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Unread 27-11-2002, 08:42
Ken Leung's Avatar Unsung FIRST Hero
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Post depending on the goal

Quote:
Originally posted by SlamminSammy



If success is taking knowledge and turning it into something useful (whether its merely creating a robot or inspiring somebody's life) and we continue to learn throughout our lives, can success ever be achieved? Is success reaching a goal, or is it changing that goal (or the goal changing itself) whenever you approach it? As the adage goes, "Success is a journey, not a destination."

It really depends on the goal. If the goal is, say, "Inspire 200 students during the year of 2003 about science and technology", then sure it is possible to achieve that goal and be successful.

On the other hand, if the goal is "to change our culture and make it better and better", then it will be a continuous journey once you started. Every year, we can only say "we were able to make a difference that things are better than the past years." by knowing how much is done and compare it to the past. Or, we can say "We are able to set things up so that we can continue to try to achieve the goal." by making sure the program keep going in the future and improve & expand on top of the past and not fall back in progress.


So...

It really depends what goals you have. Sometimes, you can aim for a goal so high that its impossible for you to achieve it, but in the process you can say you are successful because you did the best you can and get the most out of all the work you did to achieve the goal. Some other times you can aim for a goal so low that, you could easily achieve it without much work, then even though you are successful in achieving the goal, you still didn't get all that much out of it, which is fine if the you are satisfy with the result.

At the end, it’s different from person to person depending on how happy they are about the result.

My feeling is that there are two kind of goals: your normal objectives that are designed to be achievable, and your vision that you look at for guidance when you don't know which path you should choose.

Once you figure out what each of those 2 is, then you can set out to achieve your objectives, while setting up more objectives in the future that follow your vision.

Then you can say you are successful because: 1. you achieved the objectives, 2. you set things up so you can continue to walk the journey guided by your vision while exploring different things to help define a better vision.

And maybe, success is just to have results you are happy about, even though it’s a bit general. But its true.


Anyway, In terms of FIRST, the objectives every year (for now anyway) are:

to expand the program to as many students as possibles
start more regionals around the country
Inspire all, say, 600 teams' student about science and technology and other important values.

These goals you can clearly say if you achieved them or not.

Mean while, the mission continues to be:

To build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering by designing accessible, innovative programs.

And the vision:

To make our culture better and better.
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