Goals have allowed me to string together an endless series of tiny improvements in my personal and business life. When it comes to goal setting, I believe that imagination and attitude are probably more important than knowledge. The biggest asset I have control over on any business day doesn’t come with a dollar sign—it is my attitude.
Dream with your eyes wide open. Here are a few ideas for you:
- If you are in the middle of a mid-life crisis, it’s not about doing different things, it’s about doing things differently. Shake things up!
- What you do with your spare time, your spare thoughts, and your spare money says a lot about the life you are living. Do you want to grow your brain? Quit watching TV all of the time, and read a book, go to the symphony, or fall deeply in love with your wife. Raise money for charitable causes. Take memorable trips. Eat good food. Laugh out loud. Hug people you care about. Think great thoughts. Laugh. Cry. Sing. Pray. This isn’t a dry run!
- Some people are running so fast they don’t stop for gas. Learn how to manage energy as well as time. In our business at this level, time away is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Enjoy the present (this is hard to do).
I’m not some guy who sells books or tapes. But, you need family and personal goals as much as you need business goals. Personal and family goals have helped me pull myself up to my full height and become the kind of person I wanted to be. Let me say that again, I am who I want to be. I don’t want any space between what I say and what I do.
In what ways does your personal life enhance your business life?
This Blog post is based on a Focus Session from the 2008 MDRT Annual Meeting. You can read the manuscript in its entirety in the “Proceedings” found on www.mdrt.org.
