Setting Goals

The common formula for success is: "Set a goal and a time-frame for achieving it." The goal is what you want to achieve and the time-frame is to help you stay focused on the goal. Perseverance brings success." In the above statement, the term "time-frame" has conditions. Three basic elements must be under full control - skills, resources and support. A completion date cannot be established with weak or missing elements. Elements Skills - knowledge, experience, natural talent Resources - ownership, resources, money Support - people, organizations Skills - Super achievers have ambitions and goals that are in harmony with their natural talents. Someone who has natural a talent for composing music will have a low efficiency rating developing mechanical designs. Someone who has natural talent for mechanical designs will have a low efficiency rating for composing music. (There are exceptions, but they are rare.) It is important to discover your natural talent and set goals that are in harmony with it. This discovery may be difficult, but it is generally related to personal interest or what motivates you. Resources - Money is a very important resource that must be managed wisely. You cannot control resources if creditors are in control. Super achievers have learned to live within their means. Support - Socializing with people who have similar interest. Examples Contractors, that bid on jobs, must have required skills, resources and support in place. The cannot hope they are doing it right and they cannot hope they have the required resources. Success depends on accurate estimate's of cost and job time. Businesses that succeed have all elements in place. Many new entrepreneurs fail because they lack one or more of the elements. Lack of knowledge and experience is the primary reason for failure. But, failure is a learning tool, persistence will acquire all the elements for success. Education organizations apply all the elements needed for student success. There is a goal and a time-frame to reach that goal. All a student has to do is accept the terms. Most major goals require mini goals. Acquiring skills can be considered a mini goal. The same can be said for resources. When a new entrepreneur finally puts it all together and succeeds, he is elated and starts setting bigger goals. At this time, the process starts all over again. With experience on what it takes to get it right, setbacks are not as severe. There is a saying, " We become what we think about all day." If we are focused on our goal, we will achieve it. If we spend all day thinking about our debts - debts is all we will ever have. In this case, creditors are controlling our lives. The only way to stop thinking about debts is to get them under control, then you can focus on your goals. A person does not know what they are capable of until they try. Trying and failing is better than not trying at all. Remember - Money, power and influence are not goals - they are rewards ONLY for personal achievement. Pitfalls for the inexperienced - When an inexperienced person observers a professional achieving results, they think, "I can do that, look how easy it is." Should they try to do the same thing, they soon discover that success is the result of hard work and persistence. This is why people fall for get-rich-quick offers. It is presented in a way that looks simple and easy, only to discover it does not work that way when the money is gone and little to show for it. To do - Set a goal and strive to achieve that goal no matter how long it takes. With similar goals in the future, you can set a time-frame for achieving them.