Throughout this blog and my previous older blog, I've extensively discussed my journey on the path to personal development, setting and achieving goals. Thus far, I've experienced lessons to apply to the next set of goals and endeavors. If there was one thing I learned so far on the journey, there are some things that work and work too well.
In setting goals, there is a Yin to the Yang. One of the basic tenements on going after a goal is that clear intention will always trump mechanism and outside influences. Also I learned to be careful to be specific in certain areas otherwise the goal can manifest itself in an unplanned manner. Definitely be specific, yet be flexible and let go. (Much easier said than done, I must admit) Take money for example, people often set financial goals, but are not specific enough. "Make more money by blah blah date" is not a grand goal because by that certain date, one can find various forms of loose change over that period. On the flip side, making a million dollars by the end of the week, though possible, may not resonate with the subconscious inner being of the person setting the goal, and that subconscious inner being will trump the intention. As of this date in the beginning of 2011, I am still feeling my way around the arena of financial goals and achievement. The finances will flow, I know it will.
Redd Foxx, the comedian and actor from a generation ago had a famous quote: "Kid, there's no such thing as an unrealistic goal. Just unrealistic timeframe" What he meant was that anything can be achieved within a reasonable amount of time. Of course the definition of "reasonable" can fluctuate on each situation.
Take this example. I am a proud team member of San Francisco PSI Seminars Pacesetters Leadership Dynamics Team "PrimeTime" 13. Pacesetters' Leadership Dynamics is a 90-day goal setting and coaching program, and I started that program in January of 2009. During that 90 days, I am allowed to set four main goals in my life: emotional/relational, mental/career, physical, and spiritual. On my physical goal, I set a goal that within the 90 days (April '09), I was to go from my present weight in the beginning of the program of 187 pounds to 167 pounds by the end. At the end of the 90 days, my weight was 174. 65% of that goal was achieved. For some reason, I was haunted by not making that goal. So what I did was referred to the quote from Redd Foxx and reset the target deadline. I even put an illustration of a pair of feet standing on a scale with the numbers "167" and the dates all over the stick figured photo. That date was December 31, 2009. Also, I placed the initials NSNK throughout the poster. (NSNK="No Shit, No Kidding")
During the Holidays of 2009, I decided to schedule my annual trek to Southeast Asia including stops in Hong Kong, Singapore, Davao, Kuala Lumpur, and Malacca. I departed from the States on the 1st week of December. My first day in Hong Kong, I was scheduled to meet a friend for Dim Sum lunch. A half hour before our scheduled meeting, I sprained my back and ended up bed-ridden for a day and a half. I missed my dim sum meal as well as any meal for the day. A week later, I visited my girlfriend and her family in Davao. The price for food in the Philippines was extremely low, and I felt like a kid in a candy store. Unfortunately I ended up with food poisoning and was not able to eat for another 2 days. (This was 2/3 days in the Philippines) Upon returning to Singapore for Christmas, I ended up with H1N1, and was quarantined to my hotel room for the next 48 hours. When I took a bus trip to Malaysia including Malacca and KL, I was not able to fully eat. In fact I did not end up having a full meal without complications until New Years Eve when I returned to Singapore. Guess what my weight was on NYE? Yup, it was on 167, and that too was a challenge to confirm since most scales there were metric.
Moral? Maybe there really isn't one. Well, from experience creating a vision board DOES work. Being specific works. Deadlines work. Oh, the means to the ends can be VERY discomforting at times if not specific enough to the mechanism. So, good luck, have fun, be thankful, and let go.
