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You are here: Home / Archives for attaining your goals

Questioning Your Way to Success

July 22, 2020 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

 

Being a professional in the goal-setting field, I find it fascinating to witness some of the machinations we will go through to achieve our objectives.

There are countless apps designed to help one achieve goals, ranging from diet and exercise to being more organized, to simply uplifting one’s mood. For those less inclined to make change via an app, I’ve heard of some who journal, use to-do lists, or even pray and meditate on the desired outcomes. Of course, hiring a coach helps too. (Hint, hint…)

I am not judging any technique. If you’re dedicated to your goals and willing to do the work, however, you choose it, more power to you – especially in this ever-stressful world in which we find ourselves. That said, if you personally felt stuck and would like to make some changes; whether health-related, financial, or emotional, this four-question process is ridiculously easy to use and amazingly effective.

Question #1: Suppose I was successful; how would I know?

It seems silly to start here, but the reality is oft-times we fall short of our objectives because we’ve never defined the outcome clearly. We say “I want to feel better,” or “I want to get more fit.” Whereby those are lofty intentions, they’re not concrete enough to drive us to an endpoint. Sure, they might get us started, but we’ll often stall because we don’t know when we’ve arrived and the journey feels daunting and without end.

It’s more effective to state a goal such as “I will walk 30 minutes three times a week;” or “I will take time each day to write down five things for which I’m grateful.’

Being able to identify a clear change in behavior is essential to achieving goals.

Question #2: What has to happen for that objective to occur?

Obviously, if we were doing what we needed to do, we’d already be where we want to be. Since we’re not yet “there,” something must adjust. To that end, we have basically four options: start a new behavior; stop an existing behavior; do more of an already-existing behavior; or do less of an existing behavior.

Behavioral changes therefore might be, “put a 30-minute activity appointment in my calendar on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday;” or “reserve 10 minutes each morning to record those things for which I’m grateful.”

The trick here is not to line out an entire series of changes, but to define one simple, effective adjustment you can make to move forward.

Question #3: Can I do that?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, Excuses, goals, Motivation, Newspaper Column, planning Tagged With: achieving your goals, asking questions, attaining your goals, goals, making change, realistic goals, setting goals, specific and measurable goals

Choose Your Word for the Year

January 4, 2016 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

We think in words.

Our thoughts determine our actions, which guide our actions.

Therefore, the words we choose determine our lives.

At the beginning of each year, my wife and I sit down at a local coffee shop and we make plans for what we’d like the year to look like.  At that meeting, we:

  • Set our goals for the year
  • Determine our priorities
  • Set our intentions
  • Picture what we’d do “if money were no object” (I can assure you I’d be writing this from a tropical climate if that came to be)
  • Determine what we are releasing that served us well in the past but no longer fits (including grudges, resentments, habits, and material clutter)

What might be the most important item on our agenda is choosing a word for the year. Call it a theme if you wish.

In 2014, we chose “Prosperity.” In 2015, we picked “Abundance.”

This year we opted for “Gratitude,” a feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: goals, Gratitude, Holidays, Motivational Monday, planning Tagged With: achieving your goals, attaining your goals, brand new year, gratitude, happiness, new year, new year's resolutions, planning, power of words, thankfulness, words

Twenty One Years at Goal Weight

September 27, 2015 by Scott "Q" Marcus

I entered the planet at nine pounds 14 ounces.

Assuming that to be normal, thirty years later, as a newly minted father, I panicked when the doctor informed me that my firstborn weighed six pounds six ounces.

Looking me in the eye, attempting to calm my jitters, he replied, “Six-six is normal. I promise he’s fine.”

“But I weighed ten pounds when I was born!” I protested.

“I can’t help it if you were cruel to your mother,” he replied.

Moral of the story: I was born big, and from that moment, packed on the pounds, tipping the scales at ten pounds for every year.

To explain, I weighed 50 pounds at age five, 90 pounds at age nine, and 130 pounds when I was a teen. From there, I accelerated, reaching 230 upon entering high school — poor timing to say the least. Of the 1107 students in my class, I was the second fattest. Further putting this in perspective, that was in the day when childhood obesity was an oddity, rather than unfortunately as it can be today, quite common.

Kids are brutal, so what were supposed to be some of my best years were anything but. Girls ignored me; guys badgered and bullied me.

Physical education was the lowest of the low.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baby Boomers, Diet, goals, Health, Newspaper Column, Success Tagged With: achieving your goals, aging, aging process, attaining your goals, birthdays, doctors, sixties, succesful weight loss

Envision Success in its Entirety

April 27, 2015 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

There is more to being successful that making lists or affirmations (although they help).

In order to really achieve your goals, you need to see them in their entirety. For example, instead of saying “I want to be healthy,” or “I will weight 150 pounds,” take a few minutes and write down how that looks.

An example might be…

[Read more…]

Filed Under: goals, Motivational Monday, planning, Productivity Tagged With: attaining your goals, dream, focus on success, successes

A List: Top 5 Ways to Fail at Everything

February 4, 2015 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

I am fascinated by lists.

man-looking-at-list

In college, my “go to” book was “The Book of Lists,” which was, um, well — basically a list of lists.

In today’s digital age, most are on-line. One site I found had the most popular “bucket list” ideas. Some of the trendiest objectives included visiting virtually every locale, jumping into a pool fully clothed, and — I kid you not — covering someone’s car in post-it notes. You scamp, you!

Techcrunch posts the most common Google searches. It contained “Ice Bucket Challenge”, “Ebola,” and “Flappy Bird” (a game). Sadly, the loss of “Robin Williams” generated the most searches.

Finally, Listverse, whose raison d’être is to make lists, presented its most popular of all time. Claiming spots in that prestigious ranking are “Top 15 Amazing Coincidences,” “Top 10 Amazing Facts About Dreams,” and the most popular list ever: “10 Fascinating Last Pictures Taken.”

Different times of year spawn season-appropriate lists. January might bring forth “Ten Tips to Getting Organized in the New Year.” In April, we’re informed of “Most Common Forgotten Tax Deductions.” June could give rise to “Top Wedding Ideas of Successful Brides.” (Of course, I don’t know what an “unsuccessful bride” would be.)

I want my own world-famous list. So, I thought of something no one else has done, which I now unveil: (insert fanfare please)

“Five Things You Can Do to Make Sure You Never Achieve Anything.”

In reverse order (because that makes it more exciting I guess):

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business Goals, goals, humor, Newspaper Column, Overcoming Obstacles, resolutions, Weight Loss Tagged With: achieving your goals, attaining your goals, goals, humor, making lists, specific and measurable goals, to do lists

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