosted American Bandstand, seemingly just a music program, yet he successfully and fundamentally changed popular music in the U.S., spreading it coast-to-coast from a little studio in West Philadelphia. 

When the Grammys had a stranglehold on music awards, even though they represented blandness rather than popular or critical tastes (the awards were founded as a way to promote "good" music rather than the evil rock 'n' roll), he created the American Music Awards as an antidote, and his creation took hold and gained its own legitimacy. 

Yes, that brightly lighted ball came down in Times Square every New Year's Eve, but it took Dick Clark to make it an event that we all watched, while others could only imitate him. 

And never did he seem so effortless as when he hosted a game show titled The $10,000 Pyramid (upgraded since as a result of inflation). Many years ago, I was at a taping of the show, trying first to get on as a contestant and subsequently watching as part of the live audience. Mr. Clark glided from one role to another, making the players and the audience feel equally at ease. There was a bit of drama when a contestant insisted that he had answered a question correctly. If it were true, then he won the $10,000.

Mr. Clark cut to a commercial, rallied the technical staff and looked appropriately concerned when he announced that they would play back the audio to see if the young man had indeed provided the right answer. It turned out that he had, sotto voce, and it was captured on the audio track. Everything was under control and justice was eventually achieved, all under the smooth guidance of one Dick Clark.

Yes, we have the hat-makers in our lives, the alchemists who turn lead into gold, people who accomplish great and effective things, yet somehow make it look easy because we do not appreciate the skills they bring to bear. We underestimated Cary Grant for years, didn't we? Wasn't he charged for years with "always playing Cary Grant?" And yet when he received an honorary Academy Award, and the TV audience saw the wide range of parts he play, from the grieving father losing an adopted child in Penny Serenade to the burlesque of Arsenic and Old Lace, we were ashamed at how we had not recognized all that he could do. Others not appreciated in their lifetimes? Galileo Harry Truman. Billie Holiday. Dwight D. Eisenhower, as President. Preston Sturges.  Vincent van Gogh. Being ahead of your time is a bitch.

Legendary coach John Wooden said that "Winning takes talent; to repeat takes character." Let's not forget those among us who capitalize on their talents to do great things and then have the fortitude to be more than flashes in the pan. And with that, let's lift the glass one last time to Dick Clark, for his grace and his accomplishments. We are not likely to see his kind again any time soon.

Big Ditch or a Big Idea?

New York Governor DeWitt Clinton predicted that a canal connecting the Hudson River with the Great Lakes could improve the economy of his state.
He was thought to be mad. After all, the cost of the project equaled one percent of the entire country’s gross domestic product (an amount roughly equivalent today to more than $146 billion). The endeavor — which came to be the Erie Canal — also required moving a volume of earth and rock equal to more than three times the volume of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. When the federal government declined to help, Clinton managed to build the canal entirely through state funds. His foresight resulted in a series of fortunes that eventually led to the establishment of New York as the financial capital of the world. It also ushered in the American belief that we could complete big projects, whether it was building the Brooklyn Bridge, digging the Panama Canal, or putting a man on the moon.
This story reminds us not only to think big, but also to think generations ahead. It is a reminder to put our time and efforts into things of value and not simply for the moment. Who do you think is ahead -- the person who charges a Slurpee on a credit card or who puts spare money into an IRA?

The Father of Future Thinking

If we want to develop a future-oriented mindset. we can learn from the great science fiction and fantasy writer, H. G. Wells (1866 – 1946). His keen observations of scientific phenomena, combined with logic and math, allowed him to predict a number of trends and developments over the course of the 20th century.

