Comments on: Confident Goal Setting: How to Pick Up a Cow, Daily

By: Will Bass

Will Bass — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 03:40:00 +0000

I know a real life story of exactly this, a good friend and mentor of mine who literally lifted a calf everyday as a teenager for more than a year, and at the end of that time was lifting an 800 lb calf. He wrestled in High School, played football at BYU University, was a bull rider for BYU (didn’t turn out so well) and joined the US Army Special Forces during Vietnam, and served through Desert Storm. Shows what kind of determination he must have had, and due to the access that I have to cattle, he is encouraging me to also lift a brand new calf!

By: simon bedak

simon bedak — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:34:34 +0000

Being a cattleman from Australia, I accidentally stumbled across this article whilst looking for a way to lift a cow for real as the animal was having trouble calving. Regrettably, the cow I had to lift this morning will have to be destroyed due to, well, nature taking its course.

I must say though, Milo’s story whilst at face value is entertaining appears to be utterly impractical.

Lifting a cow simply for the sake of lifting a cow is pointless, if not merely egotistic. Lifting a cow to try and save both its and its calf’s life appears to be a better reason.

By: CARISPRODOL information. » CARISPRODOL.NET

CARISPRODOL information. » CARISPRODOL.NET — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:05:30 +0000

[...] 6th 20century B.C.It was said that, as a boy, Milo trained for the Olympics by daily lifting…read more | digg [...]

By: crotone

crotone — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:40:42 +0000

[...] [...]

By: Ben Wills

Ben Wills — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:43:37 +0000

Nice article. Do you have a URL that has more details about the FSU experiment? I’ve been digging around for it and can’t find it. Would love to see more details on it.

By: Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:57:17 +0000

Thanks Clay, another thoughtful post and a very memorable analogy!

By: Mona Pellerin

Mona Pellerin — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:49:26 +0000

I think your adaptation is a good way of putting it! It prevents some passionless automation to occur. I did subscribe and look forward to your articles. I am a writer also – mostly about social issues – especially as they relate to social norms.

By: Clay Collins

Clay Collins — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 06:15:50 +0000

@Mona: I see what you’re saying. Perhaps there should instead be a minimum daily goal velocity might be one adaptation. For example, if I want to write 6 pages per day, then if I write 12 pages one day I’ll still need to write 6 pages the next day. Very good point!

–Clay

By: Mona Pellerin

Mona Pellerin — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:29:11 +0000

I have enjoyed this website and would like to try the movie later. Good idea!

A couple of comments on goal velocity: An important element that drives goals is the passion you have for completing the goal. For example, writers have days when the the “juices flow” or the runner goes 6 minutes past his former time not 3 min. It could be a trap that says, “Well, since I did so good last time, I think I will miss a time towards my pursit. Actually, missing an allotted time can be a setback.

The idea that completing a goal is a continuous process aligns with your goal velocity but, the flexibility might also include: “If I do better at one time, I still maintain my original velocity speed the next time and not feel as if I have to compete with my best time” – this could lead to burn-out.

By: Clay Collins

Clay Collins — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:54:03 +0000

@Pat: I’m really glad :-). Thanks for stopping by again.