Goals are the cornerstone of personal development. But they don’t always work. How many times have you made list of goals, and not accomplished them?
This episode of Distinctions For Life gives you two keys to making your goal setting profitable and effective.
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I’d like to add what Deming said about goals. His response was, “by what means?” In a business environment, you often hear a company say, “we will increase sales by 30% this year.” By what means? Apple is a *good* example. They may have goals to increase iPod sales, and they have the means to do so, via coming out with new models with compelling new features and price points. OTOH, some companies set goals they expect to achieve by working harder. As Deming also said, “Beat your horses and they will run faster… for a while.”
That’s why so many give up on their “New Years Resolutions.” It’s not because they weren’t specific, but to say, “I’m going to lose XX lbs this year” without a reasonable means to do so ends up being disappointing.
So, you need the core desire to do so, but I think you also need to know how you’re going to do it.
“By what means” is a good question to ask. This video wasn’t comprehensive on goal setting.
I assume an ethical standard when setting goals. But I like the distinction you make because it also talks about consequences, something you need to think about when setting goals.
Goals must be followed by action steps. Which are a whole other subject.
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