My late friend and fraternity brother, Jim Aker, a man of serious intellect and even more serious opinions, was an avid fisher. One time in Colorado, he was fishing with a mutual friend and confounded her with the concept of "catch and release." "If you catch it after all this work, shouldn't you keep it?" she asked. Jim just smiled. Nah, he probably had a lot to say about it. Achieving your goals is not fishing, and it certainly is not "catch and release" fishing but let's face it, sometimes you have to let go of a goal that's getting you nowhere. Pretending a goal matters is ending any chance that you'll achieve it. Make the goal important enough that you will apply the discipline you'll need to achieve it -- or let it go. -- doug smith