Considered to have an overall accuracy of as much as 80 percent, Wells's predictions covered a wide range of subjects, such as urban living, transportation, government, defense methods, education and sociology. His accuracy rate was estimated to be as high as 80 percent, and he attributed his own success to the following methodologies:
• INDUCTIVE REASONING — Wells taught that inductive reasoning — the process of making inferences by observed repetitive patterns — was key to making reasonably

accurate predictions.
• FUTURE-FOCUSED THINKING — Wells did not live in the past. Instead, he thought constantly of things to come, and he believed that change could not be ignored.He also thought of the present in terms of how it could drive the future. This was an extension to the notion that the conditions of the past would drive the future.
• GROUNDING IN SCIENCE — Wells kept himself knowledgeable of scientific principles and developments, as he believed that science was predictive by nature. For example, he flew in the face of the thinking of his time by predicting that aircraft would be heavier than air, rather than lighter than air, as with balloons and dirigibles. His reasoning was that if a craft were to conquer the air, it would need to be stronger than air.
• KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST — Wells believed that all future events were preordained by past events, so it was important to know the past in order to know the future.
• LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS — Wells used statistical probability to make predictions. He believed that while small, incremental human events may influence outcomes in some way, broad trends can tell the story more accurately, smoothing out the effects of anomalous events. Another way of saying this is that Wells looked at the big picture.

Wells used the following process to make his predictions:
1. Assume that prediction is possible.
2. Use a combination of facts, logic and math.
3. Gather data.
4. Identify the drivers in science and technology that could change the future.
5. Identify central tendencies using the science of statistics (i.e., find the most common occurrences).
6. Identify the areas that will affected by change.
7. Pursue causal changes.

How accurate was Wells? In 1901, his book on the coming twentieth century, Anticipations, predicted what the world would be like in the year 2000. He wrote that trains and cars would move workers between the cities and the suburbs, that women would seek and achieve greater sexual freedom, that there would be two world wars in which German militarism would be defeated, and that a European Union would be formed.

In an era when we feel buffeted by change, we can still reasonably predict the future by studying trends and making informed inferences. As I often tell my audiences, we don't need to pay a fortune tell to know the future, we only need to pay attention.

It is Mid-Year; Do You Know Where Your Goals Are?

The year is now half over. It is a good time for us to review our goals and objectives for the year and mark our progress.
What, you don't have goals and objectives for the year? If not, how will you know if you have advanced in 2011 and made personal progress? I keep two "To Do" lists posted: one for every day, and one for the year. My daily "TO DO" list is an ongoing challenge, but as I step back, I'm doing well for the whole year. I have already read as many books as I planned, I created a new keynote address for my repertoire, my retirement plan is finally on track, and I have reviewed the Italian language for an upcoming trip. (Forgive me if I don't share the other items on my list. I take the advice of self-help guru Derek Sivers that you should not share your goals with others, because that automatically decreases the chances that you will achieve them.)
Over the years, my annual list of goals have enabled me to accomplish a number of interesting things, such as hitting certain income goals, learning a new language, paying off my mortgage and publishing my first book.
If you haven't yet put together your own list, don't fret. Better to finish the year with a smaller list than one at all. The more important thing to remember is to work at actually reaching your goals by prioritizing them, putting them on schedule, focusing on them and eliminating the time wasters that get in your way. One could find no better role model than a mother on public assistance who became one of the richest women in the U.K. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, told the Harvard graduating class that "achievable goals are the first step to self improvement."

Please enjoy this interview with broadcaster Burke Allen on my book, The Six P's of Change."

When Planning Your Career, Rage Against the Machines

I came across an interesting opinion piece in today's Philadelphia Inquirer. The author wrote about how machines are doing much of the work that people used to do. We saw that in the last century, as robots could assemble cars more cheaply and efficiently than people do. It does make sense, as a machine can the work that eliminating jobs. (UAW members saw that, too, as rank-and-file members like my Dad fought against the encroachment of machines that would do the work of humans.)
I have discussed this very point in my book, The Six P's of Change, and I often mention it in my speeches: Those who are tied to a specific technology or type of work are often doomed to obsolescence. However, my own take is less fatalistic than that of the author of this article. I contend that such changes also bring opportunity. For example, while the auto industry once provided one in every seven jobs in the U.S., that ratio now belongs to the computer industry. (The automobile industry now accounts for one in every 16 jobs, still a significant number.) So, as the saying goes, fish where the fish are, and work in those areas that are not only in demand but which cannot be taken over by machines.
For example, how about a return to the trades, such as plumbing, carpentry and the like? I have not yet seen a machine that can cut pipe to length or crawl under a sink. There are also creative endeavors that no machine can do, such as writing, art, design and consulting. And if you can't beat 'em, join 'em: Since the auto industry produces more computers for their cars than IBM does, young people would be well served to learn the high technology of the car industry. t look That enmity was not limited to heavy industry.
Elbert Hubbard once note that "One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." When we seek to be extraordinary, we can beat this trend and even make it work in our favor.


