SMART Goals

Has anyone ever told you that you should set SMART goals? SMART Goals are - Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time-bounded.

When you set a goal for yourself, such as "Write my first book in 2008", most people will tell you that this is not a SMART goal. You will hear "It takes 18 months to publish a book", and "New authors struggle to sell their first book". Experienced authors may even tell you horror stories such as "My first book was the worst two years of my life".

Do not listen to such nonsense. In April 1994, I knew that I wanted to live my life in the USA. This was not a SMART goal for many reasons, including these reasons. I did not have the money for an airplane ticket to the USA. I had no work visa to find work in the USA. I did not have any sought-after skill that would attract employers to me in the USA. And everyone around me took it upon themselves to point this out to me.

But on January 20, 2001, I landed at JFK Airport with my family and we are now living our dream life in the USA. You can achieve seemingly impossible goals. I do it regularly and share the secrets with my students.

Ignore the naysayers in your life and write your book. The world needs to read it. Don't listen to people who say that it is not an achievable goal. Rather listen to people who have gone before you and published a book.

Many people want to write a book. I wrote "Dodging the Bullet Points" in 2007. Since then, many people have come up to me and said "Wow!. I would also like to write a book - how do I get started?"

To answer all questions, and jump start authors on their first book, I have teamed up with Liz Trendowski and we are holding a Feet to the Fire Bootcamp specifically for Authors on 5/24/2008 in Hartford. Come and join us to write and publish your first book in 2008.

And don't worry - you will reach this goal with our help - even if people around you say it it not a "SMART" goal. At the SMART training institute, we specialize in reaching goals that conventional wisdom label as not "SMART".

Blowing the horn.

Alan Weiss says "If you don't blow your own horn, there is no music." Who am I to argue? Therefore, here is my music, to help you deliver eye-popping presentations.

Just to remind you that you are not alone when creating PowerPoint Slideshows, or when taking the stage to present your point of view.

You can purchase "Dodging the Bullet Points" and "Panic to Power CD" for both you and your Accountability Partner to deliver jaw-dropping Presentations. Click here to place your order now.

And join a Toastmasters club that is convenient for you. Presenting is an interactive skill and you cannot excel while rehearsing in front of your mirror.

What's in your wallet?

A popular TV Commercial in the USA advertising a credit card has the tag line "What's in your wallet".

As we think about goals for 2008, and review the goals we achieved, (or not) in 2007, what is on your list? What is on your list to achieve in 2008? Are you going to try again to:
1. Lose weight
2. Exercise more
3. Save more money
4. Reduce your credit card debt
5. Spend more time with my family.
and so on?

I want to try something new to me this year. Instead of yet another "To Do" list, with too many tasks that never get "To Done", I have started a "Not TO DO" list. My theory is that if I can identify habits that consume time out of proportion with the value of the benefit I get, I will stop doing them. (Hey don't laugh, it is worth a shot. Not trying something new will provide the same old result)

What are your plans for 2008? What will you do differently in 2008 that you did not do in 2007?

In short, we have a lot of choice in how we invested our limited time on this earth. Life is too short to zealously create and adhere to To Do lists.

I will leverage my accountability partnership with Liz Trendowski more in 2008 to stay focused on the few tasks that make a difference each week, so that I can free up time to exercise more, be with my family more.

What are your thoughts on reaching your new year resolutions and goals for 2008?

Obsessed with weakness, Dr. Curie

We move ourselves and society forward by perfecting, refining and building our areas of expertise. We don't help anyone by constantly trying to identify perceived "Weaknesses" and trying to perfect them.

Contrary to popular belief that we should constantly improve our areas of weaknesses, you can never be "the" leader in your field if you are trying to become mediocre in someone else's field.

Who agrees with me?
1. Joel Osteen - In a sermon on TV last week he explained how we should stay in the gifts that God has given us. (By the way he is a great speaker for Toastmasters to study)
2. Alan Weiss - He says that society is moved forward by the best and the brightest.
3. Jack Welch - He said "Be number one or number two in the field, or get out of that field".

