Goal setting

I'm a member of a peer to peer mentoring group. It's a group that allows each member to share our goals, our dreams, our challenges, and our successes.

We talk about our businesses. We talk about our families. We talk about ourselves.

The reason I joined this group was to bounce ideas off others that didn't include family, friends and employees. The more I share, the more I get out of the meetings.

The biggest challenge of the group is goal setting and achievement. I'm the bad guy. The goalie. The guy that challenges others when they haven't achieved a goal they set for themselves.

If you ask my kids, they'll say I love being the bad guy. In fact, I hate it.

I'm as undisciplined as anyone else in the group. I set goals only to achieve 67% of them. I have no excuse. I don't have a job. I don't have a business. The distractions that everyone else have are not mine. I'm somewhat lazy.

Here's what I've learned about goals recently. The reason for achieving the goal is stronger than the goal itself.

If you set goals and don't achieve them, don't despair. I'm with you. The fact that you write down your goals puts you in the top 10% of people. Most actually don't take the time to put them on paper.

If you don't achieve your goal, check your reasons why you set the goal in the first place. I bet your reasons for setting the goal aren't very strong.

I'm trying to lose weight. It seems like everything I try falls apart. I know someone who lost 40 pounds recently. His reason might be a bit stronger. He separated from his wife and wants to look good as he reenters the dating scene.