Author: Clinton Ages

Accomplish Your Dreams NOW: The Easy Guide to Setting Goals

Written by Clinton Ages on May 12, 2016. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Accomplish Your Dreams NOW: The Easy Guide to Setting Goals

Note: Here is the 3rd episode of my ‘Coach Clinton 7-Steps to Accomplishment Methodology’ where I had set the stage for putting you on the track of accomplishment.

To get the most out of this article as well as the ones that will follow, I would suggest you to read the first article and second article before moving forward.

In the 7-step journey towards a successful and satisfying life, the piece that we are going to fit in today is one whose importance cannot be overemphasized.

Do you remember the fable about “The Ant and the Grasshopper”? The ant was diligent and planned for winter by gathering and storing food. What did the grasshopper do? It was short-sighted, only focusing on the present and failed to take heed toward preparation. The ending result? The grasshopper had no food and starved. The moral of the story is best summarized in the old adage – “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”

In the first step, appraise, you saw the importance of evaluating yourself and your performance in order to separate the value-adding habits and patterns from the hazardous ones and then focusing on the actions that will actually help you materialize your accomplishments.

Moving forward, we will discuss the extremely important step, ascertain, that involves setting up goals for yourself that will drive your accomplishments and help you stay on track until the final objectives are achieved.

Why set goals?

You cannot achieve anything unless and until there is a clear and definite goal in front of you. Having a set of goals in front of you is crucial to your success because you can easily get distracted by other urgent yet unimportant things that won’t contribute towards your accomplishments.

In a landmark research study, American psychologist, Edwin Locke and his colleagues proved the fact that the presence of challenging goals enhances performance as compared to situations where there are easy goals, ambiguous goals or no goals at all. It is of utmost importance to set yourself goals because:

Goals add clarity to your vision
Goals help you break overwhelming feats into small, doable tasks
Goals give you a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to keep moving forward
Goals provide you feedback on your performance to be used for continuous improvement
Goals let you weed out the energy parasites from your life and help you focus only on valuable tasks

Elements of effective goals

Edwin Locke also proposed an influential theory by the name of ‘goal setting theory’ that rolls out the 5 basic characteristics of a successful goal(s). The following 5 principles, if kept in view, while setting your goals can improve the chances that a certain goal will be achieved:

Clarity
Challenge
Commitment
Feedback
Complexity

There is another framework called the SMART criteria that can help you set successful goals. SMART is the abbreviation of the following parameters that can help you set goals with a higher chance of success:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound

Based on these two guidelines, you can make sure that your goals will be more likely to yield a successful outcome and contribute towards your life’s bigger ambitions.

Goal Setting Process

Now that there is no room for any doubt left about the importance of goal setting, you need to determine your goals and pursue them religiously if you are interested in living an accomplished and productive life. Since these goals will be deciding your fate, there must be enough due diligence going into the process rather than casually selecting your goals and wasting your time and energy – and having them revised later on.
Based on my extensive experience helping others with their goals, I recommend to use the process laid out here while setting your goals.

Step 1 – Goal Formulation

Remember the self-assessment diagnosis that I explained in my last article? In that article, I introduced you to self-assessment tools like The Innovator’s DNA Assessment, Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Personality Inventory and DiSC Personality Test. Using these, and many other similar tools, you need to get to know yourself in greater depth and identify your strengths and weaknesses so that you can leverage your strong points to accelerate your success and find ways to eliminate the shortfalls.

To start with, you will formulate your goals at three levels:

Long Term / Strategic Goals – First of all, you will sit down and contemplate on the ultimate demands that you want to place on yourself. Through this thinking process, you will visualize what you want to achieve and what you want to become. By doing this, you will be able to construct your long-term goals that will be the guiding light for all your efforts, from this point forward.
Medium Term Goals – Once the high-level goals are in place, you will have to draw up the supporting goals that will be required to keep you on the right track – a track that leads to the achievement of your strategic goals.
Short Term Goals – While keeping the ultimate objective(s) in view, you need to devise the short term goals with the intent to break down the sizeable long-term goals into manageable milestones. These goals when duly achieved will take you closer to the fulfillment of your life’s purpose.

Step 2 – Goal Categorization & Prioritization

In the second step, you will categorize all your goals by looking at each one and assigning it an appropriate label. Then you will pick out the themes and make an exhaustive list of all the themes that your goals fall into.
With the category list in front of you, you can assign a priority to each category depending on how much value you give to each one. After assigning a priority to all the categories, you will now have a list of categories or themes which you want to pursue in the shape of goals along with a guideline regarding which one to assign more energies, resources and your precious time.

