Joelle K. Jay

book club

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5 Quick Steps You Can Take To Find Your Focus

The following article appeared on Inc.com today as a part of my column, “Behind The Desk.” Look out for new columns every week!

 

There is a quote by Stephen Covey that I love: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” Essentially what he’s saying is that we, as entrepreneurs, need focus.

In order to get where you want, in order to be who you want to be, in order to live the kind of life you want to live and lead the way you want to lead, you need to be strategic and find that focus that will make it all possible.

My book, The Inner Edge, outlines many practices that can help you zero in your focus, so that when you’re leaving your office each day you can confidently say you were “productive,” not just “busy.” And how to gauge the difference.

 

Below are five quick steps you can take to take back your focus, and set yourself up for success instead of burnout:

Step 1: survey the scene. The question here is, “What do you want?” Briefly review your vision so your focus will be aimed in the right direction. In other words, take a step back and take in the panoramic view of your life. Remind yourself of the long-term vision, but zoom in on the near-term vision. Write down your answer to the question in one sentence, and keep it where you can see it often.

Step 2: choose your focus. The question to ask is, “What areas do you want to focus on to achieve your vision?” Name 3-5 specific areas that need your attention if you’re going to successfully attain your vision, and write those down under your statement of what you want. Identify the aspects of that vision that deserve your time, energy and attention right now.

Step 3: study the subject. Ask, “Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How will you know when you get there?” Get specific about what each focus area means. The answers to these questions can be a big reality check–for example if you have to get to California, it helps to know if you’re starting in New Zealand or New York. The same is true for your focus area. If you know where you are now in relation to what you want, you increase your chances of getting there quickly.

Step 4: sharpen your focus. The question here is, “What will you do and when will you do it?” Make a commitment. For example, let’s say you have a focus area called “financial growth.” Right now you are in debt, and you want to be making money. You’ll know you’re successful when you’ve got 12 consecutive reports showing your company to be in the black. The question, “What will you do?” forces you to consider how you’ll get there. Will you eliminate debt? Make an acquisition? Your answer is your commitment.

Step 5: take a snapshot. Ask, “What do I want to remember?” When you’ve gone through all of the steps above, write down your focus areas. Keep them where they can serve as a reminder of what’s important to you now.

 

Is anything missing from your focus areas? That’s an absolutely critical question to ask, and one many people overlook. Make a conscious effort to step back and think about the bigger picture of your life, and all of your focus areas logically will be designed to lead you to that end.

 

Related: The 5 People Every Entrepreneur Needs on their Team

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Best of the Blog: July Edition

It’s always funny how fast the summer months fly by. Between work travel and family vacation it’s easy to blink and find yourself surrounded by fall! In the spirit of the first practice I outline in The Inner Edge, it’s important to get clarity before we transition into something new – in this case, August. By taking a look back at some of the lessons we’ve already learned we can fully process them and take them forward with us.

In the book I also note that in order to get clarity we first must explore the answers. Following that sentiment, let’s explore some of the answers we’ve discussed on this blog over the last month:

 

How to find what kind of gift you want to be. In “Leading on the Edge: A Quick ‘How To’” I offer a definition of what personal leadership is, and give a few quick tips on how to lead in a way that uses your own unique strengths, or “gifts.” Essentially, as a leader you have many gifts to offer. The real gift you have to give is yourself. What kind of a gift do you want to be?

 

Spreading your enthusiasm to your team. You’ve begun to tackle personal leadership, and you’re feeling more motivated than ever. So how do you spread that motivation to your team of employees? In “3 Ways to Extend Your Inspiration to the Rest of Your Team and Employees” I offer three unique ways to get the initiative going. The first method I mention is perfect for summer as we tackle summer reading lists: start a book club. If you’re reading a leadership book that’s inspiring you, why not invite your team to read a chapter with you each week? You can meet to discuss important takeaways and brainstorm on ways to apply what you’re reading. In The Inner Edge there are specific exercises included with each chapter – why not invite everyone to participate?

