Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Secrets To Becoming Highly Successful In Life

The aim of this article is to provide an outline of the attributes you require to become incredibly successful, so you can decide how you need to improve to increase your levels of success. Each attribute will be dealt with in depth in future articles and e-Books, but this is a great startingpoint if you truly want to become hugely successful.

The first thing I want to say here, is that I’m talking about being successful in all areas of your life. This article’s not just about being successful in work or business, it’s also about being successful in your relationships, all aspects of your home life, your hobbies and interests, your health and fitness… in fact just about anything you want to be successful in!

So, as you read through this article, simply apply the thoughts and ideas to the area(s) of your life in which you want to achieve success… or more success!
OK, let’s get started – have you ever known me to hang around – of course not! And I’m not going to disappoint today, either!

This may shock you… or it might not… but there is no secret to success!What? I can hear the cries from far and wide! Don’t believe me? That’s probably because so many gurus, coaches and so-called experts have created this great mystery behind success… usually down to their own self-interest! Create a mystery… create a problem… then cerate a solution… and charge people for it! Look, we all need to earn a living, but why the mystery? Let’s just be honest with each other and help each other and this world of ours will be a much better and happier place to be!

OK, you want a secret? This is it…
You can achieve success in any area of your life… as long as you have the desire to do so and as long as you’re prepared to learn a few new things along the way. Add to that the ability to set goals, a touch of confidence and success is yours for the taking! Weh-hey!

Oops, I’ve let the cat out of the bag… it’s not a secret anymore! Aargh! OK, if it’s not a secret, you’re probably wondering why some people are so successful and others are failures! Your words… not mine! Actually, there’s no such thing as a failure… just a lesson learned. Ask Thomas Edison (inventor of the electric light bulb). Well, OK, so you can’t ask him now… he’s no longer with us… but his quote is so famous and makes my point well! He was asked how he carried on with his research when his experiments failed so many times. And his answer?

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.
Now, you can be picky about the 10,000 times, but the point’s made perfectly! Each time Edison “failed”, he just learned something that didn’t work. He didn’t see it as failure, he simply took another step towards his eventual success! How cool is that? So, what can you take from that? Have you just learned something? Can you take a leaf out of Edison’s book and start learning today? Sure you can! And in doing so, you’ll be well on the way to becoming successful yourself!
OK, so let’s get back on track and explore what it is that makes some people successful… whilst others fail miserably! Aargh! There I go again, talking about failure! Now this is important! If you accept failure as failure, then of course, you can fail. It’s only by treating “failure” as a lesson learned that you all of a sudden cannot fail! Does that make sense? I hope so, because it does to me! Lol!

Attitude
If I had to pick out one thing that makes some people successful and others failures, it would be attitude. People who achieve outstanding success approach things in a totally different way to those who are unsuccessful. Their attitude is one of “never say die” and they also expect to succeed. Failure doesn’t even enter their mind for a split second. All they see is the finishing line… and breaking the tape! Creating a winning mindset is so important to becoming hugely successful.

Just do it!
You won’t see too many successful people wondering what to do next, either! They have an attitude of getting on with things, rather than talking about what to do next. They won’t be pondering about what will happen when they try things, they simply get on and do it! They’ll try things out. Learn from the results and then move on to the next step. They’ll keep doing that until they’ve reached their goal. Problems will be resolved. Obstacles removed or hurdled. Nothing gets in their way. Nothing!

The big question now is, “How do you become hugely successful?”
Now there’s a tough one! But, since we’re working on becoming an incredible success, I’m sure we can get past it! Oh yeah!

OK, here’s a list of attributes I think you’ll need if you’re going to become a huge success in life. Take a look and see if you agree with me. As you read through the list, tick off those that apply to you already and highlight those where you think you need a bit of work to improve. If you can think of any more that you think should be added, please contact me and let me know! You see, I’m willing to learn. I’m learning all the time!

OK, You’ll need to have:
  • a vivid long-term vision of where you want to get to in life
  • set high, but achievable goals
  • desire to be or achieve the best – 2nd best just isn’t an option
  • a belief in yourself and that you control your own destiny
  • a high level of drive and energy
  • strength of purpose
  • motivation
  • the ability and willingness to learn from your mistakes
  • a clear way of measuring your success
  • a willingness to celebrate your successes – Oh yeah!
  • the ability to work on your own and make your own decisions
  • the ability to work with and learn from others
  • great self-confidence
  • a willingness to take some risks
  • a desire to achieve excellence!
Now, that’s quite a list, isn’t it? If you have all those qualities in abundance, you have no real need to read this article! However, my guess is that you probably have some of them, but in varying degrees of abundance! What that means, is you’re probably getting some successes in your life, but with a little bit of work on yourself, you could achieve so much more! So, if you want to achieve incredible success, read on and we’ll take a look at how to start work on the things you need to improve.

