When we talk about success, it is helpful to break down complex ideas into everyday topics. Ones we can understand and relate to. For this article, I’m going to use the analogy of success in a NFL football game. We’ve all seen games on TV, and many of us have been to one in person and may have played the game in school or college.

The game of football faces off two teams competing against each other. The goal of the game is to outscore your opponent. There are two conferences, the AFC and the NFC. They each have 16 teams and play a 17 week regular season. Out of the league’s 32 teams, six (four division winners and two wild-card teams) from each conference compete in the NFL playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

Let’s take a look at how Football relates to goal setting.

Goal Setting

When setting goals, it’s good to set long term goals, short term goals and action goals. In football, a long term, year long goal is to win the Super Bowl. A short term goal  is to win your weekly game. An action goal is to advance on each individual play, which will ultimately result in a touchdown, and scoring points.

By having a long term goal in place, each team knows that it must win a majority of the games it plays to advance to the playoffs and ultimately have a chance to win the Super Bowl. With a long term goal, the individual game of football becomes much more interesting. There is more at stake than just the game itself.

When you are setting goals for yourself, having a long term strategy is important. You need to know where you are going and what you are trying to accomplish. For major life goals, it’s good to go out 50 years, 10 years, 5 years, and one year. This gives you a strategic path for your life. Once you have those in place, you can assign smaller milestones, such as a 10 week goal, weekly goal and daily goal. Now you have your short and long term goals in place and can set up actual action steps, or plays as it would be in football.

By starting with the big picture and breaking your goals down into milestones, you can easily design action steps to help you fulfill your goals. The goal of each of these action steps is to move forward.

Like a real football game, we face a variety of opponents on our way to success. We may face the opponent of procrastination, which keeps us locked in place and easily tackled. We may face the opponent of distraction, that takes our eye off the ball, chasing nothing to nowhere, and keeps us from advancing. We may face the giant opponent of fear, with 300 pounds of force, ready to crush us. We might create a new product or service that faces stiff competition. It’s how we deal with these opponents that ultimately helps us win our game.

As in a football game, each action step or play is really important. You are certain to fail at some of these, but it is important to learn from each one, strategize your moves and learn how to mount an effective offense. The team you face is formidable. You need to defend yourself from it’s offense and penetrate its defence. Once you do, you can move effectively down the field, and ultimately score a touchdown.

As you can see from the analogy above, having a hierarchy of goals lets us plan to not only win the game, but also advance to the super bowl. However, the real forward motion is handled on each play. Just having the goal in place does us no good, unless we are willing to get on the field and take action.

Priorities

In football, each team we face will present different obstacles. Some may have a great defense, stopping us in our tracks. Others may have a great offense, penetrating our defences and scoring points against us, ultimately defeating us. To win the game, you need to observe your opponent, do your research and prioritize your response. As in football, your team has limited resources. The key to winning is to prioritize your actions. If your opponent has a great defence, you need to strategize and set priorities to get past their line of scrimmage. You, as the quarterback, need to throw a decisive and well placed pass down field to move forward.

On the other hand, if your opponent has a great offence, your defence must be strong. Bringing the right players on the field is of the greatest importance. Here is the secret to winning games and going to the Super Bowl. It’s important to build the right team. The people you surround yourself with are very important. You need to set priorities and bring in the right players. Weakness in any major area will bring defeat.

When setting goals for yourself, you need to prioritize your actions and your team. You need to say no to plays and players that will not help you move forward. By weighing each play and player with a list of pre chosen priorities, you’ll have a quick and easy way to advance to the goal. Just throwing players in the game and taking random plays is a sure recipe for defeat.

One of the number one priorities you need to set is to bring in a good coach. Someone who knows how the game is played and has the winning strategy to help you win. Without a good coach, even the best quarterback will struggle. When setting your goals, having a personal coach, mentor or mastermind group will help you strategize success.

So here is the definition of success. Setting priorities allows you to choose what is best for your team, and saying no to the rest. Picking the best coach, players, and plays is the absolute key. By setting priorities, you set yourself up to win.

That brings up our last point…

Happiness

Ultimately NFL football is about the enjoyment of the fans. They will pay good money to come and watch your games and buy the products of advertisers that promote their games on TV. If you have a lousy team, your fans will not be happy and either will you or your players.

What makes a great NFL game? Two great teams going at it on the field. Each team at the top of their game. Fans on their feet, cheering. Each team with a legitimate chance at the Super Bowl.

That’s why playoff games are so exciting.

It’s also why each game in the regular season is so important.

One missed play during the regular or playoff season can spell defeat.

But what does happiness have to do with setting goals?

Researchers have found that one of the major keys to happiness is moving forward on a worthwhile goal. Think about football for a moment. While an exciting game is great for fans to watch, it’s super motivating for the team. Each play is critical. Team interaction is key. Having a worthwhile opponent is very important. One sided blow out games are boring. So are goals that are too easy.

Creating the right team, pulling in the right coach and setting up the right plays allows you to compete at a greater level of success. While there will be down moments and disappointments, the overall enjoyment of your endeavor will be determined by your team, and the level of competition you are willing to tackle. Pick something too difficult and you’ll agonize every play and ultimately quit. Take on something too easy, and you’ll soon lose interest in playing.

Overall

Creating worthwhile goals and bringing in a great team is the first step. Creating a strategy and setting priorities is the second. Third, by taking action and moving forward, you’ll ultimately find success with greater motivation and more enjoyment of the journey ahead.

Whether the game is football, basketball or soccer, goals encompassing a great team, insightful coaching and a strong level of priority will lead to an enjoyable season and may bring on a championship

For you, creating a new business, designing a new project or taking on a high level bucket list item, will result in a enjoyable journey if you select your team with care, prioritize your tasks and create a substantial but doable goal.

First Step…

In our next post we’ll take a look at those long term goals and put together some tools and procedures to create them that will lead to a lifetime of  success, while enjoying the ride along the way…

The post Analogy of Success: Goals, Priorities and Happiness appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

It may sound crazy, but the average person should take a look at their life and plan a vision for the future, fifty years out. If you are middle age, you may find that your chances of being alive in 50 years are slim to none. This is the key. Because what you plan now has the ability to outlive your life.

In goal setting, I’ve always heard that you should plan your life so that good things are said at your funeral. You should treat people well and live a life of integrity. While these are great tenets to live by, the real truth is, people will come to your funeral, say what they will, and go on and live their lives.

It’s what exists two weeks after the funeral is over that constitutes your legacy.

To illustrate how important it is to set a long term vision for the future, here are three stories of people that I know, that are creating a legacy that will live on far after they are gone. While it will be tragic when their funeral comes, their presence will be felt for decades out. The first is…

The Motorcycle Man

I met Marty Edwards back in the mid nineties, when he was the pastor of Lamb’s Fellowship, a mid size church in the Temecula Valley. Marty is a good looking guy, now in his fifties, that always carries a smile with him. Just being around him, you know he cares a lot about other people. Back in 1999, he caught a bug going around a lot of pastor circles, and never recovered. He acquired a Harley Davidson Motorcycle and never looked back. He started riding on weekends and hanging out at the Harley shop in Temecula. Being a yuppy biker, he wanted to look the part. First it was the jacket, then some riding pants, and soon he had the beard and even a tattoo.

This was disconcerting, to say the least, to his conservative family oriented congregation. Because, if you know Marty at all, his friendly attitude is contagious and he soon attracted other bikers to attend church with him. First it was just one or two leather jackets in the crowd, but the word soon spread and the biker population literally exploded on Sunday mornings. People started talking. The whispers of a bad example were heard in the hallways. There were even women in leather jackets now. At Lamb’s Fellowship, these guys became known as the black sheep of the congregation.

One day Marty came out to find his bike’s tire had gone flat. He called the dealer and a young man named Michael came and picked him up, and took his bike back to the shop. As the tire was being fixed, Michael took off on his bike and was tragically killed at the corner intersection, by a truck making a right hand turn. This tragic event shook Marty to his core. Having talked with the young man just minutes before, he had wanted to make a difference in his life. What happened next was almost prophetic. Within minutes of the Michael’s death, Marty was leading a prayer vigil at the Harley Shop. He was talking with hardened bikers, many who would never grace the doors of a church. Many opened up and shared. From this one horrific accident, a ministry was born. Black Sheep Harley Davidsons for Christ became a reality.

The group started riding on Sundays, with bikers from all over the valley joining in. Soon Marty resigned as pastor from Lambs, to take on the Harley ministry full time. That was just the start. The group expanded statewide and then it literally exploded across the U.S. from state to state. Now it has become an international ministry.

All because of a vision of one man to take the Church to the people, where they were.

The Man on the Platform

I started blogging in 2005 and looked for other bloggers in the Personal Development Arena to converse with. One of my early mentors was Michael Hyatt, the CEO at the time of a large publishing company. In the early days of blogging, our sites were rather crude, with low res graphics and narrow templates to fit the lower res screens of the day. Michael was using Typepad and I was using a very early version of WordPress. Michael’s blog was called, From Where I Sit, an insightful look at leadership from someone sitting in the CEO’s chair.

As a Technology person working for a large school district, I had just taken on a management position. I ate up Michael’s leadership advice, responding almost daily with comments and questions. The cool thing was, Michael would often respond directly to me. As a new leader with a lot of responsibility, his advice was incredibly helpful. He had been, where I was going.

Over the years, Michael and I became pretty good friends. We are both the same age, and have the distinction of both being Fuller Brush men early in our careers. I attended his Create Cruise back in 2011 and had a chance to meet Mike in person.  He was very gracious and offered to help a small group of us with our book proposals. I not only learned leadership advice from him, but the realities of getting a book published. One thing Michael has always preached… set long term goals.

Things really started to go for Michael in 2012 with the launch of his book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. I had the privilege of being part of his launch team, and saw his book hit the New York Times bestseller list by the second week. Mike has always talked about goal setting and life planning. With the launch of his book, he was now living it.

As a core foundation of a business venture, Michael’s book helped him leverage several online ventures, from his membership site, Platform University, to his publishing encyclopedia, Get Published Now. But what has been really exciting, is to see his newest venture, 5 Days To Your Best Year Ever, just explode. He initially launched it last year, in December of 2013. It beat his expectations. He is launching an expanded version this year, and in the first day of his launch, he broke last year’s record.

What is nice about this program, is it takes Life Planning and sets it up into a simple five day process. It’s based on Michael’s extensive experience, and given his current results, I would highly recommend it for your goal setting process. Michael has always been real helpful, but this program takes it to a new level. Michael reaches over 400,000 people a month with his blog. Now he is helping thousands of people find success in the New Year.

Michael’s secret of success… setting a long term vision and helping other people achieve their dreams.

The Sparkplug

I remember the day well. Marie Waite wanted to help small business people in the Temecula Valley become more successful. As the leader in a Real Estate company with over 50 agents, she had a true heart for people. She announced her plans to our Toastmaster’s group. It sounded like a grand plan, especially the part about creating it as a Non-Profit. I have to admit though, I was a little sceptical. Marie is from the Philippines, and her English at the time was not always the smoothest. She had this crazy vision of hundreds of people attending spring and fall business conferences, with attendees and businesses from all over the county.

I figured the idea would burn out and she would be on to the next big plan, just like so many other people. What I didn’t realize at the time, was the fire that burned inside her. Marie is a Sparkplug. She ignites passion wherever she goes. When she gets a vision, watch out.

Within weeks, she had people excited. Phone calls were made, emails exchanged and social media was on fire. She lit up Facebook. There was a lot of noise and meetings were launched. Ideas were all over the place. The plans slowly moved forward. The non-profit application was sent in. While things were moving, there wasn’t a lot of organization.

That’s when Marie turned to Steve Matley. Steve had run his own company in the construction industry and had been a major part of the planning and building of many large buildings in the San Diego area. You don’t build a Skyscraper without a plan. Steve came in and set up a foundational plan. He set up a board of directors, put meetings together, and the process gained speed. Within months, the Spring and Fall events were planned and the Inland Valley Business and Community Foundation became a reality.

