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Part 5 – Goal Setting – Create Urgency

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Urgency is a potent force, because it is usually produced by some degree of leverage.  Leverage leads to urgency and urgency leads to action, usually immediate action.

Think about this for a moment.  Imagine the windshield wipers on your car have quit working.  The weather forecast is predicting sunshine with no chance for rain for the next week.  You know you need to get the wipers fixed, but how urgent is it that you get them fixed soon?  Now imagine that your windshield wipers have quit working and a thunderstorm is imminent in the next few hours.  Has the urgency changed?  Of course it has, because the looming storm has created leverage.  If you don’t get your wipers fixed in the next few hours, you will either be without a vehicle or in danger for the duration of the storm.

Here’s another example.  A few years ago I was working in an office building and the fire alarms went off.  I knew that I would have to exit the building, but I assumed it was only a test, so I was not in any hurry to leave.  I checked a few more e-mails and casually left my office.  As I entered the hallway towards the elevator, people were yelling from the other end of the hallway that the building was on fire.  Can you guess how my urgency changed upon learning that news?  I went from a slow, leisurely stroll to a full run for the stairs.  The leverage of possibly dying in a fire created the urgency for me to take immediate action and get out of there fast.

If you can create urgency around your most important goals, then you will find yourself taking instantaneous action.  The reason most people fail in their ability to accomplish their goals is because they never associate the necessary urgency to do so.

One way to create urgency is through the practice of setting dates.  Setting a date can be a very effective means to creating urgency.  Think about a time when you were in school and you had a term paper due or a big test coming.  If you were like me, you probably found yourself working harder the closer you came to the deadline.

A deadline or date for achievement creates that pressure, and it gives you a clear picture of when you expect to accomplish your goal.

Another way to create urgency is to consider the consequences of not accomplishing your goal.  One of my top goals is to have an outstanding relationship with each of my children.  I have created several plans for how to be involved in the lives of my children, but these plans do not have an inherent urgency to them.  Usually our most important goals are not urgent in nature, especially when we do not consider future consequences.  One way that I create urgency around my goals with my children is to imagine how they will turn out as adults if I fail as their father.  This process has produced incredible results for creating urgency in my life.

Urgency is the spark that ignites the fuel of your goals.  Use it to create the necessary action you must take in the process of making your goals reality, and you will be on your way to do great things.

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Part 4 – Goal Setting – Anticipate The Obstacles

Friday, June 17th, 2011

In my last blog, we covered the components of making the plan.  With every plan that you make, there will be obstacles.  It’s important to identify the obstacles and then be aware of how you will overcome them.  This planning will put you in a proactive posture, and you will not be demoralized when the obstacles come your way.  They will come.  I promise you.  You don’t accomplish great things without obstacles.  So plan and prepare for them.

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, once said, “When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity.  You have the choice.  You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser.  The choice is yours and yours alone.”  If you are going to make the choice to overcome the obstacles that are certain to come your way, then make those choices in advance.

One of the reasons the United States special operations forces are so effective is that they spend a lot of time in their preparation for missions by determining all possible obstacles and potential set-backs and then formulating contingency plans.  When a special operations force commences a mission, they usually have a very specific game-plan, however they always have several contingency plans for any obstacles they may encounter.  The benefit is that when obstacles arise in the middle of a mission, they can quickly adapt and make the necessary adjustments.  The absolute worst time to consider contingencies is when you are in the middle of executing a plan.  It is much better if you have considered the possible obstacles in advance and prepared accordingly.

This is a step often overlooked on one side and often over-analyzed on the other.  If you are a “glass half full” person, then your inclination will be to overlook this critical step.  Positive people struggle to consider everything that could go wrong.  This thinking runs counter to the core of their personality.  If this is your predisposition, then force yourself to carry out this exercise.  If you do not, you might be shocked and paralyzed when you reach your first obstacle.  You may find yourself in a defensive posture looking for a quick way out.  The result will not be good.

If you are a “glass half empty” person, then will have no problem at all considering everything that could possibly go wrong.  The danger of this exercise is that you may use all the possible obstacles as reasons to abandon your goal before you ever begin.  The value of listing all the possible obstacles will materialize when you are able to strike a balance between the two extremes.

As you list the potential obstacles, think about your contingency plans and how you will make adjustments.  You will not only be equipped to make the necessary modifications, but you will also dramatically increase your level of confidence and your ability to achieve the goal in your quest to do great things.

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Part 3 – Goal Setting – Make a Plan

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Goal-setting experts report only 3% of the population do any kind of goal setting.  For those few that are setting goals, even less take the time to create a plan for how to achieve the goal.  You have to be able to map the trip from where you are now to where you want to be when the goal is accomplished.

Your plans will change.  It’s alright to modify and adjust your plans.  Your goals, on the other hand, should remain constant.  I have a friend who’s a pilot in the U.S. Air Force.  He says that when you determine your destination, you then create a flight plan.  When the plane gets into the air and heads toward the destination, the pilot is constantly making adjustments.  Every few minutes, adjustments are being made to keep the plane on course to its final destination.

Only in extreme and rare cases does a pilot change the plane’s destination, but it is very common for the pilot to make minor adjustments and modifications to keep the plane on course.  Your goal setting practices should be very similar.  Once you set the goals, they should be locked down.  In some rare cases, you may decide to change a goal, but this should not be a common practice.