Step 3 – Monthly Plan Development

Napoleon Hill very rightly said that “A goal is a dream with a deadline”.

Now that you are clear about your goals and their priority, it is time that you develop a monthly plan and convert your goals into monthly deliverables. At the end of each month, you will have to sit down and track your actual progress in the light of your monthly plan. In case you did not meet any deadline, you need to analyze that lapse and uncover the reason behind it so that it won’t happen in future.

Step 4 – Weekly Plan Development

People tend to carry great dreams in their minds throughout their lives, but most of them remain unfulfilled because people are overwhelmed by the sheer size of their wishes and dreams and end up giving up all hope for achieving those dreams. If any objective is broken down into challenging yet reasonable sub-tasks, it becomes easier to believe that you will make it through and finally achieve that goal, no matter how big and ambitious the idea might be.
So starting with the first goal, break it down into tasks/steps and assign weekly completion of tasks for the goal based on your best judgment as to your ability and time to complete. Then stick to the plan and make sure that your weekly objectives are met without fail.

Now you have all you need to start developing, prioritizing and breaking down your goals into smaller tasks. You must take out some quiet time and sit down to cover this tremendously important step. When you are done with your goal development, you will come much closer to the fulfillment of your life’s dreams and aspirations.

Time is very limited and running fast – so take action NOW and get busy chalking out your goals.

Starting with the Man in the Mirror: Using Assessments to Drive Your Accomplishments

Written by Clinton Ages on March 14, 2016. Posted in Articles.

Note: Here is the first sequel to my ‘Coach Clinton 7-Steps to Accomplishment Methodology’ article where I had set the stage for putting you on the track of accomplishment. If you want to pick up something practical from this article and the ones following, I would suggest you to read the aforementioned article first, if you haven’t already.

If you are ready to do something that is nothing less than remarkable and committed to breaking all the barriers that are blocking your path to success – you are set to follow the Coach Clinton 7-Steps to Accomplishment Methodology.

Today in this post, we will dissect the first step ‘Appraise’ which is the starting point of your journey. You are starting the journey toward your destination by analyzing the person who is staring back at you in the mirror. The process of appraising yourself falls under the first phase i.e. the Mind Mapping phase. Now the first question that you should be asking is ‘What on earth is a mind map?’ Well, that question is best suited for Tony Buzan, the inventor of this technique:

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“A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, color and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance.”¹

In other words, a mind map is a graphic or a visual thinking tool that lets you plot your ideas and generate new ones by breaking large blocks of thoughts into smaller intelligible pieces. In the mind mapping phase, you will create a visual log of your goals and plan your journey effectively.

As mentioned in the last article, appraising in this context means assessing your current state of performance and identifying the factors that aid in enhancing your performance.

There are a number of assessment tools out there, and you need first to decide the tool that will bring out the best results for you. These tools focus on a number of aspects of your personality, your actions and habits, your strengths, your behaviors under stress, or your career options. In completing the assessments, it is imperative that you are specific about what you are assessing and answer each question honestly. It is also important to have a clear understanding and appreciation of your results. Do not judge yourself or your responses. The only way to effectively maximize your potential and create change is to accept what you’ve learned from the assessments and seek to comprehend them. Once all results have been received, the information will later be used to create an actionable plan for improvement.

Use of assessment tools is absolutely necessary. In order for you to reach your desired ending destination, you must first have clarity on your starting point. The assessments offer you the requirements needed to accelerate the speed of your journey.

The first step is to understand the nature of the tools available for assessment and then move on to deploying a specific tool that seems to fit the bill.

The discussion that follows is aimed at introducing you to a few assessment tools that are worth considering, when you are shopping for the most suitable assessment:

The Innovator’s DNA Assessment – As the name suggests, this tool’s foremost focus is to unearth the innovative or creative capabilities of an individual. This assessment is based on five specific skills i.e. Associating, Questioning, Observing, Networking, and Experimenting. The renowned developers of this assessment system, Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen & Clayton M. Christensen, have identified these five innovation capabilities after years of rigorous research. The Self & 360 Assessments tools provide individuals with a personalized Innovation Profile, detailed scores for their Courage to Innovate, Discovery Skills, and Delivery Skills.
Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment – This assessment tool digs deep into the test taker’s personality and reports the most prominent strengths of the individual. These strengths then can be used to identify the types of activities that will be most suited for a certain person. The assessment presents the individuals with 177 pairs of statements that offer the opportunity to describe themselves in a number of different angles and perspectives. The test-takers are then required to choose the statements that best describe them in a limited period of time.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Personality Inventory – MBTI is a widely used personality assessment tool that categorizes people in 16 different personality types – based on a number of individual characteristics derived from Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types. The main ingredients of a MBTI profile is made up of a 4-item combination of these characteristics:

