There's a difference between "goal setting" and "goal getting". As with many aspects of life, most people will start something new, but few will stick with it: books, diets, school, workout programs, learning a foreign language and spiritual disciplines just to name a few. To close the gap between goal "setting and getting" you must develop a level of discipline and inner motivation that gives you fuel for the journey. Following are twelve thoughts and strategies to help you run your race to win!
1. Understand that decisions and discipline are two of the most essential aspects of any successful endeavor. Decisions get you started and discipline helps you finish!
2. Understand that you are more likely to remain committed to reach your goal if you decide exactly what it is you want in the first place. Part of the "decision" aspect in point one is getting clear about precisely what you want in the first place. Most people in life don't get what they want because they don't know what they want!
3. Create a big enough "why" that helps you to endure what you have to do and how you have to do it in order to reach your goals. The "why" constitutes your reason or reasons for wanting to accomplish your goals. The "why" gives you pull power. The more and bigger reasons you have for attaining your goals, the less likely you are to quit when it gets tough.
4. Accept the fact that life and business are supposed to be difficult! The sooner you accept that success is not supposed to be a cakewalk, the easier it is to begin developing the discipline necessary to reach your goals. If you begin your goal-journey with unrealistic expectations, you'll become discouraged and quit when it gets tough.
5. Focus more on what you're becoming throughout the process than on what you're getting. Even if you don't see payoffs right away, what you're learning and the discipline you're developing throughout the process makes you far more valuable. To get more than you've got, you must first become more than you are. The "becoming" has to happen first!
6. Establish mile-markers and celebrate little victories along the way. Pay yourself with special perks or rewards as you achieve the daily, weekly or monthly goals that bring you closer to your major objectives. Without evidences of your progress, your journey can become a "death march."
7. Throughout the process, don't mistake motion for progress. Just because you're active doesn't mean you're accomplishing anything, or the right things! Regardless how beautiful your goals and strategy, you must occasionally look at results!
8. If the cost of continuing towards your goals ever seems too high, weigh it against the cost of quitting! The cost of quitting is staggering. And when you quit, it says more about who you are than where you are.
5. Focus more on what you're becoming throughout the process than on what you're getting. Even if you don't see payoffs right away, what you're learning and the discipline you're developing throughout the process makes you far more valuable. To get more than you've got, you must first become more than you are. The "becoming" has to happen first!
6. Establish mile-markers and celebrate little victories along the way. Pay yourself with special perks or rewards as you achieve the daily, weekly or monthly goals that bring you closer to your major objectives. Without evidences of your progress, your journey can become a "death march."
7. Throughout the process, don't mistake motion for progress. Just because you're active doesn't mean you're accomplishing anything, or the right things! Regardless how beautiful your goals and strategy, you must occasionally look at results!
8. If the cost of continuing towards your goals ever seems too high, weigh it against the cost of quitting! The cost of quitting is staggering. And when you quit, it says more about who you are than where you are.
9. Derive encouragement from the fact that developing tenacity is a character trait that separates you from average performers. No one can teach you tenacity, persistence or mental toughness. They are "inside" jobs that make you different, better and more desirable.
10. Guard your inner dialogue throughout your journey. Telling yourself, "I'm not going to make it," or "I just can't get this," etc. is a sure way to talk yourself into a depression. Make sure what you're telling yourself elevates, rather than devastates, you!
11. Don't become so fixated on the destination that you don't enjoy the journey! Enjoy the ride! Life is 95% journey and 5% destinations. If you only think about the destination, you'll miss out on the joy and potential of TODAY!
12. Remember that success in reaching your goals will depend less on the brilliance of your plans than on the consistency of your actions.
You reach worthwhile goals with diligent, daily disciplines and not in one fell swoop!
In a world filled with quitters, you'll find that there's plenty of room at the top for the handful of committed people prepared to persevere while others are playing; to do while they are dreaming, and to step up while they let up or lay down.
10. Guard your inner dialogue throughout your journey. Telling yourself, "I'm not going to make it," or "I just can't get this," etc. is a sure way to talk yourself into a depression. Make sure what you're telling yourself elevates, rather than devastates, you!
11. Don't become so fixated on the destination that you don't enjoy the journey! Enjoy the ride! Life is 95% journey and 5% destinations. If you only think about the destination, you'll miss out on the joy and potential of TODAY!
12. Remember that success in reaching your goals will depend less on the brilliance of your plans than on the consistency of your actions.
You reach worthwhile goals with diligent, daily disciplines and not in one fell swoop!
In a world filled with quitters, you'll find that there's plenty of room at the top for the handful of committed people prepared to persevere while others are playing; to do while they are dreaming, and to step up while they let up or lay down.
By Dave Anderson, April 30, 2010
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