A Written Goal Must Be Specific - By Warren Greshes

Most people have vague goals and therefore speak in vague terms. They say things like, “I want to make a lot of money.” “I’d like to live in a nicer house.” “I’d love to have a better job.” What does that mean?

For example, what’s a lot of money? Everybody’s a lot is different, and the best part is: it doesn’t matter what your “a lot” is, what matters is that you know what it is. Only if you know what your “a lot” is will you be able to formulate a plan to achieve it.

A number of years ago, I was conducting a seminar in New York City. I asked the audience to give me their definition of success. I received the usual vague responses: money, power, recognition, fame.

I asked the person who said, “money,” “Did you mean a lot of money?” He said, “Yes.”

I then said, “What’s a lot of money?” He said, “Whatever will make me comfortable.” I said, “What will make you comfortable?” He said, “Whatever will give me everything I want.” “What do you want,” I asked. He said, “A lot of money.”

We went around like this for awhile until I finally had enough and said, “Give me a number, what’s a lot!!” He said, “Eighty billion dollars!” Now I had to admit, that’s a lot.

But watch what happened next. I said, “OK, you’ve got it. I’m going to give you eighty billion dollars. What are you going to do with it?” (There’s no motivation to get it, if you don’t know what you’re going to do with it. Why do you think so many lottery winners go broke?). He said, “I’m going to spend it.” I said, “What are you going to spend it on?” He said, “I’m going to buy everything!” I said, “How do you do that? Will you just back up a truck to Macy’s and say, ‘give me everything?’”

He said, “No, I’m going to buy the United States.” I said, “STOP! Could you buy the United States for eighty billion dollars?” He said, “No.” “Well then,” I said, “is that a lot of money?” He said, “I guess not.”

You see, it’s only a lot if it’s going to get you what you want. But if you don’t know what you want, how do you know what you have to do in order to get it? And, if you don’t know what it is, how do you know you didn’t already have it, but because you couldn’t recognize it, you just let the opportunity pass you by.

When you have a clearly defined goal, sense of purpose and direction, it makes it much easier to take advantage of the opportunities that come up simply because you’ve already defined, on paper, the ones you want to pursue.

When writing down your goals, please be specific.
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Warren Greshes is a professional speaker, who has keynoted corporate and association meetings throughout the world for the last 20 years. In addition, he is the author of “The Best Damn Sales Book Ever: 16 Rock-Solid Rules to Achieving Sales Success,” and hosts his own talk show and podcast, “The Warren Greshes Show: Your Voice for Sales, Success and Small Business.” To learn more about Warren go to GreshesNetwork.com Warren can be contacted at: 1-800-858-1516 or by email at: warren@greshes.com.

Josh's Thoughts:

Being specific is a vital engredient when it comes to winning the goals game! Take a moment to think about your goals -- particularly areas where you would benefit from making them a little more specific. The time it will take you to do so is peanuts compared to the benefits you're sure to gain.

-- Yours in goal-setting, Josh Hinds
GoalsSuccess.com