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The Pony Express — On its 150th Anniversary, the Myth Endures

On April 3, 1860, rider Joseph Fry departed St. Joseph, Missouri and launched the famed and legendary Pony Express. This enterprise was designed as a speedy mail service from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, and it became the west's most direct means of east-west communication before the invention of the telegraph.

Today, the legendary Pony Express name lives on in a variety of ways. There are many memorial statues in Sacramento; Nevada (two); Utah; Wyoming; Colorado; Kansas; and Missouri (two). St Joseph, MO boasts the original and most famous statue, which was dedicated on April 20, 1940. Eagle Mountain, Utah, located on the original Pony Express Trail in Utah, has several locations and events that commemorate the Pony Express. Plus Pony Express Boulevard in Eagle Mountain, Utah may be the only street built on the original Pony Express Trail that is named after the Pony Express, or so says Wikipedia. Pony Express Days, the annual community celebration of Eagle Mountain, are celebrated the first week of June of each year. There is also the Pony Express Elementary School located in Eagle Mountain.

In more ephemeral media, a TV show titled "The Young Riders," which ran for three seasons from September 1989 to July 1992, presented a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders. The cast included Emmy winner Anthony Zerbe, Stephen Baldwin as a young "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Josh Brolin as "Wild Bill" Hickok" (who, unlike Cody was NOT a Pony Express rider), and Melissa Leo, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2008 for "Frozen River."

Wait, there's more! McGraw Hill produced the game Pony Express Rider in 1996. And a school in Utah is named Pony Express Elementary. It is said that the school was built around the area where pony express rider rode through.

Oh, by the way, the Pony Express was a failure. But nobody tells you that.

It wasn't for lack of trying. The Pony Express was successful in reducing the time to deliver mail between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to about ten days. (Looking at that objectively, even from a 21^st Century perspective, that seems really fast for the time.) The Pony Express did successfully demonstrate that a cross-country delivery system was possible all year around. But like many businesses, it was done in by technology. In this case, it was the telegraph, which made transcontinental communication possible without paper. (See, mail was threatened even then.)

The Pony Express went out of business in October 1861. The company had grossed $90,000 and lost $200,000 (according to Wired magazine, the equivalent of $4.7 million today). The Pony Express announced its closure on October 26, 1861, two days after the transcontinental telegraph reached Salt Lake City and connected Omaha, Nebraska and Sacramento, California.

The demise of the Pony Express has not diminished its lore or its fabled standing in American culture. This all stems from the rugged individualism of the riders, strapping young men who could ride for hours through dangerous terrain. But in the end, these guys were no match for thin little wires carrying electrical impulses from coast to coast.

The short rise and quick fall of the Pony Express created three truths that exist today:

1. Legend is a powerful thing that can easily outlive facts, whether they pertain to an enterprise, an invention, or a person's military record.

2. Technology will almost certainly drive an existing business to its knees, especially if its mission can be fulfilled with fewer people.