However, I recently saw an article offering this erroneous advice to speakers "Don't perfect what you're good at; improve your weak points". What? I

f you are a world champion speaker who possesses exemplary "Delivery" and "Humor" skills why would you abandon these skills and begin to investigate perceived "weaknesses"? What will you gain by studying negotiation, etiquette and research.

This advice is wrong for a number of reasons:
1. Who decides what constitutes a weakness? Is the ability repair a roof a strength? Do you have a weakness if you prefer to perform on a stage rather than meditate for a day at a time? If you cannot type at 50 words per minute is this a weakness? What if you are a carpenter and never need to type? What if an author cannot bench press 300 pounds? Is this a weakness? Is there a "Big Book of Weaknesses?"

2. If you have weaknesses, which one is more weak than others? Should a carpenter learn to type 50 words a minute in his spare time rather than take a course in fly fishing? Should an author work out so that he can bench press 300 pounds or learn to shoot a rifle accurately first? Or should he learn how to negotiate in a hostage situation first (then he won't need to shoot the rifle)? The possible permutations of weaknesses are endless.

3. This advice assumes that you have a weakness. It is a negative attitude. Why must we all have "Weaknesses"? Why can't we have strengths in the areas that we choose to be strong?

I prefer t0 take a positive attitude and build on our strengths. We should build strengths that eclipse our "weaknesses".

People who focus on trying to identify weaknesses are generally not very productive. My experience is that productive people build on their strengths and keep getting better. If you want to disagree with me, then please go ahead and invest your valuable time in trying to identify and prioritize your "weaknesses". Keep track of the productive time you waste during this endeavor.

After you have invested part of your life in this futile exercise, read this posting again and dispute my approach. Ask yourself "Now that I have invested productive time identifying my weaknesses, what could I have produced in this time? What skill could I have improved in this time I focused on looking for perceived weaknesses that may not exist?"

This advice damages all who hear it. Speakers and all non-speakers have the responsibility to develop our talents to the fullest so that our expertise can benefit mankind. Where would we be if Dr. Marie Curie said "I am a great doctor, but need to improve as a musician, artist, negotiator and marathon runner. No one cares for X-Rays anyway. Let me focus on improving my weaknesses"

No. We need to build on our strengths. In the highly unlikely event that you have developed all of your talents to the maximum possible ability, then contact me. You will be the first person in history to get my approval and work on identifying a "weakness" that you can improve.

Focus on a few strengths to get better in them. In Feet to the Fire and in our Accountability Partnership, Liz Trendowski and I focus on each other's strengths so that we can both improve faster and benefit our audiences more.

I am logical and organized, but was blessed with limited (to put it politely) creativity. Liz is very creative but less organized. At my age, I don't have the time time learn to be creative. I will continue to contribute to society by constantly focusing on improving my public speaking skills (through Toastmasters International) and my Project Management talents. If you want an organized project, then call on me. If you want a creative title for your book, CD, or seminar, call Liz. Neither of us obsess over the fact that we are not clones.

In summary - focus on your strengths. Build on them. Become an expert. Become a better expert. Be glamorously unique. Then you can save other people time by sharing your expertise. You have strengths. Use them to help yourself and society. Rejoice in your strengths, Dr. Curie.

Feet to the Fire Status Update - 11/13/2007

Feet to the Fire status: We met with the label designer last night. Our label is awesome. He will make a few tweaks to the label, and then we will start manufacturing. Target date for the first run is Nov 28, 2007.

Think: What would be the value to you if you can start to reach goals that are on your to-do list, but that you never seem to get finished? Is it worth a $40 program to you? This is all that Feet to the fire will cost you.

I finished my 3rd Competent Communicator (CC) last night at Bloomfield Toastmasters club. Topic - of course - "Feet to the Fire:The path to getting things done through Accountability Partnerships". This will be the first CC for ProSpeakers Advanced Toastmasters Club.

