Why can’t you achieve the goals you set?

Got goals?

Millions of words have been written about goals. I’ve written thousands of them. Ninety-nine percent of the words focus on “how-to” set and achieve them in one form or another. Books, articles, videos, seminars, online courses, and of course, classic classroom learning.

Everyone sets goals. Some people set them on their own – others have them set for them (sales goals, sales plans, sales quotas). Some people make elaborate game plans for goal achievement, others write them down in their day planner, others just cut out a picture from a magazine depicting something they wish they had, but don’t (car, boat, house, vacation).

Me? I post my goals on my bathroom mirror. In plain sight.

Many passé seminar leaders and motivational speakers claim, “Less than four percent of all people set goals.” Baloney. Everyone has a goal, or many goals. If you’re looking for a category that fits the four percent number, it’s the people that actually achieve the goals they set.

Ever set a goal you failed to achieve?
Ever stop in the middle of a goal?
Ever fall back to your old ways?
Ever miss your sales goals?
Of course you have. Everyone has.
Want to know why?

Goals and intentions are linked. Intentions actually precede goal setting. If you fall short of intention, you will not likely achieve the goal you set. What a simple, powerful concept. And, what a truth.

Goals or intentions – which are more powerful? What are your intentions? What do you intend to do? And the rest of the actions to achieve it will follow.

You may have a goal, or you may have been given a goal, but your intentions will dictate the outcome of the effort (or lack of it).

What do you intend to do?
That is what
gets done!

Jeffrey Gitomer

Think about these questions:

• What do you want to do?
• What do you need to do?
• What do you have to do?
• What do you love to do?
• How much do you love what you do?
• Do you dislike what you do?

Now, maybe you can better answer, what do you intend to do?

What you intend to do are the thoughts behind your actions. Intentions are the justification behind your words and deeds. If you intend to manipulate, your words and deeds will follow. If your intentions are pure, your words and deeds will follow. If you intend to achieve your goals, or a specific goal, your words and deeds will follow.

I believe that love and intentions are connected more passionately than fear and intentions, or greed and intentions. There’s an old quote that says, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I wonder how true it is. Personally, I believe the opposite.

There are types of intentions. The easiest to define are “good” and “bad.” To intend to do the right thing, or intend to do the wrong thing. Sometimes your intention to do the wrong thing is justified by the way you feel. You believe someone “deserves” what you’re about to do. I believe that’s the “hell” intention.

Whatever your intentions are, they form the basis for your actions, the foundation for the achievement of your goals, the manifestation of your desires, and ultimately the fulfillment of your dreams.

Maybe you need to write down your intentions BEFORE you write your goals. Start each sentence with, “I intend to…”or even bolder, “By the end of the week I intend to… .” Timing your intentions makes them much more real.

An easy way to make your intentions clear is to categorize them. Organize the categories – then write the words to define them. Single words for categories, and sentences to define your intentions.

Categories like personal, career, job, study, read, business, life, family, money, fun, travel, and passion. You get the idea.

Then write what you intend to do, and by when. “I intend by this date…” Short spaces of time are the best – this year – this month – this week – this day – this minute.

Use these categories as column headers and make a spreadsheet.

What do you intend to do? That is what gets done!

I intend to write another 10 books before 2030

You?

Why am I CERTAIN I will write ten more books in the next ten years? Simple –

I LOVE TO WRITE. I have the burning desire, and deep belief that my work is both accepted and integral to a long-lasting legacy.

Take an hour when you go on your self-discovery retreat, and identify what it is that you REALLY love and want to do (or wish you were doing).

Make a plan to get there.

What POWERS Your DO Engine?

Not many people understand what I’m about to tell you. And that’s a good thing. Once you understand your own personal power, the rest is just a matter of time and hard work.

Napoleon Hill, and I’m sure others, identified the sex drive as the most dominant in our bodies. I’m going to give you a variation of that so that you can come to the personal understanding of what can drive your productivity.

It involves the word “love.” And before we go any further, please get your mind out of the gutter. It’s not love of sex, it’s love of SELF, followed by love of what you do. If you don’t love yourself, and if you don’t love what you do, then your productivity will be somewhere between mediocre and pathetic.

When you’re in a situation where you’re obviously not producing at what you believe to be your maximum level, or your best level, you have to go back and ask yourself the simple question, “Do I love this?” Because if you do not, not only will your productivity suffer, your entire physiology will suffer. It’s just that simple.

YOU GOTTA LOVE WHAT YOU DO.

Jeffrey Gitomer