Goal Setting As Inspiration

If you're like me, you, too, may have an aversion to advice about goal setting.

That may sound surprising, but it's true. Any article about goal setting gets scanned at best.

If I'm at a conference or seminar someone cheerfully trots out the SMART acronym, I get fidgety at first, and then after 30 seconds I want to snap my pencil into many pieces in frustration rather than dutifully record specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-based goals.

Yet, like you, I love to set and achieve goals. I'm passionate about my goals in all areas of my life. I think about my goals, talk about my goals, record progress towards my goals, get coaching to reach my goals faster and more easily, and study how others attained their goals.

Hearing someone talk about goals in simple terms was (and in some cases continues to be) like hearing fingernails scraping against a chalkboard.

This used to perplex me until several years ago my coach helped me see the distinction. For me, the goal paradox unlocked once I understood two parts. First, it was advice about goals that made my skin crawl. Second, it wasn't just any advice - it was feeble advice in a poor environment from a less-than-credible speaker that really set me off.

Here are five keys that you've got to follow to help set your goals:

<ul>1. Set aside time.</ul>

<ul>2. Create the right environment.</ul>

<ul>3. Give yourself permission to write down everything.</ul>

<ul>4. Set goals that are meaningful to you and where you want to go.</ul>

<ul>5. Share your goals with others to create accountability.</ul>

The bottom line for me is that I want to learn about goals from people who set and achieve big goals. Why? Because that inspires me. It helps me connect with my passion.

Andrew Carnegie shared an interesting insight on this topic when he wrote, <i>"The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get."</i>

Plan big and play big in the year ahead. We'll all benefit - if not directly from your contributions, than surely from your example!

Bill Ringle works with business leaders from high tech and professional service entrepreneurs in the Greater Philadelphia region and shares the strategies and tools for accelerating growth through my Business Gym with business leaders from across the United States and in 15 different countries.
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