Become inspired to Sharpen Your Brand! This motivational book shares a compilation of reflections on memorable quotes about personal effectiveness. Author Ebere Anosike shares timeless and effective motivation tips for all ages and backgrounds.

Leseprobe

Vision, Goal Setting and Activity Planning
1. "If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand." (Confucius)
  Success does not happen by chance. One really needs to think and plan to enable success. Planning helps one to: (i) clarify the objectives; (ii) determine what activities are important and need to be executed, their dependencies, logical sequences, and timelines; (iii) assess what resources and efforts (e.g., knowledge, skill, manpower, funding and even time) are required to deliver the activities; (iv) identify the enablers and blockers to the plan; and (v) know the stakeholders who need to be properly managed during plan delivery.

Guess what, the starting point in planning anything is to define a goal. Goal setting requires a vision and understanding of available opportunities in one's environment.

"In business, I believe that if you focus only on the journey, you'll miss the whole point of the enterprise. There has to be a goal, an end game of some kind; otherwise, you're just spinning your wheels. Yes, the journey is important, but the destination is important, too." (Ivanka Trump)
Try to avoid embarking on activities without clear objectives, plan, and timelines. Otherwise, you may not be able to properly assess the opportunities and risks you may encounter along the route, or how you are making progress. What on the surface seems to be an opportunity could actually turn out an impediment if you started off with no clear goals.
"The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has been before." (Albert Einstein)
Do you want to be different from what you are now? Do you want to accomplish something beyond your current position? Elevate above your peers by developing yourself, defining higher goals, doing things that make you stand out, going the extra mile, achieving topmost performance on assigned tasks or job, upgrading your networks, etc.
"The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach." (Benjamin Mays)
It won't be a calamity to die with unfulfilled dreams provided you have given your best shots to all the challenges you faced. What would really be disastrous is to not dream at all, not have any credible goals or plans, or to be unwilling to venture forth; but instead, so easily succumb to difficulties or live a life of mediocracy. Mind you, it won't really help if you just give up so easily or blame the gods for your misfortunes and lack of enterprise. Here are the steps you can take to start changing your life:
Get busy on activities that create value: Draw up a schedule to fill up each day, with stuff that excites you, such as: important on-the-job tasks; home improvement projects, reading a book; sporting activities; learning of new skills; academic activities; and learning to play a musical instrument. The activities must be things that create some tangible value.
Go the extra mile: Do things no one else is willing to do. So long it is beneficial, not very risky, and has some long-term value, check that it is feasible and give it a shot. Become the person everyone goes to if they want something handled that is too hard. In high school, I used to aspire to be the one student others would want to go to if they needed help with Mathematics. My learning goal therefore was not just to be able to pass the exams, but to be so knowledgeable about a subject that I could teach fellow students. That ultimately made me excel.
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