What Firefighting Taught Me About Goals and Priorities

This is probably one of the most important subjects I could ever share with you as it relates to your Goals and how they
contribute to improving the quality of your life.

As we have discussed before, most people don’t have clearly defined Goals. It is estimated that only 3% of the population
have any Goals at all, and certainly of that 3% even fewer have Goals in relation to a total holistic life design concept with action plans, timelines and priorities for each the different life areas.

One of the most common mistakes that holds people back from achieving their Goals is having have a long list of exciting Goals, but no system for organizing the order of priority for them.

Imagine how many decisions you make throughout any given day. What time will you wake up? What will you do when your open your eyes? Will you hit the snooze button or will you get up and get moving? Will you be excited about the day? What will you do next, will you exercise, read a little, listen to a personal development audio? Will you rewrite and review your Goals Cards? Will you eat breakfast and if you do, what will you have? Will it be rushed, will it be nutritious? You see what I’m talking about? You have just opened your eyes for only a few minutes and already you have made several decisions that will affect your day and over time, those daily minute to minute decisions become habits that accumulate to create your life, whether you realize it or not.

If a Goal is worth setting, it’s worth examining it’s relationship to the values and priorities in your life.

The Goal is the what, the priority and value is the why, and where it fits into your life. When you know the what and the why, the how is easy.

One of the most common complaints today is overwhelm. In a world where information overload is a daily occurrence, the solution to overcoming overwhelm lies in knowing which
information and which opportunities truly matter. And you cannot know the answer to that until you examine your values and determine your personal life priorities.

The Priority Principle

I would like to introduce you to The Priority Principle. The Priority Principle means knowing your values and priorities and arranging your life so that you spend your time, energy and money on what matters. It means you qualify each Goal and action by ranking the order of importance in advance. In a world where your potential is infinite, but your time is limited to 24 hours each day, the only way to navigate intelligently through life is to know what is most important to you and then act accordingly. Only when you have taken the time to examine your values and priorities carefully, can you know which opportunities, people, inputs and actions align with them.

My first major lesson in priorities came was when I was 18 years old on the job working as a Firefigher/Emergency Medical Technician. I was an art student by day and Firefighter by night and on weekends. I know, quite the combination, right?

Most people don’t think about emergency responders until they need one. If or when you have a situation like a fire, an accident, an illness or some kind of extreme crisis, you dial 911. A trained professional like a police officer, Firefighter, Paramedic or EMT arrives to help and take over the situation. They have the tools and the access to whatever it takes to bring the emergency, big or small, under control.

There are small scale emergencies that are non life-threatening, like broken bones and surface cuts that are relatively simple and easy to process, for example, one patient with one minor injury. And then there are larger scale emergencies like car accidents that can have multiple
victims, with multiple traumatic injuries, as well as enormous disasters with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of victims.

When there are more patients than manpower available to handle every victim immediately, there is a process that has to occur and it has to occur very quickly. That process is called Triage. Triage means to sort. Triage as performed in an emergency situation means someone has to quickly assess and sort through all of the victims and prioritize which patients will be treated and in what order. Even with one patient who has multiple injuries, when you can only treat one thing at a time, you have to prioritize which injury to treat first.

When there are multiple patients, a person who has a gaping open would would likely command a higher priority than another person who has all of their faculties who can walk and talk with no signs of urgent distress. I don’t want to get into all of the different variations of injuries here,
I just want to clarify that some patients will have a greater need for urgency over others. There are guidelines for determining which types of injuries get priority over all others. Emergency responders are trained and practice disaster drills so that when a crisis does occur, they know
what to do. Because no two crisises are identical, this training and practice in advance is often the lifesaver for many.

In times of calm, instructors clearly outlined in advance what the parameters were for the different valuations of urgency and priority of care so that when we were faced with the day to day activities of constant crisis, it would be almost second nature to make the right decision amidst
whatever circumstances arose.

With regards to medical emergencies, seconds mean life and death and decisions are made in milliseconds. Fortunately with your Goals, you don’t have as much pressure unless you are in crisis and most crisises can be prevented if you take the time to carefully examine your life regularly over time.

