Skip to main content

Goals v. Actions

I recently posted a quotation on my wordecho blog about committing to action as opposed to committing to a goal. The quotation is:

“Committing to a goal does not always bring action, yet committing to an action will invariably bring you to your goal.”
--Jeffrey Fry

I actually got some feedback on this in the form of a question:

“But what if it turns out to be an action that doesn't produce the results you ultimately want. If you commit to a goal, then you will alter your actions to be consistent with fulfilling that goal.”

This is actually an excellent question, but one that does not understand the difference between setting a goal and actually achieving it.

Let me explain. You have a goal, but you commit to an action..case in point.. Losing weight: Many, many people commit to a goal, say losing 10lbs..and when they do not start to lose weight, then feel like they are failing. Now if you commit to the action(s) of eating right, going to the gym 3 times a week to work out for an hour, and not cheating, then, you will hit your weight loss goal. All during that time you are in control of your actions, and are let helpless to the vagaries of fate or whatever in achieving them. Many people commit to goals: to start a company, get wealthy, become a better such-and-such, but few ever achieve them because the NEVER commit to an action of doing the first step...Case in point: Obama...he committed to goals but not once did he ever commit to an action to implement those goals, so it FEELS like he is failing...sort of like the war on drugs or poverty or terrorism...commit to the actions and the goals will come...remember padawan..even the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step (an action).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Moldy Middle

While taking statistics during my quest to get an MBA and while earning my engineering degree, the professors always emphasized the importance of finding the statistical mean of any population by using the Central Mean Theorem (a.k.a the highest point of the Bell Curve). As an engineer, this was essential in order to maximize throughput, minimize cost and waste, and ultimately make a better, faster, cheaper widget. A funny thing happened on the way to the dark side of marketing. I discovered that the only thing in the middle of the road was quite literally dead road kill. I do not know if you remember stores like Bradlees, Ames and Service Merchandise (just to name a few), but they all folded because the environment changed and they were caught trying to service the mythological “average customer.” Part of that change came when Wal-Mart began its juggernaut with the discount department store. Wal-Mart did two things right: 1) Focused on “mobile” consumers, and 2) Fo...
21 comments
Read more

Traits of an Entrepreneur

I will begin and end this article with two quotations. The first is from Edward Rogers: "You don't deserve to be called an entrepreneur unless you've mortgaged your house to the business." --Edward S. (Ted) Rogers  This one sentence pretty much says it all. Entrepreneurs are not necessary gamblers, but they are willing to put everything they own, or go all in, in order to make it happen. In the classical sense an entrepreneur is define as anyone who has possession of a new enterprise, endeavor, venture or idea, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks associated with the development, growth, and outcome. He or she is an organizer who combines land, labor, material resources, and/or capital to create and market new goods, products, or services. The term "entrepreneur" is loaned from the French and was first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon, where the term was applied to the type of persona who was willing to take upon th...
8 comments
Read more

The Rush to Bottom

I cannot take credit for these words of wisdom, and sadly I do not know who wrote it originally. So, I cannot acknowledge them by name but I can acknowledge their exceptional talent to get a message across with clarity and hard-hitting truths.   Whomever this author is, I thank and admire you and take pleasure in sharing this with others!   I have also included a video if anyone is interested in sharing it. “When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great...but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.” An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so ...
Post a Comment
Read more