During that first year lots of business owners were contacted by the IVBCF. Monthly meeting were launched, each held at a small business location. People became excited and signed up to be a part of the events. While the organization went through some growing pains, the Spring and Fall events went off well. But then something happened by total accident that changed everything…

Someone in the fashion industry talked to the group about doing a fashion show. At first it seemed like a crazy idea. But one thing led to another and a fashion show was added to their annual awards banquet. Suddenly there was interest in the group from different directions and new groups of people. One thing to know about Marie. She wants things done spectacularly. Not just good, not just great… but spectacular.

The awards banquet was just that. From this crazy idea at Toastmasters a few years back, led to this spectacular show. It had become so big, that it was now its own event.

Maries’ vision was to help other business owners like herself. This vision, with the help of a planner like Steve Matley, has taken on new meanings. Now many business owners and community members are being helped by this incredible organization.

And this vision is just getting started… with new chapters planned for other areas.

Your Vision

While it’s good to have a long term vision, actually setting 50 year goals will help you be more specific about what you hope to achieve and the people you will be involved with. From the stories above, whether it be a Ministry, a Business, or a Community Organization, each one became a reality because of one person’s vision.

• Do you have a vision for your life?
• What great thing would you like to see become a reality?
• Do you want to write a book, create a movie or start a business?

In our next post, we’ll look at some long term planning tools to help your dreams become a reality.

The post Why You Should Set 50 Year Goals appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

When you plan 50 Year goals, you are really talking about creating a legacy. Since, in many cases you won’t be alive 50 years out, you’ll necessarily need to plan your goals around other people. Personal bucket list goals, such as running a marathon, won’t count. It really comes down to…

How will you make a difference in the world?

To help you think that far out and plan different outcomes, I created a simple Personal Legacy Worksheet.

It contains five sections. They are…

1. Who or What Do You Want To Impact?

This basically describes your tribe or sphere of influence. People or items that fit into your niche. This may be children, family, customers, contacts, users, followers, readers, viewers or other people that are impacted by you. In the worksheet, it’s helpful to be specific about people that you can truly help. Your goal may include animals or pets or possibly environmental items such as trees or plants. Be as specific as possible.

2. How Do You Want To Instill Change?

What will you do to instill changes and make a difference? For example, you may want to impact your children, by sending them to college. You may want to start a business, church or organization that will affect hundreds or thousands of people. You may want to plant trees, save pets, or clean up the environment. List the change you want to see.

3. What Will You Do/Create That Will Outlive Your Life?

Maybe you want to start a long term savings plan for your children’s college fund. You might want to write a book, start a business, create an outreach. What you put here should continue on, even if you pass on. Financially you might include items like life insurance or annuities. For information items, you might include writing a book, creating a video, or  outlining a song. Physical items may include things like building a house or school, planting trees or plants, or creating a new product, such as a computer or music player.

4. What Will Be The Results?

This is where you get to extrapolate the results of your plans and actions. 50 Years is a long time, and the multiplier effect of networking, leadership, and compound interest can lead to some spectacular results. This is where you get to dream a little. For inspiration, take a look at my previous post, that includes three examples of people who are truly making a difference.

5. What Action Steps Are Necessary To Make This A Reality?

This is where the rubber meets the road. Write down some milestones here. Just outline the main steps. You don’t need to get too specific, you’ll do that as you plan out your shorter term items. Write them down by decade or by specific event.

Take a Few Minutes..

Fill out the sheets starting from the top and working your way to the bottom. Try to pick specific areas of interest if you can, and realize that technology and the world will certainly change over the years. Picking evergreen, people based  goals will help.

When You Are Done…

Take a step back and visualize what you wrote down. This particular goal sheet will change over time, as your life evolves. I like to review this sheet at least once a year or at major milestones along the way. You can three hole punch this and keep it in your goal setting notebook.

Personal Examples…

I love starting with this 50 year sheet, as it really helps you see what is important in the world and how you can make a difference. It moves a lot of the personal goals down a notch, to the five or ten year levels. In my life I’ve been involved with a few legacy projects. When my dad died, his estate left some funds for a couple of projects. One was to plant 5,000 trees in Africa, where deforestation had ruined the land. My dad was always planting trees when he was alive, with over 30 in his backyard. Trees are a wonderful example of a legacy goal. In my dad’s project, the trees are now nine years old, and have completely changed the landscape and brought life back to a struggling community in Kenya.

My dad also had a love for kids, so some funds were set aside to build a small playground for children in Murrieta. Every time I drive past it, I can see my dad smiling, just like the kids who are using it. Both of these continue on my dad’s memory as a kind and caring person.

I have some friends at my old church that have built homes and a school for the needy in Mexico. They create them in the Church parking lot and take them by trailer to a remote farming community, inland of Ensenada in Baja California. These home will last for decades and provide housing and shelter to people who were literally living in cardboard boxes. Certainly changing the legacy of almost everyone involved.

It all starts with an idea…

Writing your ideas and dreams down is the first step to accomplishing them.

What amazing goal will you put on your worksheet?

Download:

Personal Legacy Worksheet in PDF

More Info:

We will continue this series as we look at setting 5 and 10 year goals in our next post.

The post 50 Year Goals: Personal Legacy Worksheet appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

Ten years–a decade–is a long time. In our fast paced, modern world, things may be almost unrecognizable ten years out. Technology, politics and world events are sure to change the landscape. Yet, if we are going to have a say in our lives, we need to plan for this uncertain future. One thing about a ten year time frame is the ability to master an area of our lives. If we play the guitar, for instance, we can become really good over a decade. We can master the craft. The same goes for our careers, our family life, and building a business.

Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Outliers, delivers the researched conclusion that mastering talent in our lives takes on average, 10,000 hours. Given a forty hour work week, this works out to 4.8 years of dedicated practice, working full time. Ten years then, it would seem, would give us plenty of time to become proficient at our desired occupations and worthwhile ventures.

In our overall goal setting model, it makes sense to look at the big picture and see what areas we want to dedicate our hours of hard work and learning to as the years roll by. To give us a playing field, I’ve taken four areas of life and enclosed them in a worksheet.

Let’s take a look at the sheet and how we can use it as a guide.

As you can see we have divided up the sheeting into four broad categories across the top, with three horizontal steps that include our goal, our dedicated area of practice or learning, and the resulting modified plan. They are..

1. Personal and Family Goals
2. Professional and Business Goals
3. Fitness and Health Goals
4. Financial and Investment Goals

Let’s take a look at each one and I’ll include some examples from my own career.

Personal and Family Goals

Back in my early twenties this would have been how my personal goals looked.

These are common goals for people in their twenties. Depending on your time of life, looking ten years out will be radically different depending on your age.

By taking each of the primary goals and looking at areas of learning and practice, it’s easy to figure out some mastery areas. Looking back at my life, I wish I would have taken the time and spent to the money to do more of these the first time around.

Professional Goals

In my early twenties, this was my job based reality and how I saw my career progressing…

I went to college and did a professional certificate program in Auto Repair. This is how my mastery list would have looked…

Back in the day, auto repair was a great business. In my college program I learned how cars worked and how to repair them. I also took classes on sales and management. Thankfully, I talked with a business coach and decided against opening my own shop. But I did get certifications from an industry professional group, which led to higher pay and a management position.

As a trade, working on high end European cars paid well, and allowed my to buy a house after a few years on the job. Unfortunately, auto repair itself took its toll on my body after a while. Thankfully, I was able to eventually move into sales and management which saved my back.

Health and Fitness Goals

Health and fitness goals are important to consider, depending on your age and occupation. In my case, working in auto repair in my twenties, I had the following goals…

I knew that I needed more arm strength for lifting heavy items like transmissions and other large metal parts. Since I was planning on marriage, I had heard that you gain at least 10 to 15 pounds once you tie the knot. Given the solvents used in cleaning parts, I knew I wanted to stay away from too much contact. Here is how my health list would have looked after a few years on the job.

After messing up my lower and upper back a few times, I decided that I would pursue a management track, which would take me out of the repair stall and into the front office. Once I got married, the 10+ pounds magically appeared and a change in eating habits was necessary. I invested in a pair of chemical resistant gloves which helped save my hands.

Financial Goals

Financial goals are very important to consider, both on the saving and spending sides. Here are some of my financial goals when I was twenty.

I had three really big goals when I was in my early twenties. After finishing college, I needed a good job. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any experience in my field.

To master my financial situation I found that going back to school and getting industry certifications was a big help. Repair shops and dealerships were looking for people who had the latest certs so they would be qualified to do more technical work. Within a year, I was making good money on my first job. Once I started getting a paycheck, I started saving money for a house and getting married. Since I still lived at home with my parents, this was easier than if I had gone out on my own. I started having regular amounts taken from each paycheck, which made the process much easier.

Once I had saved for a couple of years, my girlfriend and I started looking in the local housing market. We found that we would need to move to the suburbs and combine both of our incomes to qualify. We found a house, decided to get married, and used our savings to get started.

By investing in something we could afford and setting up an automatic savings program really helped. We soon had a rainy day fund setup.

10 Year Goals: Creating a Plan

By using the worksheet above it’s easy to see your goals, add in the areas to need to master, and then write out a plan to achieve them. Here is how the last row might have looked in my twenties.

 Overall

Looking out ten years can be a little daunting at first, but talking with others, getting counseling, and working with a mentor can really help. I really wish I would have had this worksheet and a little foresight when I was in my twenties. It would have saved me a lot of mistakes and helped me be more diligent about what was really important.

Planning

Download the worksheet below and take some time filling out the goal section at the top. Then fill in the middle section with areas that you’ll need to master and milestones you’ll need to reach to make your 10 year dreams a reality. Once you are done, create a simple written plan to achieve them. Use our examples above as a guide.

Download

10 Year Goal Setting Worksheet

Next…

In our next post, we’ll take a look at five year goals and see how we can have foresight into the future, and set important milestones that won’t disappoint.

The post 10 Year Goals: Master Your Craft appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

The five year goal threshold is an interesting one. It’s far enough out that we can plan some pretty big outcomes, but close enough that we can predict some trends. This allows us to fine tune our goals, and avoid putting our ladder up on the wrong wall, with outcomes that we don’t want or didn’t foresee. It allows us to avoid bucking an unavoidable trend.

We don’t have to go back in time very far to see new trends that emerged over the last decade that totally changed the business landscape for many people. Look at travel agents. Their entire industry was decimated by online travel apps. Yet there was a huge opportunity to grow in this space, if you had the software and right programmers behind you.

SEO companies, who were the darlings of the business world in the early part of the 2000 decade, were hit hard by changes in the Google search algorithm. Almost everything they were advising businesses to do in 2005, has been completely reversed. Companies that were aware of the trends were able to take advantage of the changes and rocket to the top of the charts, those that didn’t, fell quickly off the front page of search.

If you were a Computer service tech or programmer during Y2K you were in high demand. Every company with any type of computer infrastructure wanted to make sure that the world didn’t end for them on January 1st, 2000. Yet, soon after that, huge advances were made in fiber optic cabling around the world. Web speed increased exponentially and soon it was as easy for a tech or programmer in India to do the computer work of one in the United States. Whole tech departments were moved, jobs were eliminated and the entire industry was rocked by little glass fibers running under the ocean.

Going in to the decade,if you knew what the trend was, you could avoid being caught up in the turmoil by changing jobs or consulting for profit. In fact, if you knew the trend, you could go to work for one of the leading edge companies innovating or start your own business to profit from the changes.

Think about our immediate future. We are on the brink of a robot explosion. These new machines will be brought in to replace expensive employees in many different industries. If you currently flip hamburgers for McDonalds, you’ll probably see your job disappear over the next five years as a fast food robot who can make burgers ten times faster replaces you. If you are a library clerk, bank teller or loan officer, you’re almost certain to be replaced by an automated process or robot over the next decade.

However, if you are a doctor, dentist, or elementary school teacher, your job will most likely be in high demand. It’s helpful to view a list of the Most Secure and Least Secure jobs in the robot economy and see if you are presently in danger or not. I was surprised by some of the occupations on the list.  Umpires and Referees were number two on the most endangered, while sales engineers and lodging managers were considered very safe.