I transformed my life when I applied The Priority Principle.

In my 20’s I went through an interesting phase where I went from poverty to earning enough money to support myself and enjoy some of life’s luxuries. I didn’t really know what to do with the money. I had never had any before! But I was learning how to earn it and could breathe a little easier. I bought a new car and 2 motorcycles. I was making more
money than I ever had before but there didn’t seem to be enough cash to invest in the things I needed in order to grow my business. There is always a next level and I wanted to reach it. I wanted a bigger business, more income, more financial security and a big house.

One day I looked out at my motorcycles and thought, look at the money that is tied up in those bikes. They also served as a distraction as my biker friends were police officers and firefighers and worked all different shifts, so I would get invitations to go riding together at all hours of the day and night. I had not yet fully developed the habit of discipline so there were times I was riding motorcycles when I should have been working on myself and my business.

When I paused and thought about my motorcycles, in the scope of life, I realized that they are toys. I needed to rearrange my priorities. I figured if I valued my financial future more than my toys, then I should sell the motorcycles. After all, I could always buy another one in the future. So I rearranged and re-clarified my values. I needed to start valuing my financial future more than I valued those motorcycles.

So I sold them and invested the money into my business. Things grew so fast I could hardly keep up. Within a few months I moved into a 6,000 square foot house in the White Eagle Country Club in Naperville, IL. The girl who grew up in a 2 bedroom ghetto shack was suddenly living amongst CEOs, NBA stars and some of Chicago’s social elite. I am not trying to impress you, I just want to illustrate how quickly you can change your life when you become clear about your values and priorities and back it up with your actions. I went on to become a millionaire by ag 30 and never looked back.

You have got to invest the time into Triaging your Goals, dreams and life responsibilities. In a major medical emergency, if you don’t Triage properly, people die unnecessarily. In your day to day life, if you don’t Triage your Goals and apply the Priority Principle, your dreams die. I want you to Live Your Dreams.

I outline my own quick process of how to determine your values and priorities in simple terms, and great detail in Chapter 3 of http://www.TheTimeCommandments.com where you learn how to become crystal clear on your Goals and priorities in only 2 hours. Whether currently in a crisis or not, it is so important to take the time to look at what matters most to you in life. If you don’t, you will spend an awful lot of time feeling overwhelmed, putting out fires and responding to crisis after crisis, wasting your energy, instead of achieving your Goals with ease.

The good news is that when it comes to goal setting and life design, you have the luxury of deciding what your priorities are in advance IF you will invest the time and effort into learning the success system for doing it.

You are already deciding which Goals will be achieved and which ones will not whether you realize it or not. But now, by learning a new level of consciousness with regards to your priorities, you can achieve your Goals faster and have a lot more fun in the process.

I once had a Goal of owning a motorcycle. But in the scope of life, at that time, it meant nothing compared to my other Goals and priorities. Because I clarified that, I was able to take decisive action and move forward to more important, long lasting matters quickly and easily .

Don’t major in minor things. -Jim Rohn

Don’t focus major time and attention on Goals that are minor in the scope of your life.

It’s not our abilities that define who we truly are, it’s our thoughts, choices and our actions.

If you have never consciously thought about it, you might be wondering, “How do I know what my current values and priorities are?”

The answer, whether you like it or not, is that they are revealed in your current actions, patterns and habits. If you value time, you don’t waste it. If you value honesty, you don’t lie. If you value money, you invest it wisely. If you value growth, you work on self improvement. If you value
family, you invest your time and attention on nurturing them. If you value your spouse/partner, your words and behavior reveal this too. You are not what you say you are, you are what you repeatedly do.

Ultimatey, what you spend your time, energy and money on is a clear indicator of your values and priorities.

And if what you are currently doing is not working for you, you can change that and rearrange your priorities today in the next 120 minutes. You will increase your focus and productivity in every area of your life.

If you have never done this before, it’s worth the investment of your time. It will change your life.

