After today we will be in the month of October. OCTOBER . . .  2009!?!

I’m literally taking a moment to digest how nine whole months have flown by . . . . . OK! Moment Over.

With about 90 days (92 days to be exact) left in 2009, I want to mention 6 steps using the Achievers Focusing System (click image below to enlarge) from Success Principles to make the latter part of 2009 your best yet.

Step 1 – FOCUS AREA: In what aspect of your life do you want to make the most impact?

The Achievers Focusing System has divided areas of life into seven

• Finance & Wealth
• Career
• Free Time
• Health and Appearance
• Relationship
• Personal Development
• Community & Charity

When the year began, you probably thought about making a change in 1 or more of these categories and somewhere along the way that got lost in translation (9 months wheezing by can do that). No matter, a lot can still be done in 90 days by making minute and incremental changes.

By the yard it’s hard, but inch by inch anything’s a cinch – Brian Tracy

Instead of trying to cover all these areas at once, start by selecting the most important area where you want change and then select the next most important area and so on.  Consequently, you will be creating a ranking system for the next three months.

Step 2 – GOALS: What are your goals for the rest of the year?

Write down one goal in the area(s) that you have chosen previously. Using the document, this can be written in the boxes provided.

This is where problems arise. In defining goals, they have to be measurable i.e. there has to be some sort of finish-line related to  an accomplishment and/or  time frame. The lack of a time frame usually results in complacency. The lack of defined accomplishments usually results in a loss of interest and boredom. Using goal #1 above, I will have to pay off $1,000 in the next 3 months. With this, I have defined the accomplishment and the time-frame. How can you measure the goal you want to attain? Is it a series of accomplishments or is it one you can measure with time?

Step 3 – ACTIVITIES: What steps need to be taken to accomplish this goal?

Outline the necessary steps to completing this goal. This can be done using the time-frame or accomplishments as a guide. The point of doing this is breaking down the goal into manageable chunks. By so doing, the viability of the goal is maintained and it would seem neither large nor looming.

For my goal, here’s what I’m thinking:

In addition, list some non-activities as well i.e. activities you shouldn’t engage in which will also help with accomplishing your goals.

• Leave credit cards at home ALWAYS
• Pay for purchases using checking account

Using the Achievers Focusing System, these activities are then spread out over 12 weeks. This allows for looking at the overall picture while keeping track of the activities spread out over the 90 days.

Step 4 – SMALL VICTORIES: What happens when you complete an activity?

Sometime ago I mentioned how celebrating small victories are essential to boosting morale. As you slowly advance towards your goal week by week, remember to take a moment to digest how far you have come. This moment of reflection can be used:

• to further fine-tune future activities
• to ensure that the pace is still being kept
• to rest before going on to the next task

Once each activity is completed, take a breath and congratulate yourself on making it this far. For me I will take great joy in seeing Balance: $0.00 and I will also update my account at NetworthIQ at the end of every month because seeing that bump provides additional motivation. Then keep pressing on knowing that you are closer than when you first started.

Step 5 – ACCOUNTABILITY: Should I involve others in my goal?

The Achievers Focusing System includes a section for an Accountability Partner. This is the person who you have shared your goals with and you know will be a willing motivator in your cause to improve. Sometimes goals are like a new toy: you play with it for a few days excitedly; then over time, the excitement fades and the toy starts to collect dust. This is when your partner(s) can help to dust off some of that dust and remind you of what you set out to do.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw everything that hinders . . . . and let us run with perseverance the race set out for us. Hebrews 12:1

Your accountability partner serves as that witness to your commitment to yourself in that area of your life.

Step 6 – FINISH LINE: When does my goal end?

As mentioned in the beginning, this goal(s) should be tailored to cover the remaining 3 months/12 weeks/92 days of the year. Therefore while striving to complete each activity always keep in mind your finish line by:

• Tick off the days on the calendar
• Cross out your to-do list each week
• Little steps will yield great results

By so doing, you are constantly reminded of where you are trying to go

Image courtesy of Mr. Mystery

Ever since I was little, I have loved reading. It’s part of the reason why I wear glasses now. That and the fact that Nigeria never had a constant supply of electricity . .  . but I digress. My love of reading led me to mystery novels, crime novels, romance novels but overall mostly fiction books. I never wanted to pick up a non-fiction book because I always felt the material would be boring. After I graduated from O.U. with my bachelors, I had a year off from schooling and I decided to pick up my first non-fiction book. Luckily for me it turned out to be Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 habits of highly effective people” I know I have mentioned him twice in as many blog posts as I have, but trust me it’s not an obsession. It’s hard to find someone who has never heard about the book as it is almost as popular as “Think and Grow Rich” (if you’re one, don’t feel bad ). I won’t do a book review here as I will save that for a later post.

However, the reason why this sparked my interest in Kaizen is that  after I was trying something I had never tried before: reading a non-fiction book,  I was introduced to a new perspective on living and learning. For instance, the lesson on Habit 2 about “Starting with the end in mind” where you learn how to figure out what really matters to you or Habit 3 “Keep first things first” where you learn about how the most important things in life are the things that are important but not urgent and therefore more time should be focused on this area.

Overall, there are multiple things that we all avoid because we don’t think they will benefit or we think it’s to hard or we think it doesn’t apply. Yet you’d be surprised what you’ll learn when you give it some effort. It’s like the movie YES MAN. Try making yourself say yes . . . it opens doors and it could be the key to your next level. In my case, it helped me start reading books that I could actually apply to my life and nuggets of truth that made sense.