Achieve Your Goals - Success Gems

Success Pillar 4 - Achieve Your Goals July 20, 2007

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From the desk of Damien Dupont

As a Success University member, every month I receive an audio CD as well as a DVD shipped to me along with SU’s monthly “Success Express” newsletter.

In May 2007, the audio CD included was Jim Rohn’s and Chris Widener’s “Twelve Pillars of Success”.

This is the fourth of five posts which I am writing, in sequence, as my personal summary and review of the first five pillars of Jim Rohn’s “12 Pillars of Success”. They are set in the same context of Jim and Chris’ story about two fictional characters, Michael and Charlie, whom they use to illustrate the 12 fundamental principles to achieve Success in Life. Their story is also available in novel form.

If you wish to read my review from the first post, just click the following link: Success Pillar 1 was entitled “Work harder on yourself than on your job“.

Now let’s get into Success Pillar 4: Achieve Your Goals…

About four weeks had passed since the day Michael last saw Charlie in the garden back at Mr. Davis’ Twelve Pillars Estate. Michael decided to give Charlie a call to see if they could get together again. Charlie welcomed the idea, said he had to go into town that week to do some errands, and suggested that they catch up at Charlie’s favourite hangout, Mag’s Diner.

As Michael pulled in beside an old pickup truck on the gravel car park at the diner, he spotted a few other tradesmen in white overalls out front chewing the fat. He could smell the sizzle of the diner’s grill, and thought to himself that this was indeed a fitting spot for an old maintenance man like Charlie to hang out.

Michael got out of his car and walked through the car park and around to the front of the diner. As he came through the front entrance, he could see Charlie chatting with a small group of old timers down in the back corner. Charlie noticed Michael too, and so excused himself from the group and made his way toward him with a slightly uneasy gait. The two men met near the middle of the diner.

“Great to see you”, Michael exclaimed as the two men shook hands. “Great to see you too. How are you Michael?”. “I’m doing great. Are you Okay there? I noticed that you were walking a little slowly. Did you hurt yourself?”.

“Oh no”, Charlie calmly reassured him. “I’m fine. It’s just old age,” Charlie said in a cheery tone. “Us old timers take a little bit longer to get around. And heck, we’re in less of hurry too”, he chuckled. “Why don’t we take this table”, he said, as he motioned to the empty table on his right near the window.

The two men took their seats just as a chirpy waitress approached. “How y’all doin’ today?” she greeted. “Can I getcha’s any coffee?”. “Sure can, hon”, Charlie responded. “Michael?”, he enquired.

“Yes thank you”, Michael replied. “Two coffees comin’ right up” the waitress exclaimed, as she smiled, tilted her head and sent a cheerful wink Michael’s way. “Wow! She’s in a good mood”, Michael remarked as the waitress headed back to the counter. “That’s Sue”, Charlie said. “She’s always like that. She’s got a great attitude that gal”.

“So how long have you been working at Twelve Pillars?”, Michael enquired. “Oh since Mr Davis started building it”, Charlie answered. “Before that I was in business for myself and did alright, but I discovered that what I enjoyed most was fixing and taking care of things, doing gardening and that type of thing, so I decided to retire from business and do what I enjoy most”, Charlie smiled.

He continued, “So how are things with Amy”. “Oh she’s great. Thanks for asking. Actually that’s part of what I wanted to get together to talk with you about. I took your advice after our little “gardening” chat the other week. Your analogy really helped me. In practical terms, I decided to set aside some more time for us to spend together”.

Michael paused as Sue approached to set down the coffee, cream and sugar. “There y’all go hon. Can I get you anything else?”. “The coffee’s fine for me” Michael replied. “Thanks Sue. Nothing else for me today” Charlie added.

“As I was saying”, Michael continued, “I arranged for a babysitter to come in one night a week so Amy and I could go out together and get some time away from the kids, and I left it to Amy to decide wherever it is that she’d want to go, whether to a restaurant, movie, or just down to the mall together. She loves it. It’s been like a burst of sunlight on a blooming flower” Michael exclaimed.

