If you're trying to be miserable, it's important you don't have any goals.

• No school goals, personal goals, family goals.

• Your only objective each day should be to inhale and exhale for 16 hours before you go to bed again.

• Don't read anything informative, don't listen to anything useful, don't do anything productive.

• If you start achieving goals, you might start to feel a sense of excitement, then you might want to set another goal, and then your miserable mornings are through.

~ John Bytheway

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One of my broad goals is to experience the fullness of life, and do my part to help others do the same.

Photo:  My cabin cruise mate and new friend Geri with me.

As school starts up for a sizable part of the population in the U.S., the above quote about energizing yourself through goal clarity seemed useful, especially as I notice the excitement and energy that develops with clients who have developed greater clarity about the real aims of their stated goals.

It was NOT my goal last February to go on a cruise vacation in August.  However, my step-circuit instructor and friend was having a milestone birthday and wanted a cruise vacation with friends to celebrate it.  As I had an inclination to go on a cruise someday, the day had arrived and became a goal.

Photo:  View of the beach on Paradise Island, Nassau, the Bahamas

Those with good experience with goal development and clarifying rightness of purpose and vision, with good connections to their work & personal communities, may find that goals emerge and clarify themselves, guided by seasoned intuition and the help of friends.  A coach can help test the health of a leader's goal setting behavior.  

As I am a coach, there were a good number of conversations with family and friends that sealed the deal on taking advantage of this cruise opportunity.

Here are some goal writing principles to help:

Good goals have structure and spine.  They exist as pillars beyond the wispy land of dreams and fantasies.  Good goals are:

• Small, clear in number, prioritized:  Like a well-planned trip that catches meaningful moments in the journey as well as the specific, desired destination, good goals are clear, numbered, (my top 5 goals this year are...), and are prioritized.  Test that they are energizing to your daily efforts.

• • My broad work goals and areas of service are defined at the end of this blog post and help me focus my efforts when I am invited to speak at events, am contacted for consulting / coaching services and when I do my marketing and relationship building work.

• Well defined, well written:  SMART goal setting is well known to many as a useful reference to writing good goals.  The standard bearer is:    

S - Specific   M - Measurable   A - Attainable  R - Relevant to your mission  T - Time-limited

• Set clear performance expectations for yourself connected with those in your system, boss, direct reports, colleagues, your work and personal world.

• Facilitate communication of expectations between those impacted or involved, especially for those who supply you with what you need to achieve your goals, and to those who have the same needs from you.

• Stay Agile, Adapt your goals if & when circumstances change.  

More of the story:  Hurricane Irene put an end to our port of call at Coco Cay.  We later learned that Key West was definitely worth the few extra hours we were gifted.  The first early afternoon and evening in Key West allowed us to learn from a pedicab driver what best fit the type of adventure my cabin-mate and I wanted to have.

The results.  I'm still smiling from this parasailing, jetskiing and snorkeling video of our water adventure at Key West.

Video:  Thank you to my lovely ship-mate who took the parasailing video when Justin's shipboard camera failed. Awesome job!

• Keep your goal-focused skills sharp.  Pursue regular professional development, especially if the work to be done require skills and knowledge that need to be updated.  Most skills do need regular refreshing.

• Evaluate the results of your goals work tied to SMART.  What's working?  What's not?  Are you working on what really matters?

• Take action on your goals efforts:  Did you produce clear, measurable results?  If not, what needs to change?  Change it!  If you reached your goal, celebrate!  If nothing else, savor the moment.  Enjoy what goal attainment means to your success!

Stretch Goals

•  Above and beyond primary goals

• In the video above you'll see that snorkeling was my "stretch goal."  I DID it!  Seeing moon jellyfish under my own swimming power was PRICELESS and unforgettable.  It was a huge milestone for me.  Now I really do want to learn how to be a stronger swimmer.

 Stretch Goals may include:  

• New initiatives
• One-time efforts
• A need for special planning
• Produce a significant result

Snorkeling successfully, achieving a new stretch goal, was my biggest reward on the water adventure last day of our cruise trip to Key West.  Parasailing with a fun boat crew was a special gift.

Photo:  Dan (harness master, Fury crew), me, Geri, Dan (boat captain, Fury crew)

So my goal and achieved item of having a great adventure on a cruise was achieved.  It now exists in pictures and deeply felt experience beyond the pale of of dreams and fantasy.   Clear intention, specifics and action made all the difference, graced with a little courage to stretch my range.  I help my clients do this and constantly practice on myself.

If you are a candidate for some leadership coaching and find my approach useful as listed on my main website, contact me via phone or email.  My contact information is here.

Where I'm at these days, and my focus/goal areas:

I have three main channels for my work. 

1) My core is described in depth on the "mothership" Reveln website, which covers the head, heart & hands of the executive leader consulting & coaching I offer to you.  I can help you align and turbo-charge (fully realize) your data, people and passion for business.   

2) My 2nd channel is change management that I enjoy with WholeScale change colleagues Ron Koller & Dr. Rick Fenwick. ChangeManagementResources.com is aimed to be a "non-partisan" website of rich resources.

3) My third channel is in Social Media =  Reveln Social Business, which I use with change leaders, consultants, coaches & business owners.