This is the last post in this four part series on focus.
If you read first three you are a wild BEAST!
Can I share something that scares me?
One of my biggest fears in my life is to work somewhere I hate when I’m elderly. I have a specific job in mind, but I won’t say what it is out of respect for people doing that work now.
Let’s just say I don’t want to be in that situation. And I’m sure the majority of the people in that job don’t want to be there either. Do you think an 80-year-old person who should enjoying his retirement wants to have crappy job? No freaking way!
These people don’t want to be there, so how does this happen? Maybe it’s because of difficult circumstances–health problems, divorces, or unexpected financial emergencies.
Stuff happens; I’m not judging anyone. Having said that, there are times we end up in unwanted situations because of our own doing.
For example…
When I was a young punk, I expected to rich in my 30’s. I thought I’d be “ball’n” by now (37).
NEWS FLASH: It didn’t happen.
And I’m still paying student-freaking loans to Sallie Mae. Argh! My fairytale unicorn dreams didn’t come true. But I don’t blame anyone. I accept total responsibility.
The reason I didn’t accomplish this goal is because of a few factors:
- I didn’t have a real plan (or any plan at all). All I had was a general idea (real estate investing).
- I tried to do it all by myself.
- I didn’t review my plan on a periodic basis to see which milestones I reached.
- I wasn’t committed (HUNGRY) enough to put in the time and effort (GRIND) needed to execute a plan.
In other words, I wasn’t serious about my goal. And now I realize that —No one plans to fail, but when we fail to plan, we prepare to lose.
I heard someone say once,
“A dream without a plan is a WISH.”
It’s true, right? I wishing on unicorns.
So how do go from wishing to planning and executing? My fellow beasts, I’ve narrowed it down to D.P.E.
- Dream
- Plan
- Execute
And to do this, GOAL SETTING is necessary for the Planning portion.
Everyone knows about goal setting. It’s so simple it’s boring. But boring works!
How many people do you know that actually set goals and go after them like a beast? According to my super extensive academic research—-almost no one.:) And I’m not talking about New Year’s resolutions, either. That’s a complete waste of time.
I’m talking about real long-term goals.
Nothing worthwhile in life comes easily. We all know that by now. But one of the craziest things about life is that even when we want something really bad- without a plan and a commitment to achieve it, it is still difficult to achieve it.
Now can you imagine doing it without a plan? You don’t have a chance. By the way, winning the lottery is not a plan. When you find something you want, you have to go after it like your life depends on it, because it does!
Goal setting gives you a plan and a target to focus on. Without something to focus on, how do you know if you are heading in the right direction?
Back to my fear of that job I hate…
In order to avoid that situation I have to do everything in my power not only to plan for something better, but I have to execute (HUSTLE). We need a new mentality:
- Failure-is-not-an-option
- Whatever-it-takes
- No Excuses
You are either taking advantage of life or life is taking advantage of you. You’re either planning to win or planning to lose. There’s no gray area.
Where are you right now?
I regret starting so late with this personal development stuff. But now that I started I can’t use any excuses. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. There are tons of ways of setting goals. Find a few different styles, test one, and tailor it. Don’t mess around with this stuff. Your life is too important.
NEED HELP?
By the way, for the past two years I’ve been using Michael Hyatt’s Best Year Ever goal setting program. It’s been awesome. And because of those goals I created in 2014, I started this blog. Ziglar’s goals program seems pretty good as well, but I’ve never tried it so I can’t give it my formal recommendation.
Remember : DREAM. PLAN. EXECUTE.