Extraversion or Introversion (E or I)

Sensing or Intuition (S or N)

Thinking or Feeling (T or F)

Judging or Perceiving (J or P)

So the result that you will get a four-letter profile (for example ISTJ or ENTJ) along with a detailed insight about that profile including the most suitable professions for your type of personality.

DiSC Personality Test – DiSC is another powerful personality assessment tool that provides the opportunity to have a closer look at one’s self – including the motivations, conflict management / self-management capabilities and problem-solving skills. DiSC is the acronym for:

Dominance – emphasis on accomplishing results

Influence – emphasis on influencing or persuading others

Steadiness – emphasis on cooperation, sincerity and dependability

Conscientiousness – emphasis on quality and accuracy, expertise, competency

Now that you have been introduced to the idea of using assessment tools to achieve the optimum performance levels, you should dig into the tools discussed above and see which one seems to stand out to you the most. This is not a comprehensive list; it is however, a list of a few of my personal favorites. This evaluation should be based on the objectives that you plan to achieve from this crucial exercise. If you really want to get the most out of it, I will advise you to research additional tools that are best suited for your personal needs.

For now, I’m leaving you with the task of looking at yourself in the mirror and throwing some tough questions at the person staring back at you – who is this person and how can I make use of assessments to know this person inside out. The answers to these important questions will pave the way for the next step that is goal-setting for realizing your dreams, discussed in the next article in this series.

Until then, start the process of honestly getting to know yourself.

[1] Source: http://www.tonybuzan.com/about/mind-mapping

Create a Path to Winning: 7 Steps to Accomplishment

Written by Clinton Ages on February 8, 2016. Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on Create a Path to Winning: 7 Steps to Accomplishment

Have you ever seen a single person walking the face of this Earth who doesn’t have at least a couple of dreams held close to their heart – the ‘ideal’ state that everyone wants to achieve someday? Of course not. And yet we see that the ones who actually try to achieve that dream in a coherent and persistent manner are quite uncommon, and the achievers are even more rare.

Bo Bennet once said that “A dream becomes a goal when action is taken toward its achievement.” The biggest issue with people not reaching their potential is that they are not focused enough to sit down and chalk out an action plan that can take them to their glory.

Words like “Productivity”, “Accomplishment”, and “Success” have been used up to a point where they seem to have lost their real essence.

A simple search on Amazon will fetch you hundreds, if not thousands of books that make claims to help you realize your true potential and achieve your life goals without putting in significant effort. A whole world of research has been done on the subject, and a lot more has been written. Despite all this buzz, the majority of the dreamers are still not even close to fulfilling their destiny.

So what seems to be the solution to this problem? Well, the first ingredient that needs to go into the recipe for your success is your unfaltering commitment and devotion to your own success. If you are not completely devoted to achieving your ideal self, no one else can ever help. Before looking for external support, you first need to make a vow that nothing will get in your way to success and happiness. Then you can look for a success and accomplishment plan that is most suited to your personality.

I have spent considerable time coaching people to achieve success and accomplish their goals, and this experience has helped me pinpoint the problems that people face on this daunting journey. As a result, I have developed an action framework, aka Coach Clinton 7-Steps to Accomplishment Methodology, which has helped many people to positively reach their destination. This is a method which was developed painstakingly and after much deliberation. The end product is a plan that generates great results.

Notice that each step in the process is a word that begins with the letter A. Why, you ask? Because we have been taught to strive for excellence. In the United States, the grade mark “A” signifies that level of excellence.

So without wasting any further time, let’s get into discussing the steps that can build your pathway to success and accomplishment.

THE METHOD

As evident from the name, this magical method consists of seven steps that are divided into three broad categories titled the Mind Mapping Phase, the Plan & Execute Phase, and the Complete & Learn Phase. The seven steps along with the relevant phases are discussed below:

I – MIND MAPPING PHASE

In the first phase, the objective is to chalk out the course of action and plan the journey toward your individual performance improvement.