To give you an idea on future trends, author and speaker Daniel Burrus has put together a free list of certainties and written an insightful book, Flash Foresight, on the subject. He lists some ways that you can know for certain that specific things will happen. He calls these hard trends. Items that may happen, but are not certain, are listed as soft trends.

A hard trend is a projection based on measurable, tangible, and fully predictable facts, events, or objects. A soft trend is a projection based on statistics that have the appearance of being tangible, fully predictable facts. A hard trend is something that will happen: a future fact. A soft trend is something that might happen: a future maybe. ~ Burrus, Daniel

Here are a few examples..

Hard Trends

• 78 million baby boomers are getting older. It’s a certainty that they…
  • Will have increasing health needs.
  • Will need to find alternate housing
  • Will transition out of the workforce

Soft Trends

• The use of computer tablets will increase
• The stock market will keep going up
• Customers will keep buying MP3 music files

As you can see, soft trends are based on what is happening now, but the future direction is not guaranteed, whereas the hard trends are certain to happen.

To help you plan out your next five years, I’ve put together a Five Year Goal Setting Worksheet

As you can see we have divided up the sheeting into four broad categories across the top, with three horizontal steps that include our goal, the trends that may affect the outcome, and the resulting modified plan. They are..

1. Personal and Family Goals
2. Professional and Business Goals
3. Fitness and Health Goals
4. Financial and Investment Goals

Five Year Goals: Creating a Plan

Here is an example of how you might fill out the Professional Goals Column.

Currently you are finishing junior college and want to get a job as a bank teller and move up the ladder over the next five years. Looking at the trends, you see that bank tellers as a profession are in danger of being replaced. To fit in with the market trend, you look at the direction the financial services industry is going and see there is a high demand for some of the new investment products coming online.

Unfortunately, they require a certification to be able to market them. You decide to go back to school, get certified, and leap frog your career to a high demand area. You jump at least one rung up your career ladder by taking the trend into account.

Overall

By researching and listing hard trends, both positive and negative, you can modify your goals and better prepare for the next five years. Instead of going forward in areas of great change unprepared, you’ll have the knowledge to make better decisions. I really wish I would have had this worksheet and a little foresight when I was in my twenties. It would have saved me a lot of mistakes and helped me be more diligent about what was really important.

Planning

Download the worksheet below and take some time filling out the goal section at the top. Then fill in the middle section with trends that may affect their outcome over the next five years.  Once you are done, create a simple written plan to achieve them. Use our examples above as a guide.

Download

5 Year Goal Setting Worksheet

Next…

In our next post, we’ll take a look at shorter term goals and a unique calendar that will help us succeed in accomplishing them.

The post Five Year Goals: Your Friend Is The Trend appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

I’m a big believer in goal setting, and I’ve created many different goal setting worksheets over the years. My daily planner worksheet has been a staple on my desk for almost a decade as it allows me to see a snapshot of my day in one convenient location. Today I’d like to share a new worksheet with you that may change the way you approach your day.

Over the summer I discovered a fantastic podcast for entrepreneurs called 10X Talk by Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish. In the podcast, Dan, who is the CEO of Strategic Coach,  mentioned that he starts his day by writing down three things he would like to accomplish for the day. At the end of the day he takes the same piece of paper and writes down three wins. His outlook is this; by writing down three items he wants to accomplish he has set a basic goal in his mind for the upcoming day. At the end of the day, he writes down three positive wins that occurred, no matter what they were. This way he always ends his day on a positive note. He mentions that he has been doing this simple routine for years and it has made a profound difference in his life.

The difference with Dan’s approach from standard goal setting is that it is not a check-off sheet.

His list starts with three simple goals or accomplishments that he would like take on during the day. It ends with three wins. These wins can be anything, just as long as they are framed in a positive way. This allows him to end his day on a positive frame of mind, without the condemnation of a job unfinished. He keeps his list where he can see it first thing and starts the day with three goals and always finishes the day with three wins.

This format is so simple, I figured I would give it a try. While Dan just uses a plain piece of paper, I created a simple daily goal setting worksheet with a goal area at the top and a win area at the bottom. I printed out a few and put them on my nightstand. After working with these for a few days, I can tell you that the secret is to quickly write down the goals when you get up. Don’t overthink this. By just keeping this list simple and quick, it has energized the start of my day. The really cool thing has been writing down the three wins at the end of the day. Even if I’ve had a bad day or everything has gone wrong, the act of writing down three “wins” has been magic. It always ends the day on a positive note.

Here is what my basic sheet looks like. I’ve created this as a PDF, so you can download it and give it a try.

While this sheet has worked well, I thought I might modify it slightly to frame my day in more specific areas. I decided to create five common categories that I approach every day, and create a simple one line goal for each. Here are my categories…

1. Projects
2. Contacts
3. Learning
4. Fitness
5. Spiritual

I created the sheet the same way with the goal area at the top and the win area at the bottom. This list is more specific, and it actually makes writing down items somewhat quicker, since I have a tighter category to choose from. At the end of the day, I just write down a win in each category (This may or may not be the item that I wrote down as a goal). After trying this out, I’ve also found the key is simplicity. This isn’t so much a daily planner (I still use my desktop one for that) but a daily motivator. By just taking a minute to focus on five important things for my day, I’m reminded of the importance of each area in my life.

Here is an idea of how I use it to set goals…

1. Projects: Update Blog Template
2. Contacts: Call Phil, Email Joyce
3. Learning: 10X Podcast
4. Fitness: 20 Minute Walk
5. Spiritual: Proverbs 21

Here is how I might end the day.

1. Projects: Designed New About Page. Really Slick Graphics
2. Contacts: Talked With Bill, Sally and Jack. Setup New Meeting
3. Learning: Learned About Habit Change. Trying New Habit Experiment
4. Fitness: Did 20 Minutes of Interval Training. Feeling Good
5. Spiritual: Read Daily Proverbs. Takeaway-help others

Notice that my win list may vary substantially from my goal list.

This list of five has been really helpful . I’ve been surprised what I have written down for goals and what my wins have been with the quick list. Having used this for a short while, I decided to create a condensed version, showing a whole week at a time. While this format really limits each section, it does give the visual of a whole week in one snapshot.

This is what it looks like.

For me, the jury is still out on what works best, but I want to make these available for you to try out.

The three worksheets are available here as PDFs.

• Daily Goal Setting Worksheet with Three Boxes
• Daily Goal Setting Worksheet with Five Box Categories
• Weekly Goal Setting Worksheet with Five Box Categories

I’ve also combined all three in MS Word format in a free download for my subscribers. This will allow you to make changes and modify the category lists. The link has been added to our free download area. Not a subscriber? You can get these helpful worksheets along with 30 others by subscribing here.

Overall: The secret of these lists is simplicity and positivity. You start the day with a goal in mind and end the day with a win, even if your project is still going or if you have had a setback. I really like this format. It has helped me do a 180 with my attitude on some days. Instead of being frustrated I can always end the day on a positive note. The great thing is, ending the day with a positive attitude makes it much easier to get to sleep. A total win-win. More happiness… more sleep!

Question: What daily goals will you set?

The post Daily Goal Setting Worksheet With a Positive Twist appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

I was brainstorming some ideas the other day for an upcoming ebook on goal setting and was trying to come up with words that expressed the difference between standard goal setting and setting goals that are truly life changing.

After trying many different word combinations, two words remained on my paper. Evolutionary versus Revolutionary. Evolutionary being the small incremental changes that many goal setting programs expound. Set a goal, and when you meet it, bump it up another 5%.

Many sales goals are set this way. Set a quota for the sales person and then incrementally increase it month after month. When I was in sales years ago, I faced this dilemma on a monthly basis. It worked OK until you didn’t hit it one month. Then it was almost like a noose around your neck. The excuses came and the quota became a demotivator.

Revolutionary goals are a different animal. Instead of a small change, the goal takes things to a new level. The whole process is reviewed, ideas brainstormed, and a new approach taken. The status quo is thrown out and a new process brought in. Goals like this can be scary, and the risk can be high, but the payoff can be profound.

In my life I have experienced both types of goals. Evolutionary goals at best result in small consistent improvements. But unless the approach is modified over time, the results soon flatline. Revolutionary goals, on the other hand can have an exponential effect.

Evolutionary Versus Revolutionary In The Real World

To give you a real world example, let’s take an example from the PC world. Microsoft vs. Apple. Microsoft is one of the most evolutionary companies on the planet. They usually start with an idea someone else has come up with and modify it slightly. They put their marketing muscle behind it and make incremental changes over time.

Take Microsoft Word for example. It has incrementally changed since the mid 90’s. Each new update brings a new feature or two, but Word 2016 is fundamentally the same as Word 97. Sure it has a new ribbon toolbar, but it works in almost the exact same way as it’s predecessor. It has basically become a commodity. And commodities soon go to the lowest bidder.

Apple on the other hand, has come out with many revolutionary products. Walk into one of their stores and be wowed with innovation. Starting with the Macintosh back in the 80’s almost every product has set new ground. There was the iPod, the iPhone, and now the iPad. Each one selling out with store lines around the block. Revolution done right can have incredible results.

When setting goals for the future, you can take either approach. Will you be like the mainstream crowd, take the status quo, and go for small improvements or will you take a revolutionary idea and run with it. I would argue for Apple’s approach. Do something revolutionary and then make evolutionary changes.

Question: What revolution do you want to start?

The post The Difference Between Evolutionary and Revolutionary appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

I’ve written about goal setting for years. I’ve tried many different goal setting techniques and have provided a number of goal setting tools. I’ve created a goal worksheet and other printables. Here are some of the things I’ve found over time.

1. SMART Goals were obviously written by some controlling corporate type, who wanted to get his workers to produce more without causing trouble or costing him money. I mean, just look at the words used…

• Specific: Do what I say. I need to know specifically what you are going to do. I can just see your boss micro-managing this one. I told you to do 1A-step c, not 1B-step d…
• Manageable: Don’t ask me to help you with this or provide resources. This probably came from the board room. We don’t want to spend any money on this. We need the numbers without spending a dime.
• Achievable: Make sure somebody actually has done this before. This probably came down from the left brained CFO bean counter. We don’t want any creativity here. Just do the damn boring work the way we say it has to be done!

Realistic: I’m sure this was added by the middle management team as a scapegoat. Don’t expect miracles here people. Hey, we got to add in coffee breaks, long lunches, and traffic. Certainly don’t ask for more than a 5% improvement.

• Timely: This obviously was added by the H.R. department. You know we can’t have these guys working overtime and we need to make sure we figure in vacations, mandatory meetings, and of course, the annual retreat. Better bump the deadline back a month or two.

Hmmm… something seems to be missing. We got all this corporate mumbo jumbo, but there is no “Action” step here. You mean we actually have to DO something to get results??

Maybe that’s why when I did an informal survey, SMART Goals had a dismal 53% success rate. Just swapping out the word Achievable with the word Action, might make a difference.

2. SMART Goals seem to be plagued with problems. Goal setters report problems with…

• Procrastination: Workers seem to want to do almost anything except work on their goal-oriented tasks
• Willpower: There seems to be a hidden enemy that saps energy and focus. Workers report they don’t have enough willpower to stay on track.
• Stress: Having an additional “sales or performance goal” adds stress. Not achieving it adds even more.

So if SMART Goals are problematic, what will work?

What should you do if you actually want to achieve something?

I pondered that question for a while and decided to write a short book about it.

The Shocking Truth About Goal Setting

This book starts with the inherent problems of SMART Goals and offers a variety of solutions. By combining goal setting with the latest research in willpower and habit change, I came up with an easy to implement solution that allows you to take action, without the usual procrastination and willpower challenges.

The Acronym is SMARTER and you can implement it quickly and easily in many different environments. It’s designed to work better with the way our minds actually process data.

For those of you who really want to make a difference, I’ve included two chapters on IMPACT Goals. One is setup for personal goals, the other when you want to change the world.

IMPACT Goals are not easy, and require more time and effort, along with a coach or mentor. But when you really want to get something done, they provide results.

The book includes example situations with Bob and Sally, a fictional duo that will better explain how the different goal setting tools work and the pros and cons of each system.

