Managing Goals for Success

People tell me all the time that I’m motivated and dedicated.  They allege that they are impressed with my drive and commitment to reaching my goals.  But I’ve never thought of it- a focus on improving every day- as anything spectacular.  Because I think we all have it inside of us.  We just need tools to help bring it out.  Maybe I know better what those tools are, but I hope to help others find their own equivalents.

First of all, like what I imagine is true for most other self-driven people, I am at the same time driven and haunted by one thing.  No matter where I am in the “success percentile” for any given attribute, I compare myself with those above (to the right of) my line in the bell curve. (Sorry for the statistics reference).  I’ll go into more detail on this in another post, but here’s a simple explanation and example.  If I think I’m at the 80th percentile in terms of athletic ability, I compare myself to the 20% that are better than me.  I have an MBA from Santa Clara, but compare myself not to people with undergraduate degrees or none at all (those to the left on the bell curve), but instead to those with MBAs from what some might consider more prestigious schools.  Or maybe to someone with an MBA and a CPA license.  The point is, I’m driven, in part, because there is always someone out there who is doing more and working harder.  I’m learning that this viewpoint is not always good; but in reality, it is part of the reason for my drive and commitment. Read more of this post