Wax on. Wax off. Process Visualization

You are either a goal-setter or you are not. 
Generally, I find that most people are much like me in at least one way:

No matter to what degree I can define my vision for future creations before I begin them, these creations will likely evolve to become something different by the end of my creative process. At least, I hope so!

To merely envision outcome is not enough. In fact, outcome visualization is flawed. If you are capable of creating a highly specific definition of your precise outcome in advance, you are likely as capable of following through with commitment to that outcome.  You may be successful, but with a high likelihood that the same blinders that helped you reach your outcome quickly will cause you to miss a multitude of possible options and improvements that would have markedly improved your final creation.

Unfortunately, this also describes one of the most popular reasons people use to avoid setting and achieving written goals.  There must be a middle ground between living dogmatically according to predetermined written goal plans that limit options and unforeseen improvements, and not setting specific goals at all, thereby leaving your outcomes in the hands of "good fortune".

Process Visualization versus Outcome Visualization
Blogger/author Jonathan Fields aptly describes a productive and creative way forward in his 2011 book entitled "Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt into Fuel for Brilliance".  The answer lies in remaining true to a process that provides for intelligent adaptation during the process of creative evolution.  Fields suggests instead of the strictly outcome-focused visualization approach built on "the quest for long-term, easily defined vision," we focus our visualization instead on "the need to take daily action in the context of any challenging endeavor."

Citing 1998 research by Taylor, Pham, Rivkin and Armor that tested the effectiveness of outcome-based visualization versus process visualization. First, both process and outcome visualization get people acting on their goals better than no visualization at all, so it just makes plain sense to set goals.  Students who visualized their successful completion of projects were more likely to complete them on time. But students who visualized the steps needed to complete their projects were more successful than anyone to finish on time, and found their projects to be easier than the other two groups.

Wax on. Wax off.
Are you a goal setter?  If yes, congratulations, you are already more likely to succeed than your non-goal-setting peers.  Do you have a vision for success? I hope so, or else I would question whether you have a goal in mind at all. Can you envision the daily actions it will take to achieve your success, while allowing for your creative genius to leverage additional opportunities and possibilities that develop during the process of creation?

Here are a few tips:

1. First of all, don't just write down a goal and the action steps you think you'll need to achieve the goal. That's how most people try, but there is a better way, and I would be happy to show you the way through such a process.
2. Create a daily discipline of reviewing your vision, determining your must-do priorities, and committing to daily action.
3. Use a written goal-planning process to manifest your commitment.
4. Use your process and visualization of your process to self-regulate and stick to your ritual.

Leadership and A Good Life

No few "secrets to happiness", or "easy steps to a great life", or "keys to effective leadership"...but a great place to begin a life of authentic self-expression that adds value through relationships is this:

Your attitude can always be improved.

Never stop examining your habits or developing better ones.

You will never outgrow the need for pursuing goals.

Be The One.

It all happens at The Intersection of Purpose and Now.

The Right Questions

"Never tell someone anything you could ask instead." 

Stock Photos from 123RF

Join #TheRightQuestions dialogue!

What are the questions we should be asking ourselves?

What is your question?

What are your favorite questions for growth and success?

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." ~Voltaire 

For a while now, I have been posting tweets using the hash tag #therightquestions, exploring one of my personal and business core values, one that certainly shapes my professional role as a business coach: "Never tell someone anything you could ask instead."

I would like to know your Right Questions. What are the questions you ask that take you to The Intersection of Purpose and Now? What questions stimulate your personal drive, your muse, your courage to take action and create something new?  What questions lead you to authentic expression that adds value through your relationships? What questions are you trying to answer?

Please share your questions with comments to this blog, join the 24/7 dialogue on Twitter or TweetChat using the hash tag #therightquestions, post to my Facebook page, or feel free to send me a direct message on Twitter.
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What else is possible?

This priority and value of questions is closely associated with another of my core values in business: No one knows your business, your life, your circumstance and desires better than you do. So I try not to do much telling. I ask questions. Great ones. Simple ones. Provocative and evocative ones. The right ones. I encourage you to do the same, because if you aren't asking the right questions, you are much less likely to discover your best right answers. After all, if you are not asking the right questions, how else will you know "What else is possible?" (By the way, this is also a basic but powerful rationale for hiring a coach instead of a consultant or trainer.)

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." ~ Dr Seuss

The folks at Big Think do something similar. They decided to turn the tables on five of their most eloquent guests who tend to ask "the right questions": "expert" guests were asked what questions we should be asking ourselves. As reported on the Big Think site, their "experts worried that many people aren't taking the long view about the future of their careers and of humanity, and pointed us down avenues of reflection meant to lead us to better individual futures and a better world." (You will find the Big Question expert video link at the bottom of today's blog, which will also take you to the other four videos.)

