“Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” — Steve Jobs

Making your goal personal means you need to strive for something you believe in and is meaningful to you. You’ve got to own your goal. This detail is crucial to the success of your goal. Your goal should not reflect what your parents, teachers, or family want for you, unless you truly want that same thing.

Again, this is why it’s imperative to know yourself, your strengths/weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Trying to achieve a goal that is not meaningful to you will result in dissatisfaction, or even failure.

Allow me to share a story that illustrates this point.

Ashley was one of my closest friends from high school. She was a talented artist and amazing photographer. Not surprisingly, Ashley’s dream was to be a graphic designer. Her parents, however, had a different plan. They viewed such a career as unstable and impractical, and they steered her away from art. When Ashley went to college, she majored in accounting.  As her friend, I knew this was one of the last careers that would interest her.  She explained she was doing this to make her parents happy.

Three years into her accounting career, Ashley finally admitted to herself and her parents that she was miserable.  She went back to school, this time as an art major.  Ashley is now a successful artist, an “Imagineer” working at Disney Studios. You’ve probably not met Ashley, but you’ve seen some of her work in your favorite Disney movies.

Had Ashley been true to herself, she could have set a goal that was personal and meaningful from the beginning, and saved money on college tuition, as well as spending three unsatisfactory years as an accountant

What is it that your really want?  What goals are so important to you that you must succeed – no matter what?  Maybe you know a great tip to help eager goal-setters reach their goals faster?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

 I look forward to a great goal-setting discussion!

“Part of the issue of achievement is to be able to set realistic goals, but that’s one of the hardest things to do because you don’t always know exactly where you’re going.” — George Lucas

Sometimes the quickest way to burn out when pursuing a goal is when we feel like our goal is never going to happen. It’s hard for us humans to be patient. But patience may not be the issue. Perhaps we have selected a goal that is way out of our reach.

I once met a young lady named Samantha.  She told me her goal is to be the first female President of the United States.  Quite a notable goal!  However, at this moment, Samantha is fifteen.  Her goal is a long ways off.  It’s not that Samantha couldn’t be President;  I have seen her determination and believe she could do it.

However, the minimum age to be President is thirty-five years old.  That’s at least twenty years in the future.  A lot could happen between now and then.  With five elections in the next two decades, the U.S. might see a woman take her seat in the White House before Samantha has a chance.

A more reachable, short-term goal for Samantha’s focus of energy is something within her immediate control.  For example: become president of her sophomore class, join the debate team, or learn about local politics by volunteering for a local election.  Any of these goals will move her in the direction of her political aspirations.

I’ll be posting more about how to break your goals down into reachable steps in future posts.   So make sure you check back each Monday morning for new leadership ideas that you can use with your staff, team, or class.

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NEXT UP: How To Set Goals | Quality #4: Make Your Goals Personal

Do you have any favorite goal-setting lessons, quotes, games, or activities that you use to teach goal-setting?  Maybe you know a great tip to help eager goal-setters reach their goals faster?  Leave your comments below!

 I look forward to a great goal setting discussion!

At a recent conference where I presented a goal setting workshop, I surveyed the audience for their goals.  A young man, Lucas, raised his hand and said, “Yeah! My goal is to be rich!”

When I asked him how he was going to get rich he replied, “I don’t know. I just want to be rich!”  Unless Lucas gets a more specific, he doesn’t have a goal.

There are so many ways that one can become rich.  He could own a lucrative business, become a surgeon, inherit a chunk of money, or even win the lottery.  In all these cases, being rich is an outcome from a goal rather than an actual goal.

If you’re a student, and your goal is “to do better in school” you’ll need to be a bit more specific since that can have so many meanings.  There can be several reasons why you are not doing well.  Do you have a certain class that needs attention?  Are you having trouble focusing? Have you given it your best effort?  Is it a social or discipline problem that should be the object of your goal?

Here are a few goals that might specifically state the situation:

• “My goal is to study at least two hours every day!”

• “My goal is to receive an A in Economics.”

• “My goal is to get along with my lab partner.”

NEXT UP: How To Set Goals | Quality #3: Make Your Goals Reachable

Do you have any favorite goal-setting lessons, quotes, games, or activities that you use to teach goal-setting?  Maybe you know a great tip to help eager goal-setters reach theirgoals faster?  Leave your comments below!

I look forward to a great goal-setting discussion!

Batman_and_Robin_by arcarsenal http://arcarsenal.deviantart.com/

How To Set Goals

Quality #1: Make Your Goals Positive!

Ever seen one of those suspenseful scenes in a movie where the hero is climbing or hanging from a high place?

The hero’s sidekick watching the situation typically shouts, “Don’t look down!”

What happens?  The hero looks down and gets freaked out from his fear of heights.  To prevent the fear from taking over, the sidekick should have shouted, “Keep your eyes forward!  You can do it!  You’re almost there!”

Human beings tend to gravitate toward the direction in which we are focused.  And, positivity is much more attractive than negativity.  Leaders often emanate a positive energy that comes from knowing who they are, a focus on their vision, and the confidence they’re on the right path to success.

