Today I will continue my discussion of the 12 Steps to Achieving Any Goal as it applies to the workplace.

7. Define the obstacles to achieving your goal. It may seem counter-intuitive to put any focus on obstacles, for fear of indulging in negative thinking. But I encourage you to embrace the obstacles in your way because the solution to achieving your goals actually lies in your obstacles.

Obstacles make you think harder and force you to be versatile. If you clearly define your obstacles, your mind will get to work at finding solutions. If you are using this approach in the workplace with a departmental or group goal, you’ll experience synergy as you define obstacles together and commit to overcoming them.

8. Focus on the solutions to overcoming your obstacles. Now that you know what your obstacles are you and your team can focus on the specific ways to overcome them. Remember, problem-solving is ingrained in our nature.

If your obstacle is lack of funding for a piece of equipment or software to make a certain aspect of your business run more efficiently, then brainstorm possible solutions such as cutting back expenses in other areas, like travel, conferences, etc. If your obstacle is a boss who shoots down innovative ideas, possible solutions would be a seminar on communications, talking directly to the boss about this problem in a constructive way, looking for a new job, talking to a coach or therapist about how to become more assertive, etc. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I want to take my popular 12 Steps to Achieve Any Goal and apply it to the business world. These 12 steps will help you as you advance in your career or even as you switch careers. We will cover the first 6 steps in this article:

1. Define your most important and audacious goal. This is the goal you most want to achieve, even if it seems unrealistic or not feasible. Although you don’t want to be totally unrealistic, be bold. Whether it’s to retire by age 50 or become CEO of your own company, it should be a goal that is completely in line with your true self and values. You can also set an audacious goal for your department or entire business and enlist your co-workers in this process.

2. Have a clear deadline. Unfortunately, being the human creatures we are, most of us won’t achieve our goals without a deadline. How many projects would you complete if your boss said, “It doesn’t matter when you finish this project.” How many clients would you acquire if your attitude was, “I don’t do deadlines.” You should also set deadlines for your goals. It’s so easy to not take your goals seriously and to not assign deadlines to them but I urge you to do so. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll accomplish once you start setting deadlines. Read the rest of this entry »