I have always been a proponent of setting goals based upon the SMART goal development methodology.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Tangible. A goal must fit all of those criteria in order for it to make your list.

The first quality of a goal is that it is specific.

The more detail you can bring to your goal, the more likely it is that your brain will perceive it as real. A great test to measure the specificity of your goal is in answering the five “W’s.” The five “W’s” involved in goal setting are:

Who is involved? Can you accomplish this goal by yourself or do you need the help of others? 
What specifically do you want to accomplish?
Is this goal specific to a location? Where will you be when you achieve this goal? 
When will you achieve this goal? It is critical that you establish a time frame for achieving each of your goals.
Why is achieving this goal important? List the specific benefits of accomplishing the goal.

The next step is to make certain you can measure progress on your way toward goal accomplishment. You know that your goal is measurable when you can apply specific objective criteria to help track your progress toward completion. The best question to use to test the measurability of your goals is, “How will I know that I have accomplished this goal?”

Measurement has a very powerful effect on progress. Simply put, things that get measured get done. To define how you will measure your goal, ask yourself questions that begin with How much, How many, and How often.

Set some target dates to make sure you remain on track.

The next quality your goal must have is that it must be achievable. In other words, it must be possible. Initially, achieving your goal may seem like a stretch. That’s fine; you want a goal that will make you reach. When you set a goal that channels your passion, your brain goes to work figuring out ways to make it happen. You develop the attitudes, skills, and knowledge that help you move down the path toward achievement. Gradually, you begin to see opportunities that you may have previously missed. As you begin to take advantage of these opportunities, you bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goal.

You can attain virtually any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. A goal that initially appeared distant and unattainable gradually becomes closer and more possible, not because your goal changed, but because you grew and expanded to match it. The change occurs within you.

Next, your goal must be realistic given the time frame you have set. To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective you are both willing and able to spend time and energy achieving. A goal can be challenging and still be realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. You will stretch your goals as your self-confidence increases. It is critical to make sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a less challenging one because a minor goal requires a low level of personal motivation. Some of the hardest things you ever accomplish actually seem easy because you approach them with passion and zeal.

Finally, your goal must be tangible. A goal is tangible when you can experience it with at least one of the five senses. Can you taste, touch, smell, see, or hear the results? If so, then you have a tangible goal. If your goal is tangible you can envision it before it is achieved. This helps program your mind and reinforces the belief that achievement is possible.

Each and every one of the successful individuals I have worked with over the years has had goals that fit these criteria. 

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If you want to make your goals become real please check out Creating Your Future over at the Business Advisor Blog. 

Included in this post are the seven components that are necessary to make your goals a reality.

Please check them out – they will help you accelerate your progress.

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Many people set goals at the end of the year for the beginning of the new year.  For the vast majority of folks that was the last time they even looked at them.

As we set the clocks for daylight savings time (the Sunday at 2AM) we should take the opportunity to review our goals.

Do they still make sense?  Are you making progress toward them?

Remember – Most successful people review their goals DAILY. 

Take some time today and review your goals.

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As difficult as it is to believe, the end of the year is fast approaching.

There are less than 10 weeks left until 2007.

Now is a good time to look at your goals and assess your progress.  Here are five things you can do to finish 2006 in strong fashion and make sure you get off to a flying start in 2007:

Dedicate 30 minutes each day between now and the end of the year to focusing on little steps toward a big goal.  These don’t need to be monumental items.  They should be small steps that will add up to goal completion by the end of the year.  Keep in mind that you should only spend 30 minutes on this task daily.  Use a kitchen timer if necessary.  You will be surprised at how much you accomplish by focusing on one small task each day.

Make one phone call to a former business associate each day.  If you’re like me, you have a few hundred people you have lost touch with over the years.  Track down one person each day and give them a call.  Your career will definitely benefit from at least one of these interactions.

Write a hand written note to someone who was featured in an article in the newspaper.  This note should be a congratulatory note on a promotion or on landing a “big deal”.  You can even write them a note just congratulating them on being featured in the paper.  I guarantee that one of these powerful and influential people will call you to say “thanks”.  It happens all the time.

Make friends with someone in an elevator, on line at the supermarket or in the post office. Ok, it doesn’t need to specifically be one of these locations.  The idea is to introduce yourself to someone at random each and every day for the rest of the year.  You never can tell who you will meet and how influential they may be.

Collect business cards.  Tell people you are starting a collection of intriguing and creative business cards.  See how many you can get. If people say that their card is boring, respond with “I’ll be the judge of that!”. Send all of the people who give you cards a “happy holidays” e-mail.  Notice how many respond.  Can any of them help your career?  You’ll never know unless you try. 

You will notice that this list has a strong focus on goals and networking.  These are the two areas of activity that will accelerate your career.  Focusing on achieving your goals each day will help move your career or your business forward.  Networking will help you make connections that can eventually land a new job or close a potentially big deal.

