Word-Of-the-Week #651: Goal

January 26, 2017 by · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #651: Goal 

Goal – what one intends to accomplish.

Have you even thought about what you’d like to accomplish this year? How successful have you been with accomplishing your goals in the past? Have you ever wasted time with urgent matters that were not really important in the long run?

READY, SET, GOAL! Banish common habits that can destroy your plans for this year” is another great New Year article. Gordon Tredgold says, “As a business coach, I find that the start of the year is always a great time because clients are full of optimism and ready to set bold new goals or create inspiring visions for their futures.

And while I love to help them set these goals, it’s worth noting that just 8 percent of people achieve their New Year’s goals, according to University of Scranton research. That is deflating.

The majority of people fail for the same reasons, and they repeat these mistakes year after year.

Here are three things that you need to give up if you want to make this year different and be one of the few who achieve their goals.

  • Making excuses

There might be reasons why you are not doing as well as you should, but there are definitely no excuses. When we start to make excuses, then we are giving ourselves outs, options to quit or are telling ourselves stories that make failure seem acceptable. Do not accept any excuses.

“If you really want to do it, you do it. There are no excuses.” — Bruce Nauman

  • Waiting for someone else to help

If you wait for someone to pop up and help you achieve your goals, then you have already decided to quit.

No one is going to have as much passion or desire to achieve your goals than you do. Someone might become inspired and help you over the finishing line, but it’s at the start that you need to have the self-motivation to get up and get the ball rolling.

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”— Abraham Lincoln

  • Embracing things that are urgent but not important

We live in a world where we are inundated with status updates, phone calls, offers and opportunities — many of which seem urgent and that need to be dealt with right now. But every minute you focus on things that seem urgent and don’t help you achieve your goals is potentially a minute wasted.

We need to differentiate between being busy and being productive.

“Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.” — Socrates

This week’s focus is on goals. What do you intend to accomplish this year? What are the steps needed to achieve that? Do you have the self-motivation to get up and get the ball rolling?

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Word Of the Week #23: Goal

April 20, 2009 by · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #23: Goal 

Goal:  the end toward which effort and ambition is directed.

Our last WOW was commitment. Did you identify any strong desires that you wanted to accomplish? Did you establish strong desires in order to continue to accomplish long term goals?

Mary & Laurent at Finish

Mary & Laurent at Finish

First, you have to identify what your goal is. Secondly, is it achievable? Goals are most effective when they are specific, time sensitive, and written in first person, present tense.

For example, my niece Mary decided that she wanted to run in the Suzuki Rock and Roll Marathon. Since she had never run more than 4 miles, yet committing to run 26.2 miles at one time, took determination and dedication.

Her goal read, “I, Mary Hayward, run in the Suzuki Rock and Roll Marathon and finish within five hours. I am sponsoring Kyle Bloksam and I raise $3000.00 in donations for Leukemia research.”

I have the utmost respect for people who get “out of their comfort zone” and stretch their limits. As it turned out, Mary ran the marathon in 4 hours and 56 minutes. She raised more than $4000.00. (the minimum requirement is $1600.00)

She reached a goal in which she believed was realistic and surpassed it. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Some people might say she didn’t aim high enough to start with. Others might question if she will be able to do as well the next time.

You will always reach your goals when you have the passion and commitment coupled with realistic expectations. Mary knew that she would have to train, and train, and train! She made the commitment to set aside the time (4 months to be exact) and to buy several pairs of running shoes!

Commitment is focusing on a particular goal and doing whatever it takes to reach it! What are you willing to do to get what you want?

Reader Responses

“One of the big goals that I had set for the 1st quarter of this year was to achieve certification as a Master Virtual Assistant. And yee haa . . . I did it! Now, my commitment (WOW Word #22) is to meet my next “big” goal (Wow Word #23) of growing my business and bringing in enough income that I can tell my husband to quit his job so that he can go back to school or do whatever it is that he wants to do. I know it’s a big goal, and it will take commitment and drive, but I know it’s attainable. I hope to achieve this goal by the end of the year or sooner.” — Terry L. Green