This author prided herself as being one who embraced change, and often became disgusted with her fellow teachers when they dragged their feet and resisted district initiatives. She also believed in setting goals and then managing the tasks that allows one to reach the goals. She thought it was merely a matter of purposeful planning, effort, and time that allowed one to meet goals. However, through a chain of events and life's hard knocks, the author discovered that the goal premise did not necessarily work. In this article, Fuller discusses how external factors can affect goals. In regard to advice for beginning administrators, the author urges them to examine and learn about education as a whole.