Goals For Life is available in the Kindle store and can be downloaded in just minutes. (This book can be read on your computer, iPad, or Smartphone with a free downloadable Kindle reader) It includes 8 different goal setting sheets to match your individual needs. From basic SMART goals to SMARTER ones, and all the way up to IMPACT goals, you’ll find tools here to make your dreams come true.

Goal Worksheet

The Goals for Life book includes a helpful goal worksheet that will help you set SMARTER Goals. The goal worksheet is set up to guide you through the goal setting process and help you create goals based on existing habits. You’ll find this type of goal much easier to accomplish in the long run.

The post The Shocking Truth About Goal Setting and What To Do About It. appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

I am a great believer in setting goals. The act of writing them down and putting them where I can see them, can make the difference between success and failure. To help me keep goals top of mind, I like to do two things.

1. I like to put my personal goals on small business cards and keep them in my work area where I can see them. These simple cards keep my most important goals front and center. My free Goal Setting Toolkit makes this easy.

2. I like to print out inspirational goal setting quotes and have them throughout the house where I see them on a daily basis. Quotes about life, quotes that motivate. These profound sayings help me keep going when my motivation lags or fear and laziness creeps in. Quotes about life and quotes that motivate are especially helpful.

Inspirational Goal Setting Quotes

I love this life quote by Og Mandino. I’ve included a few of my other favorite inspirational goal setting quotes below, that you may want to post for yourself.

Goals Quotes

“An average person with average talents and ambition and average education, can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society, if that person has clear, focused goals.” ~ Mary Kay Ash

“Goals determine what you’re going to be.” ~ Julius Erving

“All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.” ~ Walt Disney

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

“Begin with the end in mind.” ~ Stephen Covey

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals, and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” ~ J.C. Penney

“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” ~ Denis Waitley

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” ~ Bill Copeland

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” ~ Earl Nightingale

“It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.” ~ Brian Tracy

“You have to set goals that are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is attainable without much work or thought, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential.” ~ Steve Garvey

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive.”
~ Howard Thurman

Life Quotes

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain

“By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands — your own.” ~ Mark Victor Hansen

“I’m a big believer in growth. Life is not about achievement, it’s about learning and growth, and developing qualities like compassion, patience, perseverance, love, and joy, and so forth. And so if that is the case, then I think our goals should include something which stretches us.” ~ Jack Canfield

“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.” ~ James Allen

“Act the way you want to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.” ~ Les Brown

“Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.” ~ Robert G. Allen

“The only difference between a rich person and poor person is how they use their time.” ~ Robert Kiyosaki

“If you are willing to do only what’s easy, life will be hard. But if you are willing to do what’s hard, life will be easy.” ~ T Harv Eker

“You miss a 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” ~ Wayne Gretzky

“Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.” ~ Jim Rohn

“Don’t waste your time with writing resolutions this New Year. Instead, focus on something else: resolve. While the words are similar, the difference in meaning is significant. A resolution is something you make. Resolve is something you have. In other words, commit. Choose into a process, not a set of audacious goals you’ll never meet.” ~ Jeff Goins

Quotes That Motivate

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ~ Thomas A. Edison

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” ~ Tony Robbins

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” ~ Zig Ziglar

“Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.” ~ Benjamin Jowett

“Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Question: What inspirational goal setting quotes ring true to you?

SMARTER Goals Can Help You Find Success

Episode 1: Goals Vs. Habits
Episode 2: Fight Training
Episode 3: SMARTER Goals
Episode 4: Testing & Fine Tuning Your Goals

Free Goal Setting Tools

Goal Setting Toolkit
Goal Setting Worksheet

Goal Setting Ebook

Goals for Life: Set SMARTER Goals for Success

Other Goal Setting Quotes

Five Goal Setting Quotes

The post Inspirational Goal Setting Quotes appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

In the old days, if you wanted to take on a trade, you hired on as an apprentice. You would work closely with someone who had mastered the skill and was able to show you how to do it. By identifying the finished product (goal), the master technician would show you how the finished work would look and identify the skills and steps needed to accomplish it. Then they would show you how to do it and then have you go hands-on through the same process to completion. Once you mastered the skill, you could make a living doing it.

For example: a master potter would show you a beautiful clay vase and then take you through the process of making one. He would identify and tell you each step necessary to mold the raw materials into a colorful fired and glazed vase. Then he would take a blob of raw clay, put it on a potter’s wheel, and show you each step as you watched along. Then it would be your turn. He would guide you through the entire process that he had just finished, involving you hands-on and giving you feedback along the way as you formed the clay, colored it, and then fired it to form the final flower vase.

Once you learned and mastered the process, you could make vases for a living and be paid for your time and effort.

The Master Potter Teaching Strategy: Tell Me, Show Me, Involve Me.

This statement revolves around the old teaching adage, “Tell me and I forget; show me and I remember; involve me and I understand.”

Let’s see how the apprenticeship method of teaching can be applied to goal setting.

Goal Setting Basics

The definition of goal setting is the process of identifying something that you want to accomplish and establishing measurable goals and timeframes to achieve it. In our example above: Our basic goal as an apprentice is to…

Make a living creating  flower vases.

While this is a good start, we really don’t have much information about the process. How long should it take to make a vase? How big should it be?

Let’s refine the process and make it more specific by using. . .

SMART Goals

One of the most popular goal setting techniques is known as SMART Goals. It includes five tenets. . .

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

If we apply the SMART Goals framework to our basic goal above , we come up with. . .

Make a living creating twelve inch flower vases with multicolored finishes, that will hold three flowers. I will be able to create one in fifteen minutes and it will sell for ten dollars and result in a five dollar profit. I’ll make $20/hour.

As you can see, this is a much better goal. We’ve added specifications. We know how big it will be (specific size), how long it will take to create (measurable and timely) and how much we will make from each one (measurable, achievable and realistic).

Now we can visualize our goal much better. We know what the vase will look like and the specifications. Yet we are lacking two things to make the process complete.

We have a clear goal, but we lack a strategy/structure and action plan to get to completion.

In my experience, setting SMART Goals is not enough.

While we can now see the outcome we want clearly, our goal setting plan will stop dead in its tracks if we don’t have a strategy for completion and action steps to get us there.

Basically, we can see the vase, but we don’t know how to make it and we don’t have an action plan to make money in the process.

So in our teaching example, our Master Potter has held up a vase and given us a goal, “I want you to make this colorful twelve inch flower vase. You’ll make one every fifteen minutes and make five dollars/vase. This works out to twenty dollars an hour.”

He has shown us the goal and made it SMART by giving us the specifications. However, we are no closer to our goal of making money until he shows us how to make one and guides us through the process, hands-on.

Goal Setting Basics That Really Work

I’ve been a consultant and software trainer for the last few years and I’ve learned a LOT from my students about goal setting along the way. As a trainer, I know that the tell me, show me, and involve me strategy is very effective. My goal in my classes is to teach students how to use our new web based software. I usually work in a computer lab where the students have a demo copy of our software on their machines and I teach from a projector screen at the front. I have them watch as I show each exercise, and then I have them log in and I lead them through a software exercise themselves.

From experience, some students are able to follow along with just verbal instructions, but most need visual help. They need to be able to see the screens to be able to discern the instructions I have given. However, everyone benefits from the hands-on section. I can see the light bulbs go off over their heads as they work through actual day to day routines on their computers. This is where the questions come and where people get stuck.

My goal as a trainer is a success if I can teach everyone how the software works, and they are able to go back to their desks and do their daily tasks. If people get stuck in the training, I need to make sure that I can help them get over the hurdle. Many times, if a student gets stuck, they will not be able to learn the rest of the exercise because they are held up behind one stopping point.

This is why most goals fail. If you get stuck on one item it may stop you cold. If you don’t have a way to get past the hurdle, the goal fails.

We can visualize a complete goal setting plan this way.

The top third is the visual goal. We need to see a picture of the finished project and specifications on how it is made. SMART Goals will usually complete this step. This is the Tell Me What It Looks Like.

The middle of the graph is the strategy and structure area. We need to make sure our goals are structured for success and that we have a strategy to complete them. This is where it’s nice to work with someone who has gone ahead of us. Someone who has completed the goal before and can give us feedback on a workable structure and/or strategy. Working with an expert in the area will allow us to watch them as they tell us what it takes for success. This is the Show Me How.

The bottom section is where we take action. We go hands on and actually work on the goal. This is where you Get Involved Hands-On With the Project. Having a coach or mentor through the process may be critical to success. This is where most goals fail. If the structure is sound but you haven’t gone through the actual steps before, you may be stopped cold in your tracks. Without the external help of a mentor, coach, or team member, the goal will not be completed. Many times we try to complete goals ourselves that really require a team.

Take Aways

In my research and experience on goal setting basics, I can tell you this. All three of these items, Goal, Strategy, and Action, need to be present and in alignment. Leave one out and you’re almost sure to find failure. That’s why SMART Goals are not enough. We need a more complete goal system that covers all the bases. In our next post we’ll look at how to create a goal setting system for success.

Question

Have you created SMART Goals before? Were they successful?

The post Goal Setting Basics: The Apprentice Guide to Success appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

What is a goal? That was the question I had as I sat through the goal setting webinar. I needed a good definition. Once I knew that, I figured I could set one for the New Year. As the webinar speaker went on, I learned a lot. The speaker had twelve steps to setting goals. He had something called SMART goals that would help me nail them down. Specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely. He had a plan that could change my life.

Unfortunately, I guess I’m a little dense, but I needed to start with goal setting basics. The question I had was. . . What is a goal, and why do I need one?

As the speaker went on with fancy graphs and animations, my mind sort of tuned out. There on the table in front of me was a new drone I had bought earlier in the day. The picture on the cover of the box showed a cool four-propeller craft with flashing lights. Then it got even better. Glancing down at the picture of the aircraft, I saw the specifications, laid out with little icons. This small little unit had a Hi-Def camera, a twelve-minute battery, and GPS. Wow!

My mind drifted back to the promo video I had seen about the drone.

I remembered it could fly high and with a high definition camera it could record stunning video. As a photographer, I had visions of Casey Neistat type aerial shots. A perfect drone for my next vacation.

Now I was getting excited, but right then the webinar guy said something that woke me up. He told me you need to visualize your goals. You need to make them really clear.

That’s when it clicked!

I had a goal right in front of me, and I knew the reason why I wanted to accomplish it.

I had a drone, and it would take amazing aerial video, just like Casey.

Goal Setting suddenly became clear.

As the webinar ended, I thought back to what the speaker had said.

You need to visualize your goals and make them really clear.

Yep, here was a very clear goal right on my desk. The picture of the drone was colorful and showed me exactly what was in the box. I could visualize flying this thing! Soon I would have that spectacular aerial footage that all the cool YouTubers were raving about.

Your goals should be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely.

That’s exactly what the specification icons were on the box.

They listed that the drone had an HD camera, GPS, altitude hold and automatic return. It would fly for twelve minutes, and anyone over fourteen could fly it. Those sounded specific, measurable and timely. The fact that I’m over fourteen meant I could realistically fly it. All I needed was to take action to make the goal come true.

So now I had a literal SMART Goal in front of me. What I just needed to do was open the box and go. . .

Er. . . Maybe not.

The first thing I saw as I opened the box was a big red warning triangle with an exclamation point and the word important next to it.

That’s when I realized to accomplish this goal; some assembly was required.

I had to put the propellers on this thing. Sounded simple enough, until I read the fine print.

• The A propellers needed to go on the A motors and be held on with the black screw.
• The B propellers needed to go on the B motors and be held on with the silver screw.

As I opened the box further, I found a bag of propellers, a mini screwdriver and a tiny bag of really tiny miniature screws. The markings on the propellers were stamped into the plastic and very hard to see. That’s when I knew I was in trouble. The Chinese-English instruction book sort of said you had to align the propellers on the motor shaft making sure that the letters matched up and you used the right screw.

For many people who would buy this drone, the goal failed right there.

For me, it was 15 minutes of trail and error using a magnifying glass to get them put on. The instructions failed to say that the black screws turned clockwise, the silver screws turned counterclockwise. Fail, fail, fail.

It was quickly becoming apparent that goal setting was not the same as goal accomplishing.

