Potential Obstacles to Reaching Your Goals By Susan B. Wilson

Suppose you know what you want and you are on the right track to accomplishing your goals. Without warning, you suddenly face an obstacle that blocks your progress. And then it is difficult to remain focused and energetic. If you do nothing about the obstacles that arise, they can sap your energy, your time, and your enthusiasm.

Consider the following list of obstacles that could block you from accomplishing your goals:

* I need to feel secure.

* I may fail.

* I doubt my skills.

* Changing the way I do things is not easy.

* I have too many things to do.

Each of these is a potential barrier you set up yourself to defeat your effort. But there are strategies for removing them, or at least for minimizing their impact. Let's consider our first obstacle.

I Need to Feel Secure - Many of us fear that, if we try something new, we may lose our sense of security. We enjoy the security of life as we know it. The irony is that this security can change at a moment's notice.

A major layoff at work, a storm that destroys your community, a personal tragedy, these events can put your security at risk and quickly alter your life. You don't have the power to control all the elements that can potentially affect you. So, a more dependable course of action is to build an internal security system within yourself. Instead of trying to grasp at an intangible security that could change momentarily, develop the coping skills that are so essential for life in a world of probable changes.

Effective coping skills usually include the ability to handle stressful events, the ability to take calculated risks, and the ability to manage problems that arise. An internal security system, built through effective coping skills, will help you make reasoned choices. You will find that the fear of giving up security will diminish as an obstacle to your success.
Action to Take on Perceived Risk

There are several ways to increase your level of comfort and manage the perceived risk associated with meeting one of your goals:

1. Specify the risk you associate with the particular goal under consideration. Identify how large that risk really is. If the potential impact is low, then rational thought suggests that the risk is minimal.

2. Determine the probability of that risk occurring. Is it very likely, somewhat likely, or not very likely to occur? Unless the probability of occurrence is fairly high, your energy and time are better spent addressing higher-risk issues.

3. Identify the benefits that accrue from taking the risk and succeeding. After you determine the probability and degree of the risk, you may decide that the anticipated benefits outweigh the potential disadvantages.

4. Once you identify the probability and impact of the risk, and the benefits from pursuing the goal, there may be added advantage of seeking input from a friend or advisor.

I May Fail - When is the last time you failed at something? Was it truly a failure or were you able to learn from the situation? No one enjoys the feeling of failure, but often we are overly critical and extra-hard on ourselves. And once we feel that we have failed, we replay the incident in our mind until we view ourselves as failures instead of having one failed goal. If you fail to reach a goal, view the situation objectively. Avoid harboring negative emotions and feelings. Instead, identify what went well and what could have been done better. Identify opportunities to apply what you learned.

In trying to avoid failure, you may miss the adventure of personal growth, the fun of meeting a new challenge, or the excitement of living for those things in which you believe. Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison are examples of men who took risks and "failed" many times to reach their goals.

They used their failures as learning experiences, and were not deterred from continuing to set goals. Instead, each man held to a belief in himself as he continued to pursue the goal in which he so strongly believed.

Think for a moment about an experience that you consider a failure. What feelings did you have about this experience? Did the experience offer opportunities for personal growth? What were they? Do you agree that you are better prepared for coping with the challenges of life for having had that experience?

Here are some ideas to help you reduce your fear of failure:

1. Confront your fear of failure. why do you feel this way? Is this particular fear justified? It it is, what can you do to eliminate your fear?

2. Look at your failure from a new perspective. Failing to reach a goal does not make you a failure. It only means that you did not reach that goal.

3. Working toward a goal includes taking specific steps. Although you may fail to reach the goal, there are benefits of having worked toward it. One benefit is the practical education of making the effort. Another one is the opportunity to practice specific skills. A third is the recognition that meeting some goals and failing to meet others is part of the ebb and flow of life.

4. Recognize that you probably will not achieve significant goals without some failures. Failing provides unique learning opportunities that ultimately contribute to your personal growth and to your organizational contribution.

I Doubt My Skills - Do you have a strong commitment to reaching your goals? If not, this lack of commitment may weaken your confidence in your own skills and abilities. You think to yourself, "I think I can do this, but I'm really not sure." Since the manner in which you mentally talk to yourself impacts your performance, it is important to focus on your strengths. Identify your abilities in a positive way. Focus on the thinks that you do well. Then decide which skills need work and identify strategies for improving these. Taking positive specific actions will help you develop confidence in your skills and abilities.

Here are some ideas to help you build confidence in your skills and abilities:

1. Think specifically and positively about your skills and abilities. Identify how they can contribute to each of your goals. Write these down.