Create A Vision Of Your Perfect Life
This is crucial to your success! How can you achieve something, if you don’t have a clear picture of it in your mind? Think of it this way. If you had a bow and arrow in your hands and a target somewhere in the distance and you were then blindfolded and spun around a few times, what would be the chances of you hitting the target? Pretty slim, I’d say! Take your blindfold off, pick out the target… aim… fire… bullseye! OK, so you may need to learn some lessons before you hit the bullseye, but don’t forget, that’s what successful people do all the time… so get some lessons booked!

Set High But Achievable Goals
I strongly suggest you do this with the help of a good coach. A good coach will help you set goals appropriate to your skills, goals which are challenging, but achievable. It’s important not to limit yourself by setting easy goals, but it’s equally important not to set goals that are out of your reach, because you’ll soon become disillusioned and will then give up on your dreams.
Look, if I was to set myself the target of running 100 metres in 5 seconds, I’d be setting myself up for a fall. If I was to set myself a target of running 100 metres in 20 seconds, it would be way too easy… even for me! The secret is to come to a target that challenges and pushes your limits, but gives you hope of success. That’s where a good coach will help, by asking pertinent questions to enable you to set the right goals for you. If we continue with the analogy above, 20 seconds may not be a challenging goal for me, but for others it would be just right and for some it would be downright impossible!

A Desire To Be Or Achieve The Best
Look, we all know that everyone can’t be the best! The idea here is to achieve the best you possibly can! That makes you a winner. That makes you an incredible success! If you have the desire to achieve incredible success in everything you do, then that’s exactly what you’ll achieve! Second best just isn’t even an option, because, if you do fall below your high expectations, you’ll learn and improve… and keep improving until you’ve reached your goal!
Look you’re not aiming for perfection here, but you’re aiming for pretty damn close to perfection! As a golfer, you’re never going to get a hole in one on every par 3 hole you play. You’re probably not going to land within 5 metres of the hole every time, but you can set yourself a target of hitting the green just about every time. Now, we all know that every so often you’ll miss the green, but by setting the goal high, you’ll hit it more often. Each time you miss, you learn a lesson, so you can do better next time.

Believe In Yourself 
One things for sure, if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will! I’m not talking about being boastful or arrogant here, just being confident in your own ability to “get the job done”. If you go around telling others how great you are, you’ll lose a lot of friends and make even more enemies! So don’t go there! Listen, just because you shouldn’t go around boasting about you talents to others, it doesn’t mean you can’t tell yourself exactly how wonderful you are! Don’t go over the top though, well not too much, just keep it at a level that builds you up so you know you’ll be successful.

Certainly, it’s extremely important not to be critical of yourself. That’s just a recipe for disaster and will almost certainly lead to failure. Nothing more needs to be said on that… do not put yourself down… ever!

You Control Your Own Destiny
OK, I’m going to offer my apologies to anyone whose religious beliefs suggest that life’s all mapped out for us and that we simply have to tune into “God” and He’ll lead the way. I’m sorry, I just don’t see life like that! I do believe in a greater power, a creator if you like. We can call this creator, “God”, “The Universe”, maybe. It doesn’t really matter.
Everything and everyone is linked by a force, which is why The Law of Attraction works so well. But, we control how The Universe works for us by our thoughts and actions, not the other way round. Why would we need free minds, if our future was mapped out already? You better believe you control your own destiny or someone else will do it for you! And that would not lead to incredible success!

A High Level Of Drive And Energy
If you have a clear vision and have set yourself challenging goals, this will come naturally. You’ll leap out of bed raring to go each and every day! Well maybe, but I reckon there are other things that need to be worked on here. Sure, your drive will be improved with a clear vision and challenging goals and to a certain extent this will energize you. However, you’ll also need to work on the physical side of things. A good dose of exercise, relaxation, sleep and a healthy diet are all essential here! In short then, look after both body and mind if you want to Achieve Incredible Success!

Strength Of Purpose and Motivation
When you’re creating your vision and setting your goals, it’s vital they fall within your beliefs and values. This is vital to becoming successful. If you set goals that fall outside your core values, then you’ll lack the motivation to see them through.
Let’s say one of your core values centres around your family and doing lots of fun things with your kids. If you then set yourself a goal that takes you away from home for 4 days each week for the next three years, then that goal’s in conflict with your core values, meaning you will create inner conflicts as you strive to achieve success. It’s almost inevitable that you’ll fail to reach you goal in this sort of situation.