Tonight - we are going to capture a travelling Gavel in Delmar, NY. It is a 2 hour drive each way, so I won't blog tonight.

Thursday night is our monthly ProSpeakers meeting.

Feet to the Fire Status Update - 11/11/2007

Feet to the Fire Update - Liz and I are meeting with our CD cover designer this week, then we can go to manufacturing.

I am reading "Million Dollar Consulting" - Third Edition - by Alan Weiss. I am amazed by the turns my life is taking. I first bought this book in 1999 in South Africa (I don't know which edition) when I was a consultant for WinConnect ( A Microsoft Consulting Partner).

I bought the book from Amazon.com and paid an arm and a leg for it with the exchange rate. Then I paid a similar arm and leg for shipping. When I read the book,many concepts were mind-blowing - I could not imagine how anyone could earn a Million Dollars a year in consulting when I compared it to my income at the time. This book changed my paradigm on the possibility of Value-based fees and earning substantial income as a consultant.

Unfortunately, this was one of the books that had to stay behind when we left South Africa in 2001. We came to the USA with six suitcases and a total of $400 in cash. There was no place for numerous books. I was forced to leave my library of books behind and am still building up a library again.

Now seven years later I am reading Million Dollar Consulting again. This time I think I am getting more practical advice because there are significant differences between consulting in South Africa in 1999 and consulting in Connecticut in 2007.

If you haven't read Million Dollar Consulting, I suggest you read it. Even if you are not currently consulting Alan's points and comments are thought provoking. (I don't know about you but I prefer indulging in stimulating books rather than accepting the mind-numbing TV Programming. )

Please post your thoughts. What thought provoking books do you like to indulge yourself in?

Feet to the Fire Status Update - 11/10/2007

WOOOHOOOO!!!!

I created the Feet-To-The-Fire Accountability Partnership Program CD's today. Liz has the master copies for the final round of Quality Assurance, and then we will send them to our manufacturer. I can't wait to make these CD's available because so many people have asked where they can get a copy.

Watch this space for details...

Reach your goals with your Accountability Partner

At the Get Paid to Speak Champ Camp in January 2007, Ed Tate told us about his accountability partner. Ed taught us that having a partner to keep you accountable to reach your goals forces you to work harder to reach your goals, because you don't want to let your partner down.

Here is how accountablity partnerships work:
1. Choose a partner who has weekly goals, preferably someone who is working towards similar goals that you are.
2. Schedule a time to meet with your accountabilty partner every week.
3. Set weekly goals, write them down, and share the goals with your accountability partner.
4. At your subsequent meeting review the goals with your partner and see if you each accomplished the goals that you set for the week. Don't be too soft with your partner. If goals are not met, discuss why the goals were not met and plans to meet the weekly goals.

At the Champ Camp Liz Trendowski and I became accountability partners. We have met just about every week since January to set and review weekly goals. The result of our accountability partnership is Liz's sizzlingly hot, selling book From Butterflies to Speaking Highs . Other results are presentations at the District 53 Conference, Dodging the Bullet Points, attending NSA meetings, meeting Alan Weiss in person and meeting Dan Poynter in person.

We drink coffee while we support each other for one-hour each week. We discuss upcoming projects and challenges. We critique each others ideas and laugh about our stupid mistakes. Then we go out and reach our goals for the week.

Liz and I have found that we are able to reach one or two goals consistently each week. Learn from our experience and don't try to reach 10 goals each week. It is better to reach 2 goals each week than to try for 10 and reach zero goals.

The bottom line is that Ed Tate's directive to create accountability partnerships is arguably the best advice I have received this year. Thanks Ed.

Take my advice and find yourself an accountability partner. Don't wait for the perfect day. Do it now. Pick up the phone ask someone who has similar goals to yourself. Then schedule a one hour meeting at your favorite coffee shop for next week. Take your goals for the week to the meeting and start reaching them.

Do you already have an accountability partner? Post your comments about your relationship. How is it helping each of you to reach goals?