 

Learn from a leader, ways to be more engaged in your work. I shared an interview I conducted with the wonderful Stephen M.R. Covey, who says that there are direct economic rewards that go along with functioning in a “high trust environment.” Learn more about what he means, and how you can cultivate that kind of environment in the workplace, from Why Leaders are Losing the Love and How to Get it Back: An Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey.

 

 

I hope this exploration of June gives you the clarity you need to take on August! Check back weekly for more leadership practices, tips, and more.

 

You can connect with Joelle on Twitter and Facebook.

 

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3 Ways to Extend Your Inspiration to the Rest of Your Team and Employees

As someone who has been practicing personal leadership for a while, you have become extremely engaged – which is excellent, because both you and your organization are benefitting from the results! So how do you extend that inspiration to the rest of your team and employees? To help others get there too, you can encourage them to do exactly what you’ve done.

The following are three tips to help you spread your inspiration:

 

Start a book group. Learn the practices of personal leadership one at a time. Every month, you have read a chapter from The Inner Edge and focused on a specific exercise to improve your leadership results. Could you host a lunchtime book club and invite others to read a chapter with you?

 

Love your most valuable leaders. Think about how you’re attending to the best leaders around you – the ones who contribute to your success and that of the organization. Are you taking their dedication for granted, or might they deserve more time and attention? Many organizations are using The Inner Edge as a basis for unique leadership development programs designed for their most powerful leaders. Can you do the same?

 

Spread the news. You know that self-awareness and inner passion to achieve are ingredients vital for successful leaders, and the research backs it up. But personal leadership – the behind-the-scenes work leaders do to advance and excel – is often hidden. Can you be more open about your reflection? Can you share more about your efforts to improve and inspire yourself, so that other get ideas about how they can get motivated too?

 

However you choose to extend the inspiration you’ve taken from The Inner Edge, you’re asking the right question! Leadership is about leading others toward a positive vision. Personal leadership will help you all get there together.

 

 

Related: Five Practices for Leading from Within

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“I’ve been robbed!”

Recently I read a letter that started like this. See if you can relate:

“I was feeling robbed of my personal life. Even though I was physically present, my mind was a million miles away.”

The sentiment is rather heartbreaking, but it certainly isn’t uncommon. Someone else recently told me,

“I find myself wishing I could check into a hospital, because then I’d finally get some rest.”

Here’s another one:

“You have to race to keep up with everything. It’s all about getting ahead. If you slow down, you’ll get behind. I’m just so afraid of being in the backwater.”

If any of these comments resonate with you, you’re probably starting to feel a familiar twinge – that little squeeze in the heart that tells you, “I don’t want to live this way.”

Well, of course you don’t. And you don’t have to.

You can learn to lead your life in a way that preserves your talent while enhancing your quality of life. You can succeed without the sacrifice. Success without the stress.

You see, “getting ahead” has less to do with time and effort than it does thoughtful, reflective consideration: the kind of “inner work” that allows you to choose who and how you want to be. There are ways to win at work that also support your personal life. You can have it all without doing it all. Quality work and quality time at once.

I’ve written about all of this in The Inner Edge.

The Inner Edge is a book for high-achieving business leaders who aspire to reach the highest levels of leadership but want to do so without sacrificing themselves along the way. Instead, it shows leaders how to find the ideal strategy for achieving their vision and goals in a way that preserves their talent and protects the quality of life that keeps them at their best.

Every year, I take people through The Inner Edge in The Inner Edge Book Club. Would you like to read it with us?

Click here to read more about The Inner Edge Book Club

I’ll give you a little preview here. There are ten practices of personal leadership, and we look at them one at a time – one per month in a group teleseminar format.

As you read the book, you will:

• Get clarity about your vision
• Find focus so you can pursue that vision
• Take the most effective action to achieve your vision
• Learn to leverage your talents, teams and time
• Learn to lead in way that’s in alignment with who you are and who you want to be.

