I was taken by surprise recently when I mentioned SMART goals in a meeting and several
people did not know what I was talking about.
I really thought that SMART goals had become
somewhat of a buzzword in the professional
arena, and certainly something that everyone
was at least kind of familiar with. You see, by
implementing SMART goals into parts of my
own life, it is no wonder why people don’t follow through with their goals. Without a sense
of direction or accountability, goals are easily
abandoned without a second thought. It is not
surprising that research shows that 80% of new
year’s resolutions are forgotten by February
15th.
Back in the early 90s I listened to an interview
with NFL Hall of Fame running back Emmitt
Smith. The interviewer asked him “You were
too small to play high school football, but you
broke records. You were too small to play
Division I SEC football, but you got a scholarship and broke records. You were too small to
play in the NFL and here you are as league and
Super Bowl MVP and champion. How did you
do that?” Smith replied, “It was always my
dream to do all those things.” The interviewer
said, “That’s great but everyone has dreams”.
“But I wrote mine down and they became
goals. And you can reach your goals” Smith
replied. It was a take-off of a Greg Reid quote:
“A dream written down with a date becomes a
goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a
plan. A plan backed by action makes your
dreams come true.”
I tell people repeatedly that the ability to get
good legislation passed is ALL about strategy.
Making your plan and working the strategy in
the most effective way possible. SMART
goals.
Dr. King said, “I have a dream”. Well so do I. I have so many dreams for ABATE of Arizona and how we can be a positive driving force for motorcyclists in Arizona. I have shared some of those dreams with our state officers and
board of directors. I want to share a few of these with you now.
ABATE active membership at 1,000 before the end of 2021. This is easy to do. We have that many on our rolls now if we can just get people to renew their memberships.
Get three good pieces of legislation passed. While we have more than that planned for the year, I am making a conservative goal of just three GOOD pieces of legislation.
Over 500 motorcyclists in attendance for
Motorcycle Day at the Dome. Since we have been hovering between 350 and 375 the past few years, 500 is an attainable goal. Raise the endorsed rider percentage above 50%. Right now, according to ADOT, we are only about 40% of riders with a valid motorcycle endorsement. I have been discussing this with AMSAF director Mick Degn, and we will be working towards this together.
Help start two new ABATE chapters by the end of 2021. That will bring us to 9 in our state. Ten if you count the at-large members.
Facilitate a town hall event with legislators for every chapter. I want our legislators to get to know the local chapters and not just see my face.
Have a strong trained grassroots advocate team in each chapter. This will allow each chapter to advocate on the local municipal level when needed. Remember that all politics is local. – Tip O’Neill
There are my seven goals for 2021 for ABATE as your Legislative Director. I want to challenge every one of you to participate in one of those in your chapter. I will be attending the chapter meetings throughout the year, as
COVID permits, to share more with you. I
want to welcome you to share your ideas on how we can achieve these together.
Here is to a successful and exciting 2021.
Be good to one another.
Mike InfanzonLegislative Director
