HARD Goals

I recently listened to Pat Williams on his radio show interview Mark Murphy about his new book "HARD Goals". Murphy uses the acrostic HARD as the theme of his book.

H--eart Felt
You must be emotionally connected to your goals.
Whose goal is it? A clear sign that people will abandon a goal is fi they attribute the goals to someone else.

A--nimated
Visual sense.
The more clearly you can see a goal, the more likely you are to achieve it.
Jack Nicklaus said he saw every shot before he hit it.
Vision trumps the other senses.
Put a picture up of your goals.
See it in the mind's eye.
White wine tinted with red food coloring will often trick the mind into thinking it's drinking red wine.
Know what the goal looks like.
What will the goal look like at the end?

R--equired
Must start.
Imminent death of a goal is the phrase, "I'll start tomorrow"
Major predictor of not accomplishing a goal.
Cut the goal in half, then in half again, then the next 30 days, then 1 thing I can do today.....
One thing today to keep you on track to your goals.

D--ifficult
The more difficult the, more likely to achieve.
Most of us drive to work on autopilot. Our brain isn't lit up. If you drive through a blizzard or a storm the brain lights up. It's a different goal.
Performance is subpar when people can coast.
Working to our upper state of performance. Just outside the element where we are comfortable.

Most of us approach goals wrong. There is an 85% failure rate for New Year's Goals. Most of us treat it as a grocery list. Short shrift. The "process" of setting the goal is critical. Ask questions...Give the goal the attention it deserves.

CEO's are usually pretty good at setting goals for themselves..But often don't apply the same goal setting process to their employees.

Need more than SMART goals. Steve Jobs is not an "achieveable & realistic" thinker. He's a different kind of thinker.