Morning Motivator – Thinking With Purpose/Setting SMART Goals

"To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment."
-James Allen

To be effective, one must be decisive in their actions. To be decisive, one must know the goals they wish to achieve. To know your goals, one must think with PURPOSE. What does that mean? It's simple. Answer this question – What is my top life priority to achieve in the next 12 months? To be a better mother/father? Become a better business person? Enhancing my understanding of my faith?

Once you define your purpose, you will need to be specific on WHAT about that purpose you want to achieve – THIS IS YOUR GOAL for 2008. Once determined, you are able to drill down to the daily ACTIONS required to achieve it – THESE ARE YOUR SUCCESS (action) STEPS. Next, you are able to determine a TIME frame – THIS IS YOUR ACCOUNTABILITY. Finally, you are able to define a REWARD for your successful accomplishment – THIS IS YOUR MOTIVATION. If you THINK WITH PURPOSE to define your goals and follow the below success step, you will be half way to your SUCCESSES today!

SUCCESS STEP:
A COMMON goal is: I want to get in shape. A SMART goal is best achieved when defined and made very specific with accountabilities in place. Follow the below S.M.A.R.T. strategy to make sure you are on point with your GOALS.

1. Specific – make sure your goal is defined in a specific manner (ex. I WILL run at Percy Warner Park)

2. Measurable – ensure accomplishment by defining a measurement (I will run 12 miles within 3 hours – 12 miles and 3 hours give 2. the goal structure)

3. Achievable – Make sure you are able to achieve the goal (if you know 12 miles will take 3 hours to run and you only have 2 hours to run – your goal may not be achievable and needs further evaluation)

4. Realistic – Ensure your goal is realistic (if you have not run in 8 months, running 12 miles your first time out may not be realistically achieved)

5. Time Bound – Set a time frame for SUCCESS and determine WHEN you will accomplish it by (ex. I WILL run 12 miles Tuesday afternoon from 5-8pm)

** Your NEW goal now looks like this – I WILL run 12 miles within 3 hours at Percy Warner Park on Tuesday from 5pm – 8pm. **

It will be very EASY to know if you accomplish this or not... welcome to accountability! Now DEFINE YOUR GOALS and take OWNERSHIP of the FUTURE you are entitled to!!

Cheers,
Zach

*Special thanks to Andy Bailey and Justin Morrison for instilling in my the mental focus of S.M.A.R.T. GOAL SETTING! This has POSITIVELY changed the way I look at every day. Thank you!