2. Keeping your skills and abilities in mind, establish a realistic standard of achievement for your goal.

3. Establish a step-by-step plan for reaching your goals so that you can mark your progress.

4. When trying something new, think in terms of specific skills or behaviors that need changing. Avoid generalizations. Instead of "I'm terrible at running a meeting," try "I need to develop and use an agenda."

5. Avoid the exclusive use of others' opinions when evaluating your skills. Include your beliefs and your opinions as you make decisions about changes that need to be made.

6. For each criticism that you give yourself, also give yourself one or two specific compliments.

Changing the Way I Do Things is Not Easy - Do you enjoy change? If so, you probably are in the minority. Change is uncomfortable for most of us, even when it is for the better. Change means letting go of what is familiar. When we do that, we face the challenge of coping with new ideas and situations. But as much as you may resist change, it cannot be stopped. Your challenge is to accept that change is inevitable, so that your resources are used in concert with that change.

Working against change often can be stressful, while working with and through change is a source of energy and greater strength. When you strive toward new goals, often you must change in some way. If you view change as a catalyst for reaching those goals, you will be better able to accept change with a more grateful perspective.

Which of your most significant goals require you to change in some way? In what ways to you need or want to change?

Here are some ideas to help you face change:

1. - If change is a problem, admit it. Often, a first step to dealing with a problem is to admit it exists.

2. If possible, experience change gradually. Handling change all at once is tougher than easing into it. Many people find that they can even schedule the changes that they must accept.

3. Try seeking change as opposed to its seeking you. this will give you a sense of greater control over you future.

4. See yourself as someone who looks forward to change. Try new foods or new activities, and seek new acquaintances. Doing so establishes a pattern of willingness to experience the new.

I Have Too Many Things To Do - Frequently there are too many things to do. Fortunately, you have the ability to prioritize your goals and activities. Review your list of goals. Which are the most important to you? Which give you the greatest return on your investment? Which provide you with the greatest enjoyment or sense of accomplishment? Use your responses to prioritize the goals that are the most important to you. Then plan your yours, your days, and even your months to reach those goals.

In working on tasks, ignore the trivial and concentrate on the vital.

The following steps will help you put your goals in order of priority:

1. Identify criteria for prioritizing your goals. For example, which are the most important to you? Which have the greatest impact?

2. Use a high-medium-low scale to assess your goals, using your criteria.

3. Those goals with the highest rankings are your high-priority items.

Most of us realize that effective goal setting is a key to getting things accomplished. However, as we have reviewed in this chapter, there are potential obstacles that impede progress. Only when you understand the nature of the obstacles confronting you can you develop strategies to minimize these and achieve your goals.

** Excerpted from the book Goal Setting by Susan B. Wilson.
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BY Susan B. Wilson, MS, MBA, CSP
Facilitator, Author, Speaker, Trusted Coach
www.execstrategies.com and www.fastteamsolutions.com
(641) 791-7904

Faster, More Profitable and Greater Success With Accelerated Goal Achievement By Susan B. Wilson

Yes we know. It's a long title and we're making a big claim! However, we believe that you'll discover the truth of this claim as you give attention to four key strategies that optimize your successes. Most of us, no matter our role, could do at least a little better by focusing on one or two of these ideas.

1. Develop a comfort for delegating and/or asking for help to reach your goals - Do you ever stop to think about the dollars wasted when you don't delegate? Consider this. When we don't delegate what we can, important dollars are wasted in three ways.

One, people are being paid without doing the work that could be theirs to do. Two, you are being paid too much to do the work that you could be delegating. Three, when you are absorbed in accomplishing what someone else could do, you are not accomplishing what you are best suited to do. All of this gets expensive. Recently, a vice president in a college remarked, "Delegate, delegate, delegate.

It's a hard thing to do, but when you notice that the people who report to you aren't busy and you are swamped, you need to recognize that the problem is you."

Also, many want to help you when you take the initiative to ask for their assistance. Consider whose skills, knowledge, and talents can help you reach one or more of your goals. Be specific in your request and there is great probability that you will receive what you need. There is power in offering help. By asking others for their assistance, you are enabling them to leverage their gifts and skills.

2. Execute to accomplish your goals - Mark Krivoruchka, Senior Vice President for Human Resources at Maytag Corporation reflects, "People spend too much time on the planning of a project and not enough time on the execution of the project. You can never communicate enough about a project, its milestones, and the accountabilities and roles of team members. Communicate over and over again."

What truth. Just last week, I was consulting with a Human Resource association that wanted improved recruitment and retention of their members. As we worked through a rational process to identify high priority strategies for success in these areas, one of the members spoke up. "We've had some of these ideas before. We've even tried some of these ideas before. But we don't seem to follow through." Again, true words.

