Thursday, July 31, 2008

See You At The Top - Goals - Azara Feroz Sayed

Goals is the Third Step on the Stairway to the Top

J.C. Penney's words, "You give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I'll give you a person who will make history; but you give me a person without those goals, and I will show you a stock clerk.", brilliantly bring out the importance of Goals. We don't "pay the price" for acheiving goals we enjoy the benefits of acheiving goals exactly like we don't pay a price for good health but we enjoy the the benefits of good health. We don't pay the price for success, we enjoy the benefits of success. We pay the price for failure!! Also, important to remember is, What we get by reaching our goals is not nearly as important as what we become by reaching them.

Ziglar talks about series of experiments with some "processionary" caterpillars, so named because they follow each other in a procession. They lined them around a flower pot until they formed a never-ending circle. And they started going round and round and round. In the center of the flower pot was some pine needles which is one of the foods of the "processionary" caterpillar. 24 hours they went round and round, then 48 hours, then 72 hours, on and on they went. For 7 full days and 7 full nights they went round and round until they literally dropped dead from starvation and exhaustion. With an abundance of their favorite food 6 inches away they had starved to death because they confused activity with accomplishment. Many people make the same mistake and as a result reap only a small fraction of the harvest life has to offer. Despite of the fact that untold waelth lies within reach, they acquire very little of it because they blindly, without question, follow the crowd in a circle to nowhere. They follow methods and procedures for no other reason than "it's always been done that way". Unless we have definite, precise, clearly set goals, we are not going to realize the maximum potential that lies within us. We will never make it anywhere in life as a "wandering generality". We must be "meaningful specific".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae-VJ_lauCw - Has three part video of Ziglar on Goal Setting. The ideas mentioned in the videos are not covered in this post. Don't miss it!

As always, Ziglar talks about a interesting story to introduce a beautiful way for managing our time effectively, to help us work on our goals - since lack of time is an excuse that is used often for not working on Goals. Imagine we receive an offer to take a three-day all taken care of trip for two to Acapulco - and the trip starts tomorrow. Since we don't want to let this offer go by, we list down tasks and prioritize tasks that MUST get done in the next three days. We delegate those responsibilites. And we are ready to take the trip next day. If we want anything badly - we must make it our goal and work towards getting to it. Why don't we go to Acapulco everyday? Why don't we list down the things that we need to do in the next three days. Then act as if we had only one day to do three day's work. This will also force us to put our "Thinking Cap" on. We will use our mental capacity to think, plan and delegate before we start working. Our life will have a direction. It is not lack of time but lack of direction which is the problem. We will move from a "wandering generality" to a "meaningful specific". Ziglar implores on each of us to use this tactic to do more in the next 24 hours than we normally would do in the next several days. We should be arrested for murder for "killing time". Though Goals need to be Long Range, to help us overcome any short range frusterations, Our daily objectives are the best builders of character. This is where dedication, discipline and determination matter. Here we take the glamour of the big, long-range goal or dream and get right down to the nitty-gritty of foundation building that will help make certain that our dream becomes our destiny. Daily habits build a solid character foundation which supports all significant long-term success. Everybody's daily goals should be to do the best they can today while preparing for better tomorrow. The future is the place where we are going to spend rest of our life.


The reason only 3% of American people commit their goals to paper is
1. They have been told about Goal Setting but never been "sold" on the benefits of Goal Setting.

2. Lack of knowledge on the process of Goal Setting. To bring out the importance of setting specific goals Ziglar gives this wonderful analogy. If on the hottest day in the world, we take the most powerful magnifying glass and some newspaper clippings. If we hold the magnifying glass over the newspaper clippings, even though we magnify the power of the sun through the glass, we will never start a fire - if we keep the glass moving. However, if we hold the glass still and focus it on the paper, we harness the power of the sun and multiply it through the glass and we can start a fire. No matter how much power, brilliance or energy we have. If we don't harness it and focus it on a specific target - we will never be able to accomplish as much as our ability warrants. "Lot of maney", "nice house", "high paying job", "more education" are general targets and not specific goals. We need to have clearly defined, specific goals. http://www.yesican.net/lessons/acheiver/goals/GOALS.doc has a template to use for goal setting. http://www.goals-2-go.com/articles/zig-ziglar-goal-setting.htm has things to keep in mind while goal setting.

