Honestly, I think that we as a society don’t take our personal goals seriously enough.
A Harvard study showed that the 3% of MBA graduates who had their goals written down and who had created a plan to achieve them made 10 times more than the other 97% combined. The more advanced you are, the more influential you can be, and the more people you can help.
We make a lot of promises to other people: our spouses and life partners, our children, our friends, our families, our bosses. Rarely, though, do we make promises to ourselves.
That’s what goals equate to.
Goals are promises that you make to yourself.
It’s important that we take time consistently to refresh and review the promises we make to ourselves. As the summer winds down and we make plans for some downtime over the holiday weekend, commit now to spending an hour or two with yourself reflecting on what it is that you want and what it is that you want to create.
Here are 5 reasons why you might need to review, recommit to, or institute your goals:
- You’ve hit your short-term goals. It’s time to reset and define your next level… it’s time to hit that next level. In quoting Beyonce, “I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That’s how I have gotten where I am.” With my “Take Flight” metaphor, my own goals are like “Flights.” I set the flight plan, I put a game plan together, I execute, I review to make sure I’m on course, and I hit the goal… or, metaphorically, that “flight” lands. It’s time then to plan the next “flight.”
- You’re ready to add a 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year goal.
- You have too many goals. If you have more than 3 to 5 big goals, pare them down to the ones that will have the biggest impact. Create a bucket list for those other items you want to do.
- You’re bored with your goals. This happens a lot, actually. Sometimes people just put down random goals to say they accomplished them, but they aren’t truly motivating. The best goals are those that entice a feeling or rid you of your biggest stressors. If you’re not obsessed with your goals, you’re probably not thinking big enough. Maybe you just made a list of goals and never looked at them again. Your goals should be specific to you and should resonate personally every day.
- You’ve never had defined goals. I was in my early 40s before I instituted short and long-term goal setting practices. I was never taught to focus on the end goal. I just went through the day. Paying the bills was my default goal. It wasn’t until I hit some really choppy waters that I was forced (or inspired) to think hard about what I really wanted to achieve.
It is hard to find an elite level performer who doesn’t have a master vision for what they want to create. It starts with "programming that GPS," "creating that flight plan,” and knowing specifically where you want to go.
Make those promises to yourself. Create some simple action steps to get started. Get after it and be consistent. Don’t be discouraged by occasional detours. Learn what you need to learn. Become the person who will meet your goals. Manifest your own success.
My entire “Take Flight” program is founded on the principle of having the mental side of your game intact. Once we get you to have control of your thoughts and mental energy, we work on Productivity, Lead Generation, Leveraging Your Brand, and Relationship Management.
…but it all starts with the Vision and Goals you set for yourself. That’s the software that runs your operating system. It’s unlikely that you will execute on the other key areas if you haven’t committed to something exciting that gets you up in morning and inspires you every day.