“That’s fantastic Michael”, Charlie replied. “It’s amazing how the little things can make such a difference isn’t it? Just remember though that just because you have, in your words, a “blooming flower”, that this doesn’t mean the work is over. A flower still needs watering and sunshine to keep it from wilting”.

“So what else has been happening Michael? How are the kids and how’s your work going?”.

“Ahh… yes my work”, Michael answered. “Well that’s still a bit of a source of frustration for me”, he added ruefully. “I just don’t feel like I am getting anywhere there. I really feel like I have more potential, and would like to be on a higher pegging and to be more successful than I am, but there just doesn’t appear to be much opportunity there for me”.

“I see. So what goals are you shooting for with your career?”, Charlie enquired. “Goals?”, Michael said. “You got me there. I guess that might be part of my problem. I haven’t actually defined any goals”.

“I would say that’s it Michael. It’s a bit like the Joe Jackson song: You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want). Mr Davis talks a lot about goals. It’s what’s allowed him to get to where he is”.

“Well do tell”, Michael urged. “It’s pretty basic stuff”, Charlie continued. “Basic, but very powerful. First you have to write it down”.

“Err.. I don’t have a notepad with me”, Michael said. Charlie chuckled. “That’s not what I meant. Your goals. That’s what you need to write down. Doing so will crystallise them and it defines for your subconscious what you are shooting for”.

“Mr Davis says that one of the best things you can do is to set some time aside to sit down and write out one hundred things that you would like to do and achieve before you die. The process of deciding what they are is in itself powerful, but if you get them written down… then watch out.

“In fact that should be your first goal: to set the time aside to define and write out 100 goals for your life”.

“Mr Davis also says that the importance of setting goals is not so much in the achievement of the goal, but in what you become in the process of achieving your goal. It is in the growing that you have to do to achieve it that the greater values lies. What you become in the process of achieving is often of greater value than the achievement itself”.

“So the real purpose of a goal is to help to make me a better person?”, Michael checked. “That’s exactly it”, Charlie confirmed. “Hey… okay then. I think I’m starting to catch the gist of this “success” stuff. You’re starting to get me fired me up and I have as yet to do any of this”.

Charlie grinned. “Yes the process of challenge and change is exciting isn’t it? You have a bright future ahead of you Michael”. “Yeah, I guess. I wish I was already there though. It still seems like a long road ahead for me, especially as I have wasted so many years already”.

“Just remember Michael”, Charlie said…

“Whilst you can’t change where you are overnight, you can change your direction starting now. You are where you are right now, but you don’t have to remain where you are today.

Decide where it is that you want to go, set out a long term goal, and then flesh out a plan for getting there. Continue to make progress and maintain the right direction, and your goal will become ever closer”.

Charlie continued, “If your long-term goal is ten years out, define an intermediate goal for five years, and then set incremental goals for one or two years out. You can also have what Mr. Davis calls micro goals which are only a few months out. The key is to set them so that each goal is a stepping stone towards the larger goal”.

“Mr. Davis says that one of the most powerful lessons in life is simply to first decide what you want to achieve, and then to set out with some action towards achieving it”.

Charlie paused a moment to cradle and take a sip from his coffee mug.

Click the following link to navigate to Jim Rohn’s Fifth Success Pillar: The Proper Use of Time

Postscript: If you wish to read up on all of Jim Rohn’s and Chris Widener’s “Twelve Pillars of Success”, you can get their book. Alternatively, you can join Success University via the following 14 Day $2 Trial offer page.

Jim Rohn is the primary instructor of the Success University Weekly Success Plan. Jim’s comprehensive plan covers personal development, wealth creation, health, leadership, increasing your memory, a speed reading course, and much more.

Jim’s Success Plan also includes the Twelve Pillars of Success, fifty two weekly email trainings, a 500+ page downloadable workbook, as well as 12 monthly conference calls with guests including Zig Ziglar and Loral Langemeier.

Jim Rohn’s Success Plan has a retail value of $1,101, and I cannot recommend it more highly.

Signing off for now.
Warmly,