Thankfully, with lots of swearing under my breath, I made it through this part. Propellers attached. Now all I had to do was follow along in the instruction book to the next step. That’s when it got real complicated. Whoever wrote the book did not have a command of the English language. The strange Chinese-English translation was almost impossible to comprehend.

I finally figured out that I needed to charge the lithium battery for the drone and then install it into the craft. After an hour on the charger, I was ready to go.

Er, maybe not . . . again . . .

Now the instructions said that I needed to put four triple-A batteries in the controller. I looked through the box and packing materials. That’s when it dawned on me. Batteries were not included.

Now I was stuck. I had plenty of double A’s at home but no triple A’s. Without battery power, I was dead in the water. Fail again. If I had bought this drone for my grandson for Christmas and wanted to fly it with him on Christmas morning, I would have been out of luck.

That’s when it became apparent. Without power, I couldn’t take action. Without power (motivation) a goal fails.

After a frustrating trip to the store for batteries, I finally had everything that I needed (or so I thought). I put the batteries in and headed over to the local park to try it out.

I sat the drone on the ground, fired up the controller, and nothing happened. Unlike the other small drones, I have this one was different. Thankfully I had the instruction book with me.

All the good that did. For ten minutes I tried to figure out how to get this thing to take off. Nothing. . . No propellers turning, no flight. I thought I might have a defective unit, but the instructions were so confusing I didn’t know what to do.

Most people would give up at this point. A frustrating goal fail.

Thankfully, I had my cell phone along, and I quickly sought the mentoring of Quadcopter 101. I knew this site had a hands on review of this drone. Maybe they would be able to guide me to liftoff.

After watching their review, I quickly found the problem. The craft would not take off until the drone, and the controller had a GPS signal from at least six satellites.

I fired up the controller and hooked up the battery on the craft. I waited for a minute or two, and sure enough, the controller said eight satellites. I followed the YouTube instructions to calibrate the GPS. Once that was done, I pulled the sticks to the outside bottom like the video said and voila, the propellers started turning. With a little throttle, it was flying. Awesome!

Now all I had to do was click on the camera, and I would be recording video.

Or so I thought . . .

I pushed the camera button, but a flashing disk appeared on the controller screen.

ARRRGHHH … that’s when the realization came that I didn’t have a micro memory card installed in the drone to record the video.

And as you can imagine, one didn’t come with the unit.

Fail again.

Thankfully I had one in the car from another drone, so I was able to move forward. I landed the craft, installed the card and took off again.

Now after lots of hassle I was finally flying the unit.

For under a hundred dollars I was flying a GPS quad that would go wherever I put it. I was in command. Just like Casey, I was shooting video from the sky. I sent it up high and flew it around the park. Beautiful flyer.

Once I landed and took a look at the video, I was really pleased. While the quad doesn’t have a gimble for ultra-smooth video, it works really well.

The goal was completed. But not without a lot of pitfalls along the way.

I came away with a much greater understanding of what it takes to set and accomplish goals.

What Is a Goal?

Here is my takeaway.

I’ve set a lot of goals and resolutions over the years. Many have failed. Some worked as advertised and a handful have been spectacular. Like my story above, you need all the parts to function to complete the goal. Get stuck on one issue, and the goal fails.

Let’s look at the components of a successful goal.

1. Goal: Like in our example above, you need a clear visual of the goal you want to accomplish. Our box lid gave us a picture. A promo video of the unit showed it in action. You need to visualize your goal and see yourself taking action.
2. Make it SMART: On our drone box were icons that showed the specifications of the craft. We could see that it was for kids over 14, that it had a GPS and a high def camera. These matched our goal of taking pictures with the drone. Make sure your goals include the five SMART specifications.
3. Include Structured Instructions: Without instructions, most people would not have been able to put together this craft. The instructions need to be structured in a step by step manner and written clearly. This was a big sticking point with this unit. Had the manufacturer pre-assembled the craft, it would have been much easier for the average customer to have success with the unit.
4. Include Batteries: Without batteries, our drone was stopped cold. Without motivation, most goals are stopped cold. Make sure you have the motivation to accomplish your goals. Bringing in a coach or friend can help.
5. Find a Mentor: Without the aid of quadcopter 101, we would have been stopped cold. For most goals, it’s good to work with someone who has accomplished it before. Just being able to ask simple questions can make the difference between success and failure.
6. Take Action: When we finally got our drone in the air, we weren’t able to take action (photos/video) without a memory card. Be sure your goal has a complete action plan. Without action, the goal fails.

Overall, goal setting is simple. Just visualize what you want, see yourself taking action and write out the specifications. However, just creating a SMART goal is not enough. Accomplishing your goal requires a good structure/strategy, and it also requires a specific action plan. Leave any of these out, and your goals will fail.

Over the next few posts, I’ll give you some examples of specific goals that have worked for me. I’ll show you the sticking points and some strategies to overcome them.

Question: What goals would you like to accomplish?

The post What I Learned About Goal Setting From a Drone appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

Far Goals: It’s the Hail Mary, the cross court shot, a trip to Mars. It’s something you know is impossible . . . today. But something that could be accomplished with enough time, enough practice, and a long term goal to get there.

I’ve had a number of far goals in my life. Each one seemed impossible at the time. There was always a nagging voice in my head telling me that I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, or dedicated enough. I couldn’t possibly reach it.

Yet, in  so many cases, the impossible became possible. The far distant goal, came closer and closer, until I was able to reach out and grab it. Sadly, some of the distant goals in my life have eluded me. Some I can see, but there is a mountain or a valley in the way. Some are clouded with a mystery that requires a clue, a key, or a bit of luck. Some are on the other side of a river of fear. A shallow fast moving stream that looks so deep, so treacherous. I couldn’t possibly cross.

Think of the far goals in your life. Maybe it’s a bachelor’s degree, maybe a masters. Maybe the next goal in your life is a doctorate, maybe a leadership position, maybe the lauded CEO position.

Do you have a path, a bridge, or a plan to get there?

Dreams and good ideas are a dime a dozen.

Goals and SMART Goals are a start,

A good strategy is important,

But action is the key.

You must go.

Today.

Take the first step.

Visualize where you are going,

Create a detailed roadmap to get there,

Then put one foot in front of the other and step out.

Here is a tool to get you started. A Far Goals Worksheet.

Far Goals

Years ago, I was listening to a motivational tape by Zig Ziglar. He talked about setting long term goals and the need to write them down. He drilled into my head the need to take action, get started, and get the goals written down.

The first step was to put the vision on paper.

It was this single step that led to so many things. Once the goal was on paper, it was much easier to break it down into pieces or achievable steps. The easiest way to get your goals on paper is to download a goal setting worksheet.

Here are three different ones that will help you start your journey. These sheets are a great first step to get your dreams and ideas in writing. Each sheet has some brainstorming questions to get you started. My suggestion is to download each one and take a few minutes and fill them out. The combination of the three will give you a long term view of your life and help you plan where you want to go.

Far Goals Worksheets

50 Year Goals: This is a personal legacy worksheet. It includes five questions and it is a great precursor to the other two worksheets below. It’s a great way to brainstorm your life. Ask some of the big questions.

10 Year Goals: The worksheet makes it easy to see your long term goals, add in the areas to need to master, and then write out a plan to achieve them.

5 Year Goals: Here is a way to see how your goals line up with upcoming trends. Are you on the right path or are new trends going to make your goal obsolete?

With the three worksheets completed you’ll have a great starting point to refine your specific goals, add details, and create a strategy and action plan to complete them.

Next Step

In our next post we’ll look at adding specifications to your far goals using the SMART Goals framework. This will allow you to set specific boundaries, time parameters, and make sure they are realistic and actionable. In later posts we’ll create a strategy and action plan for completion. We’ll look at Deep Work and how mastery plays into the goal setting equation. Stay tuned.

Additional Tools

Once you have your goals written down, you’ll want to put them where you can see them. The Goal Setting Toolkit provides business sized cards to keep your goals front and center. You can keep them on your desk, tape one to your monitor, or put one on the refrigerator where you’ll see it daily. This is a helpful tool that will make the goal setting process easier.

The post Far Goals: Master the Impossible appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

Goal success is dependent on a number of factors. You can have the best-planned goal, complete with SMART specifics, and fail miserably. The odds of success are mixed. I surveyed my readers a few years ago, and SMART Goals had about a 50% success rate. New Year Resolutions fare much worse. Less than 10% are successful. 25% fail the first week.

I’ve found the secret to goal success is in the execution. Unfortunately, there are many pitfalls along the way. One of the best ways to visualize how goal setting works is to see it in action. As a long time blogger, I’ve worked with marketing and product development for years. When you create a product, you set up a list of customer goals. You need to take a client through many steps down this goal list to complete the sales cycle.

Let’s take a look at the success and failure of a product goal since it is easy to see the failure points.

The Anatomy of a Product Goal

First, you need to get a prospective customer to buy your product. The purchase is dependent on the product cover art, specifications, marketing, and the customer’s perceived value of the item. One bad rating, cheaper competitor, or shipping problem can stop the process cold.

Once they purchase the item and get it home, they may have to put it together and make specific settings. They will need to have certain tools and knowledge to complete this step. Clear and logical assembly instructions are a must. If they don’t have a screwdriver or pliers, your best-laid goal may fail.

Finally, your customer will need to be able to use the completed unit. Complete step-by-step instructions with pictures are critical. If it requires batteries, you might want to include them. Are there age warnings or safety concerns? Better spell them out. Only when the customer successfully uses your product will the goal be a success.

If any step along the way fails, your entire sales goal will fail, and the product will be returned or discarded. The result will be a bad rating, further dampening future sales, plus the expense of return shipping. In sales and marketing, comebacks are disastrous.

On the other hand, when the product goal is complete, the customer will be happy, giving you an excellent rating and may lead to further sales in the future.

Goal Success or Failure

Let’s look at a specific Goal/Product example. By looking at two competing products side by side, it’s easy to see flaws in goal execution.

Over the holidays I purchased two small quadcopter drones. One was a direct import from a Chinese company called Hubsan, and the other was a packaged product from Horizon Hobby, an American company.

On the cover of the boxes was a picture of the drone along with specifications of what they would do.

The Hubsan unit was a fantastic value. For under a hundred dollars it came with built-in GPS, return to home, and a 12-minute battery, not to mention an HD video camera. I was genuinely excited to open the package and get flying.

The Horizon drone that came from my local hobby store was pretty cool too. The picture on the front of the box was exciting, and the back cover showed how it worked. There was a lot more information on this box than the other one. It gave me assurance that it would be easy to fly and that it was safe to use. However, the specs were underwhelming. It had a five-minute battery, no camera or GPS, was minuscule, but it was only sixty dollars.

Some Assembly Required

Opening the packages was the trick. The Hubsan drone required assembly. You had two sets of propellers that had to go on individual motors each with a different colored screw. They gave you a tiny screwdriver to complete the task but forgot to mention that half the screws had right-hand threads, the others left hand. The instructions were in broken English. After an hour of messing around and watching numerous YouTube videos, I finally had the unit assembled. Unfortunately, it didn’t come with AAA batteries. Down to the store to pick those up.

The Hobby store drone was just the opposite. It came fully assembled with four AA batteries in the box. The lithium battery for the drone was pre-charged. I put the battery in the craft, the four batteries in the controller, and read two lines of instructions. I turned it on, put it on the floor and with a click of the throttle I was flying. Five minutes to a smile on my face.

I took the Hubsan drone to my local park to fly, but with confusing Chinese/English instructions, I couldn’t get it to go. I tried for about fifteen minutes and then gave up. Going back to my car, I pulled up a third party YouTube video up on my phone and finally figured out the complicated calibration and start-up sequence. After an enormous amount of time and frustration, I finally was able to get it to fly. Thankfully, I had enough willpower to see it through. For most people, it would be a return to the store. Fail, fail, fail.

Although I was ultimately successful with both craft, one took a tremendous amount of persistence.

Goal Success Factors

Here is the number one thing I learned about Goal Success from these two little drones. It’s the little things that will stop you cold. Many of them are unexpected. Something as simple as a tiny little screw halted my progress. My simple product/goal analogy. For your goal to be a success, you have to put everything in the box.

You need the following . . .

