David J. Pollay's Blog

Goals—How, Why and When? A Trusted Resource

What are your goals?  This is an important question. 

 

Goals focus and inspire us. 

 

How we set goals, execute them, track them, and stay on course to achieve them are all important questions to ask ourselves.

 

There's a best-selling book by Caroline Adams Miller that addresses all these questions.  It's called Creating Your Best Life: The Ultimate Life List Guide. 

 

Caroline’s book has really caught on because it is the first and only mass-market goal accomplishment book based on science, and it is written in a way that everyone can relate to it.  Caroline is a friend, a colleague in positive psychology, and a well-known professional speaker, author and coach who works with people all over the world.

 

I recently asked Caroline two questions I wanted to share with you.

 

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Caroline, what usually gets in the way of our accomplishing our goals? 

 

Several things play a role in whether or not we accomplish our goals.  The first one is that most people don’t set goals, or don’t understand how to set the right goals.  When goals are too vague, and are not aligned with our own values, we also have no meaningful way to measure success. 

 

Fear has also been cited by goal setting theorists as the primary reason why people fail to get where they want to go in life – we are afraid of success, failure, change, being seen, being wrong, and so many other things.  People are also afraid to take risks, and yet risks are essential in a well-lived life. 

 

A few other factors I write about in the book are low self-regulation skills, the negative influences of environment and people, and even of knowing when to detach from unworkable goals and head in a better direction.

 

 

 

What key steps do you believe we should all take if we want to achieve our goals?

You need to first set the right goals, which means they have to be self-concordant (no one else set them for us or imposed them upon us), challenging, measurable and deadline-specific. 

 

We also need to write them down and/or be accountable to a coach, a group or even on a public level.  We need to ensure that we have prepared ourselves for the journey and that we have the knowledge and resources available to be successful, and that this is the right time to be in motion. 

 

If we have trouble delaying gratification, we need to understand how the muscle of self-regulation works and can be supplemented, and we need to surround ourselves with people who believe in us and who help us to savor every win. 

 

We also need to be on top of whether or not we have “primed” the environment for success, and used a variety of tools that goal specialists can help you adapt to your specific goal and life situation. 

 

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You can find Caroline's book in all the bookstores and online. 

 

My 2^nd secret to writing is coming next. 

 

Talk to you soon!

 

 

 

I'm David J. Pollay.  I wrote The Law of the Garbage Truck to help people become happier and make the world a better place.  You can sign up for my newsletter here.

 

 

 

The Key: Do It With a Smile

A lot of us say we want to make the world better.

We want to improve our workplaces.

We want to improve our relationships.

We want to improve our lives.

The question is can we do it with a smile?

Think Nelson Mandela.

What do you see?

A big smile is what most of us see.

 

No one has been more intense in his mission than Nelson Mandela, but he still knows how to smile.  We can be committed to our goals, and still be happy.  We can smile. 

The next time you talk about the mission you're on, try to talk about it with a smile.

Try it.  Notice how you feel. 

See how you impact the people you talk to. 

I'm David J. Pollay.  I wrote The Law of the Garbage Truck to help people become happier and make the world a better place.  

My 1st Secret to Writing

Writing intimidates most people.

I want to change that.

So, I’m going to share with you what I do.

Here’s my first secret:  Read a little each day before you start writing.

I spend ten to fifteen minutes reading a book—usually unrelated to my work—that inspires me in some way, intellectually or emotionally.  If I'm having a particularly difficult time awakening my creativity, I'll read a little longer to jump-start the flow I need in order to write well. 

Try it for yourself, and let me know how it goes.

 

 

A Twist on Frustration

Let’s try something together. 

 

The next time you find yourself frustrated with someone else, stop and think:  How are you frustrating someone in your life?

 

Then, consider this:  If we expect someone else should stop doing something that frustrate us, let’s take the opportunity to clean up a part of our lives that bothers other people.

 

If we want someone else to change, it’s only fair that we join them.

 

Do it, and then make a note of how good you feel when you do. 

 

And let me know how it goes.

 

I’m David J. Pollay, and I wrote The Law of the Garbage Truck™ to help people take control of their lives.  When you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck, you increase your happiness and you increase civility in the world. 

Make sure you are getting my free newsletter.  Stay in touch. 

Hi Everyone! Great to re-connect, and cool opportunities coming

Hi Everyone!

 

I missed you!  I’m back, and I’m glad to be re-connected with all of you.  I want to include you in some great things going on—some interesting opportunities, but I’ll wait to share the news in an upcoming post.

 

I hope you have been great!  Send me a note, and let me know how everything is going with you.  I always love hearing your news.

 

A new post will up in just a few minutes.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

David