How to Identify Your Goals

Here are seven goal-setting questions for you to ask and answer over and over again. I suggest that you take a pad of paper and write out your responses. 

Question Number One:

What are your five most important values in life?

This question is intended to help you clarify what is really important to you, and by extension, what is less important, or unimportant. Once you have identified the five most important values in life for you, organize them in order of priority, from number one, the most important, through number five. 

Question Number Two:

What are your three most important goals in life, right now?

This is called the "quick list" method. When you only have thirty seconds to write down your three most important goals, your subconscious mind sorts out your many goals quickly. Your top three will just pop into your conscious mind. With only thirty seconds, you will be as accurate as if you had thirty minutes. 

Question Number Three:

What would you do, how would you spend your time, if you learned today that you only had six months to live? This is another value questions to help you clarify what is really important to you. When your time is limited, even if only in your imagination, you become aware of who and what you really care about. 

Question Number Four:

What would you do if you won a million dollars cash, tax free, in the lottery tomorrow?

How would you change your life? What would you buy? What would you start doing, or stop doing? This is really a question to help you decide what you'd do if you had all the time and money you need, and if you had virtually no fear of failure at all. 

Question Number Five:

What have you always wanted to do, but been afraid to attempt?

This question helps you see more clearly where your fears could be blocking you from doing what you really want to do. 

Question Number Six:

What do you most enjoy doing? What gives you your greatest feeling of self-esteem and personal satisfaction? 

This is another values question that may indicate where you should explore to find your "heart's desire." You will always be most happy doing what you most love to do, and what you most love to do is invariably the activity that makes you feel the most alive and fulfilled. The most successful men and women in America are invariably doing what they really enjoy, most of the time. 

Question Number Seven:

What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you would not fail?

Imagine that a genie appears and grants you one wish. The genie guarantees that you will be absolutely, completely successful in any one thing that you attempt to do, big or small, short or long-term. If you were absolutely guaranteed success in any one thing, what one exciting goal would you set for yourself?

- By Brian Tracy 

Focus on Key Result Areas

The Key Question for You to Ask :

Why are you on the payroll? This is one of the most important questions you ever ask and answer, over and over again, throughout your career.

As it happens, most people are not sure exactly why they are on the payroll. But if you are not crystal clear about why it is that you are on the payroll and what results you have been hired to accomplish, it is very hard for you to perform at your best and get paid more and promoted faster.

Determine the Results Expected of You :

In its simplest terms, you have been hired to get specific results. A wage or a salary is a payment for a specific quality and quantity of work that can be combined with the work of others to create a product or service that customers are willing to pay for.

Define Your Key Result Areas :

Each job can be broken down into about five to seven key result areas, seldom more. These are the results that you absolutely, positively have to get to fulfill your responsibilities and make your maximum contribution to your organization. Your failure to perform in a critical result area of your work can lead to failure at your job. There is essential knowledge and skill that you must have for your job. These demands are constantly changing. There are core competencies that you have developed that make it possible for you to do your job in the first place. But there are always key results that are central to your work and which determine your success or failure in your job.

You Are Responsible :

A key result area is defined as something for which you are completely responsible. This means that if you don't do it, it doesn't get done. A key result area is an activity that is under your control. It is an output of your work that becomes an input or a contributing factor to the work of others.

Give Yourself A Grade :

Once you have determined your key result areas, the second step is for you to grade yourself on a scale of 1-10 in each of those areas. Where are you strong and where are you weak? Where are you getting excellent results and where are you under performing?

Here's the rule: Your weakest key result area sets the height at which you can use all  your other skills and abilities.

This rule says that you could be exceptional in six out of seven key result areas but really poor in the seventh. And your poor performance in the seventh area will hold you back and determine how much you achieve with all your other skills. This weakness will act as a drag on your effectiveness and be a constant source of friction and frustration.