What are you waiting for?

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Last week, I mentioned that I was faced with an important decision and stated my intention to choose a course of action by the end of the weekend. After careful deliberation, I made the decision on Saturday and began laying out my plans for accomplishing my goal. I made a few calls and sent some e-mails to contacts I thought might have helpful information. The response I got and the wealth of helpful suggestions people offered quite frankly overwhelmed me. I know that I have everything I need to accomplish my goal, and I am moving toward it with excitement and confidence.

This experience deeply reinforces for me the power of the trinity of:

Intention: Making bold and determined choices is essential to success. You can certainly drift from job to job and experience moments of triumph and achievement along the way, but if you want to go beyond the norm and superachieve, you’re going to need to let your passion guide you in setting bold goals that lead to rich rewards. When you know exactly what you intend to do, you can focus your efforts like a laser toward that end. You can use every opportunity and resource at your disposal to pave the way to success. The mere act of stating your intention fills you with energy and determination to make it happen.

Preparation: Once you know what you want, start planning how you’re going to get it. I find it very helpful to sit down with a calendar and rough out key dates and deadlines. If I know I’m going to need someone’s help during any phase of the project, I get in touch with him, let him know my plans, and request his assistance during that time. Knowing what’s coming up gives you a sense of calm and capability and reduces any trepidation you may feel about a looming action or significant change. If someone walked into your office right now and told you you’d be giving a presentation in front of the entire company in five minutes, you might be a little rattled, whereas if you’d had weeks to prepare, you’d hopefully at most be a little nervous. When you map out the steps to your goal, you build a structure for yourself inside which to explore options for support. Someone who knows a big presentation is looming is probably going to prepare, practice, and develop relevant skills to increase success.

Action: Every step you take toward bringing your goal to life leads naturally to another. Every time you demonstrate your intentions and determination to your business partners and friends, you reinforce your plan and attract support to you. People love to see good things happening, and they love to get involved and help. Use the inertia of the first step to propel you along into the subsequent actions. Remember, no one becomes a soaring success overnight—success is the result of daily, diligent effort and action.

Not only am I confident that I made the right choice this weekend, I am certain I will reach my goal and help pave the way for future successes. The actions required to fulfill my plan do not feel burdensome to me. On the contrary, I am looking forward to undertaking the challenges and enjoying the rewards of my effort.

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It’s a new month, and a new season is just around the bend! What do you want to accomplish in September? I oftentimes find setting month-long goals to be very effective. Four weeks is a fairly short period of time, but long enough to get something significant done. In four weeks, you can:

• Apply and interview for a new job.
• Network and meet several new business contacts.
• Develop your personal brand.
• Begin generating buzz about yourself.
• Sign up for and begin a class in an area of interest.
• Find a new client, or several.
• Give a great presentation.
• Schedule a meeting with your supervisor and ask for a raise.

A month is also the perfect amount of time to allot for trying something you’re afraid of doing. You might want to make September the Month of Negotiation, Sales, Networking, or Marketing. Put a time limit on the activity that you know could use improvement but causes you some trepidation. Put a lot of energy into networking, for instance, and see how it works out for you. If it doesn’t have positive results, you’re not bound to continue after the month is up. I can almost guarantee, however, that you will reap the benefits of your efforts.

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Today’s question, for professionals from a wide array of fields, is:

What holds you back from pursuing what you want?

Usually, fear of change. (Jane, Nurse)

Fear of change—and particularly of the unknown—is a very common fear. Many people worry that if things change, they might get worse, or they might be more than they can handle. The truth is that we never know what the future holds. Even if someone has been with her company for twenty years and feels secure, she could be laid off tomorrow. You may feel that there’s never an ideal time to act upon your ambitions. You’re right. No time is ideal. That’s all the more reason why you have no reason to wait.

My fear of rejection. (Jill, Marketing/PR Creative Director)

Even the most dazzling of superachievers have at one time or another failed miserably. Successful people are not immune to failure and rejection. They simply keep trying, in spite of setbacks. If we want to experience great success, we have to muster the courage to face potential rejection.

I am affected by fear of failure, bankruptcy, and the possibility that change might be worse than the present situation. Also, things like having health insurance or job flexibility are difficult to give up even if I don’t like the job. (Michelle, College English Instructor)

The security of benefits is one of the three lies of career limitation. You can always do better. You have talent, and there is a market for your talent. All you have to do is identify your value and your market.

The fact that I don’t have my bachelor’s degree yet. And self doubt, to some extent. (Tina, Sales Rep)

Many companies will not only allow their employees to attend school while working, they’ll even pay for it! If Tina wants to finish up her degree, she can probably find a company with whom that’s possible. Or if she wants to quit her job entirely and go back to school, she can do that. A college degree is much more in reach for most people these days.