In short, you’ll learn how to achieve your vision and goals without sacrificing the quality of life that keeps you at your best.

Then you’ll find yourself saying what some of our book club members told me when they finished the book:

“Now, I’m more relaxed! My sense of humor is back, and I’m enjoying my kids more. I’ve learned how to set better boundaries.”

“I’ve stopped working 16 hour days! I’m much more focused and relaxed.”

“With the book club, I’ve been getting the extra hour I need to focus on myself. As a busy executive, I don’t have any extra time. It’s very hard for me to find the time to sit down and be thoughtful about what I’m doing. This opportunity gave me an hour once a month to focus on what’s most important and give it my full and undivided attention. As a result I am very clear about where I’m headed, and I know I’m on track to get there.”

Does that all sound good to you? Then come join us!

Here’s the link again to learn more about The Inner Edge Book Club.

When you join, you’ll also get bonuses with your membership, including 25% off all Inner Edge products and services and access to dedicated leadership coaches. Plus, since the Book Club happens month by month, you can unsubscribe whenever you like.

You have nothing to lose by learning to lead yourself. You do have something to lose if you don’t.

Come join us. Read The Inner Edge. Join the book club.

Learn to be a better leader…and lead a better life.

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Leading on the Edge

As a leader, you have many great gifts. Your talents. Your opportunities. Your drive. What are you going to do with those gifts? How are you going to share them with the people around you and the rest of the world? To excel as a leader, it’s important to give some thought to these questions. Because the reality is that as a leader, the true gift you have to give…is you.

Sharing the Practices of Personal Leadership

Helen Keller:

“When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.”

You have already discovered what’s possible for you when you’ve come to see yourself as a leader. Now it’s time to share the wealth. How will you give your gifts to the people you lead? How will you give to your organization and the world around you? How big can you can really be?

As you consider how to give of your gifts, you create more gifts for yourself, for others, and the world.

And your gifts are desperately needed.

When I wrote The Inner Edge, this “leadership crisis” was the news of the year. Stories in business journals as well as Time, Newsweek, 60 Minutes and Good Morning America all reported that accomplished, talented leaders were leaving their hard-won careers to find more meaningful ways to live. The people featured in these stories invariably described a choice between success and quality of life – and in many cases, it was one they didn’t want to make.

Our culture, our organizations, the times we live in – they have a way of conspiring against our efforts to be our best. But better business should not come at the expense of quality of life, and quality of life should not come at the expense of business results. Work and life should be able to co-exist, happily and successfully. They can and they have.

But every day, millions of people drive onto the fast-lane and race their lives away – ironically missing the fact that everything they are doing to try to improve their life is actually running them into the ground. The work weeks get longer, the stress levels rise, and talented leaders burn out or move on.

We need a whole new paradigm for work and life, and it starts with you. My dream is that the next evolution of our ambitious, achieving society will be to learn how to get the results we crave in the easiest, most natural way – the way that feeds us personally and enhances our quality of life. But no matter how great your life becomes, no matter how well your business does, you are holding back something even greater that the world urgently needs. Part of being a leader is sharing what you’ve learned and empowering others, as well.

Maybe you will be the person who plants the seeds of leadership in the mind of the next great world leader. Maybe you will be the one to help shift your organization into a healthier, more life-affirming place. Maybe you will initiate positive changes in the world that today you can’t even imagine.

People like you who see themselves as leaders aren’t just leaders in their jobs. They are leaders by definition, wherever they go. You will always be the one people look to for help and support. You will be the one who asks the questions, has the answers, or creates the opportunities for incredible things to happen. At home, at church, at work, among your friends, in your political party, when you’re with your kids, when you’re giving to charity, you will be seen as a leader.

What will you do with that potential?

It’s an honor and a privilege to be a leader – a real gift. What kind of a gift do you want to be?

In order to answer that question, you’ve got to lead on every level: your inner edge, your outer edge, and your leading edge. Then you’ll be truly leading on the edge.