1. An exciting cover picture (The Goal)
2. Excellent specifications (The SMART specifics)
3. All the parts and pieces (The Structure)
4. Clear assembly instructions (Strategy)
5. Batteries included. (Motivation)
6. Step by step use instructions (Action Steps)

In my drone example, the Hubsan company should have put the propellers on at the factory and sold the unit in a little bigger box. They should have hired a copywriter fluid in English to write the instructions. These two simple tweaks would solve 80% of the problems and ensure success to most buyers.

When I look back over my life, many of the goals I’ve set have set have ended in failure. Just like these drones, the simpler and more complete a goal was, the better chance I had of completing it. If everything was in the box, I was almost certain to find success. If anything was missing, I would be stopped cold. Stop me two or three times and I would give up. Many of my goals (weight loss, education, etc.) were a total waste of time and money because of some minor issue. Had I been able to get past the obstacle, the goal would be complete.

In our next few posts, we’ll take a look at goal success and failure points and find ways to get past the obstacles that keep us from success.

Question: What failure points have kept you from reaching a goal?

The post Goal Success: A Tale of Two Products appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

Sometimes you just want to get things done. That’s where the short term goal setting worksheet comes in. The whole idea of this sheet is to prompt you to get one goal written down along with one desired outcome. Nothing more, nothing less. The sheet has a positive message at the top and three boxes along the bottom for phone, email, and social media links to help you get your goal accomplished.

Example: Your goal for the day might be to make ten sales calls, and the desired outcome would be a thousand dollars in sales. You could fill in the phone and email sales links at the bottom.

Ideal for Personal Use

This sheet is perfect for personal use. Just print it out, fill it in and place it on your desk or table top where you will see it at a glance. Since it is big and bold, it will catch your attention and remind you of the task at hand.

A Positive Message for Co-Workers

This sheet is also ideal for handing off to colleagues. Its positive message starts the day off right, and the job is laid out directly. One goal, one outcome. How many times have you told someone to help you with a task but they are unclear about the issue. This simple sheet prevents misunderstanding.

Teachers Love It

Teachers will find this sheet helpful for individual classwork assignments and take-home work. Its simple message is clear, and the outcome is spelled out. You can have students return their homework with this sheet to sign off an individual assignment.

Leave a Positive Note Behind

This sheet is also a positive way to leave a note behind for a housekeeper/worker/tradesperson if you have to go away for the day. You can write down instructions at the top and your contact information at the bottom so they can reach you if they have any questions.

Printable Sheet

This simple short term goal setting worksheet is a free download. Just download the PDF, print it out and fill in with a pen or Sharpie.

Short Term Goal Setting Worksheet

Download Link

Podcast

I have a short podcast about this planner. Check out the Daily Drivecast Link

Video Link

Question: How will you use this planner?

The post Short Term Goal Setting Worksheet appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

January 1st, 7 am. The alarm clock goes off and your New Year’s Resolution stares you directly in the face.

The reality of that goal you set a few weeks back comes to roost with a jangling of bells, sleep in your eyes, and a feeling of dread. It all sounded so good. Heck, all you had to do was write down the specifics, create some action steps, make it realistic, and magically you would be transported 90 days out with your dream of a new book a reality. Unfortunately, 7 am in the morning comes. Now you have to do something. Usually, you would be able to sleep in, but now that you set this stupid goal, you’ve got to get out of bed and write 1,000 words before 8 am, when you usually would get up.

The first day you grudgingly get up and sit in front of the computer. After fifteen minutes of staring at the screen, you start to write. The words come slowly. You’re tired and sleepy. This new goal and habit you’re trying to create are not as easy as the book made it sound. With some willpower, you make it through to 8 am. Now you have to get ready for work.

Sum total for your first day, 250 words.

As the week progresses, you start to fudge on the wake-up time. You hit the snooze button; then you hit it again. The word count shrinks. You struggle. Friday comes, 1125 words for the week. Not even close to the 5,000 you planned. Next week you struggle again. Then one day, you don’t get up. You’ve got an excuse. A few days later, it’s all over.

Goal failure. Maybe next year the book will get written.

So what happened here. Why did this well planned SMART Goal fail?

I’ve asked myself this many times. How to set goals that don’t fail? The problem is usually an entrenched habit. In this case, the long time practice is going to bed late and sleeping in until 8 am.

You set the goal, but you didn’t deal with the habit.

What I’ve found from years of research on the subject, is that when a goal conflicts with an existing habit, the goal eventually fails. Willpower may get you through for a limited time, but old habits usually win. So the question is… how to set goals that you can accomplish? With over 80% of New Year’s resolutions ending in failure after a few weeks, is there anything that works?

How to Set SMARTER Goals

The answer is to add two letters to the end of our SMART Goal. We need to add an “E” and an “R.”

• E stands for Existing Habit
• R stands for Routine.

Here are two secrets that researchers have discovered…

1. It’s much easier to change an existing habit than creating a new one.
2. Change takes energy, lots of it.

So for our example above, if we want to set aside an hour a day to write a new book, we need to find an existing habit to change and do it when we have lots of energy. Obviously, if we are a night owl, getting up early after staying up until one in the morning is not going to work. We don’t have enough energy to work efficiently.

How to Set SMARTER Goals Using an Existing Habit

Let’s look for an existing habit that we can change at a time that we have enough energy to carry it out. For our night owl who is energized in the evening, it makes sense to look at that time period.

• 6 pm to 7 pm: Dinner
• 7 pm to 8 pm: TV Game Shows
• 8 pm to 9 pm: TV Sitcom
• 9 pm to 10 pm: TV Drama Series
• 10 pm to 1 am: Video Games or Reading

After scanning the existing routines, it appears that anything after dinner is fair game. For our example, what current routine would be the easiest to give up at a time that we would have the most energy? I’m not much of a TV watcher, but I would say our Game Show hour would be prime time to change an existing habit. It’s early enough that we will still have plenty of energy and the game shows are not a series that we will miss out on. So let’s plan out a full SMARTER Goal written in the first person.

• Specific: Write a 60,000 word Mystery Novel
• Measurable: At the end of each week I will have written 5,000 words
• Actionable: Write 1,000 words  for my new book from 7 pm to 8 pm daily
• Realistic: Typing Speed 40 WPM. 1,000 words per hour is a comfortable pace.
• Time Bound: The first draft of 60,000 words will be done after 12 weeks
• Existing Habit: Changed from watching game shows to writing my book
• Routine: Energized routine will be to turn off the TV and write for an hour

As you can see, planning out a new routine around an existing habit will give us a much greater chance of success than trying to create a new habit of getting up early and adding a writing exercise on top of it. Listing out our current routines gives us a chance to pick one that is easy to change. In this case, being an evening person, we’ll have plenty of energy to write, and game shows are not a series, so they won’t be missed. Our probability of success has gone up considerably.

Options: If we want to create a new habit of getting up early, it’s going to take a lot of extensive effort. I recommend that you read Michael Hyatt’s insightful post, How To Become a Morning Person or Andy Traub’s book, Early to Rise. It’s better to get the routine down before committing to a new goal during that time period.

Overall: In this example above, we have taken a look at a common point of failure for many goals and resolutions. By tying a goal in with an existing habit and creating an updated routine, we raise our chances of success considerably.

SMARTER Goals Worksheet

To help you design and set SMARTER Goals I’ve created a SMARTER Goal Worksheet.

SMARTER Goal Worksheet in Color: Download PDF

SMARTER Goal Worksheet in B&W: Download PDF

It’s a free download and prints out on a normal letter sized page. To use you just start at the top and fill in the blanks.

Here are the sections.

• What you want to accomplish (goal).
• Your existing cue, routine, and reward from a current habit
• List out a new habit routine that will help you reach your goal.
• Go through the SMART list and make sure your new routine passes
• Write out the new SMARTER routine and outcome
• Write a positive goal action statement

The filled out sheet should look like the one below.

Once you have your goal sheet filled in, keep it on your desk or in a prominent place where you can refer to it on a regular basis.

You can download a filled in copy for reference here

Additional Goal Setting Resources

• Habit Change Tips
• SMARTER Goals: Testing and Tuning

Get My Kindle Book on SMARTER Goal Setting

My book has full instructions and examples to help you set SMARTER Goals.

• Goals For Life

Question

What existing habit will you change? 

The post How To Set SMARTER Goals appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

Table of Contents

Goal Setting

Goal setting is simply writing down a dream. Goal achieving is simply taking that written goal and taking action to complete it. Sounds easy doesn’t it. Imagine writing down your dream of making a million dollars. You can see the thousand dollar bills sitting in a large safe. Feel the texture, smell the aroma of freshly printed ink. Now all you have to do is write down an action plan, and do it step by step.

Some success gurus in the expert space will tell you it’s that simple. Just pay them a few thousand dollars and they will give you all the tools you need to find success. You determine what you want, and then go get it.

Unfortunately they don’t tell you the painful, messy and often expensive road to success. The 100 hour weeks, the mortgaging of your house, and the back stabbing people you have to deal with along the way. They certainly don’t tell you about the people that fail along the way, spending money they don’t have on products that they don’t need or the bad days when your spouse leaves you because she hasn’t seen you in a month.

Goal setting has been so over glamorized that you would think the rewards are easy. But in truth, the real question is; are you willing to do what it takes to be successful? Ask yourself:

Are you willing to put in the time, effort and money to move forward?

If so, let’s really simplify the whole process.

Let’s start at the beginning.

To help guide you along with the rest of this article I’ve taken a simple goal that you have probably faced in your life a few times. It’s one that I faced for way too long. It’s simply this; you have a collection of items that you need to put away. Maybe it’s a sink full of dishes, a pile of junk mail on your kitchen counter, or maybe, like me, a collection of tools sitting on your workbench.

You simply need to clean them up and put them away.

Simple enough . . . or is it?

Goal Setting Example

To start my goal setting example, I’ll share with you a task that should have taken me ten minutes at the most, yet I put it off for months. I had accumulated a pile of tools on my workbench that needed to be cleaned up and put back in my toolbox. I simply didn’t put them away after I worked around the house a few times. Simple enough. But I agonized and procrastinated about that task for months.

Maybe you can relate?

Maybe your garage is a mess. Maybe you have a junk room that needs sorting. Maybe your sink is piled up with dishes since last week . . . or longer.

Most people I know have some area that needs attention.

Just driving down my street on a Saturday morning and glancing behind the open garage doors lets me know I’m not alone with this goal.

In this example my goal is simply this. I want to put my tools back in the toolbox.

Let me take you along on a journey and show you why goal setting is harder than it looks.

Dreams

The first stop on your goal setting journey is to walk out into your garage. You see the pile of tools on the workbench and sitting on top is a newspaper, which catches your eye. On the back page is a picture of a garage organizing system. Instantly you daydream about the perfect garage. The gleaming white cabinets offset your painted floor. Your household tools are all organized and put away. Your larger tools are hanging neatly on the wall. Clean, shiny and beautiful.

Your dream is perfection.

You know what you want.

Unfortunately, you put the paper down and walk back in the house. Your tools still on the workbench.

Reality is that dreams alone do not make a goal.

You had a vision of success, but nothing else.

Definition of a Dream: a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind

Simply Said: The act of visualizing your goal or idea. You need to be able to see it.

Step 1: Visualize Your Goal. Completed

Resolutions

You walk back in the house, somewhat depressed. You visualize that beautiful and organized garage in your mind but then think back to the ugly pile of tools you have sitting on the counter. You say to yourself; “I’m going to clean those tools up and put them away.”

Now you have a resolution. A resolve to do something about your present condition.

Definition of a Resolution: a resolve; a decision or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.

Simply Said: The act of speaking your goal. You need to be able to describe the goal audibly.

Step 2: Vocalize Your Resolution. Completed

Unfortunately, by themselves vocal resolutions fail over 80% of the time. You are going to need to take an additional step.

Goals

You remember hearing the old adage that you should write your goals down, so you walk over to your desk, grab a piece of paper and write down your goal. You simply write; I’m going to put my tools away.

You take the piece of paper and tape it to your computer monitor.

Now, every time you sit at your computer, you’ll be reminded that you need to put your tools away.

You have a written goal.

