Goal Setting: Pops
Proves It's Never Too Late
by Vic Johnson
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Pops first set the goal in high school,
but when he graduated he thought he wasn't mature enough to pursue it so
he enlisted in the U.S. Army.
He dreamed about it as a member of the 82nd Airborne as he became an
Army Ranger. Later, in the first Gulf War, he thought about his goal
again, as he also did during his service in the Kosovo conflict. For 20
years, through his Army career, a war, marriage and six children, Pops
kept the dream and the goal alive.
Never mind that he was considered far too old to pursue his dream, Pops
just couldn't let go.
When he retired from the Army at 39, he decided it was finally time to
do something about the goal he'd set so many years before. He moved his
family to Columbia, South Carolina and enrolled as a freshman at the
University of South Carolina.
No, he wasn't considered too old for that. Many others, much older, have
pursued college degrees for the first time. What Tim “Pops" Frisby did
was even more special. At an age when even most professional players
have hung up there helmets, he began working out with the South Carolina
Gamecocks football team during the winter. Working out with players half
his age, all of whom were young enough to be his son, he competed for a
position on a Division One major College Football Team.
It was a goal that Pops had lived with for a long time and he began to
realize it when coaches invited him back for fall drills. When South
Carolina kicked off their season against the University of Georgia, Tim
Frisby was on the sidelines wearing Gamecock jersey number 89. On
September 25th, against Troy, the legendary Lou Holtz, head coach at
South Carolina, sent Pops into the game for its final four plays. “I
have a lot of respect for the guy," Holtz said. “A Ranger, 20 years in
the Army, six kids. He loves this team. I thought it would be good to
get him in. I'm sorry we could not throw it to him." But knowing the way
that Pops Frisby makes his dreams come true, that's just a matter of
time.
Frisby, who turns 40 in February, has been featured on ESPN's “College
GameDay." ABC's “Good Morning America," CNN, the New York Times and the
Los Angeles Times are all planning stories.
Incidentally, the father of six between the ages of six months and 16,
also maintains a 3.88 (out of a possible 4.0) grade point average.
Still think it's too late for your dream? Goal setting and goal starting
is a process that can start at any age and at any time. There's no need
to wait until January 1st to set or start a goal. Goal setting and goal
starting doesn't have to take place at the first of the month, or even
the first of the week. I once started on a big goal at midnight on the
24th of the month.
Tim Frisby accomplished his goal and realized his dream for two simple
reasons: he never let time take his dream away, and when the time
finally came, he took action. It worked for Pops -- and it'll work for
you too!
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Copyright 2004-2007
Vic Johnson. All Rights Reserved. |