For encouragement along the way, be sure to listen to the free coaching Audio, called A Parting Gift – available on the website at www.TheInnerEdge.com.

Please join us for The Inner Edge Book Club! This month we will be looking at the legacy you are leaving as a leader, and looking to the next level of leadership ahead for you. For more information, click here or email info@TheInnerEdge.com.

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Learning By Chance, Learning by Choice

Leaders are encouraged to learn “on the job.” The problem is that many of us don’t. Either because we’re too busy, we forget, we don’t know what we need to learn, or we don’t have the resources we think we need, we end up learning by chance or command. Neither one is very powerful.

Learning by chance means you take opportunities to learn whenever they show up, but you don’t necessarily go looking for more. A conference brochure arrives; it seems interesting; you go. A friend recommends a book; it looks good; you read it. You take opportunities to learn as they come to you – in other words, when it’s convenient.

Learning by command means you learn when someone else demands it. When your colleagues tell you that you need to learn to be more decisive, or when your profession requires that you get an advanced certification, or when your boss sends you to a workshop to learn specific skills, you are learning by command.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with these approaches to learning. Any learning that advances your expertise and builds your capacity may be worth your time.

Or it may not, and that’s the problem. You have so much potential, and there are so many opportunities to learn, and there is so much to be gained by learning that it simply doesn’t make sense to relegate your learning to the whims of chance and command. You need to learn by choice.

Learning by choice means carefully setting up your own learning opportunities based solely on what you need to get better results.

Learning by choice is based on a number of assumptions.

Learning is leadership. Learning is an essential component of leadership. Some experts go so far as to say learning is leadership, a leader’s constant quest for the improvement of the business, people, and results.

Learning is profit and competitive edge. The soul of business is innovation; the soul of personal leadership is the innovation of the self. You can’t have one without the other. If you want to have, run, or be part of a business that succeeds in a time of change, you need to be willing to change, as well.

Learning is life. In addition to learning for all of the practical and rational reasons that contribute to your effectiveness as a leader, there’s one more: learning is part of the fun of life. When was the last time you picked up a new sport, game or hobby? We learn these things not because we have to, but because we want to. Your vision and goals will be infused with a new sense of exuberance when you commit to learning what you need to learn in order to achieve them. You will know that you can do anything you want to as long as you know how to learn.

If you really want to lead well and live well, you must learn to learn well, too.

And if you’d like to master the ability to learn as a way of excelling as a leader and in your life, go to www.TheInnerEdge.com. You’ll find a free guide called Your Personal University to help you choose the most powerful way to learn.

Please join us for The Inner Edge Book Club! This month we will be making strategic decisions about how to learn and what to learn in order to excel as a leader and in your life. For more information, click here or email info@TheInnerEdge.com.

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The Golden Life

One established principle of leadership is to know your values. I disagree. Values are indeed the raw materials of a golden life, but just knowing them is not enough. You also need to decide how to use them. You do that by looking at the role your values play – or could play – in helping you achieve fulfillment. We call this living your values. You are living your values when you’re not only clear about what you value but use it a basis for action.

To what degree are you living your values now?
When you live your values, they define who you are, not just who you want to be. If family is one of your top values, to what degree are you prioritizing your family? Are you spending time with them? Are you enjoying them, helping them, involved with them? If trust is one of your top values, are you being trustworthy? Are you trusting others? Are there any ways in which you might not be, or are there ways trust is being violated in your life? Questions like these aren’t meant to grill you or shame you; just to compare. Asking this question helps you hold up your life against your values to see how well they match. Then you know where to make adjustments to feel more fulfilled.

How would life be different if you were living your values?
When you live your values, they become an integral part of your life. How would it look for you to live your values? How would your personal life be different? How would your professional life be different? How would you act and be different as a leader? Knowing the answer to questions like these helps you make positive changes in keeping with your values. Practicing this kind of thinking, you can give up complaining about the parts of life that seem meaningless and actually bring them some meaning.