Step 1 – Appraise

This process starts off with a nonjudgmental appraisal or evaluation of your individual performance. The purpose behind this assessment is to analyze every aspect of your life and categorize your actions and habits as either catalysts or deterrents toward your performance. Once labelled, the negative patterns are singled out for elimination and the rest are further studied regarding their contribution toward your life success and only the ones worth your time are marked for further continuation.

Step 2 – Ascertain

Based on your ambitions, this step begins with a determining a comprehensive set of goals for the short-term, mid-term and the long-term. Then you will create certain themes for your performance improvement and fit all the previously ascertained goals into relevant themes. Once the themes are complete with the subsequent goals, you will assign a priority to each theme so that you have a clear order of execution when you begin to take action.

II – PLAN AND EXECUTE PHASE

Step 3 – Approach

Now that the themes and goals are established and prioritized, come up with a practical plan for the themes and goals that are on top of the priority list. It is also necessary to pin down the activities that can take you toward actualization of your goals. This will require more brainstorming and a list of activities to attach to each goal. This list of activities can be a combination of both one-time tasks as well as recurring actions that become your new ‘success habits’.

Step 4 – Avert

Now, look at what you’ve accomplished so far. You have a set of themes, goals for each theme, and activities for each goal. Next, prepare for actual execution by enhancing your motivational level by creating and reciting your affirmation statement. So much of what we do or don’t do comes from our own self-limiting thoughts and beliefs. It is absolutely necessary to motivate ourselves with repetitive positive messages. Your personalized bespoke ‘Motivation Affirmation’ will catalyze this process of performance enhancement by clearing up your thinking process and making you more confident of your abilities and unique talents.

Step 5 – Actualize

Steps one through four have set the rhythm for your performance enhancement process, stay on the right track with the right pace by adding some accountability into the equation. Your stated goals must be specific, realistic and measurable – now you must hold yourself accountable so that you can measure your actual progress along the way.

II – COMPLETE AND LEARN PHASE

During this phase, you should seek to review your progress. By evaluating the results of your work efforts, you can make determinations for how to change your plan to accomplish your desired results.

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Step 6 – Accomplish

While it is necessary to work hard to make progress, it is equally important to stop for a minute and look at the distance you have covered. Celebrate all your victories – no matter the size! This sense of accomplishment provides you with the fuel to keep pushing ahead and conquer even larger territories.

Step 7 – Analyze

In this last step, take the time to review thoroughly the entire process that started with goal setting and reached completion through planning and execution.

The objective of this step is to produce knowledge by learning from the process. Use this knowledge to aim even higher next time around. This analysis will tell you more about yourself in terms of your working style, your ability to overcome obstacles, your strengths, and weaknesses along with many other important insights, all of which will guide your way for the coming expeditions.

This is very important – because this is where your self-enlightenment and self-awareness grow!

By signing up to go through this process, you will be doing yourself a huge favor – a favor that you will never regret especially when people will look at you as the ‘wow’ person who completely transformed his or her life, achieving something that was not even vaguely possible otherwise.

Follow my articles as I deep dive further into each of the seven steps.

Getting Your Company to Pay for an Industry Conference

Written by Clinton Ages on January 19, 2016. Posted in Articles.

No matter how good you get at your trade, there is always room for getting even better. Since every expert has had his/her own unique set of experiences, there is always something new to learn from others that can help you soar to new heights.

Industry conferences and seminars are a hub of practical knowledge, where all sorts of thought leaders can be seen in action, sharing their experiences and their time-tested strategies for growth and success. The year – the bright and shining 2016 – is still young and it is high time that you pay due attention to this important avenue of learning and include it in your formal agenda for professional development. To do this, you need to add the objective of attending conference(s) this year to your performance evaluation goals. You should aim at actively attending and participating in conferences that are relevant to your field of work and showcase experts who can add value to the process of your professional growth.

Why attend an industry conference/seminar?

If you are still not convinced about attending industry conferences, here are some of the merits to help you clear your doubts so that you can set yourself to this agenda wholeheartedly:

Learning – An industry conference is a great place to gather valuable lessons and to hear from experts who have seen the highs and lows and managed to create success. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you can learn from their experiences and accelerate your growth by avoiding their mistakes and adapting their recommended strategies.

