Archive for the 'Goal Setting' Category

Procrastination is one of those insidious forces that keep us from doing important tasks and accomplishing our goals. It comes in many forms, from the seductive TV show that draws you in, to the suspense caption on your web browser about the latest Hollywood gossip, or even the benign water cooler calling you to get up for another drink.

In our busy lives distractions come at all angles… phone calls, e-mails, drop in guests… If we want to get something done we need a way to stay focused on the important things throughout the day. We need some simple tools that can help us stay on track and are easy enough to use that we don’t have to think about them.

I’ve been experimenting with three tools that I think you might find useful. Each one of these is simple to setup and keep updated. The price is right too… You can try each one for free.

The first is a web site called Joe’s Goals. Joe has created a simple web based tool to put your daily goals on your browser screen where you can access them from almost any computer or browser enabled cell phone. The interface is clean and is setup in weekly calendar format. You just setup the categories on the left side of the calendar and track them in the calendar cells to the right.

When you have accomplished the goal for the day, you just click on the calendar cell and a green check mark appears giving you confirmation that the task is done. It’s simple and effective. You can also setup negative goals that you don’t want to do as in the eat out example in the picture above. If you do the negative action, a red check mark appears.

I like Joe’s Goals since I can pull it up at work or home and even on my smart phone. The basic ad-enabled site is free and it is simple enough to be effective. The web site even has a get inspired section to see how others are using it and a cool logbook section to journal your activities.

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The second tool is the Smart To-Do List by Scott Karstetter. This useful piece of software is based on David Allen’s Getting Things Done philosophy of next actions. You just install the software on your Windows PC and open the simple interface. You enter your projects one by one and then fill out a to-do list for each one.

If you are a GTD aficionado you can also tag each item with an @-Tag. For example, you can use the “@ computer” tag to mark items that you would do using a computer and a “@ phone” tag to do items that would require a telephone.

The interface is no frills but that is really its power. The software is very simple to use and can be left running on your machine throughout the day. When you have accomplished a to-do item, you just click the little X next to it and the step disappears.

You can filter by tag so you can see all the tags for a given item on one screen. For example, you can filter by “@ phone” to see all the phone calls you need to make. This one feature makes this a very useful tool. You can download a test version that is limited to two projects for free or pick up the full version for a reasonable $14.95.

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The last item on the list is our own “Walleteer” cards that help you take your to-do list or next actions with you wherever you go. This set of cards is printed out on Avery business card stock and can be displayed on your desk using a simple pencil and clip viewing station.

This set of cards has 9 different cards for common uses. Just print up a few sets and keep them by your desk. Use a Sharpie marker to fill out your daily goals and put the cards on your desk where you can see them. It’s a simple but effective system to help you overcome procrastination and truly get things done.

Using any one of these systems along with a 48 Minute Focused Work Philosophy will help you overcome even the toughest procrastination. If you find yourself struggling to get things done, why not try one of these tools today… come on now… don’t put it off…

Does the price of an item change your perceived value of it? If you price an aspirin at 50 cents will it relieve your headache better than an aspirin priced at a penny? Dan Ariely has quite a bit of research on the subject in his new book, Predictably Irrational.

In the book, Dan explores our perception of an item or service in relationship to its price. And what he found has important implications in our quest for personal development.

Dan and his team created a fictional drug called Veladone-Rx and created marketing materials stating its wonderful pain killing effects. In the test, patients were brought into a room decorated as a high-end doctors office and handed a brochure for Veladone-Rx by a professional looking woman dressed in a business suit.

The full color pamphlet with an impressive logo touts that “Clinical studies show that over 92 percent of patients receiving Veladone in double-blind controlled studies reported significant pain relief within only ten minutes, and that pain relief lasted for up to 10 hours.” The price of one pill is $2.50.

Patients were then taken to a lab room and hooked up to a machine that gave them varying intensity electrical shocks. The participants were asked to record their pain on a computer in front of them after each shock. The  range on the selection line was from “no pain at all” to the “worst pain imaginable.”