How can you live your values now for a more fulfilling experience every day?
When you live your values, you use them to make decisions. Your values are like the gas in a car. When you apply your values to your life, you drive positive energy into everything you do. Otherwise you’re are just idling and wasting power. Your values are especially helpful in making decisions, choosing perspectives, and resolving conflicts.

• Using your values to make decisions. Your values can help you make the big and small decisions that define your life. When you have to make a decision, big or small, ask yourself: How do your values influence this decision? Being explicit about your values gives you a basis for comparison when considering the opportunities that come along.

• Using your values to choose your perspective. Fulfillment doesn’t just come from using your values to decide what to do. It also comes from using your values to decide how to think. When you’re feeling challenged or struggling with a difficult situation, the question to ask is: How could your values enhance this moment? Even a chore like raking leaves takes on meaning when you connect it to a value of having a pleasant, comfortable home, and working for hours on the copy for a web page seems more palatable when you realize it fulfills your value of having a professional presence in the market. The right perspective can be the difference between a mundane and a fulfilling life.

• Using your values to resolve conflicts. Values serve a practical purpose in relationships: they help you resolve difficult issues. Many conflicts stem from a values clash. One person values speed, the other values meticulous correctness. One person values serenity; the other values excitement. One value crashes into another, creating tension and slowing progress. Simply by naming the values (“It seems like we have a values clash. I value loyalty, and you value freedom.”) you can move quickly into more productive questions (like “Is there a way we can meet both of our needs?” and “How can we get around this issue?”). Often these questions will lead to answers. If not, you’ll need to consider which values are worth taking a stand and which must be subjugated for the sake of a solution.

It’s not always possible to honor your values; that’s why feeling fulfillment is a practice. You practice aligning your choices with your values. The more you practice, the better you’ll become at creating a life of fulfillment everyday.

Take some time now to reflect on your values.
1. To what degree are you living your values now?
2. How would life be different if you were living your values?
3. How can you live your values now for a more fulfilling experience every day?

There’s an ancient Hindu story about the gods arguing over where they should keep the secret of happiness. Afraid that humans didn’t deserve or couldn’t handle this secret, they debated where to hide it. At first they considered putting it at the top of a high, high mountain, but reasoned that humans would eventually be able to find it. Likewise, they might find it in the darkest forests or at the bottom of the ocean. Finally, an idea struck one of the gods:

“I know the perfect place. We will hide the secret of happiness in the deepest depths of their own hearts. They will never bother to look there.”

It’s not easy to find the secret of happiness and fulfillment. But you have the ability to do it; the answer lies within you.

An entire process for identifying and living your values including a free audio Values Visualization and a companion worksheet is available at www.TheInnerEdge.com.

Please join us for The Inner Edge Book Club! This month we will be talking about the process of living your values, and learning to shift your current reality into an experience of joy and fulfillment. For more information, click here or email Info@TheInnerEdge.com.

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From Brilliance to the Best

In The Inner Edge, you learned the practice of tapping into your brilliance. You now know your distinct natural attributes, as well as how to leverage them for a more powerful effect. The more you practice applying your DNA strategically to achieve your vision and reach your goals, the more you can do and the better you can do it. Then you’re not just brilliant, you’re truly being your best.

Being Your Best
“Being your best” may sound like a cliché, but let’s think about it more deeply. Each of the three words in that phrase is important.

Being. When you are being your best, you are focusing on the way you are. “Who you be” in any given moment is about your character, your alignment with your vision and values, and your ability to integrate your life and your leadership. It’s not what you do. It’s not what you win. It’s not what you have. It’s who you be that helps you tap into your true unique value. Focusing on the being aspects of your attributes (being caring, being inspirational, being strategic) will tie you to your brilliance.

Your. The biggest difference in being brilliant versus being just good lies in the operative word your. The goal is not to be the best. The goal is to be your best. Being the best is about ego. Being your best is about commitment. Can you be both? Sure. You probably will. But your attention must be on what you can do to succeed – not on beating everyone else. That’s a much more powerful position.

