Learning how to set and achieve a goal is perhaps the single most important thing your child can learn to prepare for school, adulthood, and employment. The more adept your child is at understanding this important life skill, the more options he or she will have.

A goal is created three times. First as a mental picture. Second, when written down to add clarity and dimension. And third, when you take action towards its achievement.

As the cliché goes, ’The best defense is a good offense.’ Go forward be aggressive. Don’t give your fears or competition a chance to pin you down. Trepidation and loss of confidence come with a defensive posture. Attack the problem, attack the market, attack the competition, and you are proceeding positively. Fear will melt and confidence will rise.

Does planning make the man or woman? Maybe so, maybe not. But why take the chance. Knowing without a doubt that you are prepared by doing your homework provides a feeling that is beyond price the confidence and power needed to succeed in life.

Learning is about more than simply acquiring new knowledge and insights; it is also crucial to unlearn old knowledge that has outlived its relevance. Thus, forgetting is probably at least as important as learning.

You may get skinned knees and elbows, but it's worth it if you score a spectacular goal.