Re: Today, taking another baby step.

Andy1 — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:56:17 -0000

Hey again Tre!

Thanks for your feedback. Partly because of what I do for a living, I was inspired by your recent post to offer a few suggestions for those readers taking those first steps (a.k.a., achieving meaningful goals). I hope the following is helpful for everyone:

1. Make your goals measurable. Specific. For example, I want to create a successful blog in ‘09 isn’t specific enough. The goal needs a number (e.g., the number used depends on the goal, but in essence would be a time, distance, frequency, date, number of subscribers, etc.). Writing down I will write "x" number of posts/week is measurable.

2. Make sure your goals are desirable. This seems obvious enough, but it isn’t enough to simply ‘want’ to accomplish a goal. It must be a burning desire. It is the fuel that enables you to overcome any barriers that inevitably pop up–particularly if it’s a big goal. Know ‘WHY’ you’re going after the goal you’ve set up. The bigger the goal, the bigger the ‘why.’ Think of the ‘why’ as fuel–it ties into your purpose.

3. The goal has to be “I” centered. This also seems obvious, but too often, we think we’re engaging in a goal that is ours, when in reality, it’s for reasons other then our own.

4. Is your goal action oriented? What that means is the goal you choose to focus on must include specific behaviors–actions–that you will do to achieve your goal. It’s not enough to ‘know’ what you need to do; it has to be written down. In other words, is your goal observable? If for example, you said you wanted to go to the gym and workout regularly, could someone walking by the window at the gym see you working on your goal and videotape it?

5. Lastly, you goals have to be realistic. This is where most people skid off the road. They have great, inspiring goals, but they end up not being realistic. One of the ways to be sure your goals are realistic is to follow the steps outlined in this series of articles on achieving goals and success. Additionally, it’s also important to take a really, really good look at your goals and step back and ask “can I really accomplish this? How do I know?” How do you know? Have you accomplished something similar before–do you have a history of achieving similar goals? Do you need to learn something before you can work on the main part of the goal?

The more specific you can be, the higher the probability you will achieve your goals and achieve success. Don’t forget to create balance in your life. Take care of your health (without which, you won’t likely be accomplishing to many goals), pay attention to your family, friends, etc. Oh, and don’t forget to have fun! Just because achieving your goals take time and energy doesn’t mean achieving goals can’t be fun. The more fun you build into accomplishing your goals, the more energy and joy you’ll experience in the process (and the less stressed you’ll be).

Again, I hope this is helpful.

Take good care....

Andy
http://livewellbydesign.org

Re: Today, taking another baby step.

Andy1 — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:47:45 -0000

Tre--

I just stumbled upon your blog. What a wonderful piece of work you have done with this site....

Small steps ARE good. Small, measurable, realistic, "I" centered, desirable, and action oriented are guaranteed to bring you towards your destination!

Take good care and continued success to you.

Disqus - Latest Comments for Andy1

Re: Today, taking another baby step.

Re: Today, taking another baby step.