Below are a few questions from Think Big and many more from the #therightquestions history on Twitter. What ones will you add?

• What are I my peak experiences and why?
• What are my unique talents and how do I express them?
• How do I use my talents to serve the needs of my fellow human beings?
• Who are my heroes is history, mythology and religion, and why?
• What are the archetypical stories that stimulate my imagination and inspire me to an idealist vision?
• How can I make a difference without thinking about myself?
• What can I do that makes sense in the broad context of this extraordinary world in the next 20-30 years?
• What do I want? Why?
• What gets you excited to get up in the morning?
• What will people say you value most by seeing you in action today?
• What's the contribution I want to make to the world?
• What if you had more courage to take action now on that one thing that is most important, but seems just beyond your reach?
• What noble purpose seems just beyond your reach?
• How well will I embrace uncertainty, risk and judgment to achieve my priorities this year?
• What happens to you if your heart creates visions that your brain doesn't yet know how to achieve?
• What is the best advice you have ever been given?
• How might you shift your thinking from old assumptions toward new ones? What happens when you do?
• What assumptions lead you to the results you are getting?
• What new assumptions could you try?
• How are you building your life on Value today?
• What are you tolerating? Why?
• What are you avoiding? Consider the freedom you might experience by facing your foe.
• How might you appreciate differently the challenges you now face?
• How would a breakthrough change your life?
• If you have not defined a balanced set of personal and professional goals: How can you prioritize them?
• If you have not defined a balanced set of personal and professional goals: How can you attain them?
• If you have not defined a balanced set of personal and professional goals: How can they motivate you?
• If you have not defined a balanced set of personal and professional goals: How can you be successful?
• If you have not defined a balanced set of personal and professional goals: How can you attract other successful people?
• Until you define a balanced set of personal / professional goals: How can you live life with a “magnificent obsession”?
• Would you follow you? 
• How are you aligning your values, Purpose, goals, roles, actions and relationships today?
• Are your deepest principles and goals evident in your thoughts, words and actions?
• Pick a value, any value: how is it playing out in your life and work today?
• Are your personal breakthroughs fading?
• Remember some of the breakthroughs you've experienced: how are you doing now?
• Is this tension relieving or goal achieving?
• When you argue with your excuses, who wins?
• Facing an "unhappy" circumstance? Perhaps it's a Divine provocation?
• Could you Be The One?

"Once the water is deep enough that you must swim to stay afloat, does it really matter how deep the pool is?" ~Seth Godin

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'" ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

How to Fix Your Resolve for 2012

I've found that people don't achieve their goals (and resolutions) because they don't know how to make them in the first place. Try this proven method:

Make your Goal WAY SMART: Written, Aligned, Yours, Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistically High, and Time-bound. If it's not WAY SMART, it's not a goal.

Then ask WHY this Goal is YOURS: What are the personal rewards if you achieve it? What are the consequences if you do not? (Does it really matter to you?)

What are ALL of the POSSIBLE OBSTACLES that MIGHT keep you from achieving your goal? What has kept you from achieving it already? List them ALL.

For each obstacle, what is a possible SOLUTION(s)? (If you can't conceive possible solutions, even with help, you may need to reconsider your goal.

Choose your best solution(s) for each obstacle and develop specific, dated ACTION steps, as well as who must be ACCOUNTABLE for each action step (you may need help).

Based on your action plan, choose your TARGET DATE for Success.

List several positive, believable AFFIRMATION statements about the person you must be to achieve this goal. Repeat them out loud to yourself at least three times daily.

If you find yourself not taking your prescribed action steps when the time comes, look back at WHY this is your goal. If you are not taking action, perhaps you are letting your mood of the moment interfere with the intention of your life. Or, chances are it's not REALLY your goal at all, just something someone thinks you SHOULD do, whether you want to or not! (So it's not really a WAY SMART goal after all!)

Set and achieve goals and resolutions that are meaningful and important to you in 2012, and find your way to The Intersection of Purpose and Now along the way.

Don't Be a "Cop-Out" New Year's Celebrant

Don't be one of those cop-out New Year's celebrants who say "I don't make New Year's resolutions."

Don't be a New Year's Weenie!

Resolve to do something important in 2012 (meaning: decide firmly on a course of action). Start something new, repeat something great, have the courage to take action on the one thing that is truly most important to you now, and follow through to its achievement.

Make a plan and execute it. Overcome obstacles. Get better. Don't give up until you win!

Remember the Parable of the Five Frogs:

There are 5 frogs sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many are left?

We don't know how many frogs jumped or how many were left on the log.  Just because you decide to do something doesn't mean you do it.

In 2012, have the courage to take action on the one thing that is truly most important to you now, and follow through to its achievement. Inspiration leads to intention. Don't let your mood of the moment interfere with the intention of your life this year. Start living at The Intersection of Purpose and Now.