Goal Setting Mistakes, Blunders and Bloopers

Two guys are on an airplane,
and one guy asked the other,

"Does your stock broker
give you objective advice?"

"Yeah, his objective always
is to sell me something."

Of course that was meant to
be a humorous jab on brokers
whose intent is to sell stocks
instead of giving objective
advice.

However, it gets me thinking
about how lots of people do
NOT have a clear objective
when they begin their day,
run a meeting, go on a sales
call, and for just about any
area of their life.

Unfortunately most people
are vague and ambiguous
when it comes to their goals
and objectives.

For example, when I ask people
for their goals and objectives
I hear such things as:

"I want to get in better shape."

"I'd like to get a better job."

"I need to pay off some debt."

Granted, these are all good
intentions, but make no mistake,
these are not goals nor are
they objectives.

They are broad, ambiguous
statements that have very little
chance of ever being achieved.

Each is lacking the three
necessary ingredients of a
successful goal:

I - A SPECIFIC RESULT

You must be precise when it
comes to your goals and
objectives as your mind
operates to it maximum
efficiency when programmed
and focused on exact
coordinates and outcomes.

II. A METRIC TO MEASURE

Each step along the path to
a goal involves actions and
outcomes.

Each action must advance
you closer to your goal, and
measuring and monitoring
your performance is the ONLY
way to know if you are doing
the right things.

If you are off target, a simple
measurement will notify you
to take corrective action.

The greatest area of abuse
when it comes to goal setting
is NEGLECT.

For some bizarre reason, most
people neglect the importance
of consistent measurement and
behavioral adjustment, and they
wonder why they don't make
any progress.

THIS IS WHY!

III. A DATE OF COMPLETION

No deadline means no
commitment - PERIOD!

Without a committed deadline
to your goals and objectives
there is no sense of urgency,
no fire in the belly, and no
chance of you having a long
successful track record of
achievement.

MOMENT OF TRUTH

This message might be boring
and ho hum to some, but it is
a requirement for success.

Before dismissing the relevance
of this message, I advise that
you look at your year to date
results (25% of the year is over)
and benchmark it against this
question:

"If I continue to operate the rest
of the year in the same manner I
did for the first quarter, will this
be the best year of my life?"

If YES, Bravo!

If NO, you need to do something
different and you need to do it NOW.