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I had a conversation with an individual last week. I asked them about their goals, and they proceeded to list many achievements they wished to accomplish. When I asked, what was their action plan, it was clear they did not have one. They were taking no actions that would help them move closer to their goals.

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As I continued to dig deeper, it was apparent that they only had dreams, not goals.

I think there is a distinction between the two. If it is a real tangible goal, then you should have actions defined that need to be taken to complete the goal. If you don’t, then you have only a dream, an unreachable dream.

If someone defined their goal to be reading twenty-five books in 2014, and they were taking the time to read a book every two weeks or so, they have an achievable goal. But if they had that same goal, and read no books in January or February, then it appears unachievable.

Also a goal needs to have some boundaries. Using the same example, if you said your goal was to read twenty-five books, but you did not specify in 2014, then your goal is not clear.

These are two important things to consider when defining your goals. Is the goal tangible and measurable? Have you defined and taken actions to get started?

Dreams help you achieve the unachievable, but only if you turn them into goals. Follow your dreams, by taking actions.

We all have a junk drawer. Someplace where we just throw items when we don’t know what else to do with them. It could be a newspaper clipping, a coupon, a button, or even a pen that doesn’t write very well. No matter how organized you are, I am sure there is at least one drawer, one box, one area of your space that is a mess.

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Having this clutter seems natural. When you are looking for something that you can’t find, this is the place you will search.

We could organize it. Define a place for everything. But then some new item would show up that we didn’t have a place for, and in it would go. Then we would have a junk drawer again.

I started thinking about how the same thing happens with our minds. We have ideas and thoughts that come and go. We put them someplace, and when we are trying to remember, maybe we can’t find them. There are ideas that maybe are not so important at the time, but could become more important under the right circumstances. So how can we better organize our ideas and thoughts?

Here are some possibilities that I came up with:

1. Improve your memory. Yes it can be done. With a little work you can memorize and remember all kinds of facts. One way to start, read the book titled, The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving Your Memory at Work, at School, and at Play. It is filled with tips and tricks to memorize things.

2. Make lists. This is a simple but effective tool if applied consistently. You can create all kinds of lists. Organizing thoughts is a lot easier than organizing a junk drawer, because we have better tools. You can use pencil and paper, or any number of software programs to keep lists of all your ideas. If you store them electronically they are easy to search.

3. Write a journal. Journal writing can be a consistent way to capture your most important thoughts of the day. To make it more effective, build in review sessions at least monthly to review what you have written. You can also create an index that would make it easy to find important ideas later.

There are many more ways to organize the clutter that is in our minds, but one of these three will get you started.

Why is it important to organize the clutter? Because if we can recall ideas when we need them, then it improves our ability to focus on the the task at hand.

 

John Maxwell said, “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”

That statement is filled with truth. Passion is more important than position, and even more important than the vision itself. You can’t achieve the vision without it. Passion is the fuel that gets you moving.

Here are two things you need to know about passion.

1. You need to align your priorities with your passion. This is not as easy as it sounds. We spend a lot of time doing things that are not important, or things that deplete our energy. If you are working in alignment with your passion, energy is not a problem, you will have it.

2. You need to feed your passion or it will go out. Some people never find their passion. Or if they do, they lose it, because they can’t feed it. It is like being stuck in a job you hate, without finding a way to escape. Part of everyday needs to be focused on your passion. Otherwise just like a fire without constant feeding of firewood, your passion will die.

If you watch any NFL game, you will see passion in alignment with action. The level of intensity is high. The level of engagement is high. You can achieve that same level of performance within yourself. But you must choose to fuel yourself with passion. It is not going to happen by accident. You can choose to fuel your passion and achieve your vision!

Humility is an important character trait, but so is self-esteem. So it is important to balance the two.

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Humility is important because it allows us to value and respect others. It also helps us to accept our failures and learn from them. Without humility all other character traits are weakened.

Self-esteem is important because it is the trait that lets us live to our potential. We cannot give to others that which we do not have. Self-esteem is a realization of the unique value that we offer to the world.

The thing to remember is that high self-esteem and pride are not equal. If you are afraid to look bad, then you are too prideful. But if you are willing to look bad to learn and grow, then your self-esteem is in alignment with adding value to yourself.

Humility provides an opportunity to see things how they really are, how you can learn, and improve.

So how do we keep humility, self-esteem, and pride in balance? We must maintain perspective about life. We must see the bigger picture. You can be humble and have high self-esteem if you know how your actions, desires, and goals fit in the bigger perspective of this world.

So when you feel your stress level rise, or when you get frustrated about a situation, or when you are hesitant to do something new, just relax and think from a higher level. Put things in perspective, and move forward.