Speaker, Artist, and Educator
What would your perfect day look like? What would it need to include?
It’s fun to think about a perfect day, but of course, we realize, a perfect day isn’t really possible. Still, how great would it be if your day included most of these qualities you listed? Half? Some? It would still be an incredible day, right?
I wonder how many of us aren’t even hitting one of these per day? Why is that? I’m guessing it’s because we didn’t make time for it and plan it into our day. Continue Reading…
What Makes a Good Goal?
Some people seem to achieve goals regularly and are continually climbing their way toward a better life. Still, others fail repeatedly and seem stuck in a rut.
A good goal is structured and planned in a way to be more likely achieved.
Achieving goals isn’t a matter of chance, there is a methodology anyone can apply to get better results.
Here Are Six Questions to Ask Yourself When Setting Goals:
We write down the groceries we need, gifts to buy at the mall, doctors’ appointments, to-do lists, recipes, directions, car maintenance appointments, and other things we deem important.
We compose emails, texts, Twitter posts, blogs, and we update our Facebook status with regularity.
Yet, most people choose not to write down their goals, their resolutions, or what they want to accomplish for the year, yet alone their life. They fail to design a plan, or even make a list of where they’d like to go, what they’d they like to have, who they’d like to help, or the person they’d like to become, and then they’re frequently disappointed when life doesn’t deliver their dreams and wishes.
Writing down our goals and resolutions matters. Follow the recipe to create the dish, arrive at the location, assemble the product, complete the course. It really is that simple.
Each and every day I take out a small index card and make my to-do list. The result is simple; I get things done.
Each year I set goals for myself and monitor them regularly in my journal. The result is always positive; I accomplish some great goals each year.
Still, there are some tasks that either evade me, or I am avoiding, and some BIG life goals that I cannot even seem to get started. With them, I seem to be in a rut. I continually write them down as ‘to-do’ but barely make any progress. The worst of it is in the the reality that these are the goals and accomplishments that would mean the most to me if completed. They would make the biggest impact in my life.
I have always read and heard that you need to write goals down and that they need to be specific. Most of the time that works well for me, but recently I have uncovered a secret that has allowed me to make progress in those really tough areas that I have been stagnant for so long.
The solution is: The Secret of ‘Some‘.
A novel can be 50,000 words. You can’t write one of those in a day.
Ten pounds is 35,000 calories. You won’t be losing that in a day.
Too often the knowledge of ‘the amount’ it takes to finish prevents us from starting or staying on track.
We surrender out of fear of failure and convince ourselves with the improbability of success or imagine the exhaustive state we will be at, even with a fraction of the progress.
That is why most people don’t write novels or ever lose that ten pounds.
I recently discovered this amazing adjective called some. It’s not scary nor even measurable, yet with it you can get anywhere and accomplish anything.
Can’t run a marathon? Great, run some.
Can’t reduce your diet down to 1800 calories a day? Super! Just reduce it by some.
Some allows us to reach our goals. Some allows to make progress.
The only thing that must accompany some to make it happen is the noun consistency.
Kelly Croy is a chalk artist and professional speaker.
He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation
including corporations, schools, churches, conferences,
and anywhere people come together to be entertained and inspired.
Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.
1-800-831-4825
A good friend of mine is a successful writer and speaker. His books quite simply change lives. An aspiration for any writer. An aspiration for any speaker. An aspiration for any person.
Every now and then I contact my friend with an idea that I truly believe he must act on immediately. He casually responds nearly every time with, “Great idea, but it’s not time for that yet.”
Brilliance.
I’m blessed with Attention Deficit Disorder, better known to all as ADD. Blessed? Yes, because it is one of the muses that feeds me such creative, out-of-this-world ideas. I love it. One of the drawbacks, however, is of course the fact that I get so many ideas that I want to jump from project to project and then I don’t finish things. I never, ever, refer to my ADD as anything but a blessing. I mean that. It’s as much a part of me as my blue eyes. In fact, I try not to refer to my ADD at all. (I love it so much I feel it’s like bragging about how much you can bench press. After all, I consider ADD one of my super powers.)
When all of these creative ideas start flooding my brain and pushing out the project that I really need to buckle-down on and finish, I just need to remind myself that it’s not time for that, yet. And I do. My brain starts screaming, “Let’s do this!” I just say to myself, “It’s not time for that brain.” I take out my journal and I write down the amazing idea that just popped in there. I date it. Sometimes I even do a very quick sketch or two of what it’s suppose to look like or do. I give the idea a bold heading so when I flip through my journal I see it. Then I skip a line or two and write why I need to return to the project I interrupted and what it will mean to me and my family when I am finished.
It’s very important that you complete that last step. Once that new idea pops into your brain it steals some of the excitement and energy from the project you are working on. You have to invigorate that passion and energy into your project again. You will need to recapture that purpose and energy. Then immediately jump back into that project and make some real progress. Remind yourself of why you want to finish, what it will mean, and the date you want it completed. Being successful is not just knowing what to do, but knowing when to do it.
Here are the steps to take when your project gets interrupted by a new, wonderful idea:
Finish that project. Everyone loves and respects those who do what they say, and follow-through on their dreams and ideas.
Dream big, but finish!
Kelly Croy is a chalk artist and professional speaker. His presentations have entertained and amazed audiences across the nation including corporations, schools, churches, conferences, and wherever people come together to be entertained and improve their lives. Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.
