Journey of The White Bear #13: Goal setting works... sometimes

You'd think an old school, has been, BMX guy like me would show some amazing BMX feat as an example of goal setting.  But this amazing move by Kyler Storm sums it up better.  I worked on the crew, I was one of the guys in the black shirts and shorts with the big pads, like those you see in the background.  I saw this happen live.  Kyler spent the night before visualizing this move over and over and over in his head.  I know this because he told me.

Life Lesson: Goal setting works, but not every time

In my four seasons working on the crew of the American Gladiators TV show, I met a wide variety of people with great athletic ability.  But Kyler Storm stands out among them.  He was a good athlete.  But he was also a guy who was really into using goal setting and visualization to achieve an amazing feat.  In his first season on the show, Kyler pulled off this crazy move on our Hang Tough game, where the contestant swings across rows of rings and attempts to get past the gladiator to the opposite platform.

For us working on the show, especially my crew of spotters who actually practiced the games with the contenders, we spent several days working with them.  Most of the contenders, and the Gladiators themselves, trained hard at weight lifting and other athletic pursuits, in order to win the weird games on the show.  But Kyler Storm stood out as a person who took visualization and goal setting to a much greater level.  He told us this as we practiced with him.  I remember him telling me, the year before about trying the flip over the Gladiator like in the clip above.  It wasn't a spontaneous move, he spent a long time visualizing that particular move until he felt he could pull it off.

So in the course of competing on the show, Kyler pulled a couple of the most amazing moves in the whole eight years of the show.  He set very specific goals, he visualized these particular goals over and over and over until he was able to pull them off.  It was a great example of the power of setting a goal and visualizing that goal until it was achieved.

Every human being has the power to set very specific goals, visualize those goals over a period of time, work towards achieving those goals, and ultimately succeed.  But there's another part to goal setting, and that's deciding if your goal is truly worthwhile.  Over the course of my adult life, I've seen entrepreneurs on TV infomercials, and now on the web, talking about how they can help you get rich and live your dreams.  Then these guys take you on a video tour of their huge, but empty, house and garage full of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other expensive cars.  Those guys have achieved their financial goals.

But, are they better people because they have achieved their goals?  Is the world a better place because they have achieved their goals?  Maybe, maybe not.  It's easy to judge these guys and say they're just materialistic and shallow.  But maybe they're donating to a good cause and just not telling us.  Maybe they're teaching other people new ways to make a decent living and that leads to positive outcomes for a bunch of people. In most cases, those "get rich quick" guys come across pretty materialistic and the world's not a much better place because they have a Lambo for each day of the week.  But they do show us that goal setting can work, like Kyler did for us on the Gladiators set.

Just because some dorky guy makes a fortune in real estate or affiliate marketing, and spends the money on a big house and fast cars to attract women, doesn't mean that goal setting and visualization are bad things.  Each of us can learn these skills practice these skills, and use these skills how we want.  Or we can not use them at all.  We can use them in the ways we think can have a positive impact on those around us and the world, or we can just try to accumulate lots of stuff.

Goal setting, visualizing, and achieving goals are a set of skills.  A big part of that set of skills is stepping back and considering whether that particular goal is really worth achieving.  I've spent much of my life struggling with self esteem and self worth issues, and was afraid to set big goals.  I'm now, finally, starting to set some pretty big goals again, but I'm carefully evaluating whether the goals do some good for more than just myself.  It's hard to achieve a goal if deep down you don't think you deserve it.  Dealing with that and other issues is one part of goal setting.

Goal setting can work.  But it's a skill that you spend a lifetime working on.  Goal setting, whether they're written down, thought out goals, or more intuitive goals, is probably the main thing that sets apart people who achieve a lot from people who cruise through life but don't get or give much out of it. 

Journey of The White Bear #2: The day I had lunch with Superman

Here's actor and former college football star Dean Cain, who played Superman on the TV show Lois and Clark at the time.  This was about 1994, I believe.

