doug smith training

If working on your goal doesn't bring you joy, how will achieving it ever make you happy? The work may be tough but if the nature of the work allows you to feel happiness, joy, or pride, you'll more likely stick with it. If it disconnects you from your authentic self, wherever it leads is probably the wrong place for you. Choose goals that bring you joy, even when the work is hard. You've got to work hard anyway, right? -- doug smith  

Discipline gives us the power to do what we want to do -- and that comes from developing discipline by doing work we don't want to do... That might sound like a paradox but it's more like a matched pair. I'm not saying that we should do a lot of work that we don't like, but rather that sometimes within the work that we choose are tasks that we would not have chosen. Those necessary but unappealing tasks give us the opportunity to persist -- to stick to our goals because of and sometimes in spite of the details. Discipline. You can live without it, but you probably won't achieve your goals that way. -- doug smith

My late friend and fraternity brother, Jim Aker, a man of serious intellect and even more serious opinions, was an avid fisher. One time in Colorado, he was fishing with a mutual friend and confounded her with the concept of "catch and release." "If you catch it after all this work, shouldn't you keep it?" she asked. Jim just smiled. Nah, he probably had a lot to say about it. Achieving your goals is not fishing, and it certainly is not "catch and release" fishing but let's face it, sometimes you have to let go of a goal that's getting you nowhere. Pretending a goal matters is ending any chance that you'll achieve it. Make the goal important enough that you will apply the discipline you'll need to achieve it -- or let it go. -- doug smith  

If it feels like you need magic or miracles to achieve your goals, forget about magic and miracles and double down on work and discipline. If you're not there yet, keep going! -- doug smith  

Do you keep score on yourself?  When you set a goal, do you record your progress? How do you know when you're doing a great job? Track your results if you want to improve them. It works. -- doug smity  

  Do you have any promises with yourself? Maybe a promise about a goal?  Sometimes I have let go of a promise and then picked it up again much later. If it ever appealed to me, there's probably still some energy there. How about you? Keep the promises alive by making progress every day. I'm working on it. How about you? -- doug smith

An outlandish, moon-shot goal means the most when it leads to dozens of small achievable goals. -- doug smith  

  A proper goal prevents wasted time. We don't have time to pursue meaningless goals. What matters most needs most of our time. Take a look at your list of goals. Prioritize the top three. The rest will matter most when the top three are done. -- doug smith

Sometimes goals get too big to get done. They sound great, we care deeply about them, but then they just stand there staring at us as we stare back. They don't get done. If I want to get a big goal going, I need to break it down into smaller pieces, what Jack Canfield calls "bite-sized pieces." Write down all of the little tasks that it will take to achieve that big goal, and then tackle those little pieces one by one.  You may not finish the goal in one day and you probably don't need to. But by breaking it down into easier tasks you'll create momentum and put yourself on the path to achieving your goal. And isn't that exactly what you want? -- doug smith

It's easy to "major in the minors..." or focus so much on small details that we miss the big goal. I've done it. Chances are that you have, too. Events wash us forward and we get "lost in the trees." Here's what I tell myself when that starts to happen, "Don't let little goals get in the way of big goals." It's another note to self, but you're free to benefit from it, too... -- doug smith  

Have you ever noticed that once you've achieved a goal that you gain more than one outcome? You gain what you set out to achieve, which is wonderful, AND you often gain a deeper, stronger, more collaborative relationship with at least one other person. When it takes more than one person to achieve a goal, you gain that extra closeness with someone that is hard to get any other way. Some goals wouldn't be worth achieving except for the relationships that they build -- and that makes them well worth achieving. -- doug smith

Quick quiz: what are your top three current goals? It's OK to think about it, but if you have to think too long that means that you haven't really thought about it previously. Your goals matter because you matter. Your goals (not those given to you by someone else) shape your near-term future. Your goals shape you as well. Goals are solid steps toward your hopes and dreams. The path is yours. Why not keep moving? -- doug smith  

  Ask yourself what you'd be willing to trade to achieve your biggest goal -- you may need to make that trade. I'm not saying that you should. That's up to you. A goal is just a goal and not your entire life. But, if it's really important to you, are you treating it as if it IS that important? Are you designing a plan? Are you acting relentlessly on that plan? Are you learning constantly? Big goals mean big commitments. -- doug smith

You don't have to start with a goal -- but you'll move forward with more focus if you do. -- doug smith  

Goals are important. So is how your goals affect other people. Did you consult anyone your goal will impact? Did you look for help from others? Did you help anyone else achieve their goals this week? People will care more about your goals when you care more about people. Show you care by listening, by helping, and even by laughing at their bad jokes. People are worth it. -- doug smith  

  If you want to sell something, you need at least two things: a really great product, and a really great you. People will care much more about what you have to offer when they care more about you. Products, goals, careers... People will care more about your goals when you care more about people. -- doug smith

  The size of your goals does not define you, but your ability to achieve them does. What you define is secondary to what you do. Set meaningful goals, of course. Then, work them until you achieve them.  Sometimes you will fail. Try again. Sometimes you will succeed. Set a new goal. It's the work that gives you the juice you need to keep working. When people see that when you set a goal you mean business -- you mean to do what it takes to achieve that goal -- that sets a sharp definition you can live with. You do want to be known as someone who works to get what you want, don't you? -- doug smith

  Do you manage your goals? Setting the goal is important. Working the goal is essential. Powering up the goal with a path of high energy discipline is empowering. Also important: managing the goal. Like a project, with the discipline of steady effort and constant communication, each goal is managed to success. Each goal is a project. To get the most of your goal, you've got to manage that project. It does not happen on its own. -- doug smith

  Great goals need great power. They need the power to keep going thru resistance. They need the power to innovate when the temptation is to stagnate.  Where does that power come from? You know this! The power comes from you. Hard as it may sometimes seem, you do have the power to achieve your own goals. Power for your goals comes from what you're already good at -- or plan to get good at -- and are willing to work for, Set the goal, do the work, and feel the power. -- doug smith

It's not the goal that makes you happy -- it's the work you do to achieve the goal that does. If it's too easy, it hardly matters. If it's too hard, you might not reach it. Calibrate your goals correctly and then do your relentless best to get the work done. That's where you'll measure success. -- doug smith