Definition of a Goal: the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

Simply Said: The act of writing your goal. You need to be able to describe the goal on paper.

Step 3: Write your goals down. Completed.

Unfortunately, just like resolutions, just writing down a goal doesn’t make it so. You need to add specifics.

SMART Goals

Staring at the goal on the monitor in front of you, you remember an acronym they used at work for goal setting. You recollect your manager saying you should set SMART Goals. Picking up your work folder off of your desk, you search until you find the SMART Goals handout. On it is listed five criteria.

A goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

So you take five minutes and list out some specifics

1. Specific; I will take all the tools off of the workbench, clean them, and put them back in the proper drawers of my toolbox.
2. Measurable: When all of the tools on the desk are in the box, the goal will be completed.
3. Attainable: Putting all the tools away is certainly well within my ability.
4. Relevant: Putting my tools away is relevant to a clean and well organized garage.
5. Time Bound: I will put my tools away by the end of the day tomorrow.

Definition of a SMART Goal: It needs to conform to the following criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

Simply Said: The act of writing out SMART specifics. You need to be able to complete all five criteria on paper.

Step 4: SMART Goal Criteria Written Down. Completed.

Now you have a deadline and specifics, but still no action plan. You’ve moved closer to completing your goal, but in my research about 50% of SMART Goals fail. Unfortunately, many goal setting plans stop here.

Maybe you need something more . . .

Why Goals Fail

Goals fail because there is something missing in the execution.

In the case here, you have a goal, but at a time that is distant.  You know what needs to be done, but you have no action plan. You have visualized success, but not how to achieve it.

Definition of Failure: nonperformance of something due, required, or expected:

Unfortunately, a SMART Goal without an action plan leads to . . .

Procrastination

As humans, we are generally lazy. Our lizard brain asks: Why would we want to go out into the hot garage and get all dirty cleaning up tools? After all, no one will see the mess. We start making excuses. We start thinking about anything but the task at hand. Going back in the living room and having a cool one watching TV, sounds a lot better than your dirty stinky garage.

I’ll put the tools away LATER . . .

Definition of Procrastination: Putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention

Unfortunately, LATER for many people never comes. Often we procrastinate with a lesser job or task, or just go veg out in front of the television.

What we really need is a  . . .

System

So far, we have set ourself a goal of putting our tools away. Following all of the guidelines for goal setting, we now have a SMARTER goal. We have a far off deadline, and our mind is trying to distract us with more pleasurable activities like watching TV. Unfortunately, when you’re working toward a goal, you are essentially saying to yourself, “I’m not good enough yet, but I will be when I reach my goal.”

Imagine how you will feel when you miss the deadline tomorrow.

the self talk will rage . . .

• I can’t even put my tools away
• I’m so stupid, what a dunce
• I don’t have any willpower

Then of course, you’ll grab a pint of ice cream and go watch another TV show.

But think back to the goal. Every time you look at that pile of tools you stress out. You feel stupid for letting your tools get like that, and even worse for procrastinating who knows how many times that you have walked into the garage.

Setting the goal adds stress.

However, instead of a goal, how about developing a system to clean and sort your tools. Then just set a timer and execute the system. When you focus on the practice instead of the performance, you will enjoy life much more.

Definition of System: Any formulated, regular, or special method or plan of procedure:

So here is how a tool/object cleaning system would work: You pick up one tool, wipe it off with a rag and cleaner, walk over to your toolbox and put it in the proper drawer. You audibly say to yourself, I’m going to pickup this hammer, clean it off and put it in drawer number two. Then walk back to workbench and repeat.

Set a timer for ten minutes and execute the system.

No goal or performance mental stress hit.

Action

The easiest way to take action on a system or goal is to use what is know as a “timebox.” Just turn off all distractions, set a timer for a desired time (50 minutes is a popular time for longer projects) and then do one and only one task until the timer goes off. Take a ten minute break and then repeat as necessary.

Definition of Action: An act that one consciously wills and that may be characterized by physical or mental activity:

SMARTER Goals

Definition of a SMARTER Goal: It needs to conform to the following criteria: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely and be designed around an Existing Habit, where the Routine is changed.

Goal in the Box

Some Assembly Required

All Inclusive

Batteries Included

The Impossible Gift

Can I give this goal to someone and be guaranteed that they accomplish it?

The post Goal Setting: A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting and Achieving Goals appeared first on Personal Success Today by John W Richardson

I’ve written about goal setting for years. I’ve tried many different goal setting techniques and have provided a number of goal setting tools. I’ve created a goal worksheet and other printables. Here are some of the things I’ve found over time.

1. SMART Goals were obviously written by some controlling corporate type, who wanted to get his workers to produce more without causing trouble or costing him money. I mean, just look at the words used…

• Specific: Do what I say. I need to know specifically what you are going to do. I can just see your boss micro-managing this one. I told you to do 1A-step c, not 1B-step d…
• Manageable: Don’t ask me to help you with this or provide resources. This probably came from the board room. We don’t want to spend any money on this. We need the numbers without spending a dime.
• Achievable: Make sure somebody actually has done this before. This probably came down from the left brained CFO bean counter. We don’t want any creativity here. Just do the damn boring work the way we say it has to be done!

Realistic: I’m sure this was added by the middle management team as a scapegoat. Don’t expect miracles here people. Hey, we got to add in coffee breaks, long lunches, and traffic. Certainly don’t ask for more than a 5% improvement.

• Timely: This obviously was added by the H.R. department. You know we can’t have these guys working overtime and we need to make sure we figure in vacations, mandatory meetings, and of course, the annual retreat. Better bump the deadline back a month or two.

Hmmm… something seems to be missing. We got all this corporate mumbo jumbo, but there is no “Action” step here. You mean we actually have to DO something to get results??

Maybe that’s why when I did an informal survey, SMART Goals had a dismal 53% success rate. Just swapping out the word Achievable with the word Action, might make a difference.

2. SMART Goals seem to be plagued with problems. Goal setters report problems with…

• Procrastination: Workers seem to want to do almost anything except work on their goal-oriented tasks
• Willpower: There seems to be a hidden enemy that saps energy and focus. Workers report they don’t have enough willpower to stay on track.
• Stress: Having an additional “sales or performance goal” adds stress. Not achieving it adds even more.

So if SMART Goals are problematic, what will work?

What should you do if you actually want to achieve something?

I pondered that question for a while and decided to write a short book about it.

The Shocking Truth About Goal Setting

This book starts with the inherent problems of SMART Goals and offers a variety of solutions. By combining goal setting with the latest research in willpower and habit change, I came up with an easy to implement solution that allows you to take action, without the usual procrastination and willpower challenges.

The Acronym is SMARTER and you can implement it quickly and easily in many different environments. It’s designed to work better with the way our minds actually process data.

For those of you who really want to make a difference, I’ve included two chapters on IMPACT Goals. One is setup for personal goals, the other when you want to change the world.

IMPACT Goals are not easy, and require more time and effort, along with a coach or mentor. But when you really want to get something done, they provide results.

The book includes example situations with Bob and Sally, a fictional duo that will better explain how the different goal setting tools work and the pros and cons of each system.

Goals For Life is available in the Kindle store and can be downloaded in just minutes. (This book can be read on your computer, iPad, or Smartphone with a free downloadable Kindle reader) It includes 8 different goal setting sheets to match your individual needs. From basic SMART goals to SMARTER ones, and all the way up to IMPACT goals, you’ll find tools here to make your dreams come true.

Goal Worksheet

The Goals for Life book includes a helpful goal worksheet that will help you set SMARTER Goals. The goal worksheet is set up to guide you through the goal setting process and help you create goals based on existing habits. You’ll find this type of goal much easier to accomplish in the long run.

The post The Shocking Truth About Goal Setting and What To Do About It. appeared first on Fire Up Today by John W Richardson

I am a great believer in setting goals. The act of writing them down and putting them where I can see them, can make the difference between success and failure. To help me keep goals top of mind, I like to do two things.

1. I like to put my personal goals on small business cards and keep them in my work area where I can see them. These simple cards keep my most important goals front and center. My free Goal Setting Toolkit makes this easy.

2. I like to print out inspirational goal setting quotes and have them throughout the house where I see them on a daily basis. Quotes about life, quotes that motivate. These profound sayings help me keep going when my motivation lags or fear and laziness creeps in. Quotes about life and quotes that motivate are especially helpful.

Inspirational Goal Setting Quotes

I love this life quote by Og Mandino. I’ve included a few of my other favorite inspirational goal setting quotes below, that you may want to post for yourself.

Goals Quotes

“An average person with average talents and ambition and average education, can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society, if that person has clear, focused goals.” ~ Mary Kay Ash

“Goals determine what you’re going to be.” ~ Julius Erving

“All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.” ~ Walt Disney

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

“Begin with the end in mind.” ~ Stephen Covey

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals, and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” ~ J.C. Penney

“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” ~ Denis Waitley

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” ~ Bill Copeland

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” ~ Earl Nightingale

“It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.” ~ Brian Tracy

“You have to set goals that are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is attainable without much work or thought, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential.” ~ Steve Garvey

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive.”
~ Howard Thurman

Life Quotes

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain

“By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands — your own.” ~ Mark Victor Hansen

“I’m a big believer in growth. Life is not about achievement, it’s about learning and growth, and developing qualities like compassion, patience, perseverance, love, and joy, and so forth. And so if that is the case, then I think our goals should include something which stretches us.” ~ Jack Canfield

“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.” ~ James Allen

“Act the way you want to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.” ~ Les Brown

“Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.” ~ Robert G. Allen

“The only difference between a rich person and poor person is how they use their time.” ~ Robert Kiyosaki

“If you are willing to do only what’s easy, life will be hard. But if you are willing to do what’s hard, life will be easy.” ~ T Harv Eker

“You miss a 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” ~ Wayne Gretzky

“Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.” ~ Jim Rohn

“Don’t waste your time with writing resolutions this New Year. Instead, focus on something else: resolve. While the words are similar, the difference in meaning is significant. A resolution is something you make. Resolve is something you have. In other words, commit. Choose into a process, not a set of audacious goals you’ll never meet.” ~ Jeff Goins

Quotes That Motivate

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ~ Thomas A. Edison

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” ~ Tony Robbins

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” ~ Zig Ziglar

“Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.” ~ Benjamin Jowett

“Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Question: What inspirational goal setting quotes ring true to you?

SMARTER Goals Can Help You Find Success

Episode 1: Goals Vs. Habits
Episode 2: Fight Training
Episode 3: SMARTER Goals
Episode 4: Testing & Fine Tuning Your Goals

Free Goal Setting Tools

Goal Setting Toolkit
Goal Setting Worksheet

Goal Setting Ebook

Goals for Life: Set SMARTER Goals for Success

Other Goal Setting Quotes

Five Goal Setting Quotes

The post Inspirational Goal Setting Quotes appeared first on Fire Up Today by John W Richardson

In the old days, if you wanted to take on a trade, you hired on as an apprentice. You would work closely with someone who had mastered the skill and was able to show you how to do it. By identifying the finished product (goal), the master technician would show you how the finished work would look and identify the skills and steps needed to accomplish it. Then they would show you how to do it and then have you go hands-on through the same process to completion. Once you mastered the skill, you could make a living doing it.

For example: a master potter would show you a beautiful clay vase and then take you through the process of making one. He would identify and tell you each step necessary to mold the raw materials into a colorful fired and glazed vase. Then he would take a blob of raw clay, put it on a potter’s wheel, and show you each step as you watched along. Then it would be your turn. He would guide you through the entire process that he had just finished, involving you hands-on and giving you feedback along the way as you formed the clay, colored it, and then fired it to form the final flower vase.

Once you learned and mastered the process, you could make vases for a living and be paid for your time and effort.

The Master Potter Teaching Strategy: Tell Me, Show Me, Involve Me.

This statement revolves around the old teaching adage, “Tell me and I forget; show me and I remember; involve me and I understand.”

Let’s see how the apprenticeship method of teaching can be applied to goal setting.

Goal Setting Basics

The definition of goal setting is the process of identifying something that you want to accomplish and establishing measurable goals and timeframes to achieve it. In our example above: Our basic goal as an apprentice is to…

Make a living creating  flower vases.

