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Ready! Set! Goals!
Karin Syren
If you have a great list of Goals to support your exciting
Vision, but you're just not sure what to do next, join us
for a lesson in goal architecture. Follow the system and your
goals will be on-target every time!
PURPOSE is what you're created for;
MISSION is what you're meant to do about it;
VISIONS are the evidence.
GOALS are the means of achievement.
You're probably well on your way to tapping into the artist
in you and you're creating amazing dream canvases and recording
them. You're making sure to nurture your vision and keep your
passion alive. And you're excited and anxious to get on with
it.
In a garden, where you might have a pond or a rose arbor in
a corner you would probably have a carefully laid stepping
stone path to guide you there. Goals are the carefully laid
stepping stones on which you will walk right into the reality
of your Vision. They are the difference between attaining
a brilliant vision and disappointment.
Our culture is extremely goal-oriented, particularly at the
beginning of each New Year (i.e. resolutions). Most of these
goals go unrealized, unachieved, for the simple reason that
frequently they just don't lead anywhere.
Though many are worthwhile, these goals amount to the same
thing as planning a lovely flagstone path, lined with flowers
- - guiding you nowhere. Goals must be part of an overall
plan, one piece in a process that begins with understanding
your Purpose, discerning your Mission and taking the time
to create vibrant Visions. Without these, your goals, regardless
of how carefully you lay them out, have no purpose, no direction.
If you've been following along with us in the process of bringing
your dreams into reality, you've arrived at the crossroad
separating the dreamer from the true visionary (see Become
A Visionary - Tapping Into the Artist in You, an earlier article
in this series). You have reached the point of designing On-Target
Goals and you may even have begun, finding it labor-intensive,
to say the least!
Be encouraged. As with all processes, if you stay with the
plan, remaining focused and taking it one step at a time,
it's completely manageable. How do you eat an elephant? Goals
are accomplished the same way - one bite at a time.
If you're a true visionary, and you've taken sufficient time
to paint a truly vibrant and brilliant Vision inside you,
and you continue to nurture the Vision (See Nurturing the
Vision from the last issue of The Commonsense Communique),
you will have stoked the fires of your passion and the confidence
it generates. The pressing need to see the dream realized
will keep you focused. During the process of designing and
implementing your goals, do not hesitate to take time to step
back into your Vision now and again and walk around in it
for awhile.
If you haven't yet identified the 7 steps, the tools to insure
that each dream manifests in a better reality, now is the
time. Goal design is the work of an architect and it's time
to sit down at the drawing board. It is bringing those Visions
which above and beyond the norm into the realm of reality,
utilizing the tools of the real world, and changing the real
world in the process.
Begin by listing the goals you believe will draw the vision
closer to reality. Depending on its scope, each Vision will
probably have no less than 6 goals, in order to see it realized.
Think in small, manageable increments.
You're far more likely to realize your plan with many bite-sized
goals than you will with fewer all-inclusive goals. For example,
if your goal is a completely reorganized closet, which plan
are you more likely to accomplish - without stalling?
Plan A
1. Remove and sort current closet contents, arranging for
disposal & pickup
2. Research and purchase closet organizer system
3. Choose paint color, purchase and paint closet
4. Replace closet contents
Plan B
1. Determine the purpose of your reorganized closet
2. Make several drawings of your desired end result and choose
one
3. Develop a budget
4. Remove closet contents
5. Sort contents into 3 groups, TOSS, SAVE & GIVEAWAY
6. Package and arrange for pickup of giveaway items
7. Make a list of organizer resources using Yellow Pages and
Internet
8. Request catalogs and begin to visit stores to price desired
units
9. Etc.
As you work through the design process, be open to reprioritizing
at every step. How might you rearrange Plan B to better suit
your own way of operating? Stay with the process and employ
an accountability partner to help keep you motivated, especially
if the scope of your Vision is somewhat daunting with numerous
goals that require entering new territory.
Bon voyage - the journey has begun!
Karin Syren, CTACC, is a Life and Leadership Coach
specializing in the EffectivenessCoaching™ process. She
helps leaders at all levels to increase their personal and
professional effectiveness by guiding them through the process
of learning to live more powerful and significant lives. If
you want to discover what makes you unique and how to form
your future around it, join Karin for Discovering Your Purpose
Program. Register at www.solushunz.com
Article Source: http://www.upublish.info
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