The Ability And Willingness To Learn From Your Mistakes
OK, this is easy. You make a mistake – we all do that from time to time – you learn from it, try again and hey presto you get it right! Yeah, right! Look, that may happen once in a while, but generally life isn’t quite that simple! So you’re going to need to be prepared to try things a few times before you get it spot on, and each time you make a mistake, you’re going to have to analyse what you did and improve on it next time. You’ll need real stickability and you’ll need to be able to learn new skills as you go along.
To be honest, that’s no problem… learning is so much fun! Especially when it takes you nearer to achieving your goals!

A Clear Way Of Measuring Your Success
This sounds easy… and to be honest it is! Provided you set the right goals! OK, here’s the deal. Each time you set a goal, you ask yourself this simple question, “How will I know when I’ve achieved my goal?” At work, that may be when you’re made a Director of your company. At home, it may be when you’ve finished building an extension on your house.
The next question’s maybe a little more difficult to answer. “How will I know if I’ve been hugely successful?” OK, this is s bit more subjective. At home, you may decide that your extension needs four walls and a roof that doesn’t leak to make it a successful achievement! OK? Does that make sense? To create incredible success, you’re going to have to achieve your goals with style and flair!

A Willingness To Celebrate Your Successes – Oh Yeah!
This one’s so much fun! Every success has to be marked with a celebration or reward. It may be a simple reward like a bar of your favourite chocolate or even something like a cup of coffee. But for major successes you’ll need to think of a special celebration! Maybe a meal out in the best restaurant in town, or tickets to a show… your choice! But, whatever you do, celebrate every success, no matter how small… and celebrate in style!

The Ability To Work On Your Own And Make Your Own Decisions
If you’re going to become a hugely successful person, you’ll have to make decisions and you’ll have to make them, sometimes, on your own. You see sometimes, others will disagree with you, they’ll advise you one way or the other and sometimes you’ll have moral dilemmas or maybe even social issues to consider. But, what you have to consider, is that the decision ultimately has to be made by you, for you! So make it! Then live with it!
You’re also going to need leadership qualities, which will mean working on your own at times. Doing what you think is best. Doing what you want to do. Doing whatever it takes to move yourself forward in the direction of your goals. Look, you’re pulling the shots… it’s your life. So you’re going to have to take control, make decisions and get out there and do it when you don’t always feel like doing it!

The Ability To Work With And Learn From Others
The one thing about becoming incredibly successful that many people learn the hard way, is that you cannot do it on your own! Every hugely successful person has had support, help, advice, coaching and much more from others as they’ve strived for excellence. And each and everyone of them will acknowledge that they couldn’t have achieved their success without the help of others.

So, learn to work with other people. Listen to their advice… you don’t have to take it… but listen to it… consider it… then either take it or discard it. Find people who have qualities and skills that you need. Learn from them… and teach them your skills and qualities. You must give as well as receive.

Find a guru, coach, a mastermind group, a support group, anything or anyone that’ll support you. Find people who are like-minded, people who want you to succeed. Network with them, build contacts, support each other. Give and you will receive. Receive and you will give.
Be open to ideas from others. Consider them. Modify them. Use them. Give ideas to others. As you do that, your subconscious mind will create other ideas for you to use. Everybody will gain.

Great Self-Confidence
I could write a book on this one… well actually I have… well almost! I’m adding the final touches right now… so look out for it very soon! Look, this is a huge area and one that needs a lot of discussion. But for now simply work on building confidence by celebrating every success. As you do that, you’ll realise you can do things well, very well and that will build your confidence.
You’ll also find some articles on this site to help you build your confidence… just click on the confidence link on the left of each page. I’ll be adding lots more soon. The thing to remember here, is that without confidence, you’ll limit your success levels drastically. So, if it’s a problem with you, find a way to boost it as fast as you can.

A Willingness To Take Some Risks
Now, this may sound like a contradiction, but believe me, this is one of the most important things you’ll have to learn to do! You can achieve limited success by taking the easy route, by making the easy decisions, by plodding along. But, if you want incredible success, you’ll have to take some risks… calculated risks of course. Some of them will come off, others will fail, sometimes miserably. But you’ll learn when they fail and you’ll grow so much faster when they come off!
With all risks, calculate the possible return if they succeed and the downside if they fail. Then visualize and focus on success! Easy!

A Desire To Achieve Excellence!
Now this may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people are scared of success. You see, the more success you have, the more people will expect you to succeed. And that brings pressure. Or at least it can bring pressure.
Just remember, you’re doing this for you. Not for anyone else… for you. So their thoughts and expectations are irrelevant! Your thoughts and expectations are the only ones that count. Whether others perceive you as a success or a failure doesn’t matter in the slightest! There you go… pressure relieved!

