Message of the Day - Goals with Action

Good Morning,

 

I just finished Lee Iacocca’s book “Where Have the All the Leaders Gone” and I was very pleased with it. Initially I was afraid it would be a political rant, but the book mostly focused on the issues facing our nation and the leadership attributes necessary of people who would best address those issues. It truly was a great read; the book quickly drew me into it.

 

Toward the end, Lee Iacocca talked about a mistake he made when he retired. A mistake many of us make in our lives as well. He had a goal of relaxing or just ‘taking it easy’. This did not work out so well for him as he sputtered about in retired life with no real focus.

 

This does not work out so well for others either. In fact, when you go from an active lifestyle to one of basic inaction, your body seems to sense it is time to shut down and a lot of people die a few years after retirement. That is a frightening thought.

 

What Lee Iacocca learned was to set a goal with actions in it, to have something to DO within his goals. What he turned his attention toward is the Iacocca Foundation and finding a cure for Diabetes. Being a member of that club, I am a fan of anyone who can help find the cure.

 

The larger point is having the goal with actions built into to. That is, what do you want to DO? ‘To relax’ is not a goal, it is a by product, it is also a state of being. Maybe a better goal for someone who is retiring is to ‘visit all 50 states’ or spend 10 hours a week helping in a soup kitchen, volunteer at their church, or otherwise giving back to the community.

 

Don’t short-change yourself by making such general goals without having a plan to achieve them. Focus on specific action based goals to help you achieve those larger goals.

 

For example: ‘When I get home from work today, I want to de-stress’ is a very general goal and from my experience not one that we often achieve. Maybe make the goal: “When I get home from work, I am going to do my chores early, and after dinner, I will lounge on the couch with a good book. This will help me de-stress’.

 

Don’t you see how the second goal, being more specific and ‘action oriented’ (doing chores early, sitting on the coach, etc.) is easier to realize. It is a roadmap to a destination, instead of just the destination without a map on how to get there.

 

For larger goals, like retirement, these actions are often called strategy, or strategic planning. No matter what we call them, we really need to do them.

 

We need to put actions into our goals to ensure our likelihood in achieving our goals.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net   ß Check out the cover of my upcoming book, “Learn And Grow Daily!”

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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