In that same manner…

Successful Goals ALWAYS State The POSITIVE — not the negative. 

If you design your goal declaring a negative aspect, it becomes the object of your focus.  This can be self-defeating.

Contrast these two examples:

Positive Goal: “I will earn a B or higher on my math final.”

Negative Goal: “I won’t fail my math test!”

– OR –

Positive Goal:   “I will get along with my boss by showing respect at all times.”

Negative Goal: “I won’t let my boss get me mad, even if he acts like a jerk.”

When you frame your goal in a way, you will find yourself with a positive outlook and headed in the right direction to achieve the goal.

NEXT UP: How To Set Goals Quality #2: Make Your Goal Specific

Do you have any favorite goal-setting lessons, quotes, games, or activities that you use to teach goal-setting?  Maybe you know a great tip to help eager goal-setters reach their goals faster?  Leave your comments below!

I look forward to a great goal-setting discussion!

Sir Isaac Newton by Sir Godfrey Kneller

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been posting about How To Set Goals.   I believe that goal-setting is one of the most important skills a leader can learn.  So far we’ve outlined the 4 CRUCIAL QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE GOAL.  They are:

1. YOUR GOAL MUST BE POSITIVE

2. YOUR GOAL MUST BE SPECIFIC

3. YOUR GOAL MUST BE REACHABLE

4. YOUR GOAL MUST BE PERSONAL

However, before you begin our goal setting adventure, I want you to familiarize yourself with what I call, “The Law of Motivation”— A concept I came up with over 15 years ago when I developed my first programs on goal-setting for leaders.  Who knew it would stick?  I adapted it from that well-known 17th century scientist, Sir Issac Newton.  Remember him?  He’s the guy who discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head. Well, he also developed the groundbreaking First Law of Motion.  It states that:

“An object at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an outside force.”

This means that unless you live on a hill, a bowling ball sitting on your front lawn is not going to roll away by itself.  Similarly, goals cannot be accomplished unless we put them into action.

Thus, we transform the Law of Motion into the Law of Motivation.

For our scenario, we will apply this scientific Law to Motivation and your life as a leader;  the object will be defined as your goal—that tangible you want to have come true.  It could be anything, depending on your stage of life or circumstances: the type of person you want to be, the grades you want to achieve, the friends you want to make, the job you want to land, the college you want to attend, the success of your next big project, the money you want to earn… because when you invent your future:

Defining your goal is as simple as that!  Don’t know what your goal is yet?  Examine your strengths and weaknesses.  Consider your likes and dislikes.  Reflect on your values.  You’ll find it!  This process requires time and deep thinking, so don’t gloss over it.  When it comes to your goals, you must know and feel confident about what YOU want.  So what does your goal have to do with motivation?  Let’s take a hard look at what it means.   The root of the word motivation is motive.  Here’s how the dictionary defines motive:

“Motive: something causing or able to cause motion.”

Before you can motivate yourself, you must have a motive—something to get you going.  If you have no object, or goal, you have nothing to put into motion.

So, to start, this Law of Motivation tells us:

“Your goals and dreams will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.”

The second part of this law talks about an outside force.  That’s where your motivation comes into play.  You are that force.

Just as nobody can decide your goals for you, neither can somebody achieve them for you, nor can your goals fulfill themselves.

Although you may be surrounded by people who love you and want you to succeed in your life, they don’t care about your goals as much as you do.  They can’t.  They aren’t you.  Most people are busy enough as it is trying to get their own goals into motion to give yours the attention that it needs—and that it deserves.  Nobody can get your object into motion except you.  That’s why the Law of Motivation ultimately says:

“Your goal is not going anywhere until you take responsibility and move it yourself!”

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  Well, it is!  The basics of goal-setting have been around for generations.  It’s one of the tenets of leadership.  However, studies show that still less than three percent of people use goal-setting skills where, and when, it really counts.

So many people walk through their world, subconsciously thinking, “I hope I end up somewhere good.”  But they do not intentionally make a plan to get to that “good” place.  Many years later they look back and wonder why their hopes and dreams are not actualized.  This should come as no surprise.

How can you end up somewhere good if you have no idea where (or what) good is?

That’s what goal setting is all about – not letting life and chance decide where you end up; instead purposefully transform hopes and dreams into achievable goals.

Remember the three percent of individuals who do set goals? Among them you’ll find the top achievers and leaders of this world.  It wasn’t magic or happenstance.  They harnessed their internal motivation and focused their efforts for proper goal setting.

This is the Law of Motivation in action.  Like other scientific laws, this process does not only work in a few random instances.  It can be replicated by anyone who desires their dreams to come true and sets out to achieve their goals.

Next: Your Inner Critic: 4 Words That Sabotage Goals

Do you have and tips or tricks on how to reinforce your goals and stay motivated to stay on the path to achieving your goal?  Please share your ideas with us in the comments section below!