OK, to finish off then… aim for excellence in all you do. Do the best you possibly can. Always want to be the best. Always want to do your best. Aim for the stars, always. Look, if you aim high and don’t quite make it, you’ll still have achieved incredible success! And that’s what you’re aiming for… isn’t it?

If you’ve benefited from this article, or just found it entertaining, please share it with others by sending them the link to this page or by clicking on one, or more, of the social bookmarking links below.

Make every day a great day!

By: Keith L Jones

Friday, January 27, 2012

A German solution to an American jobs problem?

Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics and a professor at NYU, thinks he's found a breakthrough idea on creating jobs.


FORTUNE -- One common refrain heard at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos: "we need to create more jobs." That's hardly a controversial stance -- after all no one is really against creating jobs. The sense here is that if we can just figure out a way to create more employment the Occupiers would disappear and business could return to the good old days. The rub is that with high consumer and government debt levels in much of the developed world, no one seems to have any idea how to achieve this goal. One exception is Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics and a professor at NYU, who thinks he has a breakthrough idea on the topic.

According to Spence, recent surveys show that today's generation of young working-age Americans simply don't believe that they will have the same employment opportunities that their parents enjoyed. (For a measure of this, just ask any parent who still has a college grad living at home.) There are good jobs out there but they are mostly, argues Spence, in businesses that are trade-related, that are linked to the global economy. These jobs tend to be in fast-growing businesses that provide high-value added products. Think Apple (AAPL) and the iPhone. Trouble is, about 70% of the value of an iPhone -- design, software, etc. -- is created in the U.S. but most of the jobs, especially the manufacturing ones, are in Asia. Only about 2% of all American jobs are trade related.

So where will we find more high-paying jobs? Spence points to Germany as a model where manufacturing makes up about 30% of its GDP compared to only 16% for the U.S. Germany focuses on high-end products that have appeal in global markets. But the Germans didn't get there by accident. Spence says that Germany's business leaders, working with government and labor, provided high-end manufacturing training for workers. The three factions were also able to cut a deal years back to reduce labor rigidity in exchange for employment security. Germany has also formed industry clusters, sophisticated supply chains that help reduce costs and speed up design and manufacturing. A recent New York Times article explained that the major reason Apple does not make iPhones in America is that we simply don't have the sophisticated supply chains found in Asia.

Can America replicate the German model? Spence thinks so. He says the solutions are easy. They include training, more government spending in the short term, and more fiscal discipline in the long term, an energy policy that makes sense, and reforming our "silly tax system."
The current gridlock in Congress makes it unlikely that Washington would adopt such a long-term outlook and pragmatic approach to boosting jobs. Spence, however, remains undeterred. All we need to do, he says, is "act and learn rather than debate and wait."

By: Brian Dumaine
CNN

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Overcome Four Obstacles to Growth in 2012

Business strategists pinpoint impending challenges and offer advice to help entrepreneurs overcome them