Lack of time. I’m trying to gain more of it by getting more organized and using software applications that allow me to manage my information better. (Will, Web Designer/Database Administrator)

Does anyone feel that he has enough time? Most of us have a mile-long list of things we’d like to accomplish, and all of us have the same 24 hours in every day. How we use them is what differentiates us. I would recommend that Will take a close look at how he spends his time. Is he devoting a large percentage of time to activities that don’t provide much return? Making a very short list of priorities (the shorter, the better) and dividing your time up sensibly between them is a great exercise to do. Give the greatest amount of time to your top priority, allocating smaller blocks of time for goals as they decrease in importance. Also, make sure you spend some time each and every day on your top goals.

I am pursuing the things I want. The fact that I don’t yet have them is merely an issue of time. (Marianne, Forensics Researcher)

Marianne is young, and I believe that she will accomplish what she wants. I like the simplicity and confidence in her answer. She suggests that she will work persistently toward her goals and definitely achieve them in good time.

Think about what holds you back from accomplishing your goals. Putting your finger on your fears and restrictions helps you see that they can be overcome, starts you thinking about steps you can take to move past them, and gets you on the fast track toward a great life full of potential and success.

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How active are you in pursuing your goals? What action have you taken or will you take today to move forward? If you’re not as active as you’d like to be, what’s holding you back?

We often face larger issues, such as fear, doubt, and naysaying from supposed supporters—but all these problems can be solved. Sometimes, nothing more than lack of momentum keeps us stuck in one place. And if you can prod yourself into action, you may find that inertia keeps you moving forward.

Superachievers will say that they spend 100% of their time and energy working on their goals. While this level of commitment is not required for success, the more of yourself you pour into your dreams, the more successful you will be in achieving them.

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Since the release of Career Intensity many people have asked me for help with their careers.  To make sure I help as many people as possible, I  set up a site for people to ask me specific questions about their career or their business.

The most common question I receive is about increasing income.  Simply stated, “How do I make more money?” 

This is not unusual.  People have been asking that question forever.  Napoleon Hill  addressed it years ago in his book Think And Grow Rich.  For those of you who don’t know, Napoleon Hill studied the 500 most successful people in the world.  He traveled around and interviewed and observed success for 20 years. He found 16 characteristics that were common to all of them.  Out of all of those characteristics, there are five that are so important that they can literally help you double your income all by themselves. 

I kid you not.  If you possess these five qualities you can literally double your income every few years.  Here are the five:

Have a Burning Desire – You must to want to succeed.  The easiest way to make sure you stoke the flames of desire is to work in an area you feel passionate about.  If you do not approach your work enthusiastically each and every day you make it far more difficult to succeed. Why?  Because you will hate going to work.  When you hate something, you avoid it.  Even if you don’t hate your work, being attitudinally neutral is not going to drive success.

Have Specialized Knowledge – There are certain success habits involved in every profession.  I say habits because you can learn them and master them through practice and repetition.  Doctors learn to be great surgeons through practice.  Pilots learn to fly airplanes through practice.  You can learn to master your craft in the same way. 

Be Decisive – You must be able to make decisions.  Many people blame their lack of decisiveness on “waiting for all the facts”.  The problem with that philosophy is that you will rarely have all the facts on any topic.  At some point you have to take a chance and make a decision.  Successful people are comfortable with that reality.

Be Goal Oriented – This is a killer for most people.  They don’t have goals.  Do you want to see some magic?  Follow these three steps:

• Set a goal to double your pay in three years
• Reviewed that goal several times each day
• Take some step, even a small one, toward that goal each day

If you do this you will find that you become creative at how you acquire the knowledge you need to move toward that goal.  You’ll have to deal with frustration as you chase things that don’t work, but each time you do that you’ll learn from the experience.  Having goals is critical to success.

Get Some Coaching and/or Join a Mastermind Group – Everyone needs a coach.  A coach helps you in a number of ways.  He/she helps you by:

• Keeping you focused on your goals
• Finding the specialized knowledge you need
• Serving as a sounding board as you review the facts in making decisions
• Reminding you to pursue your passion 

I highly recommend both practices.  The mastermind group is fantastic support and it is great for brainstorming and idea generation.  The coach is critical to help you stay personally focused.  Coaching is an investment in your future.  That investment will pay you back tenfold.

There you have it.  Those are the five things you need to know in order to double your pay.  If you start to work on them today, you will see the results down the road.

If you have any questions, or you need help in finding a coach, e-mail me: davidvlorenzo@gmail.com

Your future is too important to leave in the hands of someone else.

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What are your goals for August? Have you written them down and posted them in an obvious place? I have seen time and again that putting goals down on paper and revisiting them each day helps keep you on track. Remember to do something every day—including today!—to work toward your goals. The momentum that daily goal achievement creates is priceless to your levels of energy, positive thinking, and success.