Life Lesson:  You never know who life will bring into your path... even Superman

It's a long story, but my obsession with BMX freestyle riding in the early 1980's led me from Idaho to Southern California, and later into the TV business.  One weird job or project led to another, and I wound up as a spotter on the crew of the hit TV show American Gladiators.  For you younger people today, Gladiators was something like American Ninja Warrior with a touch of wrestling thrown in.  The costumes were red, white, blue, and small, the Gladiators were big, and the contests were all real.  There was no show like it at the time, and it lasted eight seasons, which is a long run for a TV show.  I worked on the crew for the last four seasons, starting as a spotter, and moving up to head spotter and leading the crew the last two years.

 In the clip above, you can see three of the spotters in black shorts and shirts with big AG logos, holding the white, shield-like karate pads as Dean crosses the finish line.  We also hooked the Gladiators and contenders into the bungee cords and belay ropes on other games, we coached them, we helped the grips change sets, and we did one other important job on the show.  We were the guinea pigs and practice dummies.  Every time there was a new game, us spotters played it first, and we played against both the Gladiators and contenders in the couple of weeks of practice before we taped the shows.  I happened to be the very first person to run through the gauntlet the first time we set it up.  Fun stuff.  So... literally... I used to get beat up by the American Gladiators for a living.  At least for six or seven weeks each summer.  The show was kind of corny, but it was a blast to work on. 

Most of the show's season was a elimination contest of people who made it into the show through a series of tryouts.  We had all kinds of athletes, martial artists, gymnasts, cheerleaders, cops firefighters, and even a few soldiers make it on the show.  On any given day, there were some serious battles on the show.  A few of the male American Gladiators, including Hawk, played college football.  Any time a football player was a contender on the show, the testosterone levels were through the roof.  So when actor Dean Cain came on, former college football rival Hawk was gunning for him.

The funny thing was, Dean was one of our celebrity contestants.  Every year, they would shoot two or three shows with celebrities going against the Gladiators.  We had actors, Olympic athletes, Playboy Playmates, and others during those shows.  Most were no match for the huge and very athletic Gladiators.  Dean Cain was one of the few exceptions.  He literally would have done well against the regular show contestants, and he did not hold back.  He gave it his all, which earned him a lot of props from both the Gladiators and the crew.

The day before each celebrity show taping, we'd have all the celebrities come in for a practice day and learn the games.  As a spotter, me and my crew did triple duty, although those days were still much easier than normal days.  We would change the big sets and set up the games, we would help coach the celebs on how to compete in each game, and we would practice the games against them, playing the role of Gladiators.  Like I said, it was a fun job.

Halfway through the practice day, we'd all break for lunch, and walk to another stage where the catered lunch was set up.  I happened to sit down by myself that day, most of my crew were at another table.  Then Dean Cain walked up and said, "Mind if I sit here?"  "Sure," I replied.

Now here's the thing about celebrities on athletic shows.  They get a pretty big check just for showing up and going through the motions.  Most of them don't want to risk a serious injury.  Most definitely don't want to get their expensive face messed up, even if there's extra money for the winner.

 But Dean Cain wasn't most celebrities.  Even at lunch he was asking me about the games, and I gave him my knowledge on how to best compete in each one, since I not only watched all the practice and actual events, but I played most of the games myself to help train the on air contestants.  It turned out to be a really cool conversation, and I walked back to the stage with an even bigger respect for Dean Cain.  He did so well on the show, that he came back the next year and competed again.  Even more, he was just a down-to-earth, hard working guy.  He's definitely one of the coolest celebrities I met in my years working on TV crews.  Here's a few more clips of him BITD.

Here's Dean's on air moments from American Gladiators
(If you pause it at 9:51, there's a guy in black, under the silver tower, left of Dean's head.  That's me.)

Highlights of Dean as Superman on Lois and Clark

Bloopers from Lois and Clark

Dean at Comic Con NE in 2017 (see how long a Superman gig-or 4- will get you event appearances)

I'm at a big transition in my life right now.  You can help me move on to the next stage here.