Although all of us know that planning includes who, what, when, where, how and why, plans consistently go awry. And consistently we discover that there was a lack of crystal clear goal definition, a fuzzy time line, and/or a lack of accountability in terms of who was going to do what by when. Execution. Hold yourself accountable to follow through. Hold others accountable to their part of the execution.

3. Minimize the interruptions that block your progress toward your goals - Many of claim that interruptions are the bane of our existence. They don't have to be. Most of us can do a better job controlling what interrupts us. When an interruption arises, evaluate it in terms of its importance to your goals. If it's an enabler to your progress, it may be a good interruption. If it's not, then it's a bad interruption. Consider these questions since none of us are immune to unwelcome interruptions.

* Do you control interruptions or do interruptions control you?

* Do you have the gift of handling interruptions swiftly and decisively?

* Specifically, what are time wasters for you?

* What specific actions will you take to decrease the number of interruptions to your day?

4. Review and report on the progress toward your goals - This need isn't just for you. It's also for those who work with and around and for you. Over and over again, employees report that they are not acknowledged, recognized or thanked for the jobs that they do. It's a good bet that some of those employees work with and/or for you on the goals that are under your area of responsibility.

Reviewing goal progress gives you valuable opportunities to affirm others' work as well as to assure that you are on track with execution. Your progress reviews can fan the flames of motivation in others as they hear encouraging and affirming words.

There you are, four key strategies that can make a difference to how quickly you achieve your goals. Steve Jobs has been quoted, "I want to put a ding in the universe." What ding do you want to make? Apply one or more of these ideas to achieve goals that make a difference.
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BY Susan B. Wilson, MS, MBA, CSP
Facilitator, Author, Speaker, Trusted Coach
www.execstrategies.com and www.fastteamsolutions.com
(641) 791-7904.

Choosing the Right Compass By Steve Goodier

"We pass this way but once," we have heard it said. But my wife has learned that, unless I've studied a map, that isn't necessarily true.

So I understand the fix a local hunting guide got himself into. His party became hopelessly lost in the mountains and they blamed him for leading them astray. "You told us you were the best guide in Colorado!" they asserted.

"I am," he said, "but I think we're in Wyoming now."

It's bad enough to get lost in the city or in the mountains. But how much worse to get lost in our life's journey.

One parent asked the clerk in a discount store if they carried any compasses. She answered, "We have compasses for making circles, but not for going places." Have you ever confused the two? Has it seemed as if your life is going in circles and not actually getting anywhere? Then it may be that you are lost or at least unsure what direction you should be heading.

Here are some questions to ask yourself if you feel as if you are going in circles:

* Where do I want to be a few years from now (in this relationship, this vocation, or any other way important to me)?

* What do I need to do to make it happen?

* Who will help me along the way?

* When do I want to arrive?

* How will I take the next small step?

Living well has little to do with comfort and speed, but much to do with direction.
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For more Life, Love and Laughter from Steve Goodier, visit LifeSupportSystem.com

Pathways and Pitfalls to Setting Organizational Goals and Priorities By Jim Clemmer

"Concentration -- that is, the courage to impose on time and events his own decision as to what really matters and comes first -- is the executive's only hope of becoming the master of time and events." - Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive

* Your management team must identify its three or four strategic imperatives for the next twelve months. A laundry list of urgent goals diffuses focus, spawns unproductive "busywork," and provides enough bureaucratic cover to justify any pet project or protect turf.

* Set specific improvement targets for each strategic imperative. The clearer the target, the surer the aim. "Improving customer satisfaction," "reengineering key processes," or "changing the culture" show up on every organization's wish list today. Setting concrete measurable goals for improvement turns the rhetoric into reality.

* Improvement goals should be absolute targets (for example, actual number of dissatisfied customers), never as percentages. Percentages allow you to turn problems into impersonal statistics.

They also release the constant improvement pressure since anything over 90 - 95% sounds pretty good ("after all, perfection is impossible"). Real numbers force you to think about the actual number of dissatisfied customers, defects, etc. and their costs to the organization.

* Each member of your team then sets three or four personal or team goals or objectives that flow directly out of your strategic imperatives for their area of responsibility. They also establish measurements for each of their goals or objectives along with the level of improvement they are shooting for in the next twelve months.

* Every member of you team now meets with individuals or teams reporting to them to repeat the process based on your team members' goals or objectives. This continues throughout the organization until everyone is included.

* This process can be driven in a traditional top-down way or be quite participative and interactive. In a top-down approach, each level of management essentially decides and commits to (with perhaps some discussion) what the targets will be for everyone they're leading.