Late in 2011, the U.S. economy began crackling with signs of
 increasing confidence, putting American entrepreneurs in a better position than they’ve been in for years, says Karl Schamotta, a senior market strategist forWestern Union Business Solutions (WU) in Calgary. “The U.S. economy took its licks very hard during the financial crisis and its aftermath, but it’s still one of the world’s most flexible economies—and that gives it a huge advantage in recovery,” Schamotta says.
The upbeat forecasts could get lost in the doom-and-gloom pronouncements that typically accompany a Presidential election year, says John Krubski, a futurist and research adviser for the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute. He suggests that small companies use the uptick as an excuse to adjust their business models and seek new markets.
In this Smart Answers column, Schamotta and Krubski pinpoint four challenges they foresee facing entrepreneurs in 2012 and offer advice to business owners on how to meet these obstacles to growth, head-on.
Negative focus. “Politicians don’t get elected unless they can convince people that things are going badly,” Krubski says, explaining why research shows that election years tend to be unfavorable for business. To avoid getting sucked into the rhetoric, small business owners should “inoculate themselves” against the prevailing wisdom and accentuate the positive: Financial-analysis-software maker Sageworks tracked U.S. companies with sales under $7 million and found a 3 percent average revenue increase in 2011. That’s up from a 2 percent increase in 2010 and a 6 percent drop in 2009.
Worry about slumping sales. The Guardian Life’s October 2011 survey of 1,100 business owners showed that 14 percent would shut their doors if revenues were to drop drastically in 2012; the figure rose to just over 23 percent for sole proprietors. Nevertheless, entrepreneurs are unrelenting optimists, even in tough times. Insurance firm Hiscox released its year-end “DNA of an Entrepreneur” survey of 3,000 respondents, showing that despite increased stress, almost half of U.S. entrepreneurs are optimistic about 2012; fewer than half expected layoffs. TheMcGladrey Manufacturing & Distribution Monitor, a quarterly survey of just over 500 executives who run mostly small and midsize businesses, showed economic outlook increasing from 38 percent positive in the spring to 60 percent positive in the summer—and 78 percent by the fall, says Karen Kurek, national manufacturing and distribution practice leader in McGladrey’s Chicago office.
World economic turmoil. From currency troubles in the euro zone to decelerating growth in emerging economies, the fallout contains repercussions for the U.S. economy. However, such difficulties also provide opportunities for small U.S. businesses to expand into markets where their competition has been weakened, particularly if they retool business plans and increase productivity.
“This year is a good one to be looking for coins in the sofa, to work on little improvements that can make a big difference to your long-term success,” Schamotta says. “Reduce costs, reduce cash flow volatility, and maximize foreign trading relationships.” Don’t forget the surplus of talented people looking for jobs, Krubski says. “If you have 10 employees and one isn’t pulling his weight, the other nine are penalized. It’s a hard decision, but think about what’s working for your company, what’s not, and what you can do to rebalance.”
Uncertainty. Service providers are craving the certainty of long-term contracts and may be willing to trade some profitability in exchange. “People are going to be looking to renegotiate everything and you should be doing the same. A friend [who runs a small business] had a copier salesman approach her about locking in her account for 10 years. She agreed, at a much lower rate, and got him to buy her out of her previous contract,” Krubski says. Do a start-from-scratch review of all your expenses and cut deals with everyone from your accountant to your customers and employees. Give people your commitment to buy from them and you can renegotiate many fixed expenses to your long-term benefit.
By Karen E. Klein

Friday, January 20, 2012

Bennis' Leadership Qualities

Warren Bennis, widely known as a modern leadership guru, has identified six personal qualities .

Integrity

Integrity means alignment of words and actions with inner values. It means sticking to these values even when an alternative path may be easier or more advantageous.
A leader with integrity can be trusted and will be admired for sticking to strong values. They also act as a powerful model for people to copy, thus building an entire organization with powerful and effective cultural values.

Dedication

Dedication means spending whatever time and energy on a task is required to get the job done, rather than giving it whatever time you have available.
The work of most leadership positions is not something to do 'if time'. It means giving your whole self to the task, dedicating yourself to success and to leading others with you.

Magnanimity

A magnanimous person gives credit where it is due. It also means being gracious in defeat and allowing others who are defeated to retain their dignity.
Magnanimity in leadership includes crediting the people with success and accepting personal responsibility for failures.

Humility

Humility is the opposite of arrogance and narcissism. It means recognizing that you are not inherently superior to others and consequently that they are not inferior to you. It does not mean diminishing yourself, nor does it mean exalting yourself.
Humble leaders do not debase themselves, neither falsely nor due to low self-esteem. They simply recognize all people as equal in value and know that their position does not make them a god.

Openness

Openness means being able to listen to ideas that are outside one's current mental models, being able to suspend judgement until after one has heard someone else's ideas.
An open leader listens to their people without trying to shut them down early, which at least demonstrates care and builds trust. Openness also treats other ideas as potentially better than one's own ideas. In the uncertain world of new territory, being able to openly consider alternatives is an important skill.

Creativity

Creativity means thinking differently, being able to get outside the box and take a new and different viewpoint on things.
For a leader to be able to see a new future towards which they will lead their followers, creativity provides the ability to think differently and see things that others have not seen, and thus giving reason for followers to follow.

By: Warren Bennis
Source: Changing Minds

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Locke's Goal Setting Theory - Understanding SMART Goal Setting


© iStockphoto
Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people, and of motivating yourself. The value of goal setting is so well recognized that entire management systems, like Management by Objectives, have goal setting basics incorporated within them.

In fact, goal setting theory is generally accepted as among the most valid and useful motivation theories in industrial and organizational psychology, human resource management, and organizational behavior.

Many of us have learned – from bosses, seminars, and business articles – to set SMART goals. It seems natural to assume that by setting a goal that's Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound, we will be well on our way to accomplishing it.
But is this really the best way of setting goals?

To answer this, we look to Dr Edwin Locke's pioneering research on goal setting and motivation in the late 1960s. In his 1968 article "Toward a Theory of Task Motivation and Incentives," he stated that employees were motivated by clear goals and appropriate feedback. Locke went on to say that working toward a goal provided a major source of motivation to actually reach the goal – which, in turn, improved performance.