Best. “Best” is a moving target. Have you ever done what you thought was your best, only to surprise yourself by doing even a little bit more? The idea behind being your best is to push past the limits of what you thought your “best” would be. Find the edge – that spot where you really feel you cannot do one iota better. That is your best…for the moment, until next time where you find out yes, you can do even better.

Being your best instead of being the best is the opposite of the “nose to the grindstone” mentality that drives our culture…and drives many leaders to destruction. Being your best is being so yourself that you naturally excel.

And if you’re really ready to Be Your Best, use the worksheet, Your Best, in The Inner Edge: The Extension. Click here to see a preview or to purchase The Extension at https://www.joellekjay.comthe-inner-edge/.

Please join us for The Inner Edge Book Club! This month we will be discussing what it means for your to Be Your Best – and how to get there. For more information, click here or email info@TheInnerEdge.com.

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The Catalyst

What is the one thing you could do that would have the greatest impact on your vision? The answer is your catalyst. In the sciences, a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process. For you, a catalyst is an action that dramatically increases the rate at which you achieve your vision, without consuming you.

To take effective action, you can get the potency of a catalyst by using an action plan appropriately called the CATA List. The CATA List is a chart divided into four categories:

  1. Catalysts
  2. Achievements
  3. Tasks
  4. Avoidances.

These categories help you sort interminable lists of To Dos to find the ones that pack the biggest punch. Then you trim away the rest.

“C” is for Catalysts
To find your catalysts, ask yourself, “What is the one thing you could do that would have the greatest impact on your vision?”

Any item you call a “catalyst” must be an action that drives all the rest, either because it causes the rest of the actions to happen; it frees you to put your time where you want it; or it unlocks a barrier to action. The main criterion for your catalyst is that you know this one piece will do more than any other to advance you in the direction of your vision. If you’re writing a speech, a catalyst might be to stand up and practice. If you’re leading a company, a catalyst might be to communicate the strategic direction. If you’re trying to lose fifty pounds, a catalyst might be to go running or give up sugar. Looking at these examples, you can see how easily catalysts get crowded out by more pressing issues. Indeed, even though your catalysts have the most value, if you’re not careful they can easily get pushed aside.

To find your catalysts, think about what action you would take if you could find uninterrupted quality time because you know it would make the biggest difference in your ability to attain your vision.

“A” is for Achievements
The next category includes actions you classify as important. Really important. They may not have the transformational effect of your catalysts, but they are the kinds of achievements that matter on a day to day basis. These achievements typically take center stage in your life. They tend to be:
• daily actions
• key relationships
• priority projects
• deadlines.
As a rule, working on achievements makes for a very productive day.

“T” is for Tasks
You use the “tasks” category for the actions you’d like to take but can’t justify as truly critical. Yes, they are things that may have to get done, but they don’t have nearly the impact as your catalysts and achievements.

Tasks are big time consumers. Long meetings. Some networking. Obsessive perfecting of non-essential details. You might feel a little twinge when you admit these tasks are less-than-important, because you may want to do them. And you may get to. But only after the more valuable things are done.

“A” is for Avoidances
Many leaders find the “avoidances” category the hardest to fill. The items in this category take more energy than they deserve. When you’re trying to rid your action plan of excess, cut the fat by forcing yourself to put at least 25 percent of your To Dos onto this list. To find actions avoid, look for the ones that take a lot of time with little return. The “avoidances” list is a place to throw off extra baggage. Letting some actions go – undone – lets you to be lighter, more nimble, and available for the things that really matter.

As a whole, the CATA List takes the commitments that emerge from your focus areas and marries them in a single-page, concrete list of actions that ultimately lead to your vision for living and leading well.

When you create a CATA List, you have a quick categorization of everything you need to do, organized in order of value. As you think about all the actions on your To Do list now, can you see how categorizing your tasks in order of value might help you make room for working on your goals? Suddenly the most important thing you need to do isn’t just the most pressing; it’s the one that fits with your focus and leads to your vision.

