GOAL SETTING - WHY IT’S EASY

We’re all great goal setters when we have to be.
Give us a crisis and a deadline and we become goal setting pros! The proof of this is how we respond when we have a deadline.  

We may have been goofing off, wondering around and wasting time, but once a deadline pops up we spring into action: 

• Automatically we calculate how much time is left, what needs to be done, what we can do ourselves, and what we’re going to have to get help on.
• At this point no one has to tell us to work hard because we automatically go into overdrive getting things done in rapid fire fashion.
• We race to the finish line… once again pulling out a miracle at the last minute! 

Yet most people think of themselves as very poor goal setters.
This idea comes from the fact that there comes a time where they say they’re.. 

• going to lose weight
• save a certain amount of money
• go for certain improvement
• learn how to speak a language
• learn how to play an instrument
• clean out the garage and closets
• reach a new record goal at work

…and then fail miserably.  As a result they say “I’m just lousy at goal setting.”

The truth is, you just need to understand a little bit more about how it works.
For one thing, there’s a difference between long term and short term goals.  There’s a difference between big picture and little picture goals. All that’s needed is a little bit more insight into how goal setting works because in reality you have already mastered it, you’re just not aware that you have.  

Here’s the trick: Once you understand how it works you can use it to stay in front of crisis.
Instead of being forced to spring into action in a panic mode because a critical deadline is racing at you, now you will be able to use your time and step by step keep moving towards places and directions you want to go in your life in a rational normal manner. Knowing how this works will allow you to achieve much more in every area of your life. This will give you a sense of control about your time, your finances, your money, that you’ve never had before.  

Tomorrow we’re going to look at a simple example of how one person learned how goal setting works. One example is all it will take for the light bulb to go on. You’ll see how simple it is.  You’ll see that you already know how to do it, but then you’ll be able to apply this skill more regularly in your life to move forward.

They Will Steal From You

THE POINT: You need to watch your money like a hawk, trust no one!

Yes, they will! 

If you put people in charge of your money without checks and balances to make sure nothing, no foul play can occur, sooner or later they will steal from you.  I learned this the hard way.

 For 16 years, my wife's personal assistant, let’s call her “Brenda,” came to work in our office. Since I needed help and she had done such an extraordinary job for my wife at our home, we decided this would be a great move. 

 For 16 years, Brenda worked with me.
She became invaluable. Everyone else noticed what a great job she did.

Every day I would hear three different comments.  1. I really am impressed with Brenda 2. I wish I had a Brenda.  3. What would you do without Brenda? So I trusted her.

Eventually there came a day where we got a call from IRS.
They wanted to do an audit. The next thing that happened was that my full time in house CPA, who was so well respected she was president of the local CPA Association, disappeared overnight.  She said she got a phone call from her father and she was going home to Yazoo City, Mississippi to take over his practice.  Hard to believe it was not related to the impending IRS audit.  During the interim, while we were looking for the replacement CPA, Barbara began overseeing the finances. 

She wound up being in total control of the money, deposits, checks etc.
I wasn't concerned except I was afraid she was overworked.  I pressured her to quickly get help. I encouraged her to step up the interview process and quickly get a replacement CPA since she didn't seem to be in any real hurry to get that job done.  When I would bring up the fact that she was working so hard, she just smiled and said no it's fine, it's not a problem. 

Eventually I found out why.
It came time to pay our taxes, and I noticed that our entire tax account which should have contained $345,000.00 was empty.  A junior bookkeeper we'd hired also asked to talk with me privately.  It turned out he discovered some discrepancy in the books and was able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Brenda had taken off with tons of money, had embezzled tons of other money.  

Best estimates were placed at something just below a million dollars.
And I won't get into the end of that story except that the tax accountant did tell me that it's never the greasy haired guy at the bank that embezzles, it's always the sweet grandmother who bakes cookies for everyone who later is found out to have embezzled $400,000.00 or more from the bank.  It's always the ones you don't suspect that get away with it.  

Although painful, I realize it was all my fault.
I had let it happen and it dawned on me that if you tempt someone long enough, eventually they'll give in. Here’s an example I thought of at the time. Suppose I have a nice big gallon container of ice cream. I rip the lid off and I'm about to dig in. I grab a spoon, then suddenly something happens where I've got to take a call or take care of an emergency. I hand the spoon and the ice cream to someone to hold for me until I get back.  Here’s the truth. It's just a matter of time before they take a bite.  Humans can only resist temptation for a limited period of time, then even the best of people will cave.  Maybe not everybody, but you've got to assume the ones around you will.  And it will be your fault because you created the temptation.

So how do you avoid it?
Don't give them an opportunity.  Stay in control. Keep your eyes on the money.  Have checks and balances.  Do whatever it takes to take the potential for theft out of the equation.

Especially when it comes to money, if you give people a chance to take some for themselves, they'll do it every time.

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Feedback: Are you one of the ones who think it could never happen to you? As long as you think that way it makes you a likely target. Do you see why? Or am I wrong?

You Can't Play God

You want the best for them, but they may rebel and make even worse choices if they feel controlled.When working with others, you must realize there are limits to what you can do.

You may want things for your people more than they want it for themselves. You may see they’re in a position to do great things to move up, to have bigger incomes, bigger responsibility, a better way of life if they can do certain things but they don’t want it, they’re never going to do it.

Managers and leaders can save themselves a lot of grief if they accept the fact that they can’t play God in other people’s lives.  

People do only what they want to do
Just because you want it for them, doesn’t mean they want it bad enough themselves to do what’s necessary to get it done. At the end of all of your efforts, you’ll find people are going to be what they’re going to be.You may want them to be something bigger, better or more successful. You may see that they have incredible potential.

That doesn’t matter at all.
What matters is what they want and how they see themselves. They’re going to wind up exactly where they want to be. Even if you artificially promote them they will find a way to sabotage themselves and get demoted.

What’s inside their heart is the deciding factor, not what others want for them.

It's Up To You

There’s no one but you.

Nothing will happen if you don’t make it happen. “Make it” means if everything goes wrong, everyone slumps, meteors fall out of the sky on your head, you still will win. Making it happen you have assumed disasters strike and you’ve got your contingencies planned so you can still make it happen.  

You’ve given yourself a margin of error.  You don’t expect everything to go perfect.  You’re taking total control.  
You realize… if I don’t take total control I can assume I’ll get beat. You have a clear head about who’s responsibility this is - it’s yours!

There are things that are too important to you to leave to chance.
Take total control of your business or you can safely assume you’ll get beat.
Take total control of your finances.
Take total control of your family and children. No one cares about them like you do.

This is your world. This is what you stand for. It's up to you to make them turn out right.