Achieving Personal Goals

I ran across an interesting idea recently about something called Parkinson’s Law that I have long suspected was true (and I bet you did too), I just hadn’t heard anyone articulate it as a “law”.

Parkinson’s Law goes something like this:

Whatever project you’re working on or whatever goal you’re looking to achieve, it will end up taking all the time you allow it to… “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

This concept was explained in great detail in a book published in 1957 called, “Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress.”

Like a lot of profound ideas, it’s not hard to understand or believe. The first example that comes to mind for me is the last day before you go on vacation. Whatever is on our plate at work that HAS to get done, gets done. Same for pre-trip preparations, we become achievement machines when necessary to make sure the bags are packed and we’re walking out the door at the appointed time.

This is a great example behind the principle of setting the tasks in your Action Plan to due dates or deadlines. Whether it’s a career goal, a weight loss goal or a financial goal, without a due date Parkinson’s Law will rule and it will take you twice as long to achieve. And that’s the point, for you will be able to enjoy the benefits you originally sought sooner. So I encourage you to Draw the Bullseye, Create a Plan and set those tasks to deadlines. I say you deserve it!

Posted in Time Management | No Comments »

Don’t cringe, this is a good one. I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s book titled “Outliers”, which discusses the notion of success and points out the common denominators his research revealed about those people and groups who have achieved rare, extreme success .

As you would imagine, the facts behind the story aren’t always obvious, and more importantly I found some very interesting parallels to the principles promoted here at Achieving Personal Goals.

There were plenty of examples of success in the book, but I’ll focus on 3 that, together, reveal an interesting message. Since this is, after all, a blog post it will have to be really brief but I wanted to hit the high spots because the message is important. If you want to learn more about this fascinating research, I encourage you to get the book at the link below.

Hockey

In 1980, a study was published called Relative Age. This study related to the Ontario Junior hockey league, and it revealed a statistic that showed nearly 5 ½ times as many players on the elite teams in that league born in January as any other month. In fact overall, it was determined that 40% (nearly half) of all elite hockey players are born in the months of Jan, Feb and March. Here’s why….

In this league, they get the kids started early and the cutoff age for eligibility each year is Jan 1. So if a kid turns 9 years old on Jan 2, he has to wait nearly a full year before he’s eligible to play in the 9 year old league. At that age, a year obviously makes a big difference in their physical and skills development. Kids tend to be more developed, stronger, faster, etc. so they’re generally better athletes. Consequently they are more likely to get picked to play on the all star teams and in the elite leagues, where the coaching is better, the equipment is better, the competition is more intense, etc, and it starts this irreversible process where those who get a head start just continue to have advantages over their peers that are hard to overcome.

Bill Gates

Because of a series of unusual, extremely rare opportunities at that time in history to get access to program on mainframe computers between the 7th grade and graduation from high school, he was able to develop his programming skills and software knowledge to a level well beyond most people anywhere near his age, and at a time when software was just emerging as a huge industry. By the time he enrollled at Harvard, he was a great programmer and had a depth of knowledge of software development and design far beyond his years.

The Beatles

Prior to coming to America, when the Beatles were still in high school, they got the opportunity to played in Hamburg, Germany. The nature of the gigs in Hamburg at that time called for extremely long sets (up to 8 hours at a time), sometimes for 7 days a week. During a 22 month period, they played 1200 hrs. They not only honed their skills as musicians, they also developed their ability to write their own music, perfect their stage prescense and generally develop into professional musicians.

My takeaway

In each of these cases, there was an opportunity to put in a significant number of hours to develop their skill and work toward a goal. Regardless of talent, opportunity, aptitude or anything else, without putting in that substantial amount of work none of their success would have occurred. See Action Plan Checklist #6 – Execute Your Plan. See also “Key Traits of Achievers“. Any way we cut it, we have to take action, put in the work toward a focused, specific goal.

