Performance Lifestyle
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The Curse of the Capable 
Are You Clear On Your Goals?
PrintHow do you achieve your goals?
My good friend and PerformanceLifestyle adviser Tom Terwilliger is launching his new book this week, called The 7 Rules of Achievement.
I have gotten so much from his book. As you may know, I teach “the lifestyle” for goal achievement but make no mistake understanding the art of being clear on what you want, why, where you are right now, what resources you need to make it happen, how you are going to measure progress etc… is the art and science of actually achieving the goal.
A year ago, I had one of the biggest epiphanies ever.
Now I have to let you know this first before I tell you what it was. I have been working deliberately on achieving my big goal for the last several years – MyTrainer.com – Challenge Yourself. In the process, I ended up developing several other products and projects as it became clear to me that PerformanceLifestyle was “the lifestyle” for goal achievement.
I was faced with such overwhelming demand as I came up with PerformanceLifestyle solutions that I couldn’t help but live the very lifestyle I was learning and teaching. That was good.
But about a year ago, after I finished co-authoring a book with Harvard Psychologist Arthur Ciaramicoli PhD, called The Curse of the Capable, I realized I had lost sight of what my goals were and why I wanted to achieve them and where I was in the process and so on; the skills Tom Terwilliger is going to teach you in his book The 7 Rules of Achievement.
That was a very disconcerting place to be, because I felt like I had lost my way and it was very costly.
When I read an early draft of Tom’s book, I was happily surprised at how much I needed to do this work even though I knew a ton about goal achievement.
I emailed Tom and he emailed back – “ it’s really amazing how when we let go of what we think we know, I mean really completely 100% know, and open up to learning it again – and this time using it in a new or different way the amazing things that start to happen“.- Tom Terwilliger, 7 Rules of Achievement.
That changed my life and I don’t throw that statement around lightly. It’s reserved for those people who have a big impact. Know what I mean?
Like any aspect of lifestyle, knowing a lot about stuff is irrelevant. It’s what you do that matters. I had not taken the specific actions to get clear on my goals in some time, and boy was I feeling it. Not having clear goals was like having a ship with no rudder.
In the case of Your Lifestyle, you won’t know what thinking and living better looks like and feels like if you are not inspired and guided by clear goals or, where you need to make the changes and why. You must be clear on your goals.
The purpose of Your Lifestyle is to help you achieve those goals.
Tom is my achievement mentor, and he is helping me achieve my goals. With his 7 Rules, I am making incredible changes and I can’t tell you how much this has changed my life.
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I totally know what you mean, JAM. The difference between knowing what you’re supposed to do, and actually doing it is HUGE.
Especially when it comes to goal achievement, it seems a simple test of how well you actually know the territory is just looking at whether you’re on track to achieving your goals or not. It’s not very esoteric. Personally, I could certainly benefit from some fresh methods for doing this.
Looking forward to more on this topic.
Steve
Sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how we spend the least amount of time on the most important things. I’ve found that when we’re not clear on our goals, we’re especially afraid to step back and look at whether our plans make sense, for fear of having to confront the fact that we’re running down the wrong path. Much easier to keep your head down and ignore the most-important-question-of-all — whether your actions actually support your objectives, and whether you’re on a path that’s sustainable and, well, smart.
JAM, it’s great that you’re willing to confront that big question and push others to do the same. Definitely looking forward to picking up Tom’s book, he’s always had great insights into the whole 30,000-foot view way of stepping back and looking at things.
I had the opportunity to read Toms book and now have posted on my board in my office the 7 RULES of ACHIEVEMENT. They remind me to focus and ask the question , “is what I am doing in line with my goal?”. I spend way too long not really being clear on what I wanted and then how can you get there if you don’t know where there is? Thanks JOHN for bring out this discussion and making us think about the hard facts. Is what we are doing working and what we want?