After a few minutes this first test is done. Participants are then offered a Veladone capsule and told that the pill will reach its maximum effect after 15 minutes. The test is then run again and almost all of the patients reported significantly less pain.

The results were amazing considering the Veladone pill was actually a standard capsule of Vitamin-C. The placebo effect was very great!

But what would happen if the price of the pill on the brochure was discounted from $2.50 to just 10 cents? The test was repeated on another group of volunteers, but this time the $2.50 price on the brochure was scratched out and replaced with a discount price of only 10 cents.

This time the results were considerably different. In the first test at $2.50, almost all of the participants reported pain relief. When the price was reduced to 10 cents, only half of them did. The effect was more pronounced on patients that regularly experienced pain in their lives.

The bottom line: You get what you pay for. Price can change your experience.

So how would price effect a personal development course?

Consider the following fictional courses.

The first course is a deluxe goal setting course with CD, helpful booklet, and step by step instructions. The benefits are listed in the ad along with a full color cover, motivational picture, and strong brand logo. The price is set at $79.00.

The second is a generic low cost toolkit. It too contains a CD, helpful booklet and step by step instructions. An outline of the contents are listed on the ad, but the whole package has a low cost look and feel to it. There are no implied benefits listed, but the price is a very reasonable $7.95

Looking at the ads, which package would you choose?

1. Do you think you could successfully set meaningful goals with the low cost package?
2. Do you think that the more expensive package would make you more successful?
3. What if you were told that the material was the same, but the deluxe package had pictures, illustrations and video clips compared to the text based generic package. Would you still make the same decision?

Does the price make a difference? 

Let me know what you think in the comments section.

And be sure to download our free goal setting toolkit!

Does free mean less value? Something to think about…

Here is a simple exercise.

Take a piece of paper and write down the following phrase…

“What Great Thing Would I do If I Knew I Could Not Fail?”

Underneath the phrase write down five to ten things that would fit the description.

Look at the items and imagine in your mind that you could accomplish them in the next 24 hours.

What one thing sticks out on the list that would have the most impact?

Circle this one thing.

Here is the start of a long term goal.

It is written down. Now ask yourself one question.

Are you are willing to take the first step to accomplish it?

If you are… why not take the first step?

Today…

It’s the end of January and the phrase “New Year’s Resolution” is fading quickly from our consciousness. Most of our resolutions, if we made any, are probably failed memories. What we really need now is a simple way to set some goals for the year and to find a way to accomplish them.

We have covered goals quite extensively on this site, but today I want to offer up a simple goal setting solution. This is so easy you can do it in a few minutes, but it may have a profound effect on your life. It was devised by one of the leading motivational speakers of our time, Brian Tracy.

Brian talked about this simple technique in his book, Success Secrets of Self Made Millionaires. This is a profound little book based on Tracy’s research into the lives of Millionaires and what helped them get there.

Brian says that one of the most important things that was apparent in everyone that he studied was goal setting. He devised a simple four step process that anyone can take to get started on this path to success. Here are the instructions…

1. Take out a sheet of paper and write down ten goals you would like to accomplish in the next 12 months. Things you want to have, do, or become.
2. Look at all ten goals and ask yourself this question. If you could only accomplish one goal on this list, but you could accomplish it in 24 hours, which one would would have the greatest impact on your life? Brian says in most cases it will jump out at you. Write the goal down in bold writing and set a completion date.
3. Turn the paper over and write down twenty action steps to accomplish this goal. This step will be easy at first but will become harder as you progress down the list. Don’t stop until you have filled in all twenty.
4. Each day take at least one action step to accomplish your goal

This is about as simple as it gets but Brian has had amazing feedback from people who have tried this simple technique. With this simple four step process, participants have gone on to create spectacular businesses, amassed fortunes, and have gone on to change the lives of others.

Why not try it for yourself today?

To make this even easier for you, I’ve created a two sided MS Word document called the Top Goal Worksheet that has ten boxes on the front and twenty on the back. Just download the file, unzip it, and open both sheets in Microsoft Word. You can add text to the document in Word or print it plain to fill in with a pen or pencil. When you are ready, print it front and back on both sides of a sheet of letter sized paper.

