Turning Dreams Into Reality
By Eric Plantenberg
Welcome to 2005! The New Year has arrived, and for most people, this is the most appropriate time of the year to stop and evaluate your goals and objectives for the next 12 months. You enthusiastically look ahead, resolving to make great improvement in all areas of your life.
I am going to share some helpful ideas to help you turn your hopes, wishes, and dreams into your future reality.
Goals and buildings have several characteristics that are very similar. If a building is engineered properly, and built with structural integrity; when the storms blow, the building stands; when the earth shakes, the building stands. If a building lacks that structural integrity, the storms force is likely to reduce it to rubble. Your goals are the same way. If they are engineered with the proper dynamics in place; when adversity strikes, your goals will stay clear; when the unexpected happens; you will adapt and move closer to your objective.
There are Five Characteristics of Effective Goals, that if you follow to a tee, you are guaranteed to come out ahead.
Your Goals Must Be:
1. Meaningful to You
This may seem obvious, but it is important to evaluate. Is the goal you are setting really important to you? Or is it really more important to your manager, or your company, or your friends or spouse, or are you simply bending to social pressures. For you to achieve a goal in any area of your life, it is vital that you are perfectly clear why that outcome is important to you and why you will be willing to make the sacrifices needed for its accomplishment.
2. Specific and have a Due Date
This is the main difference between your dreams and wishes, and your goals. To transform something from a wish to a goal you need to become specific about what you are setting out to accomplish, and make the commitment to complete your task by a certain date. There is a big difference between wishing that you were debt free, and setting the goal to have zero credit card debt by November 1st. For a goal to be specific, it must have a quantifiable number attached to it. A wish is to loose weight; a goal is to loose 15 pounds by May 1st. A wish is to increase your sales; a goal is to increase your sales by 17%. A wish to stop smoking; a goal is to smoke ZERO cigarettes after January 30th.
3. Right Size for You
Your goals need to be large enough to cause you to stretch, while being small enough that you really believe in your head and heart that you can accomplish it. When asked, most people describe their goals as needing to be attainable. While that is partially true, if a person simply sets out to achieve ‘attainable’ goals they are likely to achieve far less than they are capable.
4. Written Down
By writing down your goals, you are accomplishing three important things at once. You are taking the first step in creating a physical manifestation of an intangible thought. By simply grabbing out a piece of paper and writing down your goals you are taking them from a thought to a physical form. Secondly, you are putting a specific, non negotiable number down that you are no longer able to change as your situation changes. If your goals are not written down you have much more emotional flexibility to change them when you find yourself falling short of your original target. Lastly, this is a crucial exercise in holding you accountable. When your goal is written down it becomes more real to you, and you will hold yourself much more responsible to seeing its accomplishment.
5. Posted for Review
I have been told that character is following through on a commitment long after the enthusiasm of the moment has passed. All too often people sacrifice what they want most for what they want now. When your goals are posted for review you are confronted with the commitment you made several times throughout the day. This is a very powerful way for your goals to become committed to memory as well as a visual tool to help keep you on track when you are being tempted to give into your wishes of the moment.
Take a couple of moments today and review your commitment for the following year. If you’ve forgotten about your new years resolutions already, it’s not too late. Get recommitted to them today!
Be FREE!
About the AuthorEric is president of Freedom Speakers & Trainers, www.deliverfreedom.com & an instructor & personal coach on memory, goals, attitude, time management & communication. He is a national know memory trainer that has worked with thousands of companies to enhance their memory. He is co-author of Winning The Name Game, an at home study course that teaches individuals how to remember the names of everyone they meet. www.winningthenamegame.com
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