doug smith training

People work on bad goals far too often. It sounds good, it reaches for some vague feeling of satisfaction, and yet the goal is a poor match for who they are or where they are. How you form your goals matters.   Get the goal right before you work on it to save yourself lots of aggravation. Keep it simple: action word, result, and time. Keep it ambitious but possible. And check to make sure that what you want is what the goal will give you. Otherwise, that poor goal is a waste of time. -- doug smith 

What we work on matters. What we choose to focus on not only matters but it's also completely up to us. What's your focus today? This week? This month? I'm learning to limit my focus to what matters most, one goal at a time. How about you? Better goals create better lives.  That's what we want, and deserve. -- doug smith

Some people take a vitamin every day. Some people read a passage from a favorite book every day. Positive daily habits support a successful life. Set a goal at least once a day and then achieve that goal. It builds the kind of momentum that leads to wonderful things. And you do want wonderful things, right? -- doug smith  

How does it feel when you miss on a goal? Frustrating? Disappointing? Sure, it is troubling to miss on a goal that once seemed so certain, but is it the worst that could have happened? What did you learn? How did you grow? What mistakes can you avoid in the future? There is much to be gained from every goal, even those that we do not achieve. You won't achieve every goal that you set, but the attempt is always better than regret.  -- doug smith

Other people can help, but achieving your goals is up to you. -- doug smith  

Are you on course to achieve your biggest goals? Is your plan in motion and working? Of course! Will you need to make some adjustments along the way? Of course! If your goal really matters -- to you with some intensity, you will do what you need to do in order to achieve that goal. If it doesn't really matter, there's almost nothing to be done. You need the joy. You need the spark. You need the course of action that lights you up so much that it lights up your path to success. The reason for your goal is as important as your goal. Why does your goal matter? Why now? Why you? Does that level of focus really make a difference? Of course! -- doug smith  

If you take your goals seriously they will take you where you need to go. -- doug smith  

When is the best time to achieve a goal? Achieving a goal on time, on the deadline, is great. What's even better? Achieving a goal early. It's the surest way to achieve it at all. Early is great, so you're never late. -- doug smith  

Do you ever feel like you have too many goals to get any of them done? Just deciding what to do first would be a big help. Try having to lists of goals -- and A-List and a B-List. The B-List goals get promoted when the A-List goals get done.  It's like putting your winter clothes in the other side of the closet until the season rolls around again. -- doug smith  

Every goal leads to another goal. If you've achieved your goal, the next goal gives you increased opportunity to grow. If you've missed your goal, the next goal gives you a chance to learn and correct. Nobody achieves all of their goals but every goal gives you something. Get that goal done and see what great goal comes next. -- doug smith  

Your goals matter to other people when other people matter to you. -- doug smith   

No matter how important goals are to us, we get busy and if we're not careful the urgent outflanks the important. Schedule time to work on your goal to make sure that you do work on your goal. The urgent stuff will still be there. It's the important stuff that you'll be remembered for. -- doug smith  

You can organize a team around your goals and you can also organize your goals around your team. Both are essential moves to your team's success. -- doug smith  

Work your goals but make your goals serve you. No one needs a goal that makes them cranky. -- doug smith 

I remember getting a big let-down after a show would close, or a project would end, or a movie would wrap...anything really important that I'd been working on. All that work. All that focus. All that energy. And, then suddenly it's done. But that was then. That was too much focus on the outcome and not enough on the process. Because the end comes and goes, but the process can continue. The process of creating, of learning, of growing.  The best part of achieving your goals is enjoying the journey, and then you avoid any big left-down at the end. The journey, the process -- that's the joy. -- doug smith  

If you could be remembered forever for one thing, what is that one thing? Share it with me if you like. I'd like to know, because it is probably entirely possible. It could even be a goal. -- doug smith  

Have you ever gotten resistance to a goal that you really wanted to achieve? Maybe someone told you that you weren't capable. Maybe someone told you that the goal was wrong for you, or unachievable.  What do they know? Your goals are important no matter what anyone says. Get started when you're ready. -- doug smith  

Ask someone about their goals. You'll be doing them a favor. -- doug smith 

  Goals are not created equally. Some we plow thru because they are necessary or even assigned. But some that we choose challenge us so strongly that we grow no matter what the outcome turns out to be. Some build new skills that we will use forever after. The best goals bring you growth and joy even when you don't achieve them. Select your goals carefully. Feel the joy. -- doug smith

A few years ago there was a lot of attention on a personal development technique known as "the secret." I'm not here to debunk the secret or throw shade in its direction, because if you've heard about it you've probably already made up your mind. Like many of other methods, if it works for you, enjoy -- and if it doesn't, choose. This is not nearly so lofty a concept I'm about to share, and it's nothing that I've made up. It's been known forever. But just because it's known doesn't mean that it's easy. Just because it's simple doesn't guarantee success. Like anything worth working for, we've got to work for it.  The magic ingredient to achieving your goals is discipline. That's it. Whatever your course of action, you've got to put in the work. Whatever great habits will propel you forward, you've got to sustain the discipline to keep doing them. Is that the real secret? You decide. -- doug smith