July 2017 | 27 Subscribe today at juniorgolfmag.net Goals are a great motivating tool. They can also be limiting if you aren’t honest about what you really want and what you are capable of accomplishing. It’sYourLife–Don’tBe AfraidtoChoose G rowing up, I had little sense of where golf could take me. I certainly didn’t dream that it would take me to Harvard (twice), nor would I have believed that I would one day begin a business advising junior golf- ers through the college recruiting process. Yet here I am, a proud Harvard alum and for- mer coach, and an entrepreneur – and some- times I still can’t believe that. It’s scary how close I came to choosing a different school, a different career, a different path in life. Even though I feel good about how my own college recruiting and career unfolded, I have since learned a lot about how I could have navigated the processes better and saved myself a good deal of stress and worry along the way. So how do you know what’s possible and what you really want, in your career path and in your individual growth? These are common questions in the recruiting process and, to be honest, ones that you will continue to face throughout life. Here are a few strategies and tactics for exploring these questions in a way that creates opportunities and opens doors. Start by asking yourself: If I could choose the outcome, what would I choose and why? When asked what they want, many students immediately think about the constraints…the reasons why something might not work out. If the recruiting process were a buffet of choices (which, believe it or not, it is!) and you got to choose whatever you wanted, what would you pick? Imagine you can get into and play golf at any school… then which would it be? Listen for the “Why?”. After answering the previous question, ask yourself why you want that school. Is it because you desire a top DI program? Is it that you’ve actually always wanted to go to school in California? Maybe it’s because you want a smaller school? Your justification for why you want what you want often gets to the heart of the qualities you are looking for. You can expand out from there to develop a larger list of schools that share those qualities. Set goals. Use your answers to these questions to help you set goals, and don’t limit yourself. Better to set a lofty goal, try your hardest and fall short, than to never set any challenging targets for yourself. Setting a goal that is too easy for you to achieve creates an artificial glass ceiling that can prevent you from reach- ing your full potential. Goals are a great mo- tivating tool. They can also be limiting if you aren’t honest about what you really want and what you are capable of accomplishing. Don’t be afraid of your goals. Many students are afraid to admit their goals (what they really want) and share them with others. They fear that parents and peers will judge them and think that they are ridiculous to believe they can really achieve that goal. It’s true that if you never really set a goal, then you can never fail, but you are also much less likely to succeed. Open yourself up to the possibility of failure and you will likely achieve more than you ever let yourself believe you could. Claire Sheldon is the founder of Prospective Student- Athlete College Counseling and a former collegiate golfer for Harvard University. BY CLAIRE SHELDON