Please visit Kelly’s website to book him for your next event.
1-800-831-4825
My recent natural gas bill arrived. While bills are my least favorite piece of correspondence each month, I have to admit the helpfulness of the statement. It included a nice graph of my usage over the last year. It let me know how much I have paid and what I owe. Interestingly enough, it even predicted my usage for the following month. Each statement serves as a reminder and holds us to a certain level of accountability of what we owe. It lets us know where we are.
Wouldn’t it be great if we received a similar billing statement each month for our goals?
Seriously! Most people never know where they are with the goals they wish to accomplish. It would be awesome to receive a statement each month telling us how much time we’ve put into our dream, what we owe, where we are at, and what we need to finally finish it.
Well, we can. My billing statement each month is in my journal. I choose the 28th of each month as the due date for my dream statements because I was born on the 28th of July and that’s easiest day for me to remember. It’s like a private monthly celebration of my life and what I plan to do with it.
You can do the same.
You see, if we don’t review our life goals regularly we get behind, just like we would with a real bill. Unlike the natural gas company, we won’t receive any late notices, but what we owe starts piling up. (Most of the time to a level that makes it appear impossible to accomplish. That’s why people quit.) Can you imagine how hard it would be if you tried to pay two months at a time, or your entire bill all at once? Ouch! The same is true of our goals and dreams.
Just like our billing statements from our utilities we need to make monthly contributions and track our progress.
So, bust out that journal daily or weekly if you can, but especially on the date of your birth each month. Create a reminder or alert on your phone or calendar if needed.
Write down the big three questions that will drive you toward success:
Kelly Croy is a chalk artist and professional speaker. His presentations have entertained and amazed audiences across the nation including corporations, schools, churches, conferences, and wherever people come together to be entertained and improve their lives. Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.
Please visit Kelly’s website to book him for your next event.
1-800-831-4825
These are the 14 irrefutable laws to making this year the greatest year of your life. Follow them. Good luck. Happy New Year!
Kelly Croy is an inspirational speaker and artist. Please visit www.kellycroy.com or call 1-800-831-4825 or email at info@kellycroy.com to book Kelly for your event. • Kelly’s presentations have entertained and amazed audiences across the nation, anywhere people come together to be entertained and inspired. Please consider booking Kelly for your next event. info@kellycroy.com
Do you only drive halfway to work, leave the car on the road, and walk the remainder of the way? Do you only pull your pants halfway up and decide that’s good enough?
If you are like me and millions of other Americans, you set some goals and resolutions for the year back in January. Well, it’s time for your six month check up. Yep, we’ve made it halfway. You haven’t stopped have you? Have you accomplished any of your goals? Are you closer to finishing them since January or are you farther away? Regardless of how you answer, you have lots of time to achieve some incredible accomplishments, and I’m here to help.
First, I’m hoping you set some goals. I know people that argue the point, but I favor the wise saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” And that’s how I look at resolutions and goals; they are a plan for your year. Let’s get our goals out in front of us and take a look at the person we want to become. Wiser? Healthier? Wealthier? The better-you isn’t that far away.
I wrote my goals down in my journal, so it’s easy for me to review them now. If you didn’t write them down, well now is a great time to do it. You can even set new ones. The year isn’t only half over, it also only half started too, depending on how you look at it. I have read about numerous studies showing the benefits of keeping written goals. I believe them because it has worked for me!
For the remaining six months we will need to review these goals more often. A minimum review would be monthly. (How can you tell if you’re making progress if there is no way to measure it? You can’t pull out your list next December 31 and see if you got lucky. Some people review them daily. Why? Because they really want results! Do you?)
Perhaps you started strong on your goals and ran out of interest or energy. That’s why we need a plan. Now is a great time to make adjustments and set new goals. Take a look at the next six months and plan accordingly. Challenge yourself, but incrementally so you are rewarded when accomplishing chunks of your goals. Figure out who can help you and the resources you already have at your disposal. Break your goal down into chunks that are easier accomplished.
Why did you make these resolutions? Now is great time to recommit and invest in how you will feel accomplishing these goals and making progress toward them. Get your emotions involved. Get fired up!
Don’t be a quitter! Last January I heard a radio commercial advertising for people to come to a bar and break their resolutions. Sad. Stick to it. When the ball drops next year, put a smug grin on your face knowing you did something with the past 365 days that wasn’t easy and made you a better person.
My super-quick plan for helping you “win” the second half of this year:
1) Get a journal! Not only do I want you to write down your goals, start dating it with actions you have actually taken towards them. This will also be where you create your plan. (e.g. July 7, 2010 ‘Today I ran around the block. Signed up for a 5k in October. Better get busy!”)
2) Have an accountability partner. Share your goals and dreams with others. You will be surprised who wants to help you and encourage you. It doesn’t have to be formal. Send them a text or post it on Facebook. (e.g. I wrote 400 words today of my novel. Keep me honest!)
3) Review your goals regularly and remind yourself why you want this! (Nuff’ said.)
I really want you to succeed. Leave a comment below with your goal and what you doing about it. Good luck.
Kelly Croy is an inspirational speaker, author, and artist. Please visit his website to book Kelly for your next event. www.kellycroy.com or call 1-800-831-4825 or email at info@kellycroy.com •Kelly’s presentations have entertained and amazed audiences across the nation including corporations, schools, churches, conferences, and numerous other venues where people come together to be entertained and improve their lives. Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.