Decide to Become Excellent :

The fact is that everybody has both strengths and weaknesses. Refuse to rationalize, justify or defend your areas of weakness. Instead, identify them clearly. Set a goal and make a plan to become very good in each of those areas. Just think! You may be only one critical skill away from top performance at your job.

Here is one of the greatest questions you will ever ask and answer: "What one skill, if I developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my career?"

You should use this question to guide your career for the rest of your life. Look into yourself for the answer. You usually know what it is.

- By Brian Tracy

Creating Opportunity

An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life. To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy.

A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come.

Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.

Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different.

What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.

And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money. Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future. And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth, your enterprising nature.

By Jim Rohn

Serve & not Work

One evening a scholar was addressing the participants on the concept of work culture. One of the participants asked the following question :

"I am a manager of Materials Department and I joined an organization 10 years ago as an Engineer Trainee and over the last 10 years I have gone through every experience in the organization. During the initial part of my career, the job was very challenging and interesting. But all those exciting days are gone since I do not find my joy any more interesting because there is nothing new in my job. I am now feeling bored because I am doing a routine job.

However, Sir, I was comparing my life to my mother's and mine should actually be more satisfying than hers but she seems more satisfied with her life than I am. I see that my mother has been doing the same boring job of looking after the family day in and day out, and that too with a smile on her face. She cooks, cleans, waits for everyone in the family, looks after our routine and though we rarely thank or appreciate her, doesn’t seem to get bored or tired.

The response from Scholar was very interesting and convincing. He asked the executive the question:

"Please tell me for whom does your Mother do all this?"

The executive replied that obviously the mother does all that she does for the family i.e. others.

Then the Scholar said, "Your mother 'Serves' others and because of this service mindedness, she does not feel tired or bored. But in an office, we 'Work' and not 'Serve'. Anything we consider, as service will not make us feel bored. That is difference between Serving and Working. Whenever you put a larger context around your work and see a broader meaning for your work, you will take interest in your work and it will make a very big difference in your internal energy." He asked the executive to consider his work as service and not merely a work.

Well. I know that life is more complicated than this simplistic story, but the point is clear. So, today lets 'Serve' and not 'Work'.

- Author Unknown

Be Thorough

There’s really no such thing as knowing too much about what you’re doing.

When I was in college, I spent my spare time reading about real estate and foreclosures. I didn’t feel it was a sacrifice of my time, because I was interested in real estate; I wasn’t studying just to pass a test. The knowledge I gained on my own led to my first successful investment. I couldn’t have achieved that if I hadn’t spent the time studying on my own.

In college, I also read something that Rudyard Kipling said, which I’ve never forgotten: “I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew - their names are What and Why and When--and How and Where and Who.” Finding the answers to these questions will ensure that your information is comprehensive and correct.

An example of this was from The Apprentice, when my assistants and I interviewed candidates. Sometimes the process went on for hours - one boardroom meeting lasted for over five hours so we could make the most knowledgeable decision possible!

Staying informed is a daily task, and challenge, considering how quickly our world is moving. But not keeping up is like agreeing to check out - please don’t do that. Plug in and learn everything you can. You never know when information will come in handy. If I hadn’t studied real estate foreclosures as a student, I wouldn’t have been able to see the great opportunity that led to my first big success.

Resolve to move forward and to learn as much as you can - today and every day.

- Donald Trump

Excellence

A man once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage."

The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?" The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked.

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. “Excellence” is a drive from inside, not outside. Excel at a task today - not necessarily for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction.

- Author Unknown

This Is the Best Day of My Life

Being a mother of five children who were all born within seven years tells me I am either very crazy or I love being a mother. For me it is the latter.

From the moment I felt the first baby moving within my womb I was hooked. I knew my calling in life. I went to college; I did all the things that the modern woman is told to do. But, all I really wanted was to be a full-time domestic goddess (as Roseanne Barr used to say).

For many years I was a full-time mother; however, I did have to supplement my husband's income to make ends meet. So I would tend and fall in love with yet more children. Not children that I gave birth to but working mothers' children. I loved those kids like my own. This allowed me to stay home with my own and share my love for others' children. A working mom is a happy mom when her kids are happy. Well, I did my very best to make sure that their kids were happy.