While this is a good start, we really don’t have much information about the process. How long should it take to make a vase? How big should it be?

Let’s refine the process and make it more specific by using. . .

SMART Goals

One of the most popular goal setting techniques is known as SMART Goals. It includes five tenets. . .

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

If we apply the SMART Goals framework to our basic goal above , we come up with. . .

Make a living creating twelve inch flower vases with multicolored finishes, that will hold three flowers. I will be able to create one in fifteen minutes and it will sell for ten dollars and result in a five dollar profit. I’ll make $20/hour.

As you can see, this is a much better goal. We’ve added specifications. We know how big it will be (specific size), how long it will take to create (measurable and timely) and how much we will make from each one (measurable, achievable and realistic).

Now we can visualize our goal much better. We know what the vase will look like and the specifications. Yet we are lacking two things to make the process complete.

We have a clear goal, but we lack a strategy/structure and action plan to get to completion.

In my experience, setting SMART Goals is not enough.

While we can now see the outcome we want clearly, our goal setting plan will stop dead in its tracks if we don’t have a strategy for completion and action steps to get us there.

Basically, we can see the vase, but we don’t know how to make it and we don’t have an action plan to make money in the process.

So in our teaching example, our Master Potter has held up a vase and given us a goal, “I want you to make this colorful twelve inch flower vase. You’ll make one every fifteen minutes and make five dollars/vase. This works out to twenty dollars an hour.”

He has shown us the goal and made it SMART by giving us the specifications. However, we are no closer to our goal of making money until he shows us how to make one and guides us through the process, hands-on.

Goal Setting Basics That Really Work

I’ve been a consultant and software trainer for the last few years and I’ve learned a LOT from my students about goal setting along the way. As a trainer, I know that the tell me, show me, and involve me strategy is very effective. My goal in my classes is to teach students how to use our new web based software. I usually work in a computer lab where the students have a demo copy of our software on their machines and I teach from a projector screen at the front. I have them watch as I show each exercise, and then I have them log in and I lead them through a software exercise themselves.

From experience, some students are able to follow along with just verbal instructions, but most need visual help. They need to be able to see the screens to be able to discern the instructions I have given. However, everyone benefits from the hands-on section. I can see the light bulbs go off over their heads as they work through actual day to day routines on their computers. This is where the questions come and where people get stuck.

My goal as a trainer is a success if I can teach everyone how the software works, and they are able to go back to their desks and do their daily tasks. If people get stuck in the training, I need to make sure that I can help them get over the hurdle. Many times, if a student gets stuck, they will not be able to learn the rest of the exercise because they are held up behind one stopping point.

This is why most goals fail. If you get stuck on one item it may stop you cold. If you don’t have a way to get past the hurdle, the goal fails.

We can visualize a complete goal setting plan this way.

The top third is the visual goal. We need to see a picture of the finished project and specifications on how it is made. SMART Goals will usually complete this step. This is the Tell Me What It Looks Like.

The middle of the graph is the strategy and structure area. We need to make sure our goals are structured for success and that we have a strategy to complete them. This is where it’s nice to work with someone who has gone ahead of us. Someone who has completed the goal before and can give us feedback on a workable structure and/or strategy. Working with an expert in the area will allow us to watch them as they tell us what it takes for success. This is the Show Me How.

The bottom section is where we take action. We go hands on and actually work on the goal. This is where you Get Involved Hands-On With the Project. Having a coach or mentor through the process may be critical to success. This is where most goals fail. If the structure is sound but you haven’t gone through the actual steps before, you may be stopped cold in your tracks. Without the external help of a mentor, coach, or team member, the goal will not be completed. Many times we try to complete goals ourselves that really require a team.

Take Aways

In my research and experience on goal setting basics, I can tell you this. All three of these items, Goal, Strategy, and Action, need to be present and in alignment. Leave one out and you’re almost sure to find failure. That’s why SMART Goals are not enough. We need a more complete goal system that covers all the bases. In our next post we’ll look at how to create a goal setting system for success.

Question

Have you created SMART Goals before? Were they successful?

The post Goal Setting Basics: The Apprentice Guide to Success appeared first on Fire Up Today by John W Richardson

What is a goal? That was the question I had as I sat through the goal setting webinar. I needed a good definition. Once I knew that, I figured I could set one for the New Year. As the webinar speaker went on, I learned a lot. The speaker had twelve steps to setting goals. He had something called SMART goals that would help me nail them down. Specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely. He had a plan that could change my life.

Unfortunately, I guess I’m a little dense, but I needed to start with goal setting basics. The question I had was. . . What is a goal, and why do I need one?

As the speaker went on with fancy graphs and animations, my mind sort of tuned out. There on the table in front of me was a new drone I had bought earlier in the day. The picture on the cover of the box showed a cool four-propeller craft with flashing lights. Then it got even better. Glancing down at the picture of the aircraft, I saw the specifications, laid out with little icons. This small little unit had a Hi-Def camera, a twelve-minute battery, and GPS. Wow!

My mind drifted back to the promo video I had seen about the drone.

I remembered it could fly high and with a high definition camera it could record stunning video. As a photographer, I had visions of Casey Neistat type aerial shots. A perfect drone for my next vacation.

Now I was getting excited, but right then the webinar guy said something that woke me up. He told me you need to visualize your goals. You need to make them really clear.

That’s when it clicked!

I had a goal right in front of me, and I knew the reason why I wanted to accomplish it.

I had a drone, and it would take amazing aerial video, just like Casey.

Goal Setting suddenly became clear.

As the webinar ended, I thought back to what the speaker had said.

You need to visualize your goals and make them really clear.

Yep, here was a very clear goal right on my desk. The picture of the drone was colorful and showed me exactly what was in the box. I could visualize flying this thing! Soon I would have that spectacular aerial footage that all the cool YouTubers were raving about.

Your goals should be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely.

That’s exactly what the specification icons were on the box.

They listed that the drone had an HD camera, GPS, altitude hold and automatic return. It would fly for twelve minutes, and anyone over fourteen could fly it. Those sounded specific, measurable and timely. The fact that I’m over fourteen meant I could realistically fly it. All I needed was to take action to make the goal come true.

So now I had a literal SMART Goal in front of me. What I just needed to do was open the box and go. . .

Er. . . Maybe not.

The first thing I saw as I opened the box was a big red warning triangle with an exclamation point and the word important next to it.

That’s when I realized to accomplish this goal; some assembly was required.

I had to put the propellers on this thing. Sounded simple enough, until I read the fine print.

• The A propellers needed to go on the A motors and be held on with the black screw.
• The B propellers needed to go on the B motors and be held on with the silver screw.

As I opened the box further, I found a bag of propellers, a mini screwdriver and a tiny bag of really tiny miniature screws. The markings on the propellers were stamped into the plastic and very hard to see. That’s when I knew I was in trouble. The Chinese-English instruction book sort of said you had to align the propellers on the motor shaft making sure that the letters matched up and you used the right screw.

For many people who would buy this drone, the goal failed right there.

For me, it was 15 minutes of trail and error using a magnifying glass to get them put on. The instructions failed to say that the black screws turned clockwise, the silver screws turned counterclockwise. Fail, fail, fail.

It was quickly becoming apparent that goal setting was not the same as goal accomplishing.

Thankfully, with lots of swearing under my breath, I made it through this part. Propellers attached. Now all I had to do was follow along in the instruction book to the next step. That’s when it got real complicated. Whoever wrote the book did not have a command of the English language. The strange Chinese-English translation was almost impossible to comprehend.

I finally figured out that I needed to charge the lithium battery for the drone and then install it into the craft. After an hour on the charger, I was ready to go.

Er, maybe not . . . again . . .

Now the instructions said that I needed to put four triple-A batteries in the controller. I looked through the box and packing materials. That’s when it dawned on me. Batteries were not included.

Now I was stuck. I had plenty of double A’s at home but no triple A’s. Without battery power, I was dead in the water. Fail again. If I had bought this drone for my grandson for Christmas and wanted to fly it with him on Christmas morning, I would have been out of luck.

That’s when it became apparent. Without power, I couldn’t take action. Without power (motivation) a goal fails.

After a frustrating trip to the store for batteries, I finally had everything that I needed (or so I thought). I put the batteries in and headed over to the local park to try it out.

I sat the drone on the ground, fired up the controller, and nothing happened. Unlike the other small drones, I have this one was different. Thankfully I had the instruction book with me.

All the good that did. For ten minutes I tried to figure out how to get this thing to take off. Nothing. . . No propellers turning, no flight. I thought I might have a defective unit, but the instructions were so confusing I didn’t know what to do.

Most people would give up at this point. A frustrating goal fail.

Thankfully, I had my cell phone along, and I quickly sought the mentoring of Quadcopter 101. I knew this site had a hands on review of this drone. Maybe they would be able to guide me to liftoff.

After watching their review, I quickly found the problem. The craft would not take off until the drone, and the controller had a GPS signal from at least six satellites.

I fired up the controller and hooked up the battery on the craft. I waited for a minute or two, and sure enough, the controller said eight satellites. I followed the YouTube instructions to calibrate the GPS. Once that was done, I pulled the sticks to the outside bottom like the video said and voila, the propellers started turning. With a little throttle, it was flying. Awesome!

Now all I had to do was click on the camera, and I would be recording video.

Or so I thought . . .

I pushed the camera button, but a flashing disk appeared on the controller screen.

ARRRGHHH … that’s when the realization came that I didn’t have a micro memory card installed in the drone to record the video.

And as you can imagine, one didn’t come with the unit.

Fail again.

Thankfully I had one in the car from another drone, so I was able to move forward. I landed the craft, installed the card and took off again.

Now after lots of hassle I was finally flying the unit.

For under a hundred dollars I was flying a GPS quad that would go wherever I put it. I was in command. Just like Casey, I was shooting video from the sky. I sent it up high and flew it around the park. Beautiful flyer.

Once I landed and took a look at the video, I was really pleased. While the quad doesn’t have a gimble for ultra-smooth video, it works really well.

The goal was completed. But not without a lot of pitfalls along the way.

I came away with a much greater understanding of what it takes to set and accomplish goals.

What Is a Goal?

Here is my takeaway.

I’ve set a lot of goals and resolutions over the years. Many have failed. Some worked as advertised and a handful have been spectacular. Like my story above, you need all the parts to function to complete the goal. Get stuck on one issue, and the goal fails.

Let’s look at the components of a successful goal.

1. Goal: Like in our example above, you need a clear visual of the goal you want to accomplish. Our box lid gave us a picture. A promo video of the unit showed it in action. You need to visualize your goal and see yourself taking action.
2. Make it SMART: On our drone box were icons that showed the specifications of the craft. We could see that it was for kids over 14, that it had a GPS and a high def camera. These matched our goal of taking pictures with the drone. Make sure your goals include the five SMART specifications.
3. Include Structured Instructions: Without instructions, most people would not have been able to put together this craft. The instructions need to be structured in a step by step manner and written clearly. This was a big sticking point with this unit. Had the manufacturer pre-assembled the craft, it would have been much easier for the average customer to have success with the unit.
4. Include Batteries: Without batteries, our drone was stopped cold. Without motivation, most goals are stopped cold. Make sure you have the motivation to accomplish your goals. Bringing in a coach or friend can help.
5. Find a Mentor: Without the aid of quadcopter 101, we would have been stopped cold. For most goals, it’s good to work with someone who has accomplished it before. Just being able to ask simple questions can make the difference between success and failure.
6. Take Action: When we finally got our drone in the air, we weren’t able to take action (photos/video) without a memory card. Be sure your goal has a complete action plan. Without action, the goal fails.

Overall, goal setting is simple. Just visualize what you want, see yourself taking action and write out the specifications. However, just creating a SMART goal is not enough. Accomplishing your goal requires a good structure/strategy, and it also requires a specific action plan. Leave any of these out, and your goals will fail.

Over the next few posts, I’ll give you some examples of specific goals that have worked for me. I’ll show you the sticking points and some strategies to overcome them.

Question: What goals would you like to accomplish?

The post What I Learned About Goal Setting From a Drone appeared first on Fire Up Today by John W Richardson