continuation: (link to Achieving Success: Part II.a)
How to Become . . . Say . . .
The President of the United States
Last time, we discussed the make-up of a plan that will achieve success.
The hierarchical order begins with the objective — followed by the goals that will achieve the objective — followed by the benchmarks (sub-goals) that will achieve a goal — and then followed by the tasks that achieve the individual benchmark.
Say you want to become the world-record holder in the long jump. The long jump is a physical feat that requires extreme physical sacrifices. To maintain a daily workout along with your responsibilities at school or work, you decide that your physical workout must begin at 5:00 AM each morning.
Without arguing details, let’s develop a plan of action.
The Objective: World-record holder in the long-jump.
Goal1: Develop and maintain physical endurance, strength, and energy.
- Benchmark1: A strenuous exercise / weight lifting program each morning for physical strength.Task1: Arise each morning at 4:30 AM. Prepare to arrive at the field house by 5:00 AM to begin workout.
Task2: Eat a high-protein breakfast before each workout.Task3: Exercise / Weight Lifting Program.Task4: Retire by 9:30 PM each evening.Goal2: Physical Training in the Long-Jump.
- Benchmark1: A minimum of 20+n long jumps each morning.Task1: 5 sets of 4+n long jumps. Rest between sets. Task2: Measure progress.
You probably could identify other goals, benchmarks, and tasks that would better achieve the objective. But for illustration, let’s use this simple example.
Let’s Do It!
Now that you have developed the plan, you will need to execute the plan until the tasks . . . benchmarks . . . goals . . . and objective are achieved. But you may encounter some problems that will need to be resolved before you can successfully execute your plan. One problem may be arising at 4:30 AM each morning so that you can promptly begin your daily workout. You may have a habit of sleeping past sunrise, which will make it extremely difficult to awake at an early hour each morning.
Another problem is retiring at 9:30 PM each evening. What happens if you enjoy late night TV or evening outings with your friends? Your going to bed early while your friends are having ‘fun’ will become a formidable task to conquer.
These traits (sleeping past dawn and staying up late with friends) makeup part of your unique character. Trying to break this character mold and developing a new person who can retire and awake at the proper hour can become a difficult conquest for some people. Failing to discipline yourself so that you retire by 9:30 PM each evening, for example, becomes an impediment to accomplishing your goals. Reshaping your character and overcoming habits developed through life are important changes to make if you seek to achieve your objective and goals.
We will discuss later in this BLOG the five attributes that make up discipline; these include
- physical,
- physical temperance,
- education,
- social,
- and spiritual.
Why Discipline
Discipline requires that we control, train, and enhance each of these attributes to develop the self-confidence and strength to tackle specified tasks. Your achievement of tasks may require physical discipline, or social discipline, or a combination of several character disciplines. Developing and strengthening each of these five disciplines are important ingredients that segregate those who will succeed at their goals from those who will fail.
Any achievement requires that we overcome our weaknesses and develop the required discipline to achieve our goals. There are two other forces that can help us achieve our goals: hope and motivation.
Hope is the “energetic force” that prompts us to action. Motivation is an “energetic force” that encourages us to continue our action. Hope and motivation are complimentary ingredients for success. If we lose hope in ourselves and our goals, or if we lack the motivation to continue our work toward a goal, we are bound for failure.
Next time, we will turn our attention to the forces of hope and motivation and discuss how we can sustain hope and motivation.
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