Mindset

Goal Setting Is Not Dead…Just Boring

January 11, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

iStock 000015158998XSmall Goal Setting Is Not Dead...Just Boring Goal setting always gets to be pretty popular this time of year. You hear a lot of techniques about how to do it and one of the most common ways is the SMART technique. I’m not writing about that here, because it’s so overused now, I don’t think you’ll care.

No matter what you use, the new year always kicks us off with a great start, right? But then somehow you lose interest.

There is this cycle that we seem to get into and it goes a little something like this:

Day 1: Whoo hoo, yeah, I’m on it this time. I’m going to [your goal here] –>
Day 3: This is great. I can’t believe how this is changing [enter positive results] for me! I will definitely keep this up. — >
Day 5: You know what, I’m just going to take a little bitty break…I’ll come back to it, I promise! — >
Day 10: What was that thing I was trying to do again?
Day 20: Start over again or drop it completely..

Part of the reason this happens is that we haven’t really developed for ourselves a tangible, exciting “why” and “what”. What I mean by this is the vision of what we want to get to and why we’re doing it was never really that clear and constant.

You see, when you are setting a goal, it’s important to identify the most clear picture possible of what you want. And doing this early in the process is one of the best ways to I learned this training in NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) when I studied with a celebrated master pracititioner, Susan Stageman, for over a year.

Yes, it took me that long to really get it and start applying the techniques . I can be kind of hard-headed, as my mom used to say. There were so many good ones, but the one that has stuck with me forever is called creating a “well-formed outcome” (WFO).

This is a very powerful way to set long-term and short-term goals so that they STICK…and really, that’s what we set them for in the first place.

So I’m going to share with you my criteria for remembering the WFO in 5 simple steps. Maybe this will keep your goal setting from being so boring. . I call it the PLEAS approach (as in, can I have another goal, “pleas”):

Positive

State the goal in positive terms. Describe the present situation and compare it with the desired future goal. Make sure you can see yourself having obtained the goal.

Level

Line up the goal with your values and beliefs. For me this means lining up what I’ve asked for, or stated, to be sure it is in the will of what God has for my life. I pray and ask for spiritual guidance around the goal. You may line it up however you see fit. It’s important that your goals are a good fit with what’s important to you.

Evident

Describe the goal using “sensory” terms. What will let you know that you have attained that desired state? This is a critical piece – think in terms of what you will hear, see, and feel when you have success.

Appropriate

Consider if the goal is right for you in all areas of your life. Is there something that may hold you back? Is this goal right for you right now, in this place where you are?

Self-initiated & Maintained

Self-initiated and maintained. Your goal must be something that you can initiate and maintain. It must not be something dependent on other people. Make sure that your goal reflects things that you can directly affect.

If your goal, or outcome is set each time with these criteria in mind, you will have crystal-clear vision that you can hang on to and it will get you past those tough times when you’re ready to let go. OR it will bring you back to what you wanted in the first place…SUCCESS!

Share one of your clear outcomes in the comments below.

Vision Board for 2011

December 19, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Every year, my kids and I create a vision board to capture goal highlights for the year using posters, magazine clippings, crayons, glitter, glue sticks — you name it, it’s on the floor on 12/31. We have the music going, candles lit, and complete focus on what we’re doing. Here is our process laid out in 5 steps for you.

I hope you then enjoy the short video version of my board that was designed using Animoto.com. Head over to Life Vision Boards and get another take on the “how to”. They use Animoto as well and you certainly can too – it’s a free tool for creating video using images and music. Use theirs or add your own.

5 Steps To Creating Your Vision Board

Get yourself to a quiet place
Imagine that it is now the end of 2011 and you are reflecting back on your accomplishments for the year
Write down a list — brainstorm freely at first
Now highlight the top 3-5 things you really want to focus on for the year
Cut, draw, and paste images that represent your goals onto a poster board (you can even make a miniature version on an index card to carry with you)

That’s it! Now set a date to get the board finished.

Personal Branding Statement – Your Preparation

November 22, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Your personal branding statement can be a powerful tool for clarity. It creates a central place from which you can decide how to communicate who you are, what you do, and how you do it.

There are five key areas I focus on with my clients in crafting the personal branding statement, or PBS. We call them “the 5 P’s”. This post will cover preparation – focusing on the life experiences you have had that contributed significantly to the person you have become.

The story of Susan G. Komen became preparation for her sister, Nancy Brinkman. When Komen was diagnosed and at 33 with breast cancer, she died 3 years later. Brinkman founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Komen’s memory in 1982, believing that more attention needed to be placed on educating people about breast cancer and its treatment. The experience of going through the loss of her sister became a defining moment for Brinkman.

This may be more of an extreme situation than your own, or maybe not, but I encourage you to consider what has impacted your life to bring you to the place of defining your service. Remember that your work is a calling and your experiences have played a part in preparing your identity, thus your personal brand.

A few exercises will help you engage yourself in the process of examining your preparation:

Think of a difficult, or challenging experience that you have gone through in the last several years – one that you are consciously aware has prepared you for your destiny.
List 3 character qualities you will need in your career/business that life has taught you along the way.
Identify 2-3 things that the answers tell you about your life purpose, and your personal brand.

The Forgotten Law – The Law of Fruit

November 15, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

Ever heard of the “law of fruit”? No? Well, it’s a special law that I have personally tested and found to be true. I’ve read many blog posts and commentary on how people have made up universal laws, but this one is a truth that can save you a lot of time and heartache in your career and business.

Simply put, the formula is

Faith (your level of belief/expectancy) + Food (influences) = Fruit (results).

If your current outcome is not what you want, determine where things are falling down on the left.

Are you well positioned to succeed, but somehow you lack the confidence that it can be done? That means your faith may need some work. Change your inner talk – the conversations you are having with yourself need to sound more like “I can do this”, “This is possible”. Create positive affirmations that you keep in front of you so that you counter negative comments. Work on what’s going on inside yourself to keep you from believing and expecting a great result.

Consider also what is externally influencing your thinking and your actions right now. If you are preparing for a major outcome but you are constantly allowing yourself to be bombarded with unproductive, negative influences. These influences may come in the form of the music you hear, the visuals you watch, the books you read. Try changing what you take in. Turn the television off and read an uplifting, powerful book. Drive without the radio, and intentionally control what you are hearing as much as possible.

When you want the “Fruit” to increase, manipulate your inner and outer environment to have a more likely outcome. What can you do to make changes towards the outcome you really want right now?

Wipeout in Real Life

November 13, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

wipeout l Wipeout in Real Life Have you ever seen the game show, Wipeout? Competitors go through a series of seemingly impossible games and most of the time they fall flat on their faces or other body parts. The most obvious challenge is getting across this set of gigantic red balls that seem to block the contestants in almost every game, just in a different fashion.

Winning requires a lot of energy from the contestants, along with perseverance, a sense of humor, and determination. It also means they have to position themselves just right in every contest.

When you think about it, it’s a lot like your personal branding or marketing strategy. You are no longer competing with a small group of people locally. Your job is to be more visible on a global scale, and this may seem quite impossible at times. Sometimes you will fall on your face, and other times you will meet the goal. Remember it takes persistence, perseverance, and a sense of humor to keep at it. Watch others who are successful, use an approach that fits you, and position yourself for success.

Filed Under: Personal Growth & Development Tagged With: Goal Setting, Mindset, Personal Branding for Business