3. Paper continues to be threatened as a communication medium, though its death is a long and tedious one.

Preparing for Bad Times Now and In the Future

Maria Panaritis, a business writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has written a moving column about how the current economic downturn has disproportionately affected members of Generations X and Y . Titled "The Crash's Hidden Losers," Ms. Panaritis's column makes many troubling points. She talks about how people in the post-Boomer age groups may miss out on the middle-class life that their parents enjoyed. This is because as they have entered the job market after college, their employment options have either greatly diminished or all but disappeared, nipped in the bud as it were.
Worse, there is likely to be no safety net for these folks. Pensions went the way of the vinyl LP long ago. There have been 401k's for a few decades, but many companies have eliminated the match. And forget about Social Security. That may run out before the last Boomers are done with it. (See Allen Sloan's article on fixing Social Security in the latest edition of Fortune magazine for a sobering reality check.)
I agree with Ms. Panaritis's insights, and I am sympathetic to the plight of the younger workers. I have only one observation: Why is this news? Why did we presume that the economy could only grow for every succeeding generation? Many economists have made the observation that "trees don't grow to the sky." Yet we came to believe that our economy was limitless. And that is probably what’s disturbing to people today. It is not so much that times are tough, but that times are different from what we have known.
GE president Jeff Immelt recently said, "This economic crisis doesn't represent a cycle. It represents a reset —an emotional, social, economic reset." Our collective dismay stems partly from our limited perspective as post-World War II Americans. When you have lived in a certain standard of living and that standard is all you know, it begins to look normal to you.
Let’s look at the economic history of the United States. Income per capita was essentially flat until the Industrial Revolution, when people left their farms and their crafts to work for others. Economic growth was slow as measured by the value of our goods and services — GDP. Growth of two to three percent a year was normal…and good.
Then came the end of World War II. There was pent-up demand for houses and automobiles. And as we satisfied those needs, our growth rate grew to four and five percent. And our national wealth shot up, starting around 1950 until recently. Prosperity began to look like a birthright.
Other specific social and economic realities have contributed to the downturn. Technology has improved productivity. That means we need fewer workers. Therefore, the job creation rate for American workers has fallen. So the wages for the average American worker has been falling since 2001. We should not expect to see higher wages in the foreseeable future.
Based on this evidence, and based on the "Prognostication" chapter of my book, "The Six P's of Change," I took steps to deal with an economic downturn. My most significant move was to live below my means, particularly during a prosperous five-year stretch. While I managed to enjoy the money somewhat by upgrading our cars and taking a couple of trips to Italy (Hey, life is short!), I poured the extra money into our mortgage. Now my monthly obligations are significantly reduced, because we don't have payments for our house or our cars.
There is still a long road ahead. I don't mean to be discouraging; I simply believe that forewarned is forearmed. Mountains of debt must be reduced. Consumers — you and I — will need to save more before we spend so much again. As we sort through the changes in the politics, the technology and the market forces that will shape our future, I encourage everyone to prepare for a period of austerity. Many Americans are already doing this. Since the credit crunch, the average U.S. household savings rate has jumped from 0.7 percent to 4 percent of income. That is a promising trend.
It is easy to deny our situations; clearly, Miss Panaritis has not. But denial is nothing new. I remember vividly a conversation that I had with a friend in the early 1990s when I said that Social Security was in trouble, that the beneficiaries were beginning to outpace the contributors, that life expectancy is much older today than it was when the program was created. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
My friend reacted with angry, non sequiter bromides. "Well, I can see that you don't care about older people." "I don't hear you suggest that we cut defense programs."
There is a reason that many programs are sacrosanct and beyond consideration. Now we are past the point when decisions must be made.
While we can't always control the machinations of government, we can certainly control our own destinies to some extend. I believe that, armed with information and an informed attitude, you can also be well equipped to recalibrate your expectations for this economy.
In the meantime, let's do what we can for the next generations. Let's hire them when we can, give them as many opportunities as we are able, and be willing to sacrifice some of our own largess so that there is something on the table for them. We owe it to them, if for no other reason that it is the most ethical thing we can do.

Learning Your Place from "The Great Buck Howard"

I rented a nifty little movie over the weekend titled, "The Great Buck Howard." It stars John Malkovich as the eponymous mentalist who brags about his 61 appearances on Johnny Carson's show. Clearly modeled after The Amazing Kreskin, though missing the original's kindness and grace, Buck is truly talented but is limited to second- and third-rate venues. His act is woefully out of style in this age of special effects and explosions and therefore unappealing to a modern audience. In fact, Buck, as masterfully portrayed by Malkovich, is himself out of style. He wears polyester clothes of clashing colors, uses tired catch phrases, and injects pointless sentimentality into his act. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that Buck experiences sudden good fortune that unexpectedly thrusts him into the big time -- in fact, a bigger time than he has ever known. But how will Buck react to this turn?
"The Great Buck Howard" offers not only a neat little character study, but a lesson in the importance of staying current. Buck clings to the familiar like a life preserver, but he doesn't realize that it is an anchor instead. His life on the road has so insulated him that he misses advancements in the fashion, the popular culture, even his own beloved show business. (Doesn't Buck watch TV on the road?) He rejects advice from his aides de camp, missing opportunities to gain insight. When he finally hits the big time (and it is not a return to the limelight), he learns much about himself.
I recommend this little jewel on many different levels. Certainly as a cineaste, I appreciate Sean McGinly's writing and direction. But as an advocate of change, I also see a lesson in it that is told with charm, wit and wisdom.

