Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - December 29th

"I was proud of what I was doing, but I found I was starting to spin my wheels. I realized every single time I put my mind to something, no matter what it was, I got it. I got it fairly and pretty much on my terms." – Jeff Arch

"Dont let anything stand in your way, be the first”. – Jeff Arch

Jeff Arch…have you ever heard of him?  Until recently, neither had I.  Jeff Arch is the screenwriter of “Sleepless in Seattle”, which was the first screenplay he sold.  

At 38 years old, Arch was a father of two teaching high school English and owned a Tae Kwon Do gym.  He had always dreamed of being a screenwriter, but he never went after it.  One night, he was watching television and saw an infomercial about following your dreams.  After thinking about the program, he said:

"I thought, 'What can I tell my children about their dreams if I don't go after mine?' The idea of being a fraud by my own children just drove me crazy. I couldn't handle it. They deserved this."

He made the decision to go after his dreams and in three months he wrote the screenplay for “Sleepless in Seattle” and three months later he sold it.  After selling the screenplay, he started writing for every major movie company.

What do you want to do in 2016?  What is your action plan to do it?  Jeff Arch made the decision to make his dream come true for his children.  What is your motivation?

You make a million decisions that mean nothing, and then one day, you order take-out, and it changes your life. – Annie Reed from Sleepless in Seattle

Resources

http://articles.latimes.com/1993-06-29/entertainment/ca-8221_1_opening-weekend

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - December 22nd

A goal without a plan is just a wish. – Antoine de Sante-Exupery

Set a goal SO BIG that you can’t achieve it until YOU GROW INTO THE PERSON WHO CAN. – Unknown

Success is steady progress toward one's personal goals. - Jim Rohn

How are your 2016 goals coming?  With writing the blog over the last couple of weeks, I have contemplated my 2016 goals A LOT.  I have thought through each of the 6 F’s, deliberated why I set the goals, contemplated if the goals will help me accomplish my 30 year goal and my Life Purpose.  I think too much sometimes!

I have done so much thinking because I know politically the first part of 2016 is going to be insanely crazy with work trips to Washington, DC and various activities with the Primary and Conventions in Texas.  I have to prioritize and focus on the important things.  

The Friday after Thanksgiving, I had coffee with a friend and we were talking about all of the different events going on in both of our lives.  I mentioned to her I was having issues writing my 2016 goals because of the activities and events I know that will be occurring in the first half of 2016 and then the uncertainty in the second half of the year.   She told me, “Terri, set your goals on a quarterly basis.”  What a simple answer, but a great idea!  There are certain goals I know will last all year such as my reading goal and exercise goal.  For other goals that I know will only last for the first half of the year, I can set a completion date, which is part of the SMART goals formula.  For those uncertainties in life, I will have to decide if I will write a goal or reevaluate halfway through the year to add goals or leave as is.  

As you are working on your goals, remember that these are YOUR goals.  I can make recommendations and provide ideas on how to write them, but you are the one that will be implementing an action plan to accomplish them.  These goals are providing you a path to accomplish your long term goals and Life Purpose.  Write these goals with the intent that you will accomplish them, but do not set them to easy because you need the opportunity to stretch yourself in 2016. 

Merry Christmas!

Success doesn’t happen overnight.  Keep your eye on the prize and don’t look back.  – Erin Andrews

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - December 15th

Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.  

- Denis Waitley

Goals are dreams with deadlines. - Diana Scharf Hunt

Over the last couple of weeks, we have reviewed our 2015 goals, discussed Life Purpose Statements and reviewed the 6 Fs of goal setting.  This week, we are going to discuss S.M.A.R.T. goals.  

Which of the following do you think is a better goal for an individual to establish for themselves?

I want to run a marathon.

I want to run a marathon in under 5 hours by December 31, 2016.

The second statement is a S.M.A.R.T. goal because it meets all of the criteria.  Let’s review:

Specific: the goal states exactly what should be accomplished and it is clear and unambiguous.

Measurable: the goal indicates it will be accomplished when the marathon has been completed in under five hours.

Attainable: the goal is reasonable for someone that likes to run and has the desire to train. 

Realistic: the goal can be accomplished by an average runner that sets a pace of 10 minute miles. 

Timetable: the goal has a specific date to be completed.

As Denis Waitley said, our goals need to have detailed descriptions of what is to be accomplished.

Why are SMART goals important? 

If we do not know where we are going, we will never know when we get there. 

The concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals was released in a November 1981 article in Management Review titled “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives” by George T. Doran.  Through the years, the concept has evolved and today individuals from every walk of life create S.M.A.R.T. goals to guide them on their path in life. 

My challenge to you this week is to continue working on your 2016 goals and write S.M.A.R.T. goals so you will know when you accomplished it.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. - T.S. Eliot

God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them. – Author Unknown

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria

http://www.smart-goals-guide.com/smart-goal.html