This information does not seem revolutionary to us some 40 years later. This shows the impact his theory has had on professional and personal performance.
In this article, we look at what Locke had to say about goal setting, and how we can apply his theory to our own performance goals.

Goal Setting Theory

Locke's research showed that there was a relationship between how difficult and specific a goal was and people's performance of a task. He found that specific and difficult goals led to better task performance than vague or easy goals.

Telling someone to "Try hard" or "Do your best" is less effective than "Try to get more than 80% correct" or "Concentrate on beating your best time." Likewise, having a goal that's too easy is not a motivating force. Hard goals are more motivating than easy goals, because it's much more of an accomplishment to achieve something that you have to work for.

A few years after Locke published his article, another researcher, Dr Gary Latham, studied the effect of goal setting in the workplace. His results supported exactly what Locke had found, and the inseparable link between goal setting and workplace performance was formed.

In 1990, Locke and Latham published their seminal work, "A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance." In this book, they reinforced the need to set specific and difficult goals, and they outlined three other characteristics of successful goal setting.

Five Principles of Goal Setting

To motivate, goals must have:
  1. Clarity.
  2. Challenge.
  3. Commitment.
  4. Feedback.
  5. Task complexity.
Let's look at each of these in detail.

1. Clarity

Clear goals are measurable and unambiguous. When a goal is clear and specific, with a definite time set for completion, there is less misunderstanding about what behaviors will be rewarded. You know what's expected, and you can use the specific result as a source of motivation. When a goal is vague – or when it's expressed as a general instruction, like "Take initiative" – it has limited motivational value.

To improve your or your team's performance, set clear goals that use specific and measurable standards. "Reduce job turnover by 15%" or "Respond to employee suggestions within 48 hours" are examples of clear goals.

When you use the SMART acronym to help you set goals, you ensure the clarity of the goal by making it Specific, Measurable and Time-bound.

2. Challenge

One of the most important characteristics of goals is the level of challenge. People are often motivated by achievement, and they'll judge a goal based on the significance of the anticipated accomplishment. When you know that what you do will be well received, there's a natural motivation to do a good job.

Rewards typically increase for more difficult goals. If you believe you'll be well compensated or otherwise rewarded for achieving a challenging goal, that will boost your enthusiasm and your drive to get it done.

Setting SMART goals that are Relevant links them closely to the rewards given for achieving challenging goals. Relevant goals will further the aims of your organization, and these are the kinds of goals that most employers will be happy to reward.

When setting goals, make each goal a challenge. If an assignment is easy and not viewed as very important – and if you or your employee doesn't expect the accomplishment to be significant – then the effort may not be impressive.


Note:

 It's important to strike an appropriate balance between a challenging goal and a realistic goal. Setting a goal that you'll fail to achieve is possibly more de-motivating than setting a goal that's too easy. The need for success and achievement is strong, therefore people are best motivated by challenging, but realistic, goals. Ensuring that goals are Achievable or Attainable is one of the elements of SMART.

3. Commitment

Goals must be understood and agreed upon if they are to be effective. Employees are more likely to "buy into" a goal if they feel they were part of creating that goal. The notion of participative management rests on this idea of involving employees in setting goals and making decisions.

One version of SMART – for use when you are working with someone else to set their goals – has A and R stand for Agreed and Realistic instead of Attainable and Relevant. Agreed goals lead to commitment.

This doesn't mean that every goal has to be negotiated with and approved by employees. It does mean that goals should be consistent and in line with previous expectations and organizational concerns. As long as the employee believes that the goal is consistent with the goals of the company, and believes the person assigning the goal is credible, then the commitment should be there.

I nterestingly, goal commitment and difficulty often work together. The harder the goal, the more commitment is required. If you have an easy goal, you don't need a lot of motivation to get it done. When you're working on a difficult assignment, you will likely encounter challenges that require a deeper source of inspiration and incentive.

As you use goal setting in your workplace, make an appropriate effort to include people in their own goal setting. Encourage employees to develop their own goals, and keep them informed about what's happening elsewhere in the organization. This way, they can be sure that their goals are consistent with the overall vision and purpose that the company seeks.

4. Feedback

In addition to selecting the right type of goal, an effective goal program must also include feedback. Feedback provides opportunities to clarify expectations, adjust goal difficulty, and gain recognition. It's important to provide benchmark opportunities or targets, so individuals can determine for themselves how they're doing.

These regular progress reports, which measure specific success along the way, are particularly important where it's going to take a long time to reach a goal. In these cases, break down the goals into smaller chunks, and link feedback to these intermediate milestones.

