If it is to be, Start with a Compelling Future

Leadership is a tough act to maintain. That is the bad news. The good news is that if it is to be, it is up to me.  A good place to start if it is up to me is for my dream to have the attributes of a compelling future. What follows below is how to do it.

The power of goal-setting is not in the words or even the format of the goal. The power lies in three components inherent in the process of goal-setting. Firstly, is the goal so real that you cannot deny it in your life any longer? Secondly, are you taking ownership with strong self-confidence in at least the first three steps in making the goal real? Thirdly, are you willing to prioritize and involve people in making the goal happen?

Reality of the Goal:

What makes this goal important enough for you that you would wish to devote time to it? What about the outcome that you will achieve; is it that compels you to strive for this goal?

What difference do you expect to make in achieving this goal? For whom else (in addition to you) would achieving this goal matter? How specifically would it matter for them?

How do you “code” the goal inside your own mind? What would you see, what would you hear and what would you feel if you stand in the place of having achieved the goal? In other words, having achieved the goal: what evidence could you experience and verify with your senses? If the words of the goal are so important that you cannot hear, see or feel it, it will be very difficult to sense the reality of the goal, and will bring a whole heap of difficulty in getting others excited about it.

What are you feeling about your goal? Doubt? Is the doubt uncertainty, then maybe check the size of the steps you have in mind and make them more achievable.

Doubt some more? Check for ecology, i.e. what is good or the benefits of the goal? Also, what is the downside or the price to pay in achieving the goal?

Ownership of the Goal:

The source or inputs of the goal is not the issues here. What is important is that at the time when you come to have this compelling goal, do you so firmly believe in it that you are prepared to invest and do what it takes to make it happen? This could be the time when you get a serious speed wobble, and easily give it up for “another day.” two starter ideas might help here. One, if the doubt is your capability (“I have tried before and I failed, it got me nowhere”) start with the smallest step that you confidently can take in the direction of achieving your goal. (A one-liner to help the kick-start is” if you do what you have always done, you can only get what you always got!”) What is that first step that will get you going? It might be talking to some people, which you will have to do anyway to get going on your idea since very few dreams does not involve other people.

Prioritize, prioritize!

If something is important enough for you to invest time, energy and hope into it, over what will it take precedence? What will you do with regards to your goal, and what will you stop doing? I have yet to meet somebody who does not have to reorganize their priorities when they get focused and caught up in this compelling goal. It would be impossible to be successful at starting and achieving your goal if everything stayed the same. Leaders don’t have a time problem, they have an attitude problem: not saying no to that which distracts them from the goal they are making real. Time management at its heart is remembering what is important, and acting in such a way that what is really important gets prime resources of focus, hope, action and step-by-step-results.

See you in dreamland.