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Ellen, a client of mine, was telling me last week that her three main goals right now are to:

1. Expand her new business.
2. Network and meet new business partners and friends.
3. Get in better physical condition and take care of her health.

She went on to say that the wonderful thing about attacking any one of her goals with intensity is that each one contributes to the others. In meeting new people, she automatically makes new business contacts and wins new clients. In taking care of her health and spending more time outdoors exercising, she meets people with similar goals, and has even made a couple of new friends this way. The better she feels physically, the more mental energy she has to devote to her work. Ellen’s purpose is to have a happy, fulfilling life. Each of her overarching goals contributes to this purpose.

When you are clear about your purpose, and when your goals all support your purpose, it is natural that they support one another. Every stride forward you take in one area boosts your success in other areas.

How synergistic are your goals? Do they support each other? If you find that any goal contradicts another or does not seem to fit in, you need to take a closer look at it. Maybe that goal doesn’t belong on the list. Or maybe that goal is actually the most important one and the others don’t make sense for your larger purpose. When you’re heading in the right direction, every positive step you take moves you forward and contributes to your progress. Be mindful of how your everyday actions contribute to your long-term success.

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Setting goals is not always easy to do. Taking them from ideas on paper to reality is even more challenging. One of the secrets of success in goal attainment is to break your goals down into smaller, more manageable parts and take small steps each day to reach them. Following are the five most effective strategies (BOAST) for implementing your goals:

Bold. Once you have defined a goal, you must take bold action to realize it. Successful people’s ideas are not necessarily any better than anyone else’s. What sets them apart is that they are bold and confident in their work toward bringing their goals to life. We all know someone who’s not the most obviously attractive bachelor or bachelorette on the market, but who, through sheer will, determination, and radiant confidence, is never without a date or a handful of interested suitors. That has everything to do with being bold and attracting success with a positive and magnetic attitude.

Open. Make your plans known to someone around you—this can be a coworker, long-time friend, or your partner. Advertise your intentions and strides forward. Give this person (or group of people, if you prefer) full disclosure of your progress. The benefits of this are myriad. First of all, it helps you clarify your thinking. Secondly, it keeps you accountable. Third, it creates a source of encouragement and positive feedback that will keep you moving forward.

Achievement. Make achieving your goals a part of each and every day of your life. Do something every single day to work toward your goals. Sometimes you will spend the entire day working on your goals; other times you will only squeeze in a few minutes of time on them. What’s important is that you keep the momentum and sense of progress going all the time. Make daily work on your goals a nonnegotiable part of your life.

Significant. Your goals must be your priority because they are shaping your future. I’m often asked how much time should be spent on goal achievement, and my answer usually startles most people. The most successful people I know work toward goal achievement 100 percent of the time. They are obsessed with what they want, and they spend their lives in pursuit and enjoyment of it. Now, I am not suggesting you abandon anything that matters to you in pursuit of your goals. If family, friends, health, travel, and leisure are important to you, you should certainly make time for them.

Transformation. Once you have elevated your goals to a level of significance in your life, transformation will naturally occur. Every success paves the way for more successes. The more time you can devote to your goals, the greater rewards you will enjoy.

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Caroline Jalango at www.motivationzone.com provides us with seven ways to set your goals in motion.  They are:

Stop seeking approval from people.
You don’t need anyone’s permission to fulfill your dream. Trust yourself and give yourself permission to succeed. Having support from people whose opinion you value is a wonderful thing but it should not be the criterion for whether you begin acting on fulfilling your goals or not.
If you really desire to turn your idea into reality, constantly floating it around and seeking the approval of people will waste your time and kill your dream. What will happen to your idea if you don’t get the approval of those whose permission you so desperately need? Nothing!

Don’t wait for perfection.
Waiting for a time when everything is perfect and in place will cause you to lose your enthusiasm and abandon your goal. Conditions may never be as perfect as you desire. You may never have all the money, time, or knowledge you desire to begin working on your goals.
You must take risks, learn and improve as you go along and then watch as everything begins to fall in place. If you have to wait for the perfect time to begin working on your goals …, you will be waiting a long time!

Create time for the goal.
Many people have dreams, ideas, or goals, which remain unfulfilled because they are too busy doing everything else but work on the goal! If you have a goal to accomplish, you must be ready to invest your time and resources to ensure that it succeeds.
Making excuses about lacking the time to work on goals that are important to you is a procrastination tactic, which will kill your dream before it has a chance to see the light of day. There is always time to work on what we love and consider important. Create that time and see your dreams begin to unfold!

Decide once and for all!
The process of goal accomplishment, like most things in life begins with a decision. You decide what you want to achieve and then you plan how you intend to achieve it. If accomplishing your goal is important to you, your inability to make crucial decisions about what you should do, how you should do it, and when you should do it, will waste your time and choke your dream. Make up your mind and stop second-guessing yourself. When your mind is made up …, nothing can stop you from making progress with fulfilling your goals.

