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Keeping Working Toward Your Best Performance

What was your best performance? When did you perform so well that you remember it as the best you could do at the time? You likely have several times in your life when, given what you had and who you were at the time, you did your very best performance. Things clicked. Results mattered positively. You felt satisfied. One of the challenges to constantly improving our performance is that sometimes, even during our finest moments, we feel a sense of lacking - a downturn caused by the desire to do even better, or the let-down of a great performance followed by, what - normal behavior? We do need to keep striving. We do need to keep improving. We do need to keep setting assertive, clear, noble goals that cause us to stretch and we do need to act relentlessly on our plan without satiating our desire, but -- why not also savor those moments of success? Why not celebrate the series of high performance results we have achieved? All the while we continue to grow, continue to stretch, a

Let Your Creativity Surprise You

Have you ever been surprised by a flash of creativity? Maybe it helped you solve a problem, maybe it gave you the answer you'd been looking for, or maybe it helped you develop something beautiful and new. Creativity is the source for much of our joy. When it comes to achieving our goals, we benefit greatly by keeping ourselves open to our creativity - and the creativity of others. That means letting the element of surprise get a fair hearing from our brains as we move forward on our plan. It could be something so new that we don't consider it important at first. It could be something so different from what we thought we were looking for that we overlook it completely. Instead, let's stay open to surprise. Let's let our creativity show us better ways of doing things. Are you ready for your own creativity to surprise you? You'll be glad that you did! -- Doug Smith doug smith training: how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership: High performance lea

Go All In On Your Dream

Are you all-in on your dream or simply flirting? A dream is a serious affair. It requires your attention to move forward. It requires your relentless action. Setting goals to achieve your dream is a great step. It's what your dream wants. But, your dream wants more. It wants your undivided attention. It wants your passion, your thirst, your hunger, your relentless action. Until you have the courage to go all-in on your dream it will remain a dream. Are you all-in? -- Doug Smith doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training

Seek Clarity of Purpose

Do you know exactly why you do what you do? For the goals that you set, do you make sure that they all align with your purpose? I know it's not always easy and perhaps not always possible, but when we are able to align our goals exclusively with our purpose the energy and effort gets much closer to the kind of flow that gets things done fast. When we aren't sure of how our goals align with our purpose the lines become blurred and it's easy to miss on a goal, easy to get stuck. Find that clarity of purpose. Find that thing that you're working on to make your mission complete. Do what's really important. There is no substitute for clarity of purpose. Almost everything else takes second place. How is your clarity of purpose? Have you identified your mission? -- Doug Smith doug smith training: how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership: High performance leadership training

Find An Accountability Partner

Do you think that people can achieve their goals without some sense of accountability? There may be some people who are so focused and so dedicated that they truly act relentlessly on their goal action plan and always achieve their goals. But some of us need help. Some of us benefit from an accountability partner to check in, ask how we're doing, and advocate for staying the course when temptation or lethargy threaten to derail our goals. Who holds you accountable for achieving your goals? Is it worth finding someone who will help? -- Doug Smith doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training

Focus on Achieving Your Goals

Even when you have a clear goal, do you sometimes find it difficult to achieve it? I know how easy it is to get distracted. Urgent needs pull us away. Other people's goals come between us and our goals. Before we know it, our important goals can seem unimportant and end up not done. Wouldn't your life be more exciting if you focused more on achieving your goals? What if you acted as if your most important goal were your most important thing? What if you gave it all of your best attention? Set clear and exciting goals, create an action plan, and then act relentlessly on your plan. Because when we focus on achieving our goals, we do. -- Doug Smith doug smith training: how to achieve your goals Front Range Leadership: High performance leadership training

Design Goals Worth Taking About

Do people talk about your goals? Do they get excited and share your goals with other people? It's a good gage for vitality. If people talk about your goals they are stirring up interest and probably helping. They work on what excites. Design the kind of goals that people want to talk about. Goals that make a difference. Goals that bring about useful change. Goals that make lives better and happier. That's what you're working for, right? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

High Performance Leaders Are Confident

How confident are you about solving problems and achieving your goals? High performance leaders are confident. They bring their own confidence to the tasks ahead. They drive for results with the knowledge that through careful planning and relentless application they will achieve their goals. Where does confidence come from? Results. Where do results come from? Focused attention combined with confidence. You have to create some level of confidence within yourself, set about the hard work, and then as success begins to reveal itself your confidence will natural rise even more. Only you can control how much confidence you bring to the game. Why not bring all you can? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Focus on the Big Goals

Do you have too many goals? Sometimes I find myself in that situation - with so many goals that I can't remember them all and certainly can't complete them all in time. My advice on this is: don't do that! Focus on the big goals. Keep your goals aligned with you overall purpose. Sure, it's useful to break the big goals down into smaller pieces but that's not the problem I'm talking about. Too many unrelated goals is where we go wrong. Be careful about being confused by too many little goals. Focus on the goals that are aligned to you mission.  The big stuff matters. The big goals matter. Start with that. What's your biggest goal? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Learn Constantly

What have you learned today? That's my favorite question. I once wrote a regular column and ended every piece with that question. I usually started each article with this phrase "what I learned from..." and my learning could come from the oddest and most unexpected places. What I Learned From Dunking A Basketball, What I Learned From Riding The Bus, What I Learned From Making Mistakes...you get the idea. When we keep learning we can improve our performance. Learning allows us to grow, to adjust, to change. Learning keeps us fresh and creative. Learning is critical to our success. If you want to achieve your goals, keep learning. Learn constantly, learn deeply, and learn broadly. It's the best thing going. What have you learned today? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Act Relentlessly On Your Plan

How's your goal achievement plan doing? Setting a clear goal is great. Creating a masterful plan is brilliant. Acting relentlessly on your plan keeps you moving forward. No slacking. No excuses. No side trips. No false starts. Relentless, persistent, motivated action. If you want to achieve your goals, act relentlessly on your plan. Without discouragement. Without delay. Bring your whole self to the game and move with all the power you are blessed with. Make those goals move and they'll move you with joy. What's the next step on your action plan? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals

Energize Your Support Team

How motivated is your support team? Are the people you are counting on to help when help is needed fully prepared to do that to achieve your goals? It's easy to lose track of our support team. Aren't they there to support us? The reality is that our support team also needs our support. We must keep them informed. We must keep them interested. We must keep them curious. If you want to achieve your goals, energize your support team. You do want their help, don't you? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership:  High performance leadership training doug smith training:  how to achieve your goals