Gear Up Now for a Strong Finish to the Year!


Before you know it the summer will be over, school will be back in session, and you'll only have a scant few months to achieve your business and personal objectives. Let's take a page from the National Football League's playbook and use the next thirty to forty-five days to jump into a training camp mentality and get into condition in order to have a strong finish to the year by executing the following key points.



Vision and Belief


Achieving goals are not ends in and of themselves; they are only a means to an end. Where do your goals fit into your overall vision or philosophy? Don't' even think about moving forward until you can answer this question. Are you goals something you believe you can accomplish? Belief in the attainment of any goal is a critical requirement in the achievement of that goal. Do whatever is necessary from writing out affirmations to visualization to giving yourself rewards for incremental progress.



Review and Assess


Review the goals and objectives you set for yourself at the beginning of the year. Are you on track to achieve them? Review each one and determine the strengths and weaknesses of each component part. Once completed, decide whether or not that particular goal is still something you want to or need to achieve. Be realistic. You only have a limited time frame to get each goal over the finish line. Create a short list of must be accomplished goals.



Create Highly Specific Goals


In order to dramatically increase your chances of achieving your goals, limit the number of goals and write out very precise statements of exactly what you want to accomplish and the exact date it will be accomplished. Then, break that goal down into mini-action steps that have the same amount of specificity as the goal itself. The more specific and measurable each step is the better.



Clear the Path


Review your assessment from point two and determine what obstacles might stand in the way of achieving your goal. Develop plans and processes to eliminate all obstacles that will prevent you from successfully achieving each goal or action step.



Schedule the Time


Goal achievement takes time. Create an ideal schedule that carves out an ample amount of time for each goal activity and then stick to it. First, create the ideal schedule on paper. Next, transfer it to whatever calendaring system you are using. Be sure to account for each and every activity that is required for you to achieve your goal.



Keep Score


Review and track your progress each and every day. Every morning and evening review what you have accomplished that has moved you one or more steps closer to achieving your goals. If no progress was made, determine why and how to do better tomorrow. In the final minutes of the game, every second counts! Don't be afraid to revise, fine tune, or totally recycle goals as necessary. A particular goal may have sounded good at the time you wrote it out, but if it no longer resonates with you, throw it out. Keeping a goal that you have no strong emotional intention to accomplish drains your energy and takes away from accomplishing your other goals.



Celebrate


Celebrate your victories, no matter how big or small along the way. Enjoy the successful accomplishment of each milestone. This positive reinforcement will keep your energy and enthusiasm high.



I sincerely hope that by implementing these ideas you will have more successes to celebrate at year-end. When you look at the big picture, isn't it really the sum total of all of the "little" steps we take that make such a big difference in our lives and businesses?



I'd like to close with two quotes from Vince Lombardi, the great football coach. He said, "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal" and "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."



Good luck to you on your journey to success.