Be bold and take the initiative.
You are the one in charge of turning your dreams to reality. You need to be proactive and actively involved in the process of working on your goals to ensure you achieve them.
Just because you have shared your ideas with others does not necessarily mean that you are no longer responsible for turning them to reality. Don’t sit around waiting for others to make suggestions and guide your idea to reality. Don’t leave your dream entirely in the hands of others. Nobody cares about your dream like you do.

Invest in your dream.
No idea is self-funding. Don’t be deceived into thinking that people will invest or finance your idea just because it is brilliant. If you are lucky, someone may invest in it, but if you are not, you will have to invest your time, energy, and finances towards activities that will fortify and fulfill your dream.
You may have to invest in the acquisition of knowledge or expertise that will help you achieve your goals. It would be a good idea to keep some money stashed away to finance your goal.

Do one thing at a time.
Commit yourself only to projects and activities that are connected to your main goal. Whatever you do should directly or indirectly add up to a move toward your main goal. Failure to do this will confuse, overwhelm, sidetrack, and drain your energy.
To get started on achieving your goals, you need to plan for it and make it a priority. If you keep crowding and cluttering your life with what does not matter, you many never, ever accomplish your goals.

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It is officially halftime for 2006.  This is a great time to reflect upon where we are and where we are going for the remainder of the year.

You may remember that we discussed One Mission | One Person | One Day at a Time back at the end of 2005.   Back then we discussed:

• How helping others can help your business and your career.
• How writing down your mission can help cement it in your mind.
• How taking small steps each day can lead to big accomplishments in your career and in your business.

Take a few minutes today or tomorrow and assess how you have done in these three areas.  If you did not write your mission statement down back in January, go ahead and do it now.  You can use mine as an example:

I will share my ideas for career and business improvement with as many people as possible in books, on my blogs and via audio and video learning programs.

This is my personal mission.  You’ll notice that is has evolved since I first shared it with you.  Evolution of your personal mission is good.  It shows that you have learned from experience and that you are growing.

What have you learned in the first six months of this year?  How have you grown?  What steps are you taking each day to get closer to achieving your goals?

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A simple and highly effective way of making goal attainment a core element of your life is setting a goal every single day and accomplishing it. What do you want to do today? If you have a big project looming over your head, it might ease your mind to spend an hour working on it. Have you been thinking you’d like to get to know some of your coworkers from another department? Try dropping in to say hello and communicate about work instead of sending an e-mail. When people have a face to put with the name, they remember you, and they are much more inclined to help you out when you need it.

Write your goal down every morning, and check in with yourself at the end of the day to see how you did. Remember to phrase your goals positively, in a way that makes the process of achieving them sound appealing, rather than burdensome or difficult. Going through this process each day gets you into the habit of establishing targets and hitting them.

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This interview with 26-year-old Tara shows that age has nothing to do with Career Intensity. She knows exactly where she stands, where she wants to go, and how she can get there.

What is your job title? Science Educator/Research Scientist.

What do you do? I study marine evolution at a natural history museum, and I am a science educator through a local university.

What are your career goals for the next year? To gain a higher-level position in the science education outreach field.

The next five years? To enter a doctorate program in science education research.

The next ten years? To enter a post-doctoral position and lecture at a major university in my area. Possibly to co-author a book on my research and opinions about the state of science education in the U.S.

The rest of your life? To be an educator and advocate for education reform in my state, to continue research about the public perceptions of science, and implement solutions for creating a new generation of people who both feel confident about, understand, and support scientific research and thinking.

Wow! Look at all those goals! Does anyone else feel as certain as I do that Tara knows how to make these things happen and will take the steps necessary to realize all of her goals? How much clarity do you have about your path, and how determined are you to get what you want?

In your work, what unique value do you offer? I am enthusiastic and eclectic. I bring new interests and perspectives since I work with such a diverse set of people (from grade school students to research scientists and college professors). I am a fairly objective person and try to see all sides of the story. I try to be the buffer between people in my lab and workplace.

Tara solves problems. She helps other people maintain productive business relationships. The skill of facilitating harmony and productivity in the workplace is a valuable one. Use your unique strengths to make your office a better place to work. Everyone will appreciate you for that.

Do you evaluate your progress in achieving your goals? I write prioritized lists to see where I have been and where I am going to go. I set goal dates on my calendar and try to meet them before the actual deadlines of my projects.

Tara evaluates her past work, sets targets for the future, and works hard to exceed her own demands of herself. What a great example of continuous improvement.

Do you use relationships to help you in your career? If so, how? Absolutely! I have mentors, and I am a mentor. I teach and support others in their career goals. My passion and ambition is for the future students, and my work is part of a legacy of colleagues who inspire me to do more for society.

