Over the past 10 years, I have completed two sets of 5 year goals, once from 2009 and once form 2014. For the first set of goals, I completely nailed it. In the second set, not so much. And yet the last five years have been momentous for me. In […]
In 2003, I ran my first and only marathon. During that race, I discovered an important lesson about those biggest of goals, those big fat hairy goals that look scary because they are so big. In the January of that year, I decided to tackle the Chicago Marathon. I know going in, […]
With a new year looming, many of us take time to re-evaluate our goals and resolutions for the coming year. Often however, these resolutions fall flat. Why? Because we set ourselves up for failure. We promise to do our best. We set unclear goals. We don’t make ourselves accountable. When […]
For several years, I have used David Allen’s Getting Things Done. Yet, it never ran quite as smooth as I would have liked. Recently, a friend explained why she struggled with GTD. Parts of the conversation really struck a cord with me. With her permission, I share her story below. […]
In 2009, I wrote a set of goals for the coming 5 years. As I re-read those goals this morning, I realized to my great delight that I had accomplished all of them. Over the last 5 years, I nailed it. Here’s how. 1. I have published (or have under […]
Every morning, I have an accountability call with a friend to ensure I stay focused and on task. One of the questions I have him ask me is how many times I checked Facebook and Email unnecessarily the day before. It was a great idea, but I found myself consistently […]
“Progress not Perfection” is a popular saying of my friend and colleague Dr. Paul Schwager, the associate dean of the College of Business at East Carolina University. While some people might think this saying is an excuse not to be your best, Dr. Schwager is actually promoting a view of goals that […]
“Ferb, I know what we we’re going to do today” – my favorite line from any kids show. For those of you who are not familiar with the show, Phineas and Ferb is a kid’s TV cartoon about two young boys who fill their summer vacation by finding some new, incredibly […]
We’ve all been there. In spite of our best intentions and diligent work, our performance never seems to meet what we see others accomplishing even though we know we should be able. We try our best, but our best never seems to be enough. This happened to me recently over […]
In Why Businessmen Need Philosophy, Dr. Harry Binswanger identifies the ultimate CEO in your life is your philosophy. What does that mean in practice? Take goal-setting. Based on what I understand about philosophy, I would suspect that an ideal approach to goal-setting would be based on your values – clearly identified, objectively defined, and do not contradict reality. […]