Networking – While entire books have been written on the importance of networking with other professionals, here it is once again. You need to connect and hang out with current gurus – without any exception. These efforts will not only open more avenues of learning, but you will also come across more opportunities. With the passage of time, you can also become to be known as one of the industry experts.

Solving problems – None of the problems that we come across are new, and many others have already faced and tackled similar challenges. By meeting your industry peers, you are more likely to meet such people who have devised solutions to the problems you are facing today – stories which are not likely to be found in books or articles!

Unwinding – The atmosphere at conferences is mostly a relaxed and friendly one. In addition to providing great learning opportunities, a conference can also provide you with a window of respite, and you get to take a much-needed break from your monotonous work routine. Relax and learn!

Convinced? Great! Now let’s move on and discuss the basics of developing an action plan for attending an industry conference.

The Action Plan

The discussion that follows will chalk out the action plan which you can follow to realize this objective and make 2016 a year of unprecedented learning and professional growth.

Step 1 – Know the training policies

To start with, you will need to get in touch with the HR department to find out your organization’s prevailing policies related to training and development of employees. Some employers assign a specific amount per employee for such activities in a given year. If such a limit exists, you will need to figure it out and then look for events that fall within that range. Sometimes, there is room for going beyond that limit by obtaining special approvals. If that’s true, you can grab this opportunity to register for an event without having to worry about the costs.

Step 2 – Sign up formally

After sorting out the financials, it is a great idea make things formal and make this objective a part of your performance evaluation for 2016. Add attending your identified conference to your list of 2016 objectives and review it with your manager. This way, you will be officially informing your organization of your intentions and personally committing to achieving this goal- and that with a deadline.

Step 3 – Build the case

With that done, now you need to build the case for convincing your manager and the following questions can act as a guideline in this regard:

Why this investment shall be made toward your development?
What is in it for the organization?
What return will the organization get from this investment?

By effectively answering these questions, you can persuade the decision makers to give you the green light signal for following your development plan. It is best to elaborate by including:

The main learning points from each session of the conference you plan to attend
The strategy for putting the newly acquired skills into use
The impact of using the learning from the session on business efficiency in terms of cost, resource optimization and financial gain for the organization

The search for appropriate conferences to attend will be more fruitful if these questions and their responses are kept in sight. Using this guideline, you can frame out your training and development plan for the year and make sure that you are able to spare time out of your work schedule for that event. It is also a good idea to tie this activity with your personal development as well as it can help you establish yourself as an expert within your organization.

While you are listing the benefits of this conference to your organization, you can make your case stronger by stating the number of Continuing Professional Development credits/CEUs that you will earn. You should also elaborate the entire credit point system for which you will be earning credits. Sharing this information will help you propose a complete development plan and propose other relevant conferences and seminars in the future as well.

Once you have covered the aforementioned points in your proposal, you are then ready to confidently discuss your participation with your manager and respond to their queries and concerns effectively – and ultimately get going on your way towards learning and growth.

Step 4 – Calculate other costs

In addition to the upfront conference fee, you should do your research and state all other costs that are involved in attending this conference. This may include the travel expenses, lodging, food and any other costs that you find relevant. Don’t overdo it! Consider staying at hotels nearby or at the conference hotel if the pricing is better. Find hotels with free airport shuttles or take Uber!

Step 5 – Plan your absence

It is also advisable to get someone to cover your official responsibilities while you are away from work, attending your conference. Oftentimes, the management is reluctant to send you off to training and conferences only because your absence might cause disruption in the flow of routine activities. By taking a proactive approach, you can plan your assignments around this activity and also request a suitable replacement well in advance, if necessary. This precaution will help your manager keep the system running without any hiccups.

What Next?

You made a game plan and successfully met your objective of attending industry conferences. Bravo! But the game does not end here. To make the most out of this investment, you might want to consider the following activities once you are back:

Prepare and present a report to your management showing your actual learning and how it will be helpful in solving business problems and improving your output.
Share what you have learned with your peers at work. Why? Because sharing your learning with others help you gain deeper insights of into that knowledge and as an added bonus, you will gradually position yourself as a knowledgeable expert as well.
Stay connected with the new people you met. Make it a habit to periodically get in touch with your newly made acquaintances and never miss an opportunity to meet them in person as well. It’s a good idea to plan your next conference with these people to strengthen your ties.

Happy Conferencing!

Note from the Editor: Interested in attending a conference? Check out these upcoming conferences for Business Analysts and Project Managers produced by the publisher of batimes.com and projecttimes.com