She is very much in touch with her peers, her support network, and the bigger picture. Where do you fit into your company? What is your role, and how can your relationships with others in the company help you move more quickly and efficiently toward success?

How are you perceived by your coworkers and supervisor? I think they perceive me in a positive light. I think they see me as hard working and industrious. I also see them viewing me as a typical Asian American female, as a hard-working, “over-achieving” person who naturally is inclined to “work hard”.

I encourage Tara to identify the elements of her personality that she wants to highlight in creating her personal brand. How can she use her reputation as a hard worker to propel herself forward? Think about the impression your business partners have of you, and cultivate those elements that are most meaningful to you.

What is the single most important thing you can do to maximize your career success? Be more confident and learn the idiosyncrasies of politics. Be more democratic about my co-workers and their academic and career goals even if I do not agree with them. I need to learn to be less angry with the system and learn to make change within it, slowly but hopefully permanently.

Most of the individuals I’ve interviewed recently have commented on their need to develop confidence in their careers. They’re right—believing in yourself wholeheartedly is a tremendous catalyst for lifelong improvement and growth. Tara also identifies the need to handle business relationships with professionalism and diplomacy. Since business is all about people and relationships, we could all benefit from learning to be more graceful in difficult situations.

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I conducted another career interview, this time with Michelle, a college English instructor. She’s a prime example of how following your passion leads naturally to success.

What is your current job title? Teaching Assistant, but the title’s a little misleading—I teach my own classes.

What do you do? I teach college English at a large university, mostly composition and professional writing.

What are you most satisfied with in your job? I enjoy having the freedom to design syllabi and lessons. I pick the readings, plan the lessons, interact with students. I get to use my creativity.

Michelle enjoys being a leader and helping people. This career is great for her because she gets to spend the day immersed in what she loves, sharing it with others, and helping them to improve themselves.

What are your career goals for the next five years? I want to work on decreasing my stress levels and develop my confidence, happiness, and grace as a teacher. I also need to make a decision about whether to pursue a Ph.D.

Stress management is critical, as Michelle realizes. You can do a much better job if you’re relaxed and in good health than if you’re fried and stretched to your limit. The more confident you are, the better a leader you can be and the bigger the steps you can take toward maximizing your value and success.

What are your career strengths? I’m strongly driven to improve at my job—to reflect upon it, constantly re-evaluate, and do it well.

There’s the Cycle of Continuous Improvement. As long as she remains committed to that process, she will continue to do great work. I would encourage her, as part of developing confidence, to work toward demonstrating her value as well—not only to students, but to her peers and supervisors. You can only go so far without others being aware of your unique contributions and strengths.

How do you use those strengths in your work? I listen to other teachers for ideas (often using teacher message boards or discussion groups online to discuss teaching). I take classes and read tons of books about teaching methodology. I’m constantly trying to improve as a teacher.

Way to go, Michelle! Obviously, she believes in education. We could all take a cue from her and learn as much as we can, in whatever venues we can find. The more we know, the more value we can offer.

What are your weaknesses? I communicate better in writing than speaking, so my speaking while I teach isn’t always the most organized or coherent.

Have you taken any action in the last five years to improve upon those weaknesses? I try different compensation techniques. For instance, I visualize what I’m going to say the day before teaching a lesson. I try to think through a few jokes I can add
into the lecture. I create a lot of visuals—handouts, Web pages, etc.—that I can use to guide me in my speaking.

Michelle is establishing excellent tools for herself. She’s picturing success and imagining herself in the role she wants to embody, using humor and stories to make connections with her students (her customers), and working with presentation materials to strengthen her delivery. We’ve all got endless resources available to us—use them!

In your work, what unique value do you offer? I have compassion for students. It really makes me mad when teachers say nasty things about students or think of
students in negative terms, because I try to respect my students.

Michelle’s students most likely trust her. This means they are likely to take classes from her in the future, recommend her to their friends, and spread the good word about her abilities. All this, of course, results in higher attendance and customer satisfaction, which makes her look great. Badmouthing clients is never a good idea. First of all, if you’re in that frame of mind, you’re probably not thinking positively and coming up with great ways to solve their problems for them. Secondly, rumors have a way of traveling quickly. You don’t want to tarnish your reputation with petty gossip.

Is your work in line with your passion? Definitely. I’m more passionate about English literature, reading, and writing than anything else.

This is exactly why she is so good at her job. She loves it.

What will you do to achieve your goals for the next year?

1. Try new teaching techniques often
2. Take a class on online teaching
3. Continue discussions with other teachers at the university and on online message boards

Michelle is a woman with a plan. Being focused and directed comes naturally when you love what you do.

Do you use relationships to help you in your career? If so, how? My partner also teaches college, so we constantly discuss our teaching ideas, policies, and methodologies. It’s a huge help.