When my last child started school I decided that I would substitute teach at the local schools. I loved it. Again I was allowed to be home with my kids when they were at home. What I didn't realize was that I would be able to go on field trips with my own children. I would have freedom that I hadn't had in a long time. I had never been able to do this when I ran home daycare. I felt that it was a fair trade-off to be home with my kids.

My son, who was eight at the time, brought home a note for a field trip to be signed. For years I had always checked the "No" box where they ask for chaperones. He pleaded with me to go. I already had a substitute job scheduled for that day. I thought about it for a while and I checked the "Yes" box. Jonathan was thrilled to say the least. I quickly notified the teacher that I wouldn't be able to sub on that day, and she would have to find someone else. She wasn't thrilled but she understood.

The field trip day arrived. We were going to ride the "Bell Carol" steamboat down the Cumberland River and then walk to the Spaghetti Factory for lunch. The anticipation was just about to kill my son. He beamed with pride as we walked into the school building together. He introduced me to his class. I was so touched by his tender words and pride in me.

The bus ride from LaVergne, Tennessee, to downtown Nashville is about thirty minutes on a good day. This can be a very long time with ninety-plus kids on a bus. Jonathan wanted me to sit by him. I chose not to be the disciplinarian to the children that I was sitting by that day. I let the teachers and their aides do that. I focused my entire attention on my son, and we talked the entire ride.

We talked about many fun and silly things. I listened while he talked. Our eyes met, and he looked deep inside mine and said, "Mama, this is the best day of my life." My heart was filled with true joy. A soft tear or two rolled down my face and Jonathan asked me, "Mama, don't cry; Mama, why are you crying?" And I answered, "Because you have made this one of the best days of my life."

The true joy of motherhood comes from the simple things that we do for and with our children.

By Dian Tune Lopez

Self Appraisal

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits (phone numbers).

The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:

Boy: "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

Woman: (at the other end of the phone line): "I already have someone to cut my lawn."

Boy: "Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now."

Woman: I'm very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy: (with more perseverance) : "Lady, I'll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of Palm beach , Florida."

Woman: No, thank you..


With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy.

Store Owner: "Son... I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job."

Boy: "No thanks,

Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.

Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!"

This is what we call "Self Appraisal"

Smart and clever boy!

- Author Unknown

The Importance of Dreaming Big

"Aim for the stars; that way the lowest thing you can hit is the moon."

We all have been given a gift of dreaming. Sometimes dreaming helps us to escape reality and create a vision of the future that we want. Every worthwhile goal always starts with the big dream. However, there is a huge difference between dreaming big and having big goals. Dreams are wonderful, but they are only a product of our imagination.

Until we take action and turn our dream into the goal, it will remain a beautiful castle build in the air. Goals, on the other hand, are achievable because they are always followed by an action.

One can't be effective without another. If you have a great vision, but fail to take action, it will remain just a dream. If you act without having a clear vision in mind, you are just wasting your time and effort. Only a combination of great Vision and thought out action will make a positive difference in your life.

I've always admired people, who were not afraid to turn their most daring dreams into reality, even if their goals seemed unrealistic to others. Those are people we read about in newspapers and motivational books. We look up to them, respect and admire them for their determination and willpower, but very rare we think that we are capable of doing same things.

It happens, because most of us underestimate the word "realistic". High goal doesn't automatically equal unachievable.

>> Why is it important to set BIG goals?

We all possess such qualities as self-discipline, determination, self-confidence, and creativity, but some people use them more than others.

If you go to the gym, but only lift weights that are easy and don't require any effort, your muscles will inevitably atrophy and you'll grow weaker. Similar, if you always underestimate your abilities, you are doomed to live your life way below your standards and never discover what you're truly capable of. Just as you need to strain your muscles to make them stronger, you have to challenge yourself by setting goals that is slightly out of your reach.

