This week I’d like to share with you one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learnt. This lesson will explain why it is so important to have specific written goals and also give you a powerful strategy to help you stay on track.
To explain this lesson, I’m going to need a little help from some friends.
Meet Bill and Bob
At the beginning of the year, Bill and Bob decide to set some new goals.
Bill decides his new goal is to ‘make more money’ – This is an example of a vague goal.
Bob decides his goal is to ‘Sell 20000 widgets by 5pm on December 31st’ – This is an example of a specific goal.
As the year proceeds, both Bill and Bob come across various ‘opportunities’
At work they hear about a mining stock that is apparently about to triple in value.
| Bill decides that this could be a way to achieve his goal of making more money so he invests $5000 only to lose $1000 before selling his shares in a panic. |  |
Bob hears about the mining shares as well but before taking action he asks himself the following question:
| Because Bob has a specific written goal, he can see that buying mining stocks is not going to help him sell 20000 widgets so he knows that for him, this is a distraction rather than an opportunity. Bob decides to ignore the rumour. |  |
From this simple story you can see that an opportunity is something that moves you a step closer to achieving your most important goals, and a distraction is something that moves you away from achieving your most important goals.
In order to use this filtering mechanism to stay on track you must have specific written goals.
This Weeks Action Steps:
1. If you haven’t already done so, take the time to write down your specific goals.
2. Whenever you come across a new opportunity, read you goals and ask yourself, "Is this an opportunity or a distraction?"
Until next time,
Dare To Dream!
Anthony
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