SMART goals are Measurable, and this ensures that clear feedback can be provided.
With all your goal setting efforts, make sure that you build in time for providing formal feedback. Certainly, informal check-ins are important, and they provide a means of giving regular
encouragement and recognition. However, taking the time to sit down and discuss goal performance is a necessary factor in long-term performance improvement. See our article on Delegation for more on this.

5. Task Complexity

The last factor in goal setting theory introduces two more requirements for success. For goals or assignments that are highly complex, take special care to ensure that the work doesn't become too overwhelming.

People who work in complicated and demanding roles probably have a high level of motivation already. However, they can often push themselves too hard if measures aren't built into the goal expectations to account for the complexity of the task. It's therefore important to do the following:
  • Give the person sufficient time to meet the goal or improve performance.
  • Provide enough time for the person to practice or learn what is expected and required for success.

The whole point of goal setting is to facilitate success. Therefore, you want to make sure that the conditions surrounding the goals don't frustrate or inhibit people from accomplishing their objectives. This reinforces the "Attainable" part of SMART.

Source: Mind Tools
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_87.htm

Thursday, January 12, 2012

10 Tips for Navigating the Waters of Life

While some of us might fit the stereotype of Jeff Spicoli beach bums who don’t care about anything other than riding waves, there is an entirely spiritual and zen side to the sport of surfing that gives us a chance to really understand how to navigate the waters of life. In fact one of the most common things you’ll hear a surfer say when asked about how much time they spend in the water is “Of course I surf every day that I can, it keeps you from going nuts.” So, here it is, in no particular order:
  • Trust Your instincts
    If there’s anything I’ve realized over 31 years on this planet and 6 months in the ocean, it’s that your instincts are almost always right. I’d like to think that your instinct is the higher self speaking. Instinct is something that is really hard to quantify or define. It’s something you just feel or know. If you look back over your life you’ll notice that in the moments when you trusted that feeling, you ended up in positive situations. When you go against instinct you almost ALWAYS end up in a complete mess.
  • Bail out when you think you won’t make it
    In many ways this is similar to trusting your instinct. While some might argue against this and say that failure is necessary to learn, this is more about knowing when it’s just time to bail out. If you’re about to take the plunge into a situation and feel like you are on the brink of a severe wipeout, you are almost always right. In life and in surfing this tends to hold true.
  • Be Present
    Last summer when I was working as a marketing intern at Turbotax.com, one of the executives gave a speech to all the interns. When I asked her what they key to making fast progress in your career was, she gave me an answer that seemed counter intuitive to everything I’d ever heard. She told me “Don’t worry about getting ahead, focus on what you’re doing right now. Be present. The rest will take care of itself.”

    Presence is at the root of almost any spiritual text that I’ve come across and every personal development guru seems to be a huge advocate of it. When you are present, you achieve peak performance in whatever it is you are doing in the moment. Too much focus on the future and too much dwelling on the past is a recipe for mediocrity.
  • Shake the wipeouts right away
    Sometimes despite trusting your instincts, bailing out when you think you should, and being completely in the moment, you will fail. It’s just part of life. But, how you deal with that failure is what makes the difference between whether or not you achieve what you are truly capable of in this lifetime.

    Sometimes the 2nd wave of opportunity is better than the first: If you’re a surfer then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Sometimes you take the first wave in a set and when you look back at the second wave, it’s bigger and better. Life kind of works the same way. There are moments that seem like your friends and everybody around you is getting ahead faster than you are. They are on that first wave of opportunity. If you keep comparing and competing then you’re likely to miss out on the 2nd wave opportunity which is often better than the first. Be OK with the order in which things occur.
  • Be Patient
    Patience is something that I’ve never been very good at. I actually think we live in a world that discourages patience to some degree. Bigger, better, faster seems to be the mantra of the technology and information driven society that we live in today. Wayne Dyer said something really interesting in one of his books: Today it takes more time to get from one side of London to another, than it did before the automobile was invented." Yet, the whole purpose of the automobile was to speed up the rate at which we get to places. Sometimes slowing down will get you where you want to go much faster, and is less likely to get you into an accident.
  • Small adjustments make a big difference
    It’s amazing how often the smallest adjustments can make huge differences. With surfing, a minor adjustment in your stance can make all the difference between staying on a wave and wiping out. If you look at the design of a car, sometimes it’s literally inches that make a dramatic difference in performance. For a musician, one minor change in the melody, can completely change the sound of a song. If you can find that one small thing that makes a big difference, you’ll expend less effort for more results.
  • Timing can make the difference between a great ride and a severe wipeout
    You’ve probably heard the phrase about many things in life that “timing is everything.” In the worst of economic times, people have made some of their greatest breakthroughs. It’s known that many people became extremely wealthy during The Great Depression. Tough economic times tend to force innovation and this just happens to be timing at work. On the flip side, college students who graduate into a recession may have been better off by graduating even one year earlier.
  • Wave selection can make all the difference
    Success in any endeavor is largely dependent on the choices you make. Choose the right wave and you’ll catch one wave after another. Choose the wrong wave and you’re in for a great deal of time with your head under water. Life is kind of the same way. Choose the right boss and you’re setting yourself up for a successful career. Choose the wrong one and you’re in a losing battle. Choose the right partner, and you’re in a for a joyful relationship. Choose the wrong one and you’re setting yourself up for drama and heartache. So, make sure you choose wisely.
  • Laugh and Smile every single day
    After all is said and done if you don’t laugh and smile, then it doesn’t really matter how much of the above you incorporate into your life. Laughter and smiles are great medications that you won’t find in any pharmacy. Yet, they have more power than most synthesized drugs that we’ve learned to manufacture with the advances we’ve made.
The waters of life are interesting in that they go through phases of stillness, turbulence, peace, and serenity. But in the end, what makes the ultimate difference is how you navigate the waters of life.

