Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon books is a remarkable man. In 1999, Time magazine voted him its Person Of The Year and here’s what Time Magazine said about Bezos:
“It’s easy to sit here today (1999) nodding about the power of electrified commerce. But back in the day when you – frankly, when everyone – was pooh-poohing the idea of online sales, there were a few people who believed. One of them, on a summer day in 1994, quit his lucrative job at a New York City investment firm, packed up and, with his wife driving, made a now legendary voyage to Seattle to start what he thought would be a good business. By the time he arrived there, he had a plan to sell books over the Internet. Investors thought he was crazy….. “
We know today exactly what a visionary Jeff Bezos is. He is now worth a reported US$72.8 billion, making him the 3rd richest person in the world, just behind Warren Buffet. His total belief in himself and his ability to face his fears head on and give his idea, his goal, a red-hot crack paid off and paid off big time.
There are thousands of articles and books that have been written about goal setting and this number seems to increase on a daily basis and here I am today increasing it’s number again! I had a reader of my last blog connect with me, wanting to know why most people still do not set goals, despite the vast array of expert of literature written about it?! And he’s right – did you know only 3 in 100 people (3% of the worlds population) have written goals they truly intend to accomplish! 97% of human beings don’t set goals!
My personal experience of Leading and Mentoring people over the last 30 years has revealed to me that the way people think and the level of self belief and self worth they have, will have a huge effect on their goal setting behaviors. Most people don’t believe in themselves and their ability to actually accomplish a goal, or don’t have the level of discipline and commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal their goal.
The purpose of this second article on How To Smash Your Goals, is to hopefully stimulate and agitate the reader to change the way they think, so that they not only have the confidence to set goals, but to go out and smash them!
If you don’t set goals for yourself and do not set your own path, others will do it for you!
The decision is yours to make.
When people lack self belief and self confidence, they let themselves become distracted from achieving their goals, or even setting goals, because they have a fear of failure or a fear of what might happen. People procrastinate, hesitate, put off, dwell negatively about themselves and their ability to achieve their goal, without doing anything to address their fears or concerns.
What are you afraid of?
What is holding you back?
Are you afraid of failure?
Are you afraid of judgment of others?
Are you afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone and into the unknown? Why?
What is the worst thing that could happen?
Often the fear of what could happen far outweighs reality.
What would be more devastating to you – not giving it a red-hot go to achieve your goal for yourself, or trying with everything within you to accomplish your goal and then not succeeding as you planned?
What would you regret more?
Your answer to the above should then determine your actions!
What do you need to do to address your fears to move forward?
Do you have a mentor who grows you and makes you accountable to the goals you’ve set?
If you were to spend time with some of the most successful people on this planet – they would tell you that they are led by someone else who grows them and makes them accountable to smash their goals.
My mentor Jim changed my life and led me to smash my goals. I am where I am today because of Jim. He called me out, challenged me and built my self belief and held me accountable to the accomplishment of my goals, both professionally and personally.
When people are lacking self belief and confidence, they allow themselves to become distracted with other “important” things that won’t take them to their goals. Often we justify veering off our path by doing other things that we “have to do”. And sometimes this is the case, there will be things that will truly become an immediate priority, but, we can let this happen all too often.
Are you welcoming the distraction so you can cover up or justify your lacklustre commitment or lack of self belief and self confidence?
What is distracting you?
Why are you getting distracted from your goals?
“Focus: a point at which an object must be situated so that a well defined image of it may be produced.”
Oxford Dictionary Of English Etymology
If you’re at the point where you’re fed up with your lack of focus, lack of commitment or lack of self confidence, and you’re ready to start believing in yourself and to set some goals and smash them, here’s some strategies for you to keep you focussed:
- Define what your issues are – write them down and commit to deal with them.
- Make the right choices to make the right changes – don’t let pride stop you from doing this and listen to your instinct and intuition.
Also, can I recommend reading my first article on this topic, How To Smash Your Goals, Part 1, as it has some home truths when it comes to setting goals and staying committed to them. They keep us “real”!
J.M Fogg said, “Life can be a rocky road. The challenge is not to let it grid you into dust but to polish you into a brilliant gem.”
The constant challenges we face can build us into strong human beings if we learn to focus through adversity and focus through lack of self doubt and unbelief!
In my book, The Dream Is Everything, is an example of an incredible human being whom I had the distinct and humbling pleasure of spending time with – Perry Cross. He was just 19 years old when his dreams of sporting glory were ripped from his grasp in a Representative Rugby Union match when he found himself on the bottom of a collapsed ruck. When the knot of players got back on their feet, Perry didn’t. His spine had been severed. He was now a quadriplegic. The only only thing he could move in his body were his eyelids. Every bodily function was now controlled by a machine – it was the only thing keeping him alive. His mother asked him if she should turn it off but his look he gave his mother was “No, I’ve got too much to live for!” Today, Perry talks to Australian youth on the topic of suicide, giving them a renewed sense of self belief and hope. Every day is a vast challenge for Perry but it’s his commitment and focus that gets him through, even though every breath is controlled by a machine and he has to sign with his eyelids. Do you know what’s on Perry’s business card? Communicator! Awesome.
“What you believe yourself to be, you are.”
C.M Bristol.
Your beliefs shape your actions and your actions create your results. Those results, when you add them up over a lifetime become your destiny! Your thoughts will become your destiny.
What are you thinking about right now?
“Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.”
N.V Peale
A positive attitude goes a very long way in creating positive results. Your ability to stay focussed, no matter what’s happening in your life will result in people buying your attitude. This is one thing that we can control – how we think, act, behave and respond.
Here’s some key attitudes to increase your focus:
- The attitude of excellence – do it to the best of your ability.
- The attitude of confidence – do it with confidence. Even fake it until you make it!
- The attitude of enthusiasm – throw yourself in with everything you have. It’s infectious!
- The attitude of vision – keep your ultimate vision for yourself top of mind. It drives everything.
- The attitude of humility – stay humble. Not everyone gets to have a go at achieving their goals.
- The attitude of gratitude – be grateful of the opportunity to have a crack to achieve your goal.
- The attitude of generosity – be generous with those around you as it’s a decent thing to do, regardless if you’re successful or not. But when you achieve your goal, be even more generous particularly to those who helped you smash your goals.
We determine the shape of our destiny, moment by moment, choice by choice. Life constantly throws choices at us – what we choose determines our path. If we don’t make our own choices, set our own goals and focus on them, someone will do it for us.
“Choice – the greatest power a person possesses is the power to choose.”
J.M Kohe, Author and Psychologist
What do you choose to do?
Will you choose to face your fears head on and conquer them?
Will you choose to believe in yourself and your abilities?
Will choose to focus?
Will you choose to set goals and commit to achieving them?
Will you let others choose your destiny for you?
The choice is yours.
Smash your goals!
Some other articles I’ve written that may give you more insight into this topic:
How To Smash Your Goals. Part 1.
What you Need To Conquer Tough Leadership Challenges
Discipline Is Not A Dirty Word
I talk further about the importance of goal setting in my book, “The Dream Is Everything”. If you’d like to receive a FREE e-copy of my book, (RRP $24.95), click here.
All the best,
Peter (Coxey)
