Success Is Specific

Vague Objectives Get Vague Results

A lot of people pride themselves in "shooting from the hip" and "living for the moment". They wear their lack of goals, plans, and schedule as a badge of freedom. If you peel the badge back, what you'll probably find is a lack of discipline, a lack of focus, and lack of any real objective for each day.

If that describes your life, that's cool. But, if you have dreams, ambitions, or achievement in mind, the practice of "shooting from the hip" is rarely going to deliver the success you're after. Also, having vague or broad objectives such as "I want to be rich" or "I want to become more spiritually disciplined" aren't likely to produce results either.

SPECIFIC goals, plans, and objectives are needed to determine your path to success. These specific goals provide motivation to take action because there is a clear picture of the goal. Having specific objectives will give you a framework to take tangible, specific action steps.

For example, if I say, "I want to grow spiritually by helping the needy for one hour a week," then I can do exactly what is needed to accomplish that goal because the goal is realistic, measurable, and specific.

Specific goals should be written down on paper so that they can be reviewed regularly. If we fail to commit them to writing, the goals often become fuzzy or forgotten. Written specific goals help us to focus sharply on whatever action items are needed to be taken.

Make sure your goals are measurable: "I want to increase my income by $400 a month." " I want to grow spiritually by giving 5% of my income to charity." "I want to be a better father by spending at least one hour a day playing with my children." Specific goals that are measurable are goals that can be achieved.

Make sure your objectives are personal and realistic. Personal? Make the objective YOURS... don't set goals to appease other people's expectations of you. Goals you aren't passionately invested in for YOUR sake, aren't goals that are going to keep your attention for the long haul.

Also, your specific objectives should be realistic. I can have a specific goal to play professional basketball, but trust me, it AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. Your specific objectives must be realistic and attainable.

Don't jump over this point too quickly. I often hear "I want to be a millionaire in 6 months." Specific yes, but realistic? Depends on a LOT of factors. "I want to weight 100 pounds less in 4 months." Specific, you bet, but realistic? Probably not. How about "I would like to lose 4 pounds a week"? That's getting more into the range of difficult, but realistic.

Make sure your goals are compatible with each other. You can't set a goal to build a business, coach a little league team, train for a triathlon, and get your Master's degree all at the same time. You have to be realistic about how your specific objectives fit together in a master plan.

Last but not least, put dates and times down for your goals. This will instill a sense of urgency that will prompt you to act. Regularly assess your progress along the way. This assessment will show you if you are on track or not and will motivate you to catch up if you have lagged behind.

There are appropriate times to "shoot from the hip" in life, but if you desire to get ahead, gain financial freedom, a well-balanced life, and spiritual fulfillment, this care-free method of approaching life will not lead you where you want to go. You need specific, realistic goals with timelines to get you on the path to successful life management.

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