Ready. Set. GO!

One last thought on goal setting.

By now I hope you’ve crafted a set of goals pertaining to both your personal as well as your professional life. I hope you’ve written these down using specific and positive language and posted them in a spot where you will see them often. (I post one copy inside a closet in my office and carry a second copy with me at all times.) I hope you have also committed to reviewing the list periodically as a way of measuring your success.

Let me suggest one last strategy for you to keep in mind: Unless you specifically need someone’s help to achieve one of your goals, don’t share them with others. Achieving your goals, especially your stretch goals, will be hard. Don’t make their accomplishment any more difficult by sharing your goals with potential naysayers, who will only suggest they are impossible or impractical.

Two years ago, I challenged myself to complete a marathon. It involved running more miles than I could imagine and doing so no matter where my business travels took me. This was a huge stretch goal for me. After hearing one person after another tell me I couldn’t possibly succeed, I stopped sharing this goal with others--and I still carry the medal that proves I successfully completed the 2004 Marine Corps Marathon.

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