Legendary coach Lou Holtz shares his wisdom on goal setting

The events leading up to my interview with coach Lou Holtz are not a coincidence. I attribute it to the Law of Attraction.

About a month ago, my wife and I purchased Jack Canfield’s Dream Big Collection. When we received the products in the mail, it came with a DVD titled Living the Law of Attraction.

If you haven’t heard Jack Canfield’s presentation, you’re missing out. He has a way of remembering and telling stories that inspires everyone in the room.

Jack recalled an interview he conducted with coach Lou Holtz, a former legendary Notre Dame football coach and now an ESPN commentator. At the time of his interview, the coach had reached 102 of his 107 goals. They included winning a National Championship, dining at the White House, meeting the Pope, and landing a plane on an aircraft carrier.

Well, that prompted me to contact the coach for an interview about goal setting. After a few emails and going through various contacts and assistants, I fulfilled my goal to get a quick interview.

1. I recently saw a video of Jack Canfield giving a presentation on Living the Law of Attraction. He said that he had scored 107 goals when he was 20 years old and had reached 102 of them. What was one of the last goals you accomplished and can you describe what happened?

The last one was when I was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in May of 2008.

2. What was the name of the book that motivated you to make a list?

The magic of thinking big by David Schwartz.

3. Now that you are older, how has meeting your goals changed from when you were younger?

Completely. It has taught me to take control of my life and that everything that happens to me, good or bad, is because of the decisions I make.

4. What is a goal that you have not yet reached and what are you doing today to make it come true?

I can’t speak a second language! I have tapes on how to speak Spanish, but I haven’t been able to block out the amount of time needed to do it.

5. As we all know, sometimes the realization of our aspirations involves other individuals. As a legendary coach of young athletes, what would you do to encourage your players to help achieve coach, player and team goals?

Everyone should have the same goals. In addition, everyone must understand how they will personally benefit when we reach our goals.

6. Can you share some of your tips and techniques that you use or have used to make your dreams come true?

1) Decide what you want to achieve and the date.

2) What talents you must acquire to do this.

3) Who do you have to work with to achieve this.

4) What problems must you overcome to achieve it.

5) Have a plan.

6) Share with others why they will benefit.

7. I heard that only 3% of Americans have a list of measurable goals. What would you say is the biggest barrier for people not reaching their aspirations or even making a list of goals?

They are undecided, they don’t have a goal, they have a wish list.

8. What do you do when you fail to meet a goal you have set for yourself?

Find out why I didn’t and I learned from it!

9. What goal did you accomplish that you would say impacted you the most?

Being married to the same wife for 48 years. That all 4 children graduate from college, 3 from Notre Dame and 1 from Centenary. We are a close family that cares about each other.

10. What advice do you have for people setting their goals today?

Be realistic, but don’t underestimate your talent.

We want to express our gratitude to Lou Holtz for taking time out of her busy schedule to share some of her wisdom on goal setting.

I hope this encourages you to start setting goals. Lou Holtz is 70 years old now and is still going strong chasing his dreams, old and new.

Start today… and dream big!