3. Fear of not reaching their goals - F-E-A-R means False Evidence Appearing Real. Several years ago a young Cuban hijacked a plane to Cuba with a bar of soap. Was all he had. He put the soap in a box, he said to the captain of the aircraft, "This is a bomb, let's go to Cuba." They went to Cuba. The evidence was false, but it appeared real and consequently they acted accordingly. Now, tomorrow morning I get on a plane as I do an awful lot of the mornings and I'll be headed to Dallas, Texas. Now, I recognize the fact that when I get aboard that plane there's a certain amount of danger involved; as you know, some planes do come down an awful lot faster than they go up. There's a certain amount of danger for that plane. But let me tell you something fascinating. There's even more danger for that plane if it stays of the ground. Did you realize that an airplane will literally rust out sitting on the runway faster than it'll wear out flying in the air? That's what airplanes are built for. You see, there's a certain danger in setting goals; but there's an even greater danger if you do not set those goals. Many years ago, Oliver Wendall Holmes, who was a brilliant writer, a very famous jurist, an inventor, an unusual man, put it this way: "The greatest loss in our society is not the waste of our natural resources, though that is great." He said, "The great loss to society is the waste of our human resources simply because we do not recognize our own ability and then aim that ability in a specific direction." Yes, there's a certain amount of risk in setting goals, but there's even more risk in not setting them. The risk comes from the fact that, truthfully, you might not reach your goal and then where are you going to be? You might be a little embarrassed about it; but let me say it again, the risk is infinitely greater if you do not set them because you will be unable to use the incredible ability which you have.
It is safer for a ship to be in a harbor or a plane to be on ground but that is not what a ship or plane is meant for. The Ship or Plane would rust much faster if they stay in harbor or on ground. The risk is greater when we don't set goal. Just as ships are meant to sail in seas and planes to fly, we too are created for a purpose. We are here for a reason. Goals enable us to do more ourselves and others.

4. Poor Self-Image. They don't think they deserve the good things life has to offer, so why bother write down. The way we see life will largely determine what we get out of it. Take a bar of iron and use it for a door stop and it's worth a dollar. Manufacture horse shoes from that bar and they are worth 50$s. Take the same basr of iron, remove the impurities, refine it into fine steel, manufacture it into mainsprings for precision watches and it is worth a quarter of a million dollars. The way we see the bar of iron makes the difference. The way we see ourself and our future makes the difference. We need to have a big goal. Booker T Washington said, "Measure the size of accomplishment by the obstacles that had to be overcome, to reach the Goals".

Goals can be negative if one of the three conditions exists
1. If we don't believe that we are the architect of accomplishment and that "luck" is not involved
2. If Goals are unrealistically big
3. If they are outside our area of interests

A Goal properly set is partially reached because it is strong statement of our belief that we can and will reach it. Success is easier after we believe! Once we have arranged our goals in the order of their importance, we should list the obstacles that stand between us and our objectives. If there wasn't anything between us and our Goals, we would have already achieved our Goals. After we have listed our obstacles, we can formulate a plan to overcome them and set a time schedule. As we all know, if we have properly identified a problem, we have it half solved. Overcoming the obstacles becomes easier and faster once we have identified them. As we overcome obstacles on our way to one goal, the obstacles on the way to other goals become easier based on the confidence gained due to overcoming the obstacle. Confidence is the handimen of success.

If we keep our eyes on the goal, the chances of reaching the goal are immeasurably better. A Goal casually set and lightly taken is freely abandoned at the first obstacle

Ziglar talks about a saleman who planned and met his Goal of being the best performer in the company. Ziglar mentions that he acheived this by working harder and smarter. The saleman applied the principles of Goal Setting and Goal Reaching

  • He maintained records to find out where he was
  • He committed to paper the goals he wanted to achieve on a yearly, monthly and daily basis
  • He was very specific in defining his Goals ($104,000)
  • He set the goal big - but reachable - to create excitement and challenge
  • He made the goal long range (one year) so he would not be overcome by daily frusterations
  • He listed obstacles between him and goals and formulated a plan to overcome the obstacles
  • He broke the goals into daily increments
  • He was absolutely convinced he would reach his goals
  • He visualized himself as already reaching his goal. If we want to reach our goal, we must "see the reaching" in our mind before actually arrive at our goal.
  • He organized his time and learned the value of a minute. He found that 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there soon add up to one to two hours per day. This was eight to ten hours per week. 400 to 500 hours a year! He discovered that everyone doesn't have 60 minutes in an hour, 24hrs in a day, or seven days in a week. Each man only has as many minutes, hours and days as he uses.

