Be Clear About What You Want
When I graduated from college I was clear about what I DID NOT WANT TO DO but I was not clear about WHAT I WANTED TO POUR MY LIFE INTO! Yes I had successfully completed my engineering degree and I had job offers, but nothing I was passionate about! Over the past ten or more years I have trained and coached thousands of people and discovered that not only are college graduates unclear about what they want but those who are established in corporate America are still unclear about what they want out of life.
Unfortunately Passion 101 and Purpose 202 are not taught in our educational system at any level. In addition Goal Setting and Goal Achievement are not taught either. Goal Setting and Goal Achievement are mandatory for success and a crucial subset of pursuing your Purpose.
The Benefit of Clearly Defined Goals
Having clearly defined goals is a common denominator of ALL of successful people! A Harvard study in 1979 showed that only 3% of the MBA graduates had clearly written goals! As a result the 3% earns ten times more than the other 97% combined!
If God where to ask you, "What are 100 Goals that you want to accomplish?"
What would your response be? Pick one!
a. One second I need to get my list!
b. Wait a minute I have been meaning to write those down!
c. I know 4 or 5 but 100, WOW!
d. Uhhhh!!!!!!!
What would your response be? Pick one!
a. One second I need to get my list!
b. Wait a minute I have been meaning to write those down!
c. I know 4 or 5 but 100, WOW!
d. Uhhhh!!!!!!!
Accomplishing The Feeder Goal
Have you ever found yourself pouring your time, effort, and energy into something that made you feel as if you where wasting your time or spinning your wheels? It made you feel like a hamster running on a wheel and going nowhere! Many times this happens to people because they do not have clearly defined goals with a game plan for their accomplishment!
Almost 20 years ago one of my mentors told me "A man or woman without a dominant goal in his or her life will waste their time doing worthwhile things!"
Making a list of your goals will provide energy and focus! In many cases accomplishing one of your goals will enable you to accomplish many of the additional goals that you have. It will feed your remaining goals with resources, skills, networks and momentum! Successful people are able to effectively pick their Feeder Goal. Master this skill over time!
Action Exercises
1. Make a list of your goals and dreams! Determine what you want to accomplish in the following key life areas: Faith; Finances; Relationships; Career; Health; and Travel. Figure out which one or maybe two goals if completed successfully will enable you accomplish the remaining goals on your list! Focus on those one or two goals with disciplined consistency!
2. Visualize and Affirm Daily! Thinking about what you do not want will enable you to create MORE of what you do not want! Therefore be CLEAR about what you DO want and think about that in a visual manner!
3. Study and develop relationships with people who have accomplished what you desire to accomplish! There are two ways to learn, from your own personal experience or from the experience of others! The latter is WISDOM in action!
4. Create a game plan and follow it! Every goal MUST have a game plan! A goal with no game plan is just like saying I want to travel to Chicago from Houston and getting in the car and jumping on the nearest freeway regardless if that freeway is traveling north, south, east, or west! Keep in mind as you are traveling north to Chicago that there might be some construction, detours and or road blocks and you must be flexible!
1. Make a list of your goals and dreams! Determine what you want to accomplish in the following key life areas: Faith; Finances; Relationships; Career; Health; and Travel. Figure out which one or maybe two goals if completed successfully will enable you accomplish the remaining goals on your list! Focus on those one or two goals with disciplined consistency!
2. Visualize and Affirm Daily! Thinking about what you do not want will enable you to create MORE of what you do not want! Therefore be CLEAR about what you DO want and think about that in a visual manner!
3. Study and develop relationships with people who have accomplished what you desire to accomplish! There are two ways to learn, from your own personal experience or from the experience of others! The latter is WISDOM in action!
4. Create a game plan and follow it! Every goal MUST have a game plan! A goal with no game plan is just like saying I want to travel to Chicago from Houston and getting in the car and jumping on the nearest freeway regardless if that freeway is traveling north, south, east, or west! Keep in mind as you are traveling north to Chicago that there might be some construction, detours and or road blocks and you must be flexible!
Taft...I so miss this man!! You really helped change my life and thinking a few years ago when we first met. Since then, it has become unbearble for me to accept living a life of mediocrity. I am now a responsible adult and I am ralizing how important the "Action Exercises" are. They are VITAL!!! Your post has really encouraged me to take action and helped me to clearly see just "knowing" what to is not enough. Nothing happens until I do something!! Getting it done!! Cant wait for the next post..
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