Support from friends, your partner, peers, or a mentor is so important and helpful. We all need people with whom to exchange ideas and feedback.

Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your insight and for being such a great model of Career Intensity!

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When was the last time you sat down and brainstormed on all the possibilities for your future? I highly recommend doing this exercise. Ruminate on what you want most of all from your life, in the grand, mid-term, and immediate senses. Map out a path for getting to your top goal for the next year (or five years, or ten). Work out your strategies for money, time management, motivation, rewards, evaluation along the way, and benefits. Going through this process can be extremely motivating. It stimulates your mind, gets you tuned in to the infinite possibilities before you, frees your thinking, and gives you clarity.

Once you have arrived at some solid overarching goals, supporting goals, and action items, write them down and put them in plain view. Revisit these often, and check in with yourself and your supporters on how you’re doing. Having a strong sense of purpose and a clear idea of how to get to your destination infuses your life with ambition, intensity, and success.

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How many major goals do you have? Generally speaking, the fewer the number of goals you have, the greater the focus you devote to each one. Some of the most successful people I have met over the years have a single purpose in which they invest all their energy. You should definitely aim to have no more than three overarching goals that you plan to accomplish within the next ten years.

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What was the best part of your work week? What did you enjoy doing most? Whatever this is—negotiating with business partners, crunching numbers, making deals, selling, communicating with clients—think about ways you can incorporate more of that into your career. If you’re stuck behind a computer all day but you prefer face-to-face interactions, start working on generating more value in that realm. Then show how effective you are in that role, and work toward more of it. You might hate solitary work, while someone else in your group would prefer it.

Consider ways of enhancing your enjoyment of work. Don’t let yourself feel shackled into something you don’t love doing. Your career must be an ongoing process of searching, discovery, and self improvement. Successful people never stop working to optimize, energize, and maximize their quality of life and career fulfillment.

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If staying on track with your goals is a problem for you, I recommend establishing accountability. Here are some possibilities:

1. Yourself. For some people, it’s not enough to answer just to yourself. However, getting into personal accountability habits is a great idea, since we always have the final say. I’m a big believer in writing your goals down and putting them in plain view. The idea is that you will look at these goals often and reinforce your commitments. Some of my business associates set goals each month or each year. At the end of the period, they check in with themselves on how they did.

2. Your partner. If your relationship is strong and you have a good level of trust, you might want to check in with your partner regularly about your progress. Encouragement from the person you love is very inspirational, and sharing your goals with each other can be a great way to strengthen your connection.

3. A friend. Checking in with a friend in an excellent way to stay on track, particularly if it goes both ways. Pressure is low, and the environment is casual, so most people feel very comfortable discussing their achievements and setbacks with friends.

4. An advisor. You might consider working with a career coach, therapist, or counselor on your goals. This is a great option for people who are very serious about their ambitions and who want to be actively challenged.

5. An online community. It’s true—everybody has a blog these days. Detailing your plans and progress for the entire world to see creates a mythology of you. Once people take an interest in your life and career journey and become involved, you can draw inspiration from their observations. Alternately, you might want to become a member of a career discussion forum.

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In creating goals, make sure you’re stating them positively. Working toward success is much more appealing than working away from failure. Wouldn’t you rather work toward giving strong presentations than work away from giving bad ones? If you’re having trouble meeting an objective, such as “arrive at work on time every day”, you might need to delve into the issue further. Maybe the real problem is that you’re not going to bed at a reasonable hour. If you’re coming up short, take a good look at your habits and try to make a change from the ground up.

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Here we are at the start of another work week. Why not write down your goals for the week, and for the rest of June? Put them in a place where you can see them, and do something every single day to move toward them. Try to check in with someone (a friend, your partner, a colleague) at least once or twice this week and let her know how you’re doing. Ask how she’s doing, too. You might have some great ideas for each other. Successful people make a habit of:

• Setting specific goals.
• Taking daily steps to accomplish them.
• Sharing news of their progress with others.
• Keeping themselves accountable.
• Achieving goals, then setting new ones.
• Developing themselves continuously.

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Have you been writing down your goals? Are you checking in with yourself periodically on your progress, and telling friends and business partners about the work you’re doing? These are a few simple things you can do each week to make your goals more concrete and help you keep moving forward. Keep your aims real and tangible. Write them, speak them, and show them. Even if your goals are simple, go through this process.

For example, let’s say you want to arrive at work on time every day this week. This may seem insignificant, but being on time regularly demonstrates your reliability. Write this goal down on Sunday. Put it in a place you will see it often, such as on the wall near your computer. Check in with yourself throughout the week. Tell your partner, “This week, I am setting the goal of arriving at work every day on time.” Hopefully he’ll check in with you during the week to see how you’re doing. At the end of the week, evaluate how you did. If you met your goal, reward yourself. Then set a higher goal for next week. With this process, you increase the likelihood of success for any goal, large or small, minor or major, short-term or lifelong.