Your plans for accomplishing a goal must be specific.  The more specific you can get with your goal planning, the more effective you will be at accomplishing the goal.  For example, what if I told you that I had a very special gift for you, but you would have to meet me in order to get it?  Suppose you are in St. Louis, and I am somewhere in California.  How would you get to me?  You would need specific directions.  What if I only told you that I am in California?  What are the odds that you would ever find me without specific directions?  Slim to none.

The difficulty in being specific is that we don’t always know how to get to the destination we seek, so do not worry about your plans being perfect.  They will not be perfect.  I can promise you an imperfect plan is much more effective than no plan at all.  You will learn from your mistakes and make the necessary adjustments until the plan finally comes together.

Map out the course you intend to take from where you are today to where you intend to be at the completion of the goal, and you will be positioned to do great things.

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Part 2 – Goal Setting – Answering the “Why” question

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

In my last blog, I covered the first step to goal setting with the concept of “painting the picture”.  Once you’ve identified your goal and specifically defined it, the next step involves asking why this goal is important to you.  This is one of the most important steps in the entire process, because once you know why you are doing something, you will do whatever it takes to figure out how to accomplish it.  Answering the why question is essential to defining the importance of the particular goal.

If I have a goal of eating healthy and exercising on a regular basis, then I have to know why this goal is important.  Am I setting this goal, because I somehow think it’s what I’m supposed to do?  I might say to myself, “I guess I should be healthy.  Everyone lists that as important, so I guess it should be important to me as well.”  That answer is not an effective “why” answer.

Instead, you need to really define why this goal is so important.  I’ll give you an example.  Health is an important goal for me.  Unfortunately my family struggles with high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  I’ve had several family members suffer from heart attacks at very young ages.

My health is directly tied to my family.  I want to be healthy because I want to live to see my children grow up and have children of their own.  I not only want to be alive, but I want to enjoy it.  I don’t want to be confined to a hospital bed or medical equipment.  I also want to have more energy in my life now.  I have a lot of worthy goals that I’m excited about pursuing, but I can’t do that if I have limited energy and I’m out of shape.

Do you see how I’ve answered the why question?  I’ve given very specific reasons that are important to me.  Answering the why question is one of the greatest secrets to accomplishing great goals. You may have practiced this principle in your own life without even realizing it.

Many years ago, my uncle was in terrible shape.  He ate terrible foods, never exercised, smoked, drank, and he rarely saw the doctor.    In his early 40’s, he had a massive heart attack.  Fortunately he survived, but his life was changed forever.

Once he recovered and was out of the hospital, my uncle was a changed man.  He changed his entire diet.  He started exercising every day.  He quit smoking and drinking, and he never missed regular check-ups with his doctor.  He lost an enormous amount of weight.  He looked great, and you would have never guessed he was so out of shape a few years before.

So what happened to my uncle?  I’ll break it down for you.  He answered the why question.  His goal was to get healthy, but the key to his success was that he knew why.  Once you know why, you’ll do everything you can to figure out how.  Do you see the power of this principle?  Answer the why question, and you’ve got 80% of the goal setting process accomplished to do great things.

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Learn Several Powerful Strategies to Goal Setting (Part 1)

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Goal setting can be an invaluable exercise that can literally revolutionize your life for the good.  Most of the great entrepreneurs who have accomplished amazing things have been extremely effective at setting goals.  While goal setting is important, it’s effectiveness can increase exponentially if you practice the steps that I will be outlining in the next several blog posts.  You are about to learn several of the great secrets to effective goal setting.

The first step in the goal setting process is getting specific.  It is imperative that you specifically define what your goal is.  Generic goals are ineffective, because they fail to identify what you are really trying to accomplish.  For example, you might have a goal to be healthy.  If that is as specific as you get, then you really haven’t defined it.  What does healthy mean, especially to you?  A better goal would be, “I am going to increase my health by lowering my blood pressure and cholesterol to xyz levels, and I am going to lose 15 pounds.  You might have a goal to become rich.  Again, this is a very generic goal.  Instead, you could have the following goal, “I will become debt free by paying off my house, car, credit card balance and student loan”.

The specifics outline exactly what you are talking about, and this step forces you to really think about what you want to achieve.

Once you’ve specifically outlined the goal, then you need to burn the image of that goal into your brain by using the strategy of “painting the picture”.  Most people are visual, and it’s amazing how powerful a picture can be.  Imagine you are planning a vacation to Hawaii, and you are trying to select which resort you will stay at.  Would you rather have a written description of the resort or pictures?  While the description is very important to identify the amenities, etc., the pictures are what move you emotionally.

You need to visualize exactly what accomplishing your goal would mean to you.  It’s critical to see it in your mind as if it has already been achieved.  Meditate for a moment on the completion of the goal.  What does it feel like?  Can you see it?  Can you taste it?  Imagine the rush of accomplishing this goal.  Now find a picture that represents the goal.  It can be something cut from a magazine or a picture that you have taken.  This picture should instantly take your mind to the place of accomplishment.  If you have a goal to spend better quality time with your children, then you might consider using a picture of you playing with your children.

Finally, you need to place your picture and goal in a place that you will see it every day.  The daily reminder and visual impact of the goal will keep your focus on the task at hand.  Many people will set goals and then quickly forget in the busyness of their lives.  Painting the picture by itself is not enough.  You have to look at that picture on a daily basis, so that you start internalize the value and importance of the goal.  In the process of reviewing and visualizing your goal, you will start to focus.  Focus is the secret ingredient that actualizes the efficacy of the goal setting process.  As you continually focus on the goal at hand, your mind will commence a process of determining how to achieve it.  In the next blog, we will cover the next essential step – answering the why question, and you will be further equipped to go out and do great things.

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