Jack Welch Predicts a Brave New Workforce from this Recession

Jack & Suzy Welch wrote a timely commentary in the latest issue of BusinessWeek. They predict that plenty of people will work for themselves as a result of the recession, and the main reason is a lack of trust in employers -- that is, ALL employers, both present and future ones. "Plenty of talent no longer wants to work for 'the man,'" they say in their commentary. "Wooing them will require candor, innovation and the excitement of a start-up."
Having worked for seven years for GE under Mr. Welch's leadership, I can tell you that the man is sincere. He insisted on honesty. For example, he was against social promotions of long-time employees, saying that it was unfair not only to the organization but to the employees themselves. I was also the point person in several business throughout the company that were facing seismic changes, usually resulting in layoffs. It was tough to bring this news to my audiences, such as the media, the community and the employees. We would often communicate the state of the business for months in advance, preparing them for change. It was tough on everyone, but no one could say they were surprised.
My employers since then were the exact opposite in their practices. They pumped up the businesses' standings, even in the face of conflicting financial reports. Leaders would communicate when the results were good, but disappear when there was a downturn. Yo, you don't have to be Peter Drucker to figure that one out! Employees learned quickly that this meant that the business was in trouble.
I always advocated open communication to the business leaders. I argued that the employees would value knowing the condition of the company and the plan to deal with that condition so that they could rally behind it. The usual response was that honesty would cause their best employees to leave, because those were the people who had the most options. I countered that the employees had a right to know the condition of the company so they could plan accordingly. But, I repeated, if they heard the company's plan, they would rally behind it.
No employer of mine other than GE ever accepted this philosophy.
I also never worked again for a company that was as successful as GE.
I agree with the Welches that there will be payback for this from the best and the brightest. These smartest of the employees have learned that most organizations cannot be trusted. Besides, the job is a 20th Century invention that may have run its course. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most people worked for themselves on farms or at crafts. But when factories expanded, they needed people to work in them. Good wages attracted many people away from the crafts and farms they knew.
Now that covenant has changed, and we seem to be returning to the natural order of employment, opting for work that fills our hearts in addition to our wallets. People used to say, "I can't quit my job to go out on my own. I need the security." Well, how is that security thing working for you now, Bucky?
I write about this in my book, "The Six P's of Change." My very first principle, the first "P," is the Perception that change, some change, is going to happen to each one of us. For so many, that change has come to our jobs.
For those of you who still have employees, it is not too late to practice this philosophy. Be open with your people, and empower them in the process. Build your employees' loyalty to you by showing loyalty to their interests. Don't just take it from me. Take it from two masters of business.

Kobe Shoots... and a Year Later, He Scores!

Kobe Bryant and Los Angeles Lakers were humiliated a year ago by the Boston Celtics, and he vowed to come back from that devastating loss. He came back, and he came up BIG when he led his team to a 15th NBA Championship last night in Orlando. He was a man possessed. His eyes, his mouth, said it all. He was focused, and as he drove to the basket, he was driven. And he was committed to driving out the claim that he couldn't win a championship without his former team mate Shaquille O'Neal.
And so after he was banished to also-ran status by Boston last June with a 39-point delta, he determined to return. After helping the American "Redeem Team" win an Olympic gold medal in China last summer, he declared, "My next goal is winning the NBA championship."

So the win is just part of the story. Kobe's fulfillment of his goal to reach the NBA finals again is just as significant. As I have written over the last year, Kobe succeeded in classic fashion. He prepared for this championship through proactive preparation, working with coach Phil Jackson to continually improve his individual play and his team play. He constructed the plan and executed it superbly, step by step, finally reaching his specific goal.

For those who think that their goals are too far in the future or simply unattainable, I point to Kobe Bryant as an example of picking his goal and pursuing it relentlessly. And the city of Los Angeles celebrates with him.