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Who hears about your goals and progress? Do you talk about these things with your friends, partner, coworker, family? I encourage you, no matter how far along you are in your career journey, to find trusted personal and professional contacts with whom to discuss your aims and achievements. Some people find writing in a journal or posting inspirational notes to themselves helpful. That’s a great idea, and I’m all for it. But I would like to remind you to extend your circle of support to as many other people as possible.

Verbalizing your goals makes them all the more real, enriches and deepens the experience, and makes you more accountable. Let’s say you tell your friends that you’re determined to find a great job in a new field sometime in the next three months. Not only are they going to ask you about your progress and motivate you to work at it, they’ll probably also have some leads or contacts for you to pursue. You don’t need to do it all on your own. If you go that route, it’s much easier to give up when things are tough. With supporters all around you, you get new ideas, new inspiration, and new encouragement all the time.

How do you find these people? Your partner and friends are the easiest options. If you don’t normally talk to them about your career aspirations, give it a try. You’ll quickly discover which ones are open to the topic, and it’s likely that most of them are. Next, look to your colleagues and acquaintances in your field. It could be that they’ve been through a similar process before, or they have similar goals. Opportunities have at times arisen for me in the strangest and least obvious of circumstances. Open up your circle of influence and support, and you open up your future.

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Joe had his first interview for the new position last week, and it was a great success. He admitted he was nervous about it, but he told me his strategy for dealing with that was to focus on his skills and qualifications. He has two more interviews this week, with his potential manager and the director of the department. I asked him what his goals for the coming week are. He told me he intended to:

1. Ace both interviews. He tells me he spent some time this weekend reviewing possible interview questions and practicing. He’s also picked out a professional outfit that makes him feel more confident.

2. Negotiate good pay. Joe has already decided to ask for a certain percentage more than he is offered. The worst they’ll say is no, and it never hurts to ask.

3. Get the job. Joe feels that this promotion is part of his career destiny. His first interviewer told him that some people have been in Joe’s position for many years, and they are content to remain there doing the same work each day. He noted that Joe is clearly more ambitious than that and is driven to take it to the next level.

4. Build good will. Joe is known for working very well with others. He’s a valuable asset to everyone because while he pursues his own goals, he creates value for the company and his business partners as well. He wants to support his current colleagues during the transition, as well as dive into the new challenges with enthusiasm.

Joe is so successful because he knows what he wants and he plans the actions he will take to get there. What is your plan of attack for the week?

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Have you written your goals down on paper this week? How are they coming along? Has it helped to see them in front of you? If you haven’t written them down yet, do it today and put them in plain sight.

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In setting goals and defining outcomes, be specific. Activate the creative part of your brain by dreaming big. Once you’ve come up with the scheme, you want to make sure your goals are realistic, but don’t limit yourself in the initial phase of exploring what you want most of all.

I have seen people accomplish much more than they ever thought they could, in much less time than they expected. The first step to doing that, though, is envisioning it as a reality. The second step is being committed to your goal and not letting anyone convince you that you can’t do it. You will find that the bigger your goals, the more skeptics you will encounter. After that, it all boils down to working toward that aim every day and focusing your life in that direction.

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Today, I encourage you to write down your goals for the coming week. Put them in a place you can see them. Then do something each day to move toward them. The written word is powerful. Seeing those words in front of you each day helps make them more real and provides increased motivation to accomplish them.

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If you find you are struggling in certain areas, give yourself small assignments to practice. Maybe you don’t consider yourself the best strategic thinker. Instead of trying to plan the next five years strategically, focus on the next week, or even simply the day ahead of you. Identify your main objective, and come up with a few supporting goals or action items that will ensure you accomplish it.

For example, your goal might be to make yourself more visible in the company. Your supporting goals and action items for the day might be:

1. Get out of the office and circulate through the building.
2. Start a conversation with at least three new people.
3. Tell at least one person about something I’m working on.

To encourage strategic thinking, you might focus on getting into the mindset of seeking out the best opportunities for accomplishing these tasks, and playing out a range of possibilities in your head before you attempt them. What will you do if the new person you’re trying to get to know is closed and unresponsive? On the other hand, what actions will you take if a coworker takes a strong interest in the work you are describing? How will you make the most of the interaction and your time?

These tasks are really quite simple, but if we don’t define them and commit to doing them, weeks can pass before we do. Defining goals and outlining supporting tasks is not a complicated process. The key lies in systematic, deliberate persistence. It also helps to write them down and evaluate how you did afterward.

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What did you do to bring your goals to life today? I encourage you to do something each day to move toward your dream. Even if you can only manage a few minutes today, do something—and keep that forward momentum going. Successful people do not relent in their work toward victory.

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