by Gary M Bailey
©
2009
http://hbr.whoisgarybailey.com
Everybody
has a dream of how they'd like their life to be. For some people that may be a
big, expensive, luxurious dream while for others it might be the dream of making
rent on a slightly bigger apartment. Whatever the dream - for most people, those
dreams just stay dreams, while for others they become reality. The sad part is
that they could be reality for everyone and there is an easy way to improve your
chances.
So why do we let those dreams just slip away so
often? There are many reasons and many ways that we allow this to happen - but
there is one little trick which, when you use it, can eliminate all of those problems.
More on that in a minute, but let's just review where things can go wrong.
First
up is our old friend procrastination. This guy gets in wherever there is something
to do that we don't think we will enjoy - from changing jobs to taking out the
trash - this is where we get very busy doing something else - anything else -
even though we know we will still have to go back and take care of the original
task in the end. And the crazy part is that when you do face up that task, it's
usually not that bad anyway! How many times have you told yourself that this is
your year, but December rolls around again and somehow the timing just hasn't
been quite right all year? News flash - there is no "better time" -
there's only now.
The next place we let things drop is in
clearly defining just what we want. If you want to drive from New York to Los
Angeles, just knowing you want to go "west-ish" is not enough - you
need a firm direction to drive in and preferably a street address of your destination.
If you were visiting John in Los Angeles - would you just head West and hope that
someone else would know where he lives when you got close enough? Yet this is
the way many of us go about our dreams - "I want more money" is not
a clear goal for example. If someone gave you an extra $1 - would that cover it?
I doubt it, so exactly how much do you want and when do you want it? Take a moment
and make sure that you have your dreams thought out and written down - they should
be big enough to stretch you, but not so big that you cannot believe them.
Then
the third way our dreams drift away is in making a plan and taking action. There's
a whole book just in this area, but here's a few things to consider about this.
To start with, get that goal clear and then review 2008. Is there anything you
did last year that did not move you towards that goal? What did you do that did
get you closer to your goal? Now take a look at 2009 - what steps can you take
right away to get on the road to your goal? Finally, what additional steps could
you take to make that goal a reality? Changing jobs, going back to school, starting
your own business - if you cannot see the big steps, just take the small steps
- the bigger ones will become clear later on.
Finally -
take action! Don't wait until you have the perfect goal or the perfect plan -
that's procrastination! Give yourself a time limit - maybe the weekend, and then
start to take actions. One thing is for sure - you will never have the perfect
plan and your goal will continue to evolve as you get closer to it, so do what
you know to do today and move towards your goal as it is today - tomorrow you
will have a clearer goal and a new set of actions. But do something, every single
day!
Now - here comes the magic ingredient. If you take
the fuzziest of goals and the sketchiest of plans, and you apply this final step
- you can improve your chances dramatically. Ready? You won't even believe how
simple it is...
Start to share!
We
will let ourselves off the hook every single time when it comes to making changes
and improving our lifestyle. But if there is a chance that we might look bad in
front of others, then we will move heaven and earth to avoid that. So put yourself
on the line - tell everyone you know and everyone you meet what you are going
to do and why - just telling others will make it more real to you and every time
you come to a decision point, you will make the right decision, even if it is
the hard decision, just because you told others you would.
So
- set your targets for the year, make your plans and spread the word to make this
your best year ever!
