doug smith training

When it gets tough, I'm sometimes tempted to stop. Forget about it. Quit. Move on to something that's not as hard. Do you ever feel that way? Sometimes it seems like the goal is too big. The resources are too small. The time is too short. But what good does it do to stop? I won't know how far I can get if I stop moving. Do you know what the biggest wall in front of me is? Me. How about you? What's your biggest wall? Who's putting the brakes on your biggest goal? If it's you, let's both agree to cut that out. Let's keep moving. -- Doug Smith

Well, do you? Many people are overwhelmed with too many goals. It keeps them from achieving anything important because they're always doing small things. But for some people there are too few goals. Too few goals that motivate them. Too few goals that energize them. Too few goals that promise to make a real and significant difference in the world. It's possible to have too many goals but most people have too few. Do you have goals that move your forward, that drive you, that spur you on, that help you grow? -- Doug Smith

Are you working on any goals that just seem too hard to achieve? That's probably a good sign. You're stretching your skills. You're growing. Maybe you don't know how you will achieve that goal but with by acting relentlessly on your carefully drawn action plan you will get there. You might need to change the deadline. You might need to ask for help. You might need to get more training. But, with the right focus and action you will get there. The most important goals usually take the most effort. So make that effort. Achieve that goal. -- Doug Smith

Do you check each goal that you take on to make sure it serves your mission? It's a practice that I'm working on, because I've discovered that any goal that does not serve my mission probably detracts from it. Maybe it's not a direct conflict, but any goal that consumes time is using time that could be used on work that is aligned with the mission. How else can we achieve our mission? If it's ambitious, challenging, and important that mission will take considerable effort, growth, and learning. It will take the relentless application of our action plans to achieve those goals that focus on the mission. It's worth rethinking any goal that doesn't serve your mission. Maybe it fits. Maybe it doesn't. What about all those goals that DO focus on your mission? When will you work on those? -- Doug Smith

What are your odds on success? If it were a matter of truly gambling, we'd need some expert help on setting the odds. But, what good would that do you? Fortunately, it's not a matter of gambling. I control what I do. You control what you do. When we work on carefully established goals with an assertive and relentless action plan our chances of success raise considerably. It's how to succeed. Success is only improbable if you don't work on your goals. Who would ever want to take that approach? I'll be working on my goals today. How about you? -- Doug Smith

Do your goals change you? I think that the big ones do, and sometimes the little ones as well. When we set noble and ambitious goals, with enough stretch in them to cause us to grow, our goals change us. When we pick the right goals, that change is positive and contributes to future success. The best goals keep us growing. A goal doesn't need to change the world to change you. Not every goal is massive. Sometimes goals that matter the most to us matter very little to anyone else. But because they do matter to us, they can change us. I'm working on some goals right now that will definitely change me once I have achieved them. Some of them aren't even business goals, but they are just as important and the change will be just as profound. Are you working on goals that will change you? -- Doug Smith

How much time do you spend helping others to achieve their goals? If you work for an employer, that is likely a lot. Much of our day is spent in helping our team members, in doing assignments for our bosses, in meeting the needs of customers, and all kinds of things that have little to do with our own goals. But all that IS directly related to our own goals. We build relationships. We improve our skills. We gain experience. The more we help others achieve their goals the more we are able to achieve our own goals. So don't resent the time you spend helping others with their goals. It's all an investment in your own success as well -- Doug Smith

Do you ever have someone stand between you and your goal? Does it ever sometimes seem that the actions of someone were an intention attempt to thwart your progress? Maybe, like me, you were over thinking the whole thing. People do things that we would not choose or pay for. People surprise us. Our job, as centered high performance leaders is to keep our focus anyway. Centered leaders forgive without giving up the goal. There's no success in revenge or in keeping resentment. Success is in remembering your mission and acting relentlessly on your goals. With that kind of focus, with that kind of passion, even people who at first seemed opposed to your efforts may find themselves eventually strongly attracted to them. And if not, why not forgive them until they do? -- Doug Smith

What is your primary goal as a leader? I consider my primary goal to be "helping people to achieve their goals." The most challenging thing to that is that I don't succeed unless others do. The longer I work, the more I am convinced that is true no matter what your primary goal is. To the extent that we help others, enrich others, empower others -- that's the degree of success we achieve. What if your success depends on your ability to bring success to others? Will it change the way you do business? Will it change the way you look at others? Will it recalibrate success? Sure. We have goals for ourselves. What I'm wondering, though, is how much more do we get when others do well as well? I'm thinking that the answer is: a bunch more. What do you think? -- Doug Smith

What happens when we use the same solution over and over even when the problems change? We don't really solve new problems that way do we? And yet so often we pull the same old tools out of our tool box and try the same old solutions. New problems require new thinking. New problems require new solutions. It's funny how we sometimes keep trying to same solution on totally new problems. Funny, but not effective. Let's do better than that. Let's be more creative. Let's develop new ideas. How do we do that? Here are a few ways: turn your idea upside down - how would it work reversed? ask other experts what they think ask people who are NOT experts what they think look at the problem as if you were ten years old again. What would you do? reframe your problem as a goal. How could you achieve that goal. rethink your problem as a benefit. What would you do to get more of that problem? Now, how would you reverse that? is the root cause what you think it ...

Are your people getting the training that they need? Full disclosure - I provide training for a living, so of course I believe that people should constantly train and keep their people in training. But aside from that, I've seen so many dysfunctional teams fall to pieces and clash with each other simply because they haven't developed the skills that they need to effectively do the job. Communication skills. Leadership skills. Problem solving skills. Goal attainment skills. People need training. Training is more a sleep-inducing e-course. Training is more than orientation. Training involves exploring, practicing, discovering, and performing the skills needed to prosper and achieve your goals. Are you people getting enough training? It's probably impossible to over train your people. What do they need to learn next? What will do to support their learning? -- Doug Smith

Do your problems threaten to wear you down? Are they pulling the energy out of you? Sometimes problems do that to me. It's almost as if they're looking for me to surrender. I won't surrender. A problem might wear me down but it won't wear me out. How about you? Will you endure? Will you persist? Will you be a durable problem solver? -- Doug Smith