Lost? Don’t Know Where You’re Going? Start With A Goal.
When I was teaching at the University, many of my freshmen students were surprised at the low grades they were getting. Of course, some of them shouldn’t have been surprised. They were partying too much and studying too little. And their grades reflected that.
Other students tried really hard and they still got poor grades. Often they would come to my office and tell me how hard they tried to write a certain essay or how hard they tried to pass a certain test. And while I could praise them for their effort, I could not reward their poor performance with a higher grade. That’s not how life or business works.
It’s results that count. Good intentions are wonderful. Effort is helpful. But the most important factor in any personal or professional endeavor is the results you actually achieve.
And how do you increase the chances that you will get the results you want? Set a clear, meaningful, specific goal for every important task in your life … such as improving your marriage, building your team, selling more of your products, or getting a better grade in school. As soon as you write down your goal, your mind starts to work on achieving it.
So write it down using the 8 guidelines I teach in my “Journey to the Extraordinary” program. And then write down the steps you plan to take in order to reach that goal. If you do nothing else than those two steps … write down the goal and outline your action steps … you won’t be confused by all the different directions you could be going. You will achieve a great deal more.