The best way to keep anything in framework, no matter who you are, is to pen whatever it is you plan to do on paper. In fact, let me put it this way! All that you wish to ever achieve, which you can consciously envisage at this present moment should be written down on paper, diary or goals’ book. The process should be dynamic and not static, as new wishes develop, add them to your ever soaring dream list. Experts call this list the 101 goals list.
Make frequent visit to your dream list and ensure you’re organising and reorganizing priorities in order to reflect the status quo. The 101 dream list is your desire; and the reason you need to organise and reorganise is to ensure that you do not remain a dreamer, as it’d leave you frustrated as a result of the unrealistic 101 dream list created.
This list as earlier mentioned puts you in a perspective, as it allows one to know just what they are about, and just what they wish and expect to obtain. By understanding this perspective, half of the battle is gained.
You must constantly take inventory of yourself. By understanding and analysing what your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are (SWOT). Strengths and weaknesses are attributes of an individual; opportunities and threats are attributes of the environment. Hence, you must use your internal strengths to;
1. take advantage of external opportunities
2. to avoid or reduce impact of external threats.
3. turn your weaknesses into strengths
4. to improve your internal weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities.
Otherwise, lacking this knowledge, you’ll waste energy and effort, and do much that had better be left undone, while leaving undone much that should be done, thus, creating unrealistic and unachievable objectives.
As we leave in a dynamic world, your strength and opportunities will also be forever dynamic, as a result, priorities on the dream list will change. This allows you to follow through what Aristotle once said… “Bring your desires down to your present means; increase them when only your increased means permit.” In this instance, your increased means are your strengths & opportunities and your desires are your wishes or dreams.
Once the above is followed; this gives you an opportunity to knock on the door of success and not to enter!
Following on, on your prioritised wish list, add deadlines to them, by so doing, there is a transition from wishes to goals, as a result of the added deadlines. Success emanates from this act and nothing else. If you have no goals, then you’ll have no success, as Brian Tracy said, “Success equals goals… all else is commentary.”
i) Always begin with the end in mind on the goal you want to attain, as would have been pictured before they became goals through the wish list.
ii) Attack the process in two ways (1) Top Down and (2) Bottom up
Bottom up ensures you have your eyes set on the goal and working towards an envisaged ultimate goal. It also prevents you from becoming overwhelmed by allowing you to take those small steps… remember the saying ‘By the yard it’s hard, but inch by inch it’s a cinch!’ and also Peter Cohen advice that “There is no one giant step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps.”
Please do not go all the way by being lop-sided using this method, as you’d lack clarity and trajectory towards your goal.
Top down ensures you are kept in focus when the tough gets going. You have to ensure that you know and understand the steps just before completion of the goal, and the steps before that, that will ultimately link with the bottom up approach.
Plans always change, so your goals will always be revised accordingly to preserve the link between top down and bottom up.
The ultimate goal is also achieved by the choices we decide to take. Remember the saying “many roads lead to Rome.” So do not hesitate or dither by waiting for conditions to be perfect before you can act. Choices are like branches on trees, one branch splits into another and so on and so forth until the final leaf. So do not fear, begin and bear in mind that you’ll arrive at your desired leaf. Goethe advised that “what you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Do not fear to begin, fear is removed by action, Napoleon Hill said ‘Fear is the great destroyer. Banish fear from your life. It does not serve you in any way. Go forward in faith; faith that you have destiny to fulfil. Fear not. There is, after all, nothing to fear but fear itself. And it is a mere phantom…a ghost that disappears in the light of awareness.’
Norman Vincent Pearl categorically explained to us how fear could be subjugated and it is up to us to take up his advice. He says ‘Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.’
So go on; Become the Best You Can Be… start acting now and take inventory of yourself, pen down your 101 wish list and put deadlines on them. Follow through your goals!
Nyangu Simpungwe is a professional accountant, a fully qualified chartered certified accountant and holds a Masters Degree from The University of Glamorgan in Wales. He currently is Director of a company called Falcon (GB) Limited based in England United Kingdom, a newly formed company composed wholly of chartered certified accountants. He has tremendous experience in Business Process Improvements and has expertise in life coach and leadership coach.