“An average person with average talent, ambition and education, can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society, if that person has clear, focused goals.”-Brian Tracy
Now that you have a massive list of things to have, do, and be in the next 10 years, let’s start the process of succeeding. Take a few minutes and whittle the list down to the top ones in each area of priority for you. The next step is to define what you would like to accomplish in these long term goals in the next year.
I know the instant gratification monster in you would like to have it all in the next year…but that isn’t the way to plan. Remember the ant and the elephant. You want to be able to look back in one year and feel good that you accomplished meaningful goals that have you on your way.
Once you have these ten or so, broken out, you need to ask yourself this question. Why do I want this?
It’s important to look deep inside yourself to find the true reason you want the goal to happen. This is called the intrinsic motivator. For example, If your long term goal is to have a million dollars in the liquid assets, and that leads you to a goal of being able to put $100,000 into investments this year, then you now need to answer the question why you would want this?
The money is the external representation of the deeper desire. Maybe it’s freedom or security. Maybe it’s early retirement. Whatever it is, THAT is the true thing that will keep you motivated to achieve your goal.
So decide what the goals are you want to focus on for 2013. It doesn’t need to be ten goals, that was an arbitrary number, but it does have to be at least one goal in each area of priority in order to ensure that you will stay balanced in your pursuit. So now you have today’s mission: Define the exact goals for 2013 and why you want it.