By: Srinivas Rao
Source: Dumb Little Man

Monday, January 9, 2012

7 Secrets to Making This Year the Best Year Ever


It’s the time of year when goals are made and abandoned a few weeks later. Will you be one of them, or will you set goals that have the power to change your life?

Not achieving what you set out to do means you’ll yet again fail to move toward the life you desire, which leads to nothing but regret. Inertia can be difficult to overcome, but something you may overlook is the influence from friends, parents, and society in general.

Often what you believe you want is not what you want at all. The trick lies in setting meaningful objectives.

It doesn’t matter whether you set goals or not, as long as you’re doing something that makes you come alive.
  1. Stay Here and Now
    Before you decide what you want to do, stay present here and now. Forget about the past and the future. Let any and all thoughts pass. Don’t give them meaning, and don’t add to them.

    It is from this blank, calm state that you can begin to look at what has gone well last year, and what hasn’t.
  2. Eliminate
    The big mistake people make is they think more is better, but that isn’t always the case. The more things you do, the less time you have. You want to make sure that every single thing in your life is something you’ve consciously chosen.

    It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing things that distract you from what you really want to do, because you’re afraid.

    Instead of letting distractions take over your life, look at what you can stop doing. Pick just one thing right now. Keep it simple, and then eliminate it from your life. It could be something small, such as a magazine subscription, or something bigger, like fast food.
  3. Discriminate
    You have to be vigilant about what you let into your life. Learn to say no and learn to respect your own time. You don’t always have to say yes to friends and family. First, think about what you want to do. Otherwise you’ll end up living someone else’s life.

    If you complain about not having enough time, you probably need to get clearer about what you want from life. And by clear, I mean really, really clear. Focus on ONE main thing at a time.
  4. Goals
    Next, set one big goal for the year. And by goal, I don’t necessarily mean regular goal setting. Set a direction for where you want to go.

    I simply use the concept of goals to get a point across. Goal-setting is just a process that gets you results. What matters are the results; many get stuck on the process, but the process doesn’t matter.

    Use whatever feels good, and take action. Start now.
  5. Focus (on Your Next Step)
    When you have one big goal, it’s time to look at what your next step is. What can you do right now to move closer to that goal?

    Keep the next step as tiny as possible. It could be brainstorming ideas and action steps. Whatever it is, start now. Yes, you can put it off, but if you do that, you’re putting off your life. If you make it a habit, you’ll end up living a mediocre life.

    Do you really want that?

    Living an extraordinary life takes effort, at least at first, which is why most people turn it down.
  6. Momentum
    When you focus on taking one step at a time, you build momentum. You take one step, then the next, and then the next. It eliminates overwhelm, because you don’t have to try and predict the future.

    Know where you’re going, and keep taking the next step. Let the rest take care of itself.
  7. The Most Important Secret
    Last, but not least, remember to focus on what matters to you. Forget about what others think you should or shouldn’t do. This is your life, and you are the one who has to live it.

    If someone thinks you have to do something that you don’t want, forget about them. If they try to push you to do it, eliminate them from your life. I know, easier said than done!

    There’s no one you have to put up with, and nothing you have to do, except follow what feels right for you. Always remember that, because that is what will help you create results that matter and make this year the best one of your life.

By: Henri Junttila
Source: Dumb Little Man