Daily Inspiration 8-3-10

"Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars."

-- Les Brown

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high

and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

-- Michelangelo

Goals are funny things sometimes. They are especially funny when I hear people tell me that my goals are too high or that I'm thinking too big, that I should make smaller goals so that I can achieve them. I was just told the other day that I should have a goal to increase my business by 10%-15%, or maybe 20% rather than the 200% I was shooting for. I think that is funny. Lower my goals? Why? That's not the goal that I want. Isn't the purpose of a goal that it is something I WANT to shoot for? I really don't care that much if I miss it, the improvement that naturally will come from such an endeavor is reward enough.

A goal is not the same thing as a business forecast. A business forecast is based more on the past than anything else. It is a guess; albeit, an attempt at an "educated" guess, called a forecast, but not a goal. A goal would have driving power. A forecast is a minimum expectation. It has no driving power at all. I've always taken these things lightly for they are much like mission statements to me. Gag me. At best, they are both ineffective and unduly time consuming.

A goal though is different. It is where I WANT to go and by setting a goal of WHERE I want to go, I am encouraged to put that picture into a time frame. Just for the heck of it. Just to take it out for a spin and see what I can do with it. This is where the magic happens. The decision of what I WANT, and WHERE I want to go, and approximately WHEN I would like to arrive is really the whole story, don't you think?

But what about the rules? You know, the punishment of defeat and the thrill of victory and all that. Well, everyone gets to play with that as they will. They can laugh at my goal if they want and I am not impressed. It is my goal, not theirs. If I fail to achieve the objective in the time frame desired, I am not defeated or discouraged. It is my goal. If I still want it passionately, I just reset the clock and keep going.

So, the moral of the story is this: Take ownership of your own goals. Accept responsibility for your own what, when, and where. Don't laugh at anyone else's goals and don't allow it to affect you if someone laughs at yours. Consider them ignorant of your power.

You can do anything you want to do if you want to do it enough.

By the way, I'm already almost halfway to the goal. . .

How High Can You Fly? You're The Pilot!

Spread Some Joy Today--Get excited about your own desires. Set your own goals about them and you don't need to share that with anyone unless you want to. If you share them, you may need to have more chutzpah!