To fill it out, just follow the four steps above. 

Brian notes there is a risk in not taking these steps. If you don’t set goals you may end up on Someday Isle… someday I’ll do this or someday I’ll do that. Don’t let this happen to you.

Once you have your goals set, you may want to download our Goal Setting Toolkit, to carry your goals with you wherever you go.

It’s Monday morning.

Time to face a new week.

There will be problems and there will be opportunities.

New faces will appear.

Old friends will call and e-mail.

There will be things to buy and money to be spent.

It’s nice to make a list at the beginning of the week.

Of places to go, people to see, problems to solve, opportunities to discover.

Maybe I can put three things on that list that might make a difference…

I will write down… I will talk to someone new today and put a blank next to it.

I will write down a problem that I’m facing and put an action step next to it.

I will write down an opportunity and put down a first step to accomplish it.

Three simple things in a simple list…. hmmm maybe four.

I’ll write down a name of someone to call and encourage today.

Make a list, check it twice, call someone up and say something nice….

As 2007 draws to a close I wanted to share with you some ideas for the coming year. This is always a good time to reflect on the past and look forward to tomorrow.

For me 2007 was a watershed year. It was a time of preparation for the future along with a time of learning and testing. This was also the busiest year that I had in some time. My regular job would regularly run 60-70 hours per week over the past few months which causes all sorts of things to get out of whack.

I’ve learned…

How valuable time is and how easy it is to squander it away.

How stress can effect so many things in our lives.

Just because something is urgent doesn’t mean it is important.

This year has also had its exciting moments, with a trip with my wife to Alaska and seeing the amazing glaciers and wonderful small towns. Some other highlights were spending time with my daughter and her husband in Seattle, taking our annual trip to the wine country of Santa Barbara, and listening to some amazing audio books.

One of the greatest things I’ve learned this year is the importance of doing things that you are passionate about. A few weeks ago I published a 20 question Top-5 goal list. After spending about a half hour going through it and looking at my results I found that the answers really surprised me.

Almost all the answers relate to communicating and relating with other people. Learning new things, teaching others, and creating new products and services. I took an online test earlier this year from the Gallup Organization which revealed my top five strengths. They are…

1. Ideation
2. Positivity
3. Futuristic
4. Learner
5. Individualization

These strengths need to be a part of what I do for a living. Currently I have a regular job that is almost 180 degrees out from this. So I’ve put together a list of goals that will help me move in that direction.

One of the best things I’ve found to move forward with a goal is to find someone who has done what you are attempting before and has been successful at it. A mentor if you will.

Three amazing people come to mind that have done just that. I want to learn from…

Brian Gardner: The creator of the amazing Revolution Wordpress Theme, began 2007 without a domain name, had never touched a piece of WordPress code, and knew nothing about blog design. As of this writing he is going to quit his day job and go full time into his own web design business. His story is very inspiring.

Yaro Starak: I have learned an amazing amount of things from Yaro. His blog optimization site, Entrepreneurs Journey, has helped thousands of people create better blogs. He is one of the most open bloggers about his life and his business. The story of his year end wrap-up for 2007 is sure to inspire you.

Rosa Say: Rosa has been an inspiration and a friend since my first week of blogging. She has be a coach and mentor to me and many popular bloggers over the past few years. She brings a positive motivational message to all that visit her blog and she has created a great collaboration of bloggers at Joyful, Jubilant Learning. Read about the amazing things this group has in store for 2008.

All three of these people have inspired me to do what is really important in 2008. To put aside things that are mediocre and follow a new path.

Fellow readers, thank you all for your feedback and inspiration this year. You have made writing this blog a real enjoyable activity. I look forward to some great things in the coming year.

Why not take a minute today and reflect on your past year. Click on some of the links above and be inspired. If you haven’t taken the Gallup Strengths Test, Pick up the book today and take it online. For added inspiration, take a half hour and explore some lifetime goals.

Then put it all together and set a course for 2008. Happy Trails!