Achieving goals….
Have you ever wondered why you don’t here the noise of the ticking clock, the busy road outside or the hum of PCs and printers in the background? It’s like the brain has created a scotoma [blind spot] in your conscious senses to only hear what is relevant and ignore all else. Let’s be honest, if we didn’t have this filter, our senses would be in overdrive and we would probably go mad! Take the reverse of that and think back to the time when you wanted to buy a new washing machine or PC. Suddenly it was as if by magic, companies were advertising amazing deals just for you! You became conscious of a range of information that your mind had previously blanked out. This is important, because it is in understanding this ability to focus and channel resources that can be used to set and achieve goals. The better the visualisation and more specific the goal is should enable the brain to channel its energy towards the achievement of success. Some people say it is as important to know the details of how each step towards the goal will be achieved. I do not dismiss the ‘how’, but I do believe that the priority is getting the ‘what’ sorted out in your head. The brain is immensely powerful and capable of developing and adapting to the ‘how’ as it progresses and learns new thinks and sees ways to reach the goal. However, interim targets and milestones can undoubtedly help.
This is the same for personal targets and for corporate visions. John F Kennedy established a great Vision statement when he declared ‘This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth’. The details of exactly how this would be done were not set out and if they had been examined at the time the goal was set, the conclusion would most likely have been that the goal was impossible! If we ignore conspiracy theorists, this goal was ultimately achieved because people were motivated to do it.
Lance Armstrong recovered from cancer because he believed he could – even if his doctors didn’t! He went on to win the Tour de France [7 times] fuelled by that same belief and motivation and to do so he focused on this event to the exclusion of all others.
In business we can do the same. However, it is not easy and it will require more than words on a piece of paper. When setting personal and business goals for yourself and for others, it is crucial to ask whether you and they have the desire AND the commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal. Great goals require great effort, as well as constant motivation and a willingness to make personal sacrifices along the way. Not everyone has the same aspirations, even if they agree to the target and failing to understand this will most likely result in an imposed target not being met.
Written by Mark Thelwell - Visit Website