This pattern emerges over and over again, from the research studies to the quotes of great leaders:

• Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential. Sir Winston Churchill
• There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure. Colin Powell
• You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile. Brian Tracy
• Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin

Conclusion

Do the work. Find what you love, set a goal large enough to fill you with enthusiasm and do the work. Talent and natural ability are fine things to have, but the thing that makes the difference and sets people apart is putting in the work.

If you’d like to get the book, click here: Outliers: The Story of Success. Full disclosure: If you purchase it through my link Amazon will pay me a commission.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

It seems there’s a natural progression or trend to virtually any aspiration, desire, target or dare I say it …. personal goal. I think it goes something like this:

1. We have an idea, epiphany or “ah ha!” moment when you are certain that your life would be better with (or without) something (less weight, more money, better relationship, better job, etc).

2. The energy produced by the idea in #1 is channeled and we create a plan to achieve our goal, either in our head or on paper.

3. We set about implementing the steps in our plan, with the determination and enthusiasm of Rudy (click here if you’re not familiar with this notorious sports reference).

4. Now somewhere around week 2, we realize we’ve been working at this hard, with true passion and zeal, and nothing (or not much) is happening (how can this be?).

5. Despite a voice in your head saying “these things take time”, you begin to reevaluate your priorities, rethink your epiphany and weigh just how important this goal really is.

6. A few more days go by, your effort lessens a little, still no results or rewards, and it’s becoming even more likely that this wasn’t such a great idea.

7. Finally somewhere around week 2 – 4 resignation sets in, we made a minor miscalculation in the assessment phase of this goal, and we decide that we really didn’t want it that bad after all.

Maybe this isn’t exactly you, but it’s a fairly typical model for how alot of people approach goal setting and making changes in their lives. You don’t have to look any farther than New Year’s Resolutions to see that this is true. Research tells us that at least 80% of all such resolutions are broken by Jan 31, and in fact 90% are abandoned by Jan 15 if they are related to health and fitness activities.

Sounds grim, I know. However the truth, as they say, will set your free. Realizing this pattern, this tendency, can allow us to go into the goal plan with the proper mindset and attitude to greatly increase our chances for success. Following these 3 simple steps will provide you with ammunition to deal with disappointment, disillusionment and frustration.

1. Take the long term view.

It’s not news that we’ve all to some degree joined the immediate gratification, “get ______ quick” (fill in the blank as you choose) society, and that leads to unrealistic expectations and the wrong attitude. Before you decide to pursue this goal, consider whether it’s worth turning into a life habit, or at least whether you’re willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it.

2. Decide if you’re willing to invest effort over an extended period of time without getting results.

Similar to the immediate gratification idea in #1 above, this relates to the principle of deferred gratification – being willing to put off reward today in return for greater rewards later. It’s a rock solid principle (think college education, retirement savings plan or regular exercise), but it does fly in the face of immediate download movies on cable tv or “pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free” (or whatever the ad says). The easy stuff comes quickly, but many times the good stuff isn’t easy.

3. Recognize and prepare for “The Dip”.

One of my favorite authors, Seth Godin, coined this phrase (I think) in his book of the same title. The point of the book is that it can be smart to know when to quit, which I agree with. But the greater message in my opinion was that most people quit when things get tough, frustrating, don’t show progress, etc, and that’s exactly where the opportunity lies. Following through on worthwhile goals that most people give up on is one of the things that makes the achievement so valuable. We do, however, have to be willing to stick it out through “the dip”, that phase where the progress is hard, the rewards are not obvious and it’s easier to rationalize the goal and give up.

I like the analogy of the artist who loves sculpture. He meticiously strikes the rock in just the right place over and over, until it finally cracks in perfect form. The last strike was the one that seemed to produce the results, but in fact it was no more important than every one that preceded it. But he had to hang in there as long as it took.

Other tips include picking things that are attainable, create a system that encourages you to include these things in your day, utilize some form of accountability partner and track or measure your progress. But start by taking the long term view and plan to invest your effort as long as it takes, even without measurable reward, through the hard times. This is a good test to determine if you’re really committed to the goal, and if you decide to proceed then you’ll find your success rate at achieving your personal goals is quite good!

Posted in Motivation, Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments »