#goals Archives - First Sun Consulting, LLC | Outplacement Services and Career Transition Firm

Posts

#CareerAdvice : #CareerGoals -How to set (and achieve) Goals Based on your Personality Type.

January 8, 2019/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

There are some widely accepted practices that can help you reach your goals this year:

Be clear and specific about what you want to achieve and why.
Set S.M.A.R.T. goals. Be sure that your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Recruit the people and assemble the resources you need to succeed.

But there is another factor that has an impact on how we can best set and achieve our goals: Our personality types.

“There’s quite a bit of research about the relationship or association between personality and habit and behavior change,” says organizational psychologist Kenneth Nowack, president and chief research officer at Envisia Learning, a change and performance management firm, and co-author of Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It. Personality plays a role in goal achievement from the first thoughts through seeing through the initial vision. Here are five ways your personality impacts your ability to achieve your goals:

GETTING STARTED

For some hard-charging, Type-A individuals, finding and committing to a goal isn’t the problem–it’s reining them in to ensure that what they’ve chosen is reasonable, says goal-setting expert and motivational speaker Juanita McDowell. This type selects challenging goals, Nowack adds. They’re competing and looking for opportunities to stretch.

More laid-back personalities may not be as driven about their goals, but it doesn’t mean they’re lazy, Nowack says. For this personality type, smaller, more specific goals that allow them to feel comfortable and collect some “wins” will be important to get started.

McDowell uses her own relationship as an illustration. “You can’t take someone like my husband and then expect to have the same goal setting and execution that you would see out of me. He is someone who wants to research every stage of the game. You give him a goal, he’s got to research the heck out of it before he even accepts it as a goal. And then he breaks it down to 10 pieces, where I would want to break it down into five,” she says.

Like this Article ? Share It ! You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

GOAL TYPES

Nowack says that the differences between assertive, outgoing go-getters and laid-back, analytical types is also reflected in the types of goals at which each tends to be more adept. The former personality type tends to do better with performance-based goals. They like competition, so they look at their targets in terms of whether or not they’re likely to achieve them.

Their Type-B counterparts tend to prefer learning-based goals. “It’s not so much about competition with others. It’s more about their own intrinsic motivation to want to learn. So really big difference in the type of goals that are set there,” Nowack says.

RESOURCES AND SUPPORT

Personality type may also affect the types of resources you choose to achieve your goals. The hard-driving goal-achievers are more likely to use apps, which allow them to track their progress, Nowack says. They also like gamification, which appeals to their competitive nature. They may have high levels of social support and feel less stress in going after their goals.

Those who approach their goals in a less frenetic way may find other ways of tracking their progress in more informal ways, he adds. They may seek out more personalized peer support or counsel in achieving their goals rather than reaching out to a wide social network.

It’s important to understand the support you need so that you can best set yourself up for success, says career coach Allison Task, author of Personal (R)evolution: How to be Happy, Change Your Life, and Do that Thing You’ve Always Wanted to Do. But accountability can make a big difference in goal achievement. Whether you have a big or small circle of people supporting you, be sure you pick out an individual or a small group to whom you are regularly accountable for your progress, she says.

ADAPTABILITY

Another area where more aggressive achievers have trouble is letting go of a goal or pivoting when it’s a bad fit, Task says. They may be overly focused on a career goal that isn’t working out. Instead of pivoting, they’re going to try to see it through. Or they let one goal take over their lives until it hurts other areas necessary for balance, such as relationships or self-care, Task says. When goals create imbalance, it’s time for them to change.

At the same time, Nowack cites research that finds that sometimes it’s healthier to back off of a goal than to see it through if it’s not working. But, at the same time, his own research found that having a Plan B from the outset tends to undermine achievement. A healthy level of commitment to the primary goal is necessary to see it through, he says. The key is to find the balance between adjusting to what a realistic goal is for you and allowing yourself to adapt if it ultimately turns out to be the wrong choice.

STAYING THE COURSE

How you stay motivated over time also has to do with your personality type, Task says. When she has clients who are excitable, they may underestimate the challenges ahead and get discouraged. Or if they’re indecisive or lack confidence, they may have trouble getting started. Understanding these traits can help them chart their course accordingly, perhaps breaking down the goal into appropriate steps based on their enthusiasm or boldness, she says.

Anchoring–creating a clear picture of their reason for achieving the goal and having a physical or visual reminder of it nearby–can also be helpful to most personality types to help them get through the challenging parts of goal achievement.

For high-intensity goal-setters, focusing on what’s left to do to accomplish the goals–the home stretch–is useful. These achievers crave crossing the finish line, so focusing on the remaining tasks can be an effective way to get them there, Nowack says. But, for the more mellow people, focusing on what’s been accomplished–celebrating the wins–is typically a more effective way of helping them stay motivated.

Of course, most people fall somewhere on a continuum between very aggressive and easygoing types, Nowack says. So, experimenting with what works for you can help you achieve what you’ve set out to do.

FastCompany.com | January 8, 2019

#Leadership : 7 Ways Clarity Powers #Productivity …. Clarity Powers Productivity. And it Does So for Anyone and Everyone.

March 6, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Clarity powers productivity. And it does so for anyone and everyone. Here are seven of the most important ways:

1. Uncommonly clear goals

A clear destination opens the door to action. Specificity is the key here. When you know exactly what you are trying to achieve, you are able to focus. You don’t have to waste time guessing, fishing for more information, or convincing yourself that you are on the right track. You are also less likely to be distracted by peripheral issues, unimportant details, or totally unrelated diversions. Specificity increases focus and focus generates speed.

Year-end goals, no matter how clear, don’t power productivity. They are too far in the future. Progress happens one step at a time. One hour, even one-quarter hour, at a time. To be ultra-productive, you need to pursue a very specific outcome over the next small block of time.

Overall productivity depends on the productivity of each individual hour. Hour by hour clarity may save only 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there, but those really add up. However, more often than most people realize or are eager to admit it, a little uncommon clarity saves entire hours.

To achieve ultra-productive clarity, ask yourself constantly what must be different at the end of the hour.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/fscnetwork

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of article:

2. Clear, specific next steps

Even if you have a clear goal, you won’t be very productive if you don’t know how to achieve your goal. If you feel you are faced with an impenetrable jungle, you will not be ultra-productive. However, if you have reliable, repeatable method that you trust to get you good results, you can fly through the work with ease. Tried and true methods power productivity. If you don’t have a clear method as you are about to start a task, stop and establish one. The alternative involves wandering around, in and out, back and forth.

3. Shared process clarity

We’ve already talked about the value of process. Let’s take that a step further. When you and your co-workers have a shared understanding of a process, you will all be much more productive. You can synchronize your efforts and focus all of the brainpower. Synchronized focus and a clear series of steps powers team productivity.

Too bad so much of the workday is spent without this shared process clarity. This is true for pretty much any activity less well defined than your leanest production processes. It is incredibly true for your meetings, email, conversations, planning, problem solving, and decision making – all the activities that you don’t even think need, or even use, processes.

4. Clear, transparent decision-making

We make thousands of decisions a day. And every decision is an opportunity to waste time, stress out, and make a mistake. This is especially true for group decisions, which often go on and on and around and around. If there is one activity where shared process clarity could make an enormous difference in productivity it is decision making.

I have yet to encounter an organization with a shared decision process. And yet without one, groups typically conflate the multiple steps in any decision into one muddled conversation. To make matters worse, they aren’t always even focused on the same decision. When I listen in, I can typically count five distinct decisions under discussion simultaneously even in the most focused, most earnest, smartest group. And when I provide that clarity and enumerate those decisions, suddenly it is obvious what decisions need to be made and in what order. It’s like opening the starting gates for racers. Clarity starts everyone running, and in the same direction.

Clear, effective decision processes increase productivity in another way as well. If you follow a good process, your decisions are more likely to be accepted. Furthermore, even your bad decisions are likely to be defended! Think of all the time currently spent worrying about buy-in, making decisions by consensus, and trying to make people believe they are being heard (a.k.a., manipulating them). You can eliminate all that wasted time with a clear, effective, and transparent decision process (see 7 Rules Naturally Clear Leaders Follow When Making Decisions).

Tweet this:

Forbes.com | March 4, 2018 | Ann Latham , CONTRIBUTOR

#BestofFSCBlog : 4 Things Every Manager/Entrepreneur Needs to Do the First Week of the New Year.

December 31, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Now that the holidays are over and the new year is in full swing, it’s time to head back to the lab to formulate fresh, smart, and effective ideas that will grow your organization.

Whatever the size of your firm, whether you’re B2B or B2C, and regardless of the industry in which you operate, here are four must do’s that you need to launch if you’re aiming to increase profits and market share over the next 365 days:

1. 100-Day Plan.

Since the 1930’s when Franklin Roosevelt pioneered it as a means of gauging his effectiveness in the Oval Office, the 100-day plan has become a tradition for newly elected American Presidents. The plan consists of achievable short term goals that adhere to a President’s long term vision for the country. Entrepreneurs should write their own 100 day plans as blueprints for advancing their organization’s productivity and profitability. Such a plan establishes 100 tasks, and requires managers/business owners to consider the specific steps and resources that are needed to bring them to fruition.

While there’s a time and place for visionary long term planning, the 100-day plan allows managers/entrepreneurs to craft and pursue attainable objectives and start the year off with a burst of energy. When the 100-day finish line is reached mid-April, entrepreneurs will know if they should be celebrating or if they need to recalibrate their efforts.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-g-laughter-b46389198/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Best Daily Choice: Follow the Best of FSC Career Articles/Blogs @

https://twitter.com/search?q=bestoffscblog&src=typeahead_click

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & type(#career, #leadership, #life) in Blog Search: https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Continue of the article:

2. Declutter

Whether you want to improve the feng shui of your office or just make it easier to find and store your stuff, a comprehensive tidy up of your company’s work space is a laborious yet necessary task. To make it happen, set aside a Saturday when your team can come in, rent a dumpster and high capacity paper shredder, and destroy unnecessary documents, presentations and files, and toss out old equipment, brochures, books, product samples, and other unproductive items.

Once your space has been tightened and tidied, implement a cloud-based backup system that allows for fast and convenient recovery of your organization’s electronic files. The decluttering will not only allow your team to operate more efficiently, it will also help your office to look more streamlined and professional.

3. Fire the person you know you have to fire.

Maybe you’ve tried to intervene to help turn things around, or you’ve ignored the problem in hopes that it would eventually take care of itself. But however you’ve handled the challenge of having weak members on your team, you know that they’re there and that they’re dangerous the to the health of your company.

If you didn’t have the heart to do any purging during the holiday season, delay no longer. The costs to your firm in reduced productivity, low employee morale, additional supervision, damaged client relationships, and lost revenue that are caused by substandard employees can be as high as $190,000 per year, so make a decision now to either remedy a situation that’s fixable — or to clean house.

4. Get high or higher.

While 26 states and the District of Columbia have laws legalizing marijuana, the suggestion here isn’t that entrepreneurs should light up more. Instead, the first week of the new year is a perfect time to review and possibly raise the prices of your products or services. Too many small business owners try to compete by lowering their prices, and that’s often a mistake.

Instead, devise a plan by studying your competitive landscape; looking at your firm’s pricing history; reviewing the calendar to determine the best time to bump up your rate, fees, or prices; and thinking about how you can enhance the value of your offerings in order to justify price revisions. If you detect some white space that would allow for small yet profitable increases, you should absolutely seize it.

After the joy and frenzy of the holidays, it’s understandable if it takes a minute for business owners to snap back to attention and keep their ships moving forward, but the upside to getting started is significant. Entrepreneurs who have the discipline to leverage these four steps as an annual early January organizational “reboot” will help to energize their teams, inspire exciting ideas, and generate new opportunities for innovation and growth.

Entrepreneur.com | December 29, 2016 | Lyneir Richardson

#Leadership : Vision- 6 Habits That Turn Dreams Into Reality…The Secret of Turning Wishful Thinking into a Life of Action and Achievement.

November 13, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When I was growing up, I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I discussed this aspiration with career advisors, family and friends. I outlined my plans in university student kitchens at three in the morning. It was the main conversation in the staff cafeteria of the large corporation I joined to tide me over until I launched my enterprise.

I met up with an old friend whom I had not seen for fifteen years, and we chatted about old times. After the talk of foreign assignments, pension plans and leadership roles had died off, I mentioned that I was looking to start my own company. My friend took my hands in hers, looked me in the eye and said, “Ric, you´ve been talking about that dream for twenty years. Don´t you think it´s time to do something about it?”

Walt Disney once said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” I finally turned my dream into a reality, not by wishing upon a star, but by converting it into a concrete vision. Today, I own my own leadership development company.

Dreams and visions are quite different.

Dreams are… Visions are…

Inward looking
Ephemeral
Aspirational

Outward looking
Enduring
Intentional

A dream is something, a vision does something; a dream is a place to be, a vision is a place to go. A vision, in other words, is more structured, intentional, enduring and rooted in daily living than mere wishful thinking.

In his seminal text, The Path of Least Resistance, Robert Fritz describes a vision as a hybrid between future state (the result you want to create) and current reality (the starting point). Fritz argues there is an inherent tension between these two states that can help you “organize your actions, focus your values, and clearly see what is relevant in current reality.”

Moving from one to the other.

And herein lies the secret of turning ephemeral dreams into tangible outcomes, of launching that company that’s been on the bucket list for decades, or publishing that novel that´s been languishing in the bottom drawer since the dawn of time — it´s being able to structure the dream into something that inspires action and momentum.

Here are six habits that can help turn dreams into tangible outcomes:

1. Materialize your dream using visualization.

Visualization, or what Shakti Gowain calls ‘Creative visualization’ in her book of the same title, is a technique in creating what you want from life using the power of imagination. Using some common visualization techniques can help participants convert their dreams into future possibilities. Sportsmen and women, for example, use visualization to inspire them toward excellence and success in competitive events. Visualization techniques are also widely used in business contexts for people to create goals and aspirations for themselves.

Like this Article ? Share It ! You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !) www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K) http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: (over 800K)https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en
Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

2. Prioritize your dreams.

One of the habits in Covey´s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is to begin with the end in mind. Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve and being able to prioritize sundry aspirations into a single sustainable “highest goal,” as Michael Ray terms it, is a way of beginning to work strategically with your dreams. Goals should have a degree of tension –not too removed from current reality (which will make them impossible to achieve), neither should they be easily attainable. Consider an elastic band. A slack elastic band has no tension. An overstretched elastic band can snap. Fixing a goal which is challenging, but not impossible, motivates us to work toward our vision. Fritz says in Creating, “In fire building, a log on top of the pile will drive the flames upward. In the creative process, a place that is bigger and higher than where you have gone so far can increase momentum, energy and creative power.”

3. Set key milestones.

Warren Bennis once said, “Mountain climbers don’t start climbing from the bottom of the mountain. They look at where they want to go and work backward to where they’re starting from.” It is the same for goal setting — when you begin with the end in mind and set an action plan, you can begin to work backwards and set interim goals which advance you toward your vision. Achieving things in small incremental steps has great power. Professor Stephen Morris posited a theory that if dominoes were lined up starting with five millimeters and increasing in size by one and half times, it will take just 29 dominoes to knock over the Empire State Building. Best-selling author, Ramit Sethi,applies this principle to goal setting in his domino strategy which advocates starting small and creating momentum through incremental steps.

4. Monitor progress.

One of the benefits of a structured approach to goal and vision setting is that individuals can clearly see how each action and effort propels them toward their highest goal. This helps build momentum and motivation. Dreams, on the other hand, are wispy by nature and it can be baffling to know how to get a handle on them.

5. Enlist support.

Dreams that are not anchored in reality and lack structure or outcome can be crushed by “dream stealers.” In his poem, “The Cloths of Heaven,” WB Yeats writes: “I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

A realistic, goal-orientated vision withstands all these negative forces and increases the likelihood of people sharing their vision. In his book Synchronicity, Joe Jaworski explores the positive outcomes of openly sharing structured goals and visions — people begin to understand your aspirations and priorities and how they can contribute to your success.

6. Know when to give up.

I know we are taught through motivational stories that we can achieve whatever we put our minds to and make our dreams come true; but as Robert Fritz says, goal attainment is linked to current reality. Give up on those unrealistic dreams that suck up your energy and creativity and set achievable aspirations — otherwise that elastic band will keep snapping in your face.

We should never stop dreaming; after all, our dreams are what makes us human. They shape and guide us. But there is a world of difference between being a dreamer and transitioning your dreams into something tangible. This ability to build personal momentum and achieve realistic objectives is the cornerstone of self-mastery, and every effective entrepreneur that I have ever met gets this right.

Entrepreneur.com | November 12, 2016 | Ric Kelly

#Leadership : 3 Ways to Use Data to Set and Track Your Organizational Goals…In Short, Employers — Recognizing that Data is Crucial in Goal-Setting and other Business Aspects — are Using Tracking Information to made Educated Decisions.

August 2, 2016/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Data is finding its footing in the workplace: A 2016 survey from i4cp found that 67 percent of organizations surveyed said they now use results from human capital analytics projects. This increase in the use of analytics shows a shift toward predictive practices that will likely have a huge impact on the way companies run their operations.

In short, employers — recognizing that data is crucial in goal-setting and other business aspects — are using tracking information to made educated decisions. Here are some ways your company can use data to set and track your organizational and employee goals.

1. Define ‘OKRs.’

Objectives and key results (OKRs) is a popular technique that helps get whole teams moving in one direction. No more one-time “tips” and “tricks” for a quick boost that fails to sustain continued success. Instead, OKRs use data to create long-lasting solutions.

This way, companies can set objectives and come up with key results that are metric-based indicators of success. Companies can then make those key results visible, to encourage accountability at all levels of their organizations.

A May 2016 survey of 250 companies from Geckoboard found that those companies considered keeping their employees aware of key metrics and setting clear objectives the top important factors for company growth. When employees are given and are aware of specific targets to aim for, they are more engaged in their work and motivated because they know what success looks like.

So, how should companies start setting their goals?

The answer is to begin at the top. Set broad goals that are large in scale; then cascade the objectives down to your teams and individual employees. Define what the objective is and the key result you expect to be accomplished. For example, for marketers, that objective might be “Build brand awareness to create more leads and conversions.” The key result would be “Increase website traffic by X percent.”

Ensure that each key result is trackable and has a time frame. As the Geckoboard survey found, 92 percent of participating companies that tracked their metrics in real time had met some or all of their goals in the previoius 12 months — compared to 64 percent of companies that did not track in real time.

When tracking metrics like traffic, keep each team’s members informed about how their work is contributing to this goal. Objectives need to be large enough to break down into smaller steps; and these objectives should consist of several key results because every goal should have several possible routes to attainment.

Overall, data can drive performance and help teams hit their goals. Keep a finger on the pulse of the OKRs at your company and focus on organizational alignment.

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 15K+ Members & Growing !) www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: (over 12K) http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: (over 800K)https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en
Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

2. Align and track team members.

Set each employee up for success with realistic goals to aim for. When objectives seem out of reach, the team’s performance suffers. A study from the University at Buffalo School of Management found that even teams that had been successful in the past and had plenty of resources became less efficient when management set unrealistic expectations.

Don’t let that be you. Instead, structure each goal to build toward the organization’s overall goals. Provide real-time tracking and visuals so your staffers can see how they are progressing, and take corrective actions if needed. This will help leaders see how work is allocated.

Performance data adds depth and value to employee evaluations and informs better, more constructive feedback. It can also act as crucial evidence of, and show employees and employers alike where, each person is struggling — or succeeding. This information may help adjust organizational expectations and provide more accurate project-assignment and task allocation.

3. Improve quality of hire.

Goal-tracking data can inform your company’s post-hire quality metric to measure how your talent acquisition is progressing. Using performance data, hiring managers can provide detailed, informed opinions and solutions for newer employees to improve on, and determine what the hiring team should look for in future candidates.

It’s important to conduct surveys to measure your workforce’s satisfaction levels and analyze how your employees align with the company’s culture and values. This gauges how well the team is hiring for cultural fit.

Also, revenue-per-employee data helps determine your company’s costs of turnover and hiring. Recruiting goals factor into larger, organizational goals, which is why quality of hire is a crucial factor to measure and analyze.

Predictive analytics can be analyzed to guide the talent acquisition team to make better hiring decisions and improve its entire recruitment process.

Entrepreneur.com | August 2, 2016 | Andre Lavoie

Your #Career : 6 Ways To Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick In 2016… No One Wants to Attempt a Positive Change in His or Her Life, Only to Dump His or Her Goal in a few Short Weeks. But 24% of People Fail to Keep their Resolutions every Year

December 26, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

As a new year approaches and you contemplate becoming part of the 45% of Americans who usually set New Year’s resolutions, you can either set yourself up for success or failure. No one wants to attempt a positive change in his or her life, only to dump his or her goal in a few short weeks. But 24% of people fail to keep their resolutions every year.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to join the ranks of people who celebrate January 17 as “Dump Your Resolutions Day.”

It doesn’t have to be that way. You can actually use the start of a new year to make significant changes that can make a lasting impact on your life.

Here are six ways to achieve your New Year’s resolutions in 2016:

Set short-term goals.

Maybe we should choose “New Month’s Resolutions” every 30 or 31 days instead of New Year’s resolutions once a year. Try breaking down a larger goal into shorter periods of time.

Why not shorten the timing of your resolution to what suits your particular goal rather than something that fits neatly on the calendar?

Write down your goals and share them with a friend (or two)

In a study on goal-setting at the Dominican University of California, one group of study participants wrote their goals down, broke them into action steps, and shared them with friends.

This group’s success rate was high — 62% had achieved their goals or were halfway there, compared to the 43% who only thought deeply about the goals and rated their difficulty and importance. Taking it a step further, of the goal-setters who did all of the above but also sent weekly updates to a friend, 76% were at least halfway to achieving their goals.

Consider keeping a journal with your goals for 2016 and reviewing them weekly. Enlist the support of friends or colleagues, share your plans with them, get feedback and meet at regular intervals to share your progress.

Like this Article ? Share It ! You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 800K+ Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: (Over 10K+ Members & Growing !) www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en
Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

Continue of article:

Create momentum.

Knock off a few important steps early in the process.

For example, say your resolution is to get on track for retirement. If you have a pretty good idea that you are behind in your savings, don’t wait until you have completed an exhaustive and thorough analysis. Bump up your contributions right away — even if it’s only a little bit.

Pick your game-changer.

What is the most important action you can take this month to meet your goal?What’s one thing you could accomplish that would make or break a successful outcome? Focus your time and energy on this aspect of your goal.

For example, some friends of mine who are in their mid-30s live in California, and their careers (and incomes) are taking off. Their tax bill is following suit, so they called me to ask for help in finding ways to reduce their taxes. A game-changing New Year’s resolution for them would be to become tax savvy in order to reduce their income taxes this year and going forward.

Some steps they might take:

Meet with a financial advisor early in the year.

Hire an accountant instead of doing their taxes themselves.

Defer the maximum they can in their retirement plans.

Set up a receipt file and save every receipt related to taxes.

Determine a charitable giving strategy to maximize their deductions.

What action can you take in 2016 that would be a game-changer?

Get some skin in the game.

Sometimes changing behavior can be challenging. It’s simple in theory, but when the rubber hits the road, we can easily fall back on old bad habits. Light a fire under your goals to make yourself accountable for what you really want to accomplish.

Consider using negative consequences when you don’t complete the action steps you’ve committed to.

For example, a few years ago my friend Dianne and I set fitness goals that we simply weren’t reaching, even though we tried month after month to complete them. So we decided to put some skin in the game in a creative way.

We each wrote checks to causes we abhor, post-dated at the end of the month, and handed them to each other. If we didn’t complete the promised actions, the partner would mail the check to the cause we detested!

Guess what? I always seemed to find the time to complete the action steps. I even did it with a smile, because I sure didn’t want my hard-earned money going to that particular cause! Be sure to only sign up for a goal you are truly committed to, or you might have to write that check! This exercise can be a great test of commitment.

Nudge yourself.

A little reminder can go a long way — especially when you remind yourself why you want to accomplish this goal . Skip “Dump Your Resolutions Day” and simply set up reminders to encourage yourself to stick with it.

Use the calendar on your smartphone or work computer. Set a recurring reminder or appointment to review your progress toward your goal.

Ask others to remind you to check in and do the same for them. Set up a private group on Facebook, use a group Google Docs goal sheet, or sign up for an app like MyFitnessPal that is meant for group interaction and reminders. Encourage each other to stick with your promises to yourselves.

A financial planning colleague of mine in Florida and I set up a monthly call to review our goals, share ideas, and support each other. This works because of the collaborative element as well as having a recurring appointment on the calendar that I prioritize and prepare for. Sometimes it’s just that simple.

The New Year is a time to hope and dream and to make those dreams a reality, but it takes work. You can set yourself up for success by starting early, setting up realistic action steps, and engaging supportive people so 2016 becomes a year of great accomplishments for you.

Nancy L. Anderson, CFP is a financial planner in Park City, Utah. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter as well on the Official blog of Deer Valley Ski Resort.

Forbes.com | December 26, 2015 | Nancy Anderson

#Leadership : A Retired Navy SEAL Commander Explains 12 Traits Effective #Leaders Must Have…Just as Discipline & Freedom are Opposing Forces that Must be Balanced, Leadership Requires Finding the Equilibrium in the Dichotomy of Many Seemingly Contradictory Qualities Between One Extreme & Another.

October 22, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Jocko Willink is the retired commander of the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War: US Navy SEAL Team Three Task Unit Bruiser, which served in the 2006 Battle of Ramadi.

Retired Navy SEAL Task Unit Bruiser commander Jocko Willink.

In his new book “Extreme Ownership: How US Navy SEALs Lead and Win,” co-written with his former platoon commander Leif Babin, he and Babin explain the lessons learned in combat that they’ve taught to corporate clients for the past four years in their leadership consultancy firm Echelon Front.

During his 20 years as a SEAL, Willink writes that he realized that, “Just as discipline and freedom are opposing forces that must be balanced, leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities between one extreme and another.” By being aware of these seeming contradictions, a leader can “more easily balance the opposing forces and lead with maximum effectiveness.”

Here are the 12 main dichotomies of leadership Willink identifies as traits every effective leader should have.

‘A leader must lead but also be ready to follow.’

Willink says a common misconception the public has about the military is that subordinates mindlessly follow every order they’re given. In certain situations, subordinates may have access to information their superiors don’t, or have an insight that would result in a more effective plan than the one their boss proposed.

“Good leaders must welcome this, putting aside ego and personal agendas to ensure that the team has the greatest chance of accomplishing its strategic goals,” Willink writes.

‘A leader must be aggressive but not overbearing.’

Echelon Front

Leif Babin and Willink when they were deployed in Ramadi, Iraq in 2006.

As a SEAL officer, Willink needed to be aggressive (“Some may even accuse me of hyperagression,” he says) but he differentiated being a powerful presence to his SEAL team from being an intimidating figure.

He writes that, “I did my utmost to ensure that everyone below me in the chain of command felt comfortable approaching me with concerns, ideas, thoughts, and even disagreements.”

“That being said,” he adds, “my subordinates also knew that if they wanted to complain about the hard work and relentless push to accomplish the mission I expected of them, they best take those thoughts elsewhere.”

‘A leader must be calm but not robotic.’

Willink says that while leaders who lose their tempers lose respect, they also can’t establish a relationship with their team if they never expression anger, sadness, or frustration.

“People do not follow robots,” he writes.

‘A leader must be confident but never cocky.’

Leaders should behave with confidence and instill it in their team members.

“But when it goes too far, overconfidence causes complacency and arrogance, which ultimately set the team up for failure,” Willink writes.

‘A leader must be brave but not foolhardy.’

Courtesy of Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Task Unit Bruiser SEALs look up at an Apache flying overhead Ramadi in 2006.

Whoever’s in charge can’t waste time excessively contemplating a scenario without making a decision. But when it’s time to make that decision, all risk must be as mitigated as possible.

Willink and Babin both write about situations in Ramadi in which delaying an attack until every detail about a target was clarified, even when it frustrated other units they were working with, resulted in avoiding tragic friendly fire.

‘A leader must have a competitive spirit but also be a gracious loser.’

“They must drive competition and push themselves and their teams to perform at the highest level,” Willink writes. “But they must never put their own drive for personal success ahead of overall mission success for the greater team.”

This means that when something does not go according to plan, leaders must set aside their egos and take ownership of the failure before moving forward.

‘A leader must be attentive to details but not obsessed with them.’

The most effective leaders learn how to quickly determine which of their team’s tasks need to be monitored in order for them to progress smoothly, “but cannot get sucked into the details and lose track of the bigger picture,” Willink writes.

‘A leader must be strong but likewise have endurance, not only physically but mentally.’

Courtesy of Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Navy SEALs on a roof overlook in Ramadi in 2006. (Faces have been blurred to protect identities.)

Leaders need to push themselves and their teams while also recognizing their limits, in order to achieve a suitable pace and avoid burnout.

‘A leader must be humble but not passive; quiet but not silent.’

The best leaders keep their egos in check and their minds open to others, and admit when they’re wrong.

“But a leader must be able to speak up when it matters,” Willink writes. “They must be able to stand up for the team and respectfully push back against a decision, order, or direction that could negatively impact overall mission success.”

‘A leader must be close with subordinates but not too close.’

“The best leaders understand the motivations of their team members and know their people — their lives and their families,” Willink writes. “But a leader must never grow so close to subordinates that one member of the team becomes more important than another, or more important than the mission itself.”

“Leaders must never get so close that the team forgets who is in charge.”

‘A leader must exercise Extreme Ownership. Simultaneously, that leader must employ Decentralized Command.’

“Extreme Ownership” is the fundamental concept of Willink and Babin’s leadership philosophy. It means that for any team or organization, “all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader,” Willink writes. Even when leaders are not directly responsible for all outcomes, it was their method of communication and guidance, or lack thereof, that led to the results.

That doesn’t mean, however, that leaders should micromanage. It’s why the concept of decentralized command that Willink and Babin used in the battlefield, in which they trusted that their junior officers were able to handle certain tasks without being monitored, translates so well to the business world.

‘A leader has nothing to prove but everything to prove.’

“Since the team understands that the leader is de facto in charge, in that respect, a leader has nothing to prove,” Willink writes. “But in another respect, a leader has everything to prove: Every member of the team must develop the trust and confidence that their leader will exercise good judgment, remain calm, and make the right decisions when it matters most.”

And the only way that can be achieved is through leading by example every day.

Businessinsider.com | October 22, 2015 |

Richard Feloni

Your #Career : 6 Career Tips that Will Make You Future-Proof…Ask for Feedback of the Perfect Person Doing the Perfect Job in your Role,You’ll get Feedback you can Use.

September 14, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

How can you tell whose career advice you can trust? Is she a human resources expert who has written the book on creating attractive workplaces for top talent? Is she a personal development expert who’s written the book on acquiring new skills today for the office of tomorrow?

“Ask for feedback of the perfect person doing the perfect job in your role,” Karie Willyerd said. “You’ll get feedback you can use.”

Karie Willyerd is. The SuccessFactors workplace futurist has co-authored The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today and Stretch: How to Future Proof Yourself for Tomorrow’s Workplace — after co-founding what is now the SAP Jam platformand serving as the chief learning officer of Sun Microsystems.

Willyerd shared six tips for personal growth during her “Future Proof Yourself for Tomorrow’s Workplace” breakout session at SuccessConnect 2015 last month:

No. 1: Pick a Couple of Projects to Approach from a Development Stance

“Take the five to seven projects that you’ve got,” Willyerd said, “and think about, ‘What stage am I at?’”

Most of those projects will be stuff that just needs to get done, but one or two will deserve a Development Stance, Willyerd stated. That’s because they parallel our career trajectory, making us want to learn more about them via an in-depth certification course, a 15-minute conversation with an expert, or something in between.

Prioritizing what’s on your to-do list is the crucial first step.

“Just by thinking about it,” Willyerd said, “you will learn more.”

Like this Article ?…Share It ! You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 300K+ Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

continue of article:

No. 2: Get the Right Feedback — From the Right People

“The people who are full of the most feedback that you need are your peers,” Willyerd said. “That’s why peers rate you the hardest”

Create some distance between you and the peers you seek out, Willyerd stated. Make it safe for the people giving feedback to you — not safe for yourself.

“Ask for feedback of the perfect person doing the perfect job in your role,” Willyerd said. “You’ll get feedback you can use.”

No. 3: Identify Your “Five to Thrive”

“This isn’t your mentor; this isn’t your boss,” Willyerd said. “These are just five people who make you a better person at work.”

It’s all right if you can’t think of five people right away, according to Willyerd. But once you’ve got your list, try to meet with each person on it at least four times per year.

No. 4: Get In Over Your Head

“You need to feel like you’re in over your head,” Willyerd said. “If you’re not, you’re not stretching.” (Remember the name of Willyerd’s second book?)

In over your head feels like you’re not sure you can do the job, according to Willyerd. Staying in your comfort zone keeps you from moving to the next level of who and what you could be. So assume your Development Stance, and volunteer, travel or teach a seminar.

“There are all kinds of ways that you can gain experience,” Willyerd said. “There are lots of things you can do that could stretch you out beyond what you normally do.”

No. 5: Ask your boss, “What do you hope I’ll learn from this assignment?”

“I don’t advocate that you stay working for bad bosses,” Willyerd said. “But I also don’t advocate that you stay working for comfortable bosses either because they will leave you stuck.”

Good bosses will push you to help develop your skills. Willyerd shared an example of a woman who had stayed in a role for a surprisingly long time because she liked that her manager continually took steps to help her grow. She didn’t think she’d find that anywhere else.

“It’s so easy, and it costs the company nothing if managers would just frame work in terms of what the person will learn,” Willyerd said. “If you’re on the receiving end, you can ask your boss if there’s anything he expects you to learn.”

No. 6: Announce Your Goals, Gain Supporters

“Let’s say you decide to make a big change,” Willyerd said. “You have to help people shift their thinking about you.”

Willyerd knew a man who decided to shed his well-earned reputation for being late to meetings. But arriving early to every meeting for six months didn’t change his reputation. So he began announcing before every meeting that it was a few minutes before the start time, jovially suggesting that the meeting start early.

“Once people put you in a bucket of what your behavior is, they leave you in that bucket,” Willyerd said. “Help them get out of that bucket … announce your intent to change, and then follow through with it.”

Get What You Need

Willyerd expounded on point No. 2 after her breakout session. Watch the video below for more on how to get the feedback you need.

This story originally appeared on SAP Business Trends. Follow Derek onTwitter: @DKlobucher

Forbes.com | September 14, 2015 | Derek Klobucher,SAP

Your #Career : How To Get Ahead Instead Of Just Getting By…Sometimes Small, Mundane “Check-the-Box” Tasks Have to Get Done. However If you Spend All your Time on the Small Stuff, You’ll get By, but Not get Ahead.

