I did a great goal exercise the other day with one of my networking groups.  This is one of those things that can help you shake up your perceptions and might help you see things a little more clearly.

If you want to play along at home, take a piece of paper and draw out 5 boxes (draw them big enough to cover the whole page so you’ll have some room to write). 

You won’t likely get the point of the exercise without playing along…but it’s your call.

In box #1, write out a personal goal and a business goal that you would like to achieve (ideally you should do 3 of each, but the process will work with one).

As an example, a personal goal might be: Lose 20 Pounds by this time next year.

In box # 2, write down approximately how long you have had that goal.

For our example, let’s say 5 years…

In box #3, write down what your biggest obstacle or obstacles has been to date in achieving this goal.

Example:  I’m always eating on the run, which means fast food, junk food, etc.  Who has time to make balanced healthy meals?

In box #4:  What specific actions have you taken in the last 24 hours to achieve this goal?

Example:  Tough one…I didn’t eat a second brownie last night after dinner…

Finally, the home stretch, in box #5 write down what you’ll feel like once you’ve achieved this goal?  What is it about this goal that makes you want to do it?   What will you be?  What might others say about you?

Example:  I would be healthy and more active with my kids.

Now take a look over what you wrote.  In the first box you wrote your goal, hopefully it was a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-framed). 

Have you had the goal a long time?  Or did you just make it up for the sake of this exercise?  Ideally you’re going through some sort of regular planning process at work and at home that would identify these goals, but a lot of people aren’t very good at keeping up with this kind of stuff.

In box three, are you making excuses or are these real reasons outside of your control that are keeping you from what you want?

Box #4 is important as an indicator of how important this goal really is to you.  A top level priority goal should be on your list pretty much every day – if not, how important is it really?

Finally – look at box #5 again…isn’t this really your goal?  Take the example:

“I would be healthy and more active with my kids”! 

Isn’t that what I really want? 

It’s pretty common that we focus on what we need to DO or what we want to HAVE as a measuring point in achieving some life purpose.  If I DO this, then I can HAVE that and then I’ll BE what I want to be.

As soon as I save up $50,000, then I’m going to start a business and become an Entrepreneur.

I would contend that you have it out of order.  The right order is…BE. DO. HAVE! 

If I start BEing a healthy person, then I will start DOing things that healthy people do and I will HAVE the weight loss and fitness achievements that I want…!

What do you think?  Are you holding yourself back somehow or can you start being the person you want to be?  It’s a leap of faith, but does it make sense to you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Shawn Kinkade – www.aspirekc.com

Paper will spontaneously combust at 451 degrees Farenheit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farenheit_451).  Water will boil and turn to steam at 212 degrees Farenheit.

Why the science facts?  I received an interesting newsletter today from Simple Truths – an online retailer specializing in inspirational books, movies and stuff.  I’m not normally a big fan of those kinds of things – actually www.despair.com is more my style, but I have been really impressed with several of the things that this site has shared on their newsletter.

I think this particular movie has been around for awhile, but it was new to me and I thought it was well done and thoughtful (or thought provoking anyway).  The clip from today’s newsletter can be found at http://www.212movie.com and as the title suggests, focuses on the extra degree of heat that takes water from being merely hot to a physical change of composition to steam. 

Sometimes it only takes one more degree to take you to the next level.

The movie focuses on internal motivation, focus, willpower, etc. as ‘going the extra mile’ to be the extra degree.  I agree that can be a critical component for a lot of people, but I also think that external components could also be your competitive edge.

Maybe it’s your educational background and the unique perspective it gives you on your marketplace (I have a client with degrees in Sociology / Urban Studies and Web Development – he has an extremely interesting way of looking at things).

Maybe it’s your family – perhaps a spouse that challenges you and brings out your best or siblings that make you look at things through rose colored glasses.

Maybe it’s your Business Coach…  (If you don’t have one I’d be glad to talk to you about it!).

Whatever it is, in today’s competitive environment, it’s important that you have something that gives you an edge, that you know what it is and that you consciously take advantage of it.

So what’s your ‘extra degree’ ?  What can take you from good to great?  I’d really like to hear some feedback on this.

Shawn Kinkade – www.aspirekc.com

Columbia-River-Gorge-1

Originally uploaded by WSK_2005

Vacation – had to get away. Sure I’m dating myself with the Go-Gos, but it is a really catchy song.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m leavin’ (on a jet plane) for Colorado for a week with the family. We’re spending a couple of days in Denver and the rest of the time in Estes Park. We’re also going to catch up with some old friends that we haven’t seen in too long, so that will be great.

Vacation for me is a time to recharge, not obsess about work, spend (hopefully) quality time with the family and get some good photo opportunities (the attached picture is from last year’s trip to Oregon – beautiful place).

I’m always amazed at people that bring their work with them. I might bring a business book to catch up on, but I’m not bringing the laptop, I’m not planning to check messages and I’m not planning to really get anything tangible done next week.

There have been a lot of studies done on the importance of taking a break. Your productivity, your creativity and your health will all take a negative hit the longer you go without getting away.

So what do you think about vacations? How many vacations do you take a year? Do you hold yourself to that every year, even when you’re swamped?

Take care and I’ll see you in a week.

Shawn Kinkade

So I saw in interesting article in the Men’s Journal (May 2007 – I’m not doing a good job of keeping up with the backlog…).

Anyway, the article was titled “Think Yourself Stronger (how sports hypnosis boosts performance)”.  The essence of the article was that the author was trying sports hypnosis as a way to get over his hatred of running.  Since the author was doing triathalons, which are 1/3 running, it was a problem that was holding him back.

There was a study done with hypnotized subjects riding stationary bikes at a fixed resistance.  However when the riders were told they were riding uphill, their heart rates and blood pressure increased – they were working harder based solely on the power of suggestion.

The quote from the article that caught my attention was: “…In other words: If you think something’s going to be tough, it will be.” 

The author was hypnotized into associating pleasant childhood memories with running.  He believed that the process has helped him overcome his hatred of running - I was immediately drawn to how this might apply to a business situation. 

What if you really hate sales situations, or the forced mingling and networking?  Although I think hypnosis is a bit extreme, what if you just approached your nemesis with a more positive frame of mind.  What if you thought “Hey – this paperwork isn’t so bad, I bet I can get it done in no time”? or “You know, I really don’t mind working on my marketing plan, it reminds me of my trip to Venice…”?

What business tasks do you really hate?  Do you think a different mindset would make a difference?  Let me know your thoughts.

Welcome to my Blog…and welcome to my new Business.

As you would probably guess, there are always a million things to do when you are on your own and setting priorities and goals becomes even more important than the corporate world.  One of my goals was to jump into blogging but for one reason or another I just haven’t been able to get moving.  The whole thing got me to thinking about some quotes:

We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.   Calvin Coolidge

 A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.                 Lao Tsu

And one of my all time favorites:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.                  

Mark Twain

So with that in mind, let’s set sail and get started!