A participative approach is much more difficult to manage and takes a few years to get it rolling smoothly.

Using this method, goals, objectives, measurements, and improvement goals are set by the teams that will make them happen. They do this in negotiation with the manager or director they report to. The manager or director than takes these commitments to peer meetings who pull everything together and coordinate whether the commitments and planned activities will be enough to help them reach their goals and objectives.

This "rolls up" the organization until everything is consolidated and reviewed by the senior team responsible for the original strategic imperatives. I prefer this much messier, clumsy, and participative process.

* A key part of this cascading goals and objectives process is the learning, coordination, and communication that happens in regular (often quarterly) reviews. Each team meets with the teams or individuals reporting to them. They review progress on the goals and objectives.

This should not become a "snoopervision" exercise. The purpose of the meetings is early, joint problem solving and learning. After the review with the people and teams reporting to them, each team and/or person then meets with the team they report to for a similar problem solving and learning session.

* Focus all organizational systems and key processes on your strategic imperatives. Training, measurements, information systems, improvement teams, human resource systems, and other resource-intensive activities must pass the value-add test; does this work help or hinder movement toward our strategic imperatives?

* Ensure that all your improvement and project teams' activities are ultimately linked to strategic imperatives. Intensify and concentrate your improvement process by connecting it to the important and urgent organization issues that are keeping you and your management teams awake at night. Far too many department and process improvement teams are wasting valuable time and resources making improvements that don't really matter. Concentrate precious resources on key leverage points.

* Push yourself and others to set breakthrough objectives and stretch goals. An increase of 10 or 20 percent doesn't excite imaginations. We can keep doing things the same old way.

Targets of ten times improvement force people to break out of their old patterns, habits, and ways of thinking. Big, stretch goals inflame creativity and innovation. Help people fulfill their deep craving to be on a winning team. Help them become "the best" at what ever you're aiming for.
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Jim Clemmer is a bestselling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop / retreat leader, and management team developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams, and personal growth. During the last 25 years he has delivered over two thousand customized keynote presentations, workshops, and retreats. Jim's five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader's Digest. His web site is www.clemmer.net.

The Law of Clarity By Brian Tracy

Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. That’s why we say that “Success is goals, and all else is commentary.” People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. This is true everywhere and under all circumstances.

The Three Keys to High Achievement ...
You could even say that the three keys to high achievement are, “Clarity, Clarity, Clarity,” with regard to your goals. Your success in life will be largely determined by how clear you are about what it is you really, really want.

Write and Rewrite Your Goals ...
The more you write and rewrite your goals and the more you think about them, the clearer you will become about them. The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to do more and more of the things that are consistent with achieving them. Meanwhile, you will do fewer and fewer of the things that don’t help to get the things you really want.

The Seven Step Process for Achieving Goals ...
Here, once more, is the simple, seven-step process that you can use to achieve your goals faster and easier than ever before.

* First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Be specific!

* Second, write it down, clearly and in detail;

* Third, set a specific deadline. If it is a large goal, break it down into sub-deadlines and write them down in order;

* Fourth, make a list of everything you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list;

* Fifth, organize the items on your list into a plan by placing them in the proper sequence and priority;

* Sixth, take action immediately on the most important thing you can do on your plan. This is very important!

* Seventh, do something every day that moves you toward the attainment of one or more of your important goals. Maintain the momentum!

Join the Top 3% ...
Fewer than three percent of adults have written goals and plans that they work on every single day. When you sit down and write out your goals, you move yourself into the top 3% of people in our society. And you will soon start to get the same results that they do.

Review Your Goals Daily ...
Study and review your goals every day to be sure they are still your most important goals. You will find yourself adding goals to your list as time passes. You will also find yourself deleting goals that are no longer as important as you once thought. Whatever your goals are, plan them out thoroughly, on paper, and work on them every single day. This is the key to peak performance and maximum achievement.

Action Exercises:
Here is how you can apply this law immediately:

First, make a list of ten goals that you would like to achieve in the coming year. Write them down in the present tense, as though a year has passed and you have already accomplished them.

Second, from your list of ten goals, ask yourself, “What one goal, if I were to accomplish it, would have the greatest positive impact on my life?” Whatever it is, put a circle around this goal and move it to a separate sheet of paper.

Third, practice the seven-step method described above on this goal. Set a deadline, make a plan, and put it into action and work on it every day. Make this goal your major definite purpose for the weeks and months ahead.

Get ready for some amazing changes in your life.
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Brian Tracy is one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Visit the Brian Tracy web site.