Oswald Letter

Set your goal and create a plan to achieve it

Goals and action plansIf you spent any time at all watching the 2012 Summer Olympics, you undoubtedly noticed young Gabby Douglas. Gabby is a 16-year-old U.S. gymnast who won a gold medal in both the individual and team all-around competitions. The charismatic teenager is now featured on the front of Corn Flakes cereal boxes.

So, how does a mere teenager reach the pinnacle of her sport? That’s what I was wondering, so I dug a little deeper. At age 14, Gabby moved from Virginia to Iowa to train under renowned coach Liang Chow. Notice I didn’t say the Douglas family moved to Iowa. No, Gabby made the move by herself and lived with a host family in Des Moines. She was just 14!

What caused her to make such a decision? In her own words, “Something clicked in my head that said, if I really want to make this happen I need to get better coaching.” So she set off for the Midwest to chase her Olympic dream.

You see, Gabby Douglas had a goal — she wanted to be an Olympic champion. And a goal can be a powerful thing. Gabby is living proof of the power of a goal.

In business, as well as all aspects of life, goals are important. They give us a destination, something to achieve. They take us from where we are to where we want to be. In Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic, Alice in Wonderland, there’s a telling conversation between Alice and the Cat:

Cat: Where are you going?
Alice: Which way should I go?
Cat: That depends on where you are going.
Alice: I don’t know.
Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.

The goals we set provide the answer to the Cat’s first question, “Where are you going?” They give us direction and something to strive for.

So the first step is setting a goal. It must be something you believe you can achieve. Gabby wanted to win an Olympic gold medal. It was something she dreamed about but also something she thought she had the talent to achieve.

Once you have your goal, make sure you write it down. I know, if you’re goal is truly significant you’re not likely to forget it. But writing it down does more than serve as a reminder. Having the goal in writing makes it more concrete. In fact, I’d suggest that you put it in a prominent place where you will see it daily. You might even want to post your goal in multiple locations so you’re reminded of it often, always keeping it front of mind.

Putting your goal down in writing and posting it in many places also carries the added benefit of allowing others to see it. Having others know what your goal is can also serve as a motivator. It’s one thing to tell yourself what you’re going to achieve. It’s another to tell everyone else!

I said that your goal must be something you believe you can achieve, but that doesn’t mean it has to be modest. The great artist Michelangelo once said, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” So aim high with your goal. To put it another way, what would you do if you weren’t afraid of failing?

So now you have your goal, it’s big but it’s yours, and you’ve written it down. What’s next? You need a plan of action. Gabby decided she needed a different coach to realize her goal of gold, so she picked up and moved half way across the country. What’s your plan for meeting your goal? The goal is important, but a plan of action is critical if you’re going to reach it. If the goal is the destination, the plan of action is the map. And make sure your plan is as specific as possible.

You have your goal and your plan, now it’s time to act. Will Rodgers was so wise to tell us, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. No goal worth setting can be achieved without hard work.

My final piece of advice is not to become discouraged when you fail. Many people, at the first sign of trouble, abandon their goal. That’s the wrong choice. When you fail you must reevaluate your plan, adjust it, and continue on the path to your goal. You see, the problem isn’t with the goal, but with the plan of action.

Goals are critical to your success in business and in life. Don’t ever be without one! And once you’ve set your goal, put a plan in place to achieve it and keeping working until you arrive at your destination. Good luck!

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