Good Morning 2015 !

As 2014 ends, most people will again write a list of wishes and resolutions for 2015. I have a simple question for you about your 2014 goals, “How many of those resolutions did you accomplish and how many did you not?” you could not?” I was reading an article written by Darren Hardy, and thought to share his goals for 2015.

Here’s WHY goal-setting is important for you to have the best ever 2015:
Years ago when I attended the funeral of Paul J. Meyer, I was reminded of how full, rich and diverse a life he led. He achieved, experienced, and contributed more than the lives of average 20 people combined. Reading his obituary made me reassess the speed, quantity and sheer size of the goals I want to set for myself.

If Paul were here, he would tell you the reason for the quality and quantity of his successes came down to one skill: setting, sticking to and staying committed to BIG goals. In fact he wrote one of the first programs on the topic called “The Dynamics of Personal Goal-Setting.” I will share a couple of ideas with you that have come from my studies and practices of this program.

The Two Common Traits of Super Achievers
I am often asked what common traits I observe as I interview and get to know many of today’s super achievers. The answer is easy because those common factors are shared by nearly 100 percent of top achievers. They are:

1) A relentless commitment to constant learning and;
2) Clear goals expressed in a beautifully crafted document detailing their plans to achieve them.

Business 101: Goal Setting

You’ve probably read about the Harvard study below, but it’s worth reviewing again as we dedicate some significant time and energy to our decision to get serious about designing the life we want to lead.

Mark McCormick in his book What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School tells of a Harvard study conducted between 1979 and 1989.

In 1979, graduates of the MBA program were asked to set clear written goals for their future and their plans to accomplish them. It turned out only 3 percent of the graduates had written goals, 13 percent had goals but they were not in writing and 84 percent had no specific goals at all–aside from getting out of school and enjoying the summer.

Ten years later, in 1989, the researchers again interviewed the members of that same graduating class. They found that the 13 percent who had goals that were not in writing were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent of students who had no goals at all. Most surprisingly, they found that the 3 percent of graduates who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, 10 times more than 97 percent of their graduating class. The only difference between the groups was the clarity of goals they had set (and spelled out) for themselves when they graduated.

Now if you knew that stretching several hours out over eight weeks to devote to strategic goal-setting could multiply the results in your life by 10—surpassing the accomplishments of your peers, competitors, family members and neighbors—and produce 10 times more than what you are likely to achieve without defining your goals on paper—would you do it? Would it be worth it?

Note: My next blog will be “Goals for Networkers”.