To illustrate the importance of "Defining Goals" and "Believing" and "Visualizing" them, Ziglar brings out the analogy of torpedo. When the torpedo was aimed at the target and fired, it would establish a "fix" on that target. If the target moved or changed directions, the torpedo would change its direction. Interestingly enought the torpedo was designed after the human brain. Inside our brain there's something that enables us to "zero in" on a target. Even if the target should move, or we should be side tracked, once we have gotten our "fix", we will still hit the target.

Similar to the ideas mentioned in "Law of Attraction" (refer earlier post "The Secret"), Ziglar says that once we define, believe and visualize our goals, the unseen forces inside of us start "putting it all together" and propel us towards destination.

We need to be flea trainers - the flea trainers are not influenced by the SNIOPs (Susceptible to the Negative Influence of Other People) of life. You can request for the "Flea Training Certificate" by sending a request along withan 8 1/2 x 11 self-addressed envelope stamped with two firsr-class stamps to : Ziglar Training Systems, 2009 Chenault Dr., #100, Carrolton, TX 75006.

We need to "practice without pressure" will lead to better performance when there is pressure

Ziglar refers our ability of not knowing what we cannot do and so going ahead and doing it as "Intelligent Ignorance". Our gift of Intelligent Ignorance leads us to success. Henry Ford didn't believe that we wouldn't be able to build a V8 and insisted on his team to build one for him. His team was sure that it couldn't be built but Henry Ford insisted all the time on having one.

Some interesting ideas in the book
* There ain't no free lunch
* Go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you will always be able to see farther
* With definite goals you release your own power and things start happening
* Make no small plans for they have no capacity to stir men's souls
* There are rich educators and there are poor educators. There are rich lawyers and there are poor lawyers. The oppurtunity lies with the individual first and then with the occupation. The occupation provides the oppurtunity only if the individual does his part. It is not the occupation or the profession that makes you succeed or fail. It is how we see ourself in our occupation that determines success or failure
* The oppurtunity for greatness doesn't comes cascading like a torrential Niagara falls, but rather is comes slowly, one drop at a time
* Pleasure (eating too much or eating the wrong foods) is very short-lived, but happiness (being pleased with our slimmer, healthier, extended life five to twenty years longer) is of much longer duration
* Reviewing the list of skills and objectives that need lot of our effort (sweat and tears) are the ones that bring the real satisfaction and rewards
* Work on your goals with the bull dog tenacity and persistence - success is just over the will or around the corner
* If we want to create a cripple, just give a man a pair of crutches for a few months. Give a man a "free lunch" long enough for him to get in the habit of getting something for nothing - we take away his resourcefulness.
* When you give a man a dole, you deny him his dignity, when you deny him his dignity, you rob him of his destiny
* The steps on the stairway to the success are there to rest our foot long enough to step higher and not to stay there. We become champion by fighting one more round
* We are often told to strike when the iron is hot. We are however not told that we need to strike to make the iron hot.
* There is no such thing as lazy person; He is either sick or uninispired
* Success family has Work as the father and Integrity as Mother. If we can get along with the parents, we won't have trouble with the rest of the family
* The most practical, beautiful, workable philosohpy in the world won't work - if we won't work! * Education can cover lot of ground but can't cultivate any of it
* We can gaurd against losing our shirts by keeping our sleeves rolled up
* Success is dependent on "Sweat" glands
* When the going gets tough the tough gets going
* 80% of the people go to work reluctantly and that explains the second rate and third rate merchandise
* In Casinos there aren't any clocks as Casino owners don't want gamblers them to be reminded of time
* Two Fleas discussing if they should walk down the hill - or take a dog? One of my friend was known for this PJ she started and the way she would say that was awesome. We would ask her to repeat it everytime there was a new audience

0 comments:

 
Add to Technorati Favorites My Zimbio
Top Stories