Only when you go beyond your current capacities, you can find out what you are capable of.

>> How to put an elephant in refrigerator?

A few days ago my niece has asked me a great riddle, "Do you know how to put an elephant in the refrigerator?"

I was struggling to come up with the answer for a couple of minutes, before she cried: "You should open the fridge, put the elephant inside and close the door!!"

That's it! It was so obvious! Why didn't I think about it myself?! Probably because I am a grown up and that's what grown ups do. When trying to find solution to a problem, we usually choose the longest, most complicated and time consuming way to do it. We work so hard, concentrating our mind on little details, estimating what can go wrong in the process, trying to predict problems that can arise in the process that we completely miss the "BIG PICTURE".

Your big goal is an elephant that you have to squeeze into a little door of reality.

How do you go about it?

You are absolutely correct! First you find an elephant (figure out what is it that you want to achieve) and then you open the door (transform your dream into a goal)!

>> Choose the elephant!

There are a lot of elephants in the jungles of your dreams. You need to know what your elephant looks like. Otherwise you might end up with a rhino or a crocodile.

That is why it is critical to decide exactly what you want to achieve. No one is going to give you an answer to this question. You must find an answer within.

When choosing your big goal you need to consider how it makes you feel. Does it give you inspiration? A little thrill? An excitement? In other words, does it feel right?

>> Open the door!

When you know what you want to achieve you can start working on figuring out HOW to do it.

First you need to come up with an action plan. But be flexible to change it. You don't have to have everything figured out to the little details. Just know where you're going and break your goal into smaller objectives, so you can monitor your progress.

Your plan is your route that shows you how to get to the destination point - your goal. But if there are some obstacles on your way, you can always choose another road that will lead you to exact same place. If you see only one road to your goal and refuse to make any adjustments in your plans, you'll most likely overlook other opportunities and have to deal with a lot more problems.

>> Don't be afraid to fail

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."
~ Robert F. Kennedy

In our society word "failure" is opposed to the word "success". There's even such term as "fear of failure". In reality failure and success lie on the same side of the coin.

Our success greatly depends on the amount of attempts we make. If we increase the number of attempts we automatically increase the number of times we fail. But the more we fail, the more we learn, the better we become at what we are doing and the higher chances we have to succeed.

Don't be afraid to fail. Even if you set a big goal and fail, you'll learn something new and acquire valuable experience. If you succeed, you'll get all the benefits of your goal (popularity, respect of others, satisfaction, higher self-esteem, financial abundance, happy relationships and so on.) However, if you don't try, you'll acquire neither.

So why not go for a really big goal, if you have nothing to lose?

- Arina

Take the Hit

Take the responsibility. Take the hit. If you do that, you will have no need to blame others or continually find fault with them.

A guy I once knew used to constantly call me to complain about everybody and their brother. To listen to him, you would think that the entire world was against him and that he never made a mistake in his life.

From day one, nothing was ever his fault. Everyone else was to blame. In truth, he was his own biggest blind spot and sad to say, he eventually became a total loser because he never remedied his biggest problem - himself.

So when things go wrong, look at yourself first. Don’t instinctively blame others or the circumstances - or use them to cover your behind. Be the leader. Stand tall and take the hit.

If you accept the glory, be willing to accept the blame.


- By Donald Trump

Take The Responsibility

Take the Hit
By Donald Trump

Take the responsibility. Take the hit. If you do that, you will have no need to blame others or continually find fault with them.

A guy I once knew used to constantly call me to complain about everybody and their brother. To listen to him, you would think that the entire world was against him and that he never made a mistake in his life.

From day one, nothing was ever his fault. Everyone else was to blame. In truth, he was his own biggest blind spot and sad to say, he eventually became a total loser because he never remedied his biggest problem - himself.

So when things go wrong, look at yourself first. Don’t instinctively blame others or the circumstances - or use them to cover your behind. Be the leader. Stand tall and take the hit.

If you accept the glory, be willing to accept the blame.