To create your own CATA List, use the free worksheet available at www.TheInnerEdge.com. Go to the Worksheets & Audios page and scroll down to find the worksheet called The CATA List.

Please join us for The Inner Edge Book Club! This month we will be using the CATA List to break through to greater, more effective action. For more information, click here or email info@theinneredge.com.

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SMART Goals vs. WISE Goals

In the business world, we’ve been trained to set SMART goals. But are SMART goals always WISE?

SMART Goals are:
• Specific
• Measurable
• Action-Oriented
• Realistic and
• Time-Bound.
There’s value in that. “SMART” goals have helped many people move from vague unattainable goals to clear, specific action, leading to the attainment of powerful goals.

The problem with SMART thinking is that it has a tendency to limit instead of inspire.

SMART goals can work against you.
• They can work against you if you neglect to write them and keep them fresh.
• They can work against you if they’re isolated from other important parts of your life.
• They can work against you if they conflict or compete.
• They can work against you if they lack spirit and conviction.
To avoid these pitfalls, make sure your goals are both SMART and WISE.

‘WISE’ stands for:
• Written,
• Integrated,
• Synergistic, and
• Expansive.
WISE goals supplement the clear, specific action of SMART goals by connecting them to a grander vision of who you are and who you aspire to be.

Here’s an overview to guide you in setting WISE goals.

Written

The “W” in “WISE” stands for “written.” Writing your goals is a critical step – and one many people miss. Writing forces you to be clear in your thinking. It allows you to look at your plans with objectivity. It instills commitment and puts your thoughts in a durable form you can revisit again and again.

Integrated

The “I” in “WISE” stands for “integrated.” Integrating your ideas means bringing them together in the same place so you can look at them all at once. Allow your personal and professional lives to intermingle. It’s okay if right under “increase profit share” you have “get a kitten.” They both improve your quality of life. They both contribute to your definition of success. You get to have it all. There are no rules. You make it up.

Synergistic

The “S” in “WISE” means “synergistic.” Whereas integrating your goals means bringing them together, synergizing means making them work together. Synergy happens when one idea advances another. Keeping a vision of what you want in mind when you think about your goals will help create that synergy. You really lose something when you decouple your goals from your vision; they become just another prioritized list.

The most powerful and peaceful way to think about your efforts is to see how they can coalesce into one complete vision for your life.

Expansive

The “E” in WISE stands for “Expansive.” Think big. Your goals should inspire you to stay on the path to your dreams, not lock you into a pattern of ticking off bite-sized action items from here to retirement.

This may be the biggest differentiator between SMART and WISE thinking. Spending too much time and energy boxing your objectives into a hard and fast formula can squeeze the life right out of them. Some examples:

SMART GOAL– Schedule team-building and strategic planning off-site by end of January
WISE GOAL –Transform my staff into a team of inspired, empowered partners

SMART GOAL – Leave work by 6:00 p.m. three times a week, organize my office and work with my assistant to find new planning system within one month from today
WISE GOAL – Feel in control of my life

SMART GOAL – Go on a date with my wife at least twice a month and tell her why I appreciate her at least once a day starting August 3rd
WISE GOAL – Fall in love again

The best goals are both “smart” and “wise.” SMART thinking gives your goals specificity. WISE thinking gives them heart.

To summarize, although SMART goals make sense, your goals must also be WISE. In the words of Abraham Maslow, “When we free ourselves from the constraints of ordinary goals and uninformed scoffers we will find ourselves ‘roaring off the face of the earth.”

In The Inner Edge: The Extension, you’ll find a complete review of SMART and WISE goals, along with a worksheet to transform your current goals into powerful commitments. Click here to see a preview or to purchase The Extension. Or, go to www.TheInnerEdge.com and click on The Extension.

Please join us for The Inner Edge Book Club! This month we will be working with SMART and WISE goals so that you will approach your life and leadership with better focus – and better results. For more information, click here or email info@TheInnerEdge.com.