Here’s a fun fact about my husband: Penn hates setting goals.
Okay, hate might be too strong of a word, but he really dislikes it. Penn can sing and dance in public unapologetically. He can put on a wig and be a crazy character without batting an eye. But setting goals? That’s the thing that makes him uncomfortable. (Meanwhile, I’m over here with my color-coded planner, a five-year vision board, and a motivational playlist for days.)
It doesn’t mean that Penn doesn’t have goals. He has big ones. He just has a hard time saying them outloud. If he does say them, he usually downplays them so it doesn’t disappoint himself or the people around him. So you can imagine my surprise when Penn proposed we chat with former NASA astronaut and bestselling author Mike Massimino about goal setting.
Collaboration Is Key To Success
Penn wants to get better at setting goals, and he really liked Mike’s book about how to achieve the goals that feel impossible. (Plus, Penn loves space so any chance to chat with an astronaut he will take!) According to Mike, the people who accomplish the “impossible” are not the ones who never fail—they’re the ones who keep going anyway. Mike shared his own journey of being rejected by NASA three times. He had bad eyesight, but he eventually trained his brain and vision (without surgery or contacts!) to pass the eye exam. (Ok, real-life superhero.)
But what stuck with me most about our conversation was that Mike emphasized collaboration in goal setting. In his astronaut training, they had to do a water survival test, and the weak swimmers had to raise their hands and work with the strong swimmers to get through it. No one could pass until everyone passed. The goal wasn’t just personal success—it was the mission. And the mission required people to be honest, ask for help, and show up for each other.
That hit me hard.
Getting Vulnerable
So often we set goals and keep them to ourselves out of fear—fear we’ll fail, fear we’ll sound silly, fear we’ll let people down. But Mike reminded us that saying your goal out loud—and being brave enough to ask for help—actually increases your chances of success. Even if your odds are “one in a million,” that’s still better than zero. It was a message that inspired Penn to try to say his goals out loud more often too.
Personally, I have shared some big goals of my own on the podcast of things I want to do before I turn 50. Saying those goals has made me feel vulnerable, but also more committed. (And maybe that’s the secret.) Listen to this week’s show to hear more from Mike Massimino and also hear me also get extra vulnerable about our daughter going off to college. It’s a real journey, folks. What are your goals? Say them out loud in the comments.
