The Art of Making Things Happen

Copyright (c) 2010 The Exhortation Life and Business Coaching Service

From the Old Stone Age where people sought ways of igniting fire for heating purposes to these days where people wish to achieve so much with limited resources, the Art of Making Things Happen has been studied for years. Whether your goal is to complete your educational pursuit or save enough money to purchase your first home, the following seven steps and principles are tried and true:

1. Articulate Objectives: The first step to achieving anything in life is to know exactly what you wish to achieve. Thus, if you are yet to do so, take a pen and paper and write down the top five S.M.A.R.T. goals that you wish to accomplish this year - things you may likely regret on December 31st, 2010, if unaccomplished. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Timely. For example, instead of a goal to loose weight, indicate how much weight you wish to loose. That is, "I will loose 30 pounds by December 31st 2010", or "I will reduce my debt by $24,000". This is considered S.M.A.R.T. Most people often consider this step of writing down goals as irrelevant, and yet, it is actually the most important step of all. As humans, don't we often deceive ourselves with the baseless notion that we can retain our goals in their head, along with our plans of execution, actionable items and every other information that life throws at use? And yet, God, our Creator saw the need to write down the Ten Commandments for Moses . . . and for us.

There is an amazing power in seeing your goals in print on a consistent basis. Besides serving as a constant reminder, it instigates in you the motivation that is necessary to maintain a forward momentum, for you and I know fully well that out of sight often end up being out of mind.

2. Ascertain Plans: The second step is to ascertain the plan of how to accomplish your goal; basically, what needs to be done to achieve the goal? If it is to loose weight, perhaps a change in diet is required along with a one-hour exercise every day. Be S.M.A.R.T. though; for example, an execution plan of a goal to loose 30 pounds may be, "I will no longer have fast-food and carbonated drinks, and I will run a mile every Thursday (whether indoors on the treadmill or outdoors in the park)". In addition, I will measure my weight every Friday to ensure a consistent decline in weight of X pounds. To ensure the effectiveness of your plans, though, it is advisable to confer with a coach or people who are experts in the areas of your goal.

As the saying goes, he who fails to plan plans to fail.

3. Share Accountability: The third step is to establish a support system that will ensure a forward momentum. One of the most arrogant attitudes to have with respect to accomplishing goals is to believe that you can accomplish your goals without seeking advice, accepting support or sharing accountability. Yes "we can do all things by the power of him who is in us"; however, greater things are accomplished when people share accountability with a coach, a trusted aid, or spiritual mentor. Think of the benefit of having someone regularly ask you about your progress.

Knowing how discouraging the accomplishment of goals could quickly become, everyone needs someone to walk the walk with him or her; someone to encourage us when we feel like giving us, and someone to exhort us when we are lazing. Remember the wise words of King Solomon: "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

Thus, before you begin your race, solicit the help of someone who is qualified to run with you.

4. Take Action: The forth step is to take action, without lazing or procrastinating. This is where a lot people blow it, especially those who arrogantly decided to be accountable to no one. Just like in the popular Parable of the Sower, all the excitement that settings goals create gradually die down when trouble, challenges, persecutions and the worries of life sets in. Instead of going after their heart desires, they give in to laziness, aimlessness, procrastination, distraction, faithlessness, and the influence of bad company. They spend more time doing the things that matter the least rather than things that matter the most.

If you wish to accomplish your goals, you must learn to live a disciplined life of purposeful second, for every second in life counts! In fact, don't go to bed until you are sure that you have spent an appropriate portion of your day gaining strides rather than losing momentum.

5. Measure Progress: The fifth step is to consistently measure your progress. Although a daily habit of growth enthusiasts, making it a regular habit to measure your own progress encourages you if progress is being made and challenges you if not. If you are one of those people who avoid measuring your progress for the fear of discouragement, confer with your coach to determine and work on the reason for that fear. Set a specific time of the week or month to measure how much weight or debt you have disposed of.

Measuring progress on a regular basis helps you to determine the further adjustments that are required to ensure success. This is where you may realize that further changes are still required in your diet, spending, the places you often frequent, or in the crowd you always hang out with. Look at it this way: If you don't know how far you have gone in the pursuit of something, how would you know how far you need to go or what changes may be required to ensure completion.

6. Celebrate Accomplishments: The sixth step is to seek and seize opportunities to celebrate accomplishments, for it truly pays to stop and smell the roses regardless of what you are pursuing in life. Since setbacks are often pronounced, every milestone must be celebrated to energize and encourage you in your pursuit. Basically, without failing to learn from your setbacks, count your blessings too.

Make time to treat, compliment and reward yourself upon accomplishing a milestone. Be very wise about this, though, to avoid derailing yourself. But having successfully reduced your weight or debt by 50% or more in the middle of the year definitely warrants a responsible treat!

7. Maintain Momentum: The seventh step is a continuous, recurring one, and that is to maintain momentum consistently, especially since the accomplishment of any goal will always create an even more challenging goal. One of your New Year Resolutions may be to reduce your debt or weight, but in actual fact, the ultimate goal is to change your lifestyle, and then maintain momentum, moving forward. If you don't, you will gradually gain back the pounds or debts.

Those who stop at the sixth step without any strategic plan on how to effectively maintain a forward momentum afterwards often find themselves back where they began. And the most effective way to do this, is to create a new, stretch goal - like eliminating your debt completely; and after that, make plans to have no more debt; to begin savings, to become more charitable, to start mentoring others on how to eliminate debts.

In fact, reaching our goals only gives us temporary satisfaction. Consistent satisfaction, however, is derived from the continuous progress towards the goals that we may never reach.

As you pursue greater accomplishments in 2010, remember the words of Robert Collier: "The power to be what you want to be, to get what you desire, to accomplish whatever you are striving for, abides within you. It rests with you only to bring it forth and put it to work. You must learn how to do that, of course, but the first essential thing is to realize that you possess this power, and your first objective is to get acquainted with it".

Now that you are acquainted with the Art of Making Things Happen, go do likewise!

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