Going for Gold in 2012

Yes it’s finally here! The Year of the Olympics in London when world will focus its attention on us. Some of our towns, cities, streets will have been renovated for this once-in-a-life time event. New shopping malls will have been built to attract the crowds who want to spend, spend, and spend! Transport systems will have been improved to take on anticipated increased numbers of travellers. People will have taken time off work to watch at home and some very lucky ones will have received premium tickets to actually go and see live events - So many people preparing for this specific event.

But there will be a selected group of people, Olympians, who will have been training for months even years for one thing - they want to take the gold. They have thought about it, planned for it and spent months honing and training their bodies to be fitter, develop more muscle, and improve record timings. For one thing – that round piece of gold metal. Some may even say that they are not really concerned what prize they get and they’re fine with any medal - silver or bronze it doesn’t matter. Some may even go further and say it’s not the medals that counts it’s the participation! But really in truth what they want is the number one prize! – they’re going for Gold.

So 2012 is the year that you must also go for gold. Decide, plan, hone your skills, how are you going to get your prize at the end of the year? You must plan for it or it will never happen. It is said that a ‘failure to plan is a plan to fail'. Olympians don’t just turn up to run 100 metres without any training for the whole year, with no coach involvement, dietician, sport psychologist, or physiotherapist and expect to beat the best!

We can’t expect that of ourselves either for 2012. What plans have you put in place to be better, smarter, earn more money, make and keep more friends? What plans have been put in place to develop your spiritual life – pray effectively or develop intimacy with God, develop better relationships with family and friends? What plans have been put in place to develop your passions, go for the job promotion, or develop your ministry? We must be like an Olympian and plan to get the prize medal.

So how do we plan for a great year?

Know where you want to be at the end of the year.

What will it look like? You may need to spend some time visualizing/day dreaming. Be very specific in all areas of your life, financially, spiritually, socially, physically, career, personal development etc.

Then

Set goals and make them SMART (every 3 months is a good idea)

Specific: Define the goals that you what to achieve, be very specific as to exactly what it is you want. e.g. you may want to write a book by the end of the year, lose weight or turn your hobby into a business.

Measurable: How will you know when you get there, these are like mile stones towards your end goal so that you know you are heading in the right direction. e.g. you need to have written 3 chapters in three months.

Achievable: Is it possible for you to accomplish the goal? There may be possible barriers to you achieving your goals. For instance you may be too dependent on other people, or it’s too expensive to initially start.

Realistic: You need to state your goal in very realistic terms. Becoming a global international company would not be realistic in one year. Real tangible goals are more likely to be achieved.

Time specific: Put a timeline to your goal as this gives focus to what you are doing and drives your actions daily. So a timeline of writing a chapter by the end of each month will motivates you to getting it done.

After you’ve determined what the end of the year will look like to you, and have written your SMART goals, here is the best bit.

Take Action

Only action will bring to you the vision that you saw at the beginning of this article.

Have your best year and bring home the GOLD