August 11, 2015/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Here are 6 Reasons you’re Not Getting Anything Important Done at Work — Even When you Have the Time — and What to Do About Them:

Sometimes small, mundane “check-the-box” tasks have to get done. For most people, it’s a problem if they never respond to email or fill out administrative reports (unsubmitted expenses, anyone?). However if you spend all your time on the small stuff, you’ll get by, but not get ahead.

I believe that there’s more for you in your life and career, so I wanted to share some insights gleaned from my own experience as the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training as well as an interview I did with Alexander Schultz, CEO of Complete Labs on what keeps us addicted to small tasks and how to get the big stuff done.

Here are 6 reasons you’re not getting anything important done at work — even when you have the time — and what to do about them:

1- “Cotton Candy” Wins

“We want a sense of achievement and accomplishment,” says Schultz. “When we get a lot of things done, it feels good. But just knocking to-do items off my checklist is not the progress I want to have.” Only doing small tasks is the equivalent of only eating cotton candy. You may end up with a quick sugar high but will soon crash and need more sugar to get you back up again. Your larger projects are like meat and vegetables: they take longer to chew and digest but leave you with a lasting sense of satisfaction.

To make it easier to make progress on these items, cut them up into as small of tasks as possible. That could mean listing out activities like sending an email to someone or editing the document after writing it. By dividing a big win into small celebrations, you’re still getting something of substance completed and making it easier to make progress.

FSC LinkedIn Network: www.linkedin.com/in/frankfsc/en

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Sun-Consulting-LLC-Outplacement-Services/213542315355343?sk=wall

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115673713231115398101/posts?hl=en

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

educate/collaborate/network….Look forward to your Participation !

continue of article:

2- Mistrust of Your Memory

Another reason that you jump on little items immediately is because you fear you’ll forget to do them if they aren’t done now. Most likely you blame this on having a bad memory, but in reality it doesn’t matter how good or bad your memory is if you have the right systems in place. When you have a powerful to-do list, calendar system and email processing system, you know that you’ll get the right prompts at the right times to move items forward. By developing the right structure, even if it’s as simple as a notepad where you write down and review all your current to-do items, you can relax and focus on the bigger items at hand.

3- No Idea Where to Start

If you arrive at work, take a glance at your calendar, open your email and then just start bouncing through the day like a ping-pong ball hoping that you’ll land in the right place at the right time, you’re not alone. Many people take this sort of reactive approach to their work. When you aren’t aware of your priorities nor are you clear on when they need to get done, it’s incredibly hard to justify not taking care of the small stuff all the time.

To overcome this reactive tendency, I recommend that you review your projects and tasks lists on at least a weekly basis so that you can know what’s most important now. Then, if possible, slot in time to get the key items done on your calendar. Schultz also recommends writing your goals at the top of your to-do list and asking yourself, “Is this task aligned with what I want to accomplish and who I want to be?”

4- False Guilt

Yes, there’s a time and place to help your colleagues. But in almost every position, there’s also a time and place to focus on getting the work done that you need to do for yourself. Problems arise when external requests come at a faster rate or quantity than you can handle and you start to squeeze out the other work that you need to complete. This can lead to some people — especially people pleasers — feeling guilty for taking time to do their own work before everyone else is taken care of. But the truth is that if you don’t wrap up the projects only you can do, you’re not providing the most value for your company.

The key to overcoming this challenge is to pace the workflow. This means setting aside some time each week to drive your key projects forward, which then allows for work for others to fit into the remaining time slots available. This may mean that you don’t move ahead as quickly on other people’s projects, but in the larger picture that’s typically OK if you’re moving ahead on the most important goals.

5- Shame at Missed Deadlines

When you haven’t done something for a long time that you know you should do, even thinking about the task can trigger shame. So instead of making a dent in that big project, you answer another email.

To overcome this cycle, it’s important to recognize that everyone makes mistakes and has items they struggle to complete. It’s also helpful to talk about what’s going on with someone you trust since shame thrives in isolation. When you notice yourself avoiding a project and going into numbing behaviors, such as randomly checking social media, try to stop and recognize the root cause of these behaviors. This could mean sitting quietly and taking some deep breaths, journaling, or going on a walk and talking with a friend. The counterintuitive truth is that when you focus on your emotions and process them, you have the opportunity to release them and they’ll in turn have less impact on your behavior than if you just try to avoid them.

6- High Fives Required

Getting affirmation for your work feels good for most people. Depending on your personality type, it can be almost essential for getting things done. If you’re one of those people, don’t fight that tendency — work with it. You can do so by using online tools where you can post your activities and have others comment on them, work with a coach, or set up a buddy system with a friend to make progress on your bigger goals. That way you can get “Yahoo YHOO +1.28%!”s for each step along the way, even when the bigger project is far from complete.

If you are ready to really move forward in your career, stop letting the small stuff squelch your success.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time coach, the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training , and the author of How to Invest Your Time Like Money and The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress.

Forbes.com | August 11, 2015 | YEC Women