Magical Messi. There’s a reason why they call the best goal scorer in the world "magical," and it’s not because of the acutely annoying alliteration. He does things with the ball that no one else can. There is simply something mystical about what he does best, scoring goals. I’ve had the pleasure of scoring a few goals over my 14 years of competitive soccer, and every single one is just as magical as the one before. That feeling when you know the ball is going crash into the back of the net, and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it, is unexplainable. I guess it’s the same for a football player scoring a touchdown, or a basketball player draining a 3-pointer (I never had the hand-eye coordination to know how that feels). Experiencing it once isn’t enough though; it’s addictive. Next game you want to go out and score two more goals so you train extra hard over the next week to make sure you can.
I feel that goals on the field are no different than goals in the work place. Here at Indium Corporation, I’ve been assigned a number of small tasks (goals) ranging from dispensing solder paste and documenting it, to grinding and polishing metallurgical cross-sections for analysis. Completing these seemingly small assignments is just as motivating and addictive to me as actually scoring goals out on the field. I can’t wait for the next job or project to start, and I’m motivated to improve myself to make sure I can complete it. I think that’s partially why it’s so important to set tangible, challenging, yet attainable goals. Achieving that first one is such a powerful motivator that the next couple will feel like cake, and everyone enjoys a good cake.