To get clear and create your own personalized plan as it relates to balanced life design, learn how at

http://www.TheTimeCommandments.com

Live Your Dreams,

Jill Koenig

I bring this to your attention now so that you can give yourself the ability to make a conscious decision of what you want to create for yourself in the final 33 days left in 2007. That gives you plenty of time to tie up loose ends get a handle on any unfinished business you want to wrap up before December 31st.

For some this time of year brings great growth and positive momentum, yet others experience a decline or negative momentum, as in a slow down.

There are many myths about the Holiday Season when it comes to business. These myths apply to both online and offline businesses.

The Biggest Business Myth of the Holiday Season: “Only retail and gift businesses grow during this time of year, every other business slows.” This is simply not true. I love it when people tell me that business is slow this time of year and that my business will slow whether I want it to or not. It seems like a rather helpless proposition, doesn’t it?

In most cases, business slows for them because they stopped doing the daily method of operation that their business needs in order to continue moving forward. Many business owners actually reduce their efforts and fail to follow their own action plan during this time because they believe it is a slow season, because someone told them it would be and so it becomes true for them. Because they believe and accept this erroneous prediction, they stop trying, they stop injecting life giving effort into their business. That is why business slows for them.

Yet for others, this is the time or year to create exponential growth. If your competition is reducing their efforts, and most are, it is the perfect time for you to rev it up and make your move.

Don’t get caught in the trap of reducing your efforts because the media, your peers or anyone tells you that business slows. Do not ever accept that invitation to slack or minimize your efforts. This is the most critical time of year to practice consistency for any business. Every action you take in December contributes to a stronger January. Keep the ball rolling.

The keys for thriving during the Holiday Season are persistence and consistency. Every day people are looking for whatever information, service or product you offer. Those who keep up, stick with their plan or even increase their focus and efforts this time of year are the ones who will reap the rewards and explode their growth in the coming year.

Choose to be one of them.

You do not have to succumb to the myths that others use to rationalize their own laziness or reduced actions that are based purely on opinion.

Momentum breeds Momentum.

Winners know that finishing strong in December is the catalyst for massive growth in January as it sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Live Your Dreams,

Jill Koenig

The more meaningful your Goal is, the more essential it is to track your progress. You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

There are multiple benefits of measuring your results from the beginning of any endeavor:

1. Seeing your progress and having the proof of positive results builds confidence.

2. Tracking gives you valuable feedback so that you can modify your plan or change your approach if it’s not moving you in a satisfactory direction or speed.

Once your attention is placed upon a specific target, your conscious and subconscious mind work like heat seeking missiles in the quest to achieve it.

People who use a pedometer to measure how far they walk lose more weight, exercise more and have lower blood pressure than those who do not, researchers said on Tuesday.

It was not clear from the study, the first to review most previously published research on pedometer use, whether those who use the devices are more motivated in the first place, just benefit from the assistance, or both.

Many pedometer-related programs recommend users set daily goals for themselves, such as 10,000 steps or about 5 miles (8 km).

Dr. Dena Bravata and colleagues at Stanford University in California reviewed 26 earlier studies covering 2,767 people, with an average age of 49.

It found that pedometer users took more than 2,000 extra steps a day compared to those who did not use the devices, and that having a goal of reaching a certain number of steps was a significant factor.

Those using the devices, which are worn on the hip, also lost weight as measured by body mass index, and significantly reduced their systolic blood pressure — the top number in blood pressure readings, which indicates the maximum pressure of a contracting heart.

“Our results suggest that the use of these small, relatively inexpensive devices is associated with significant increases in physical activity and improvements in some key health outcomes, at least in the short term,” Bravata’s team wrote in the report published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

Read more on the Study here

Jill

The most precious and valuable resource is time.

Time is more valuable than money.

You can make more money, but you cannot make more time.

Time is perishable, and the decisions you make about how to spend your time will largely determine the quality of your life.

The decisions you make about how to invest your time will determine how efficient and productive you are at your work. The decisions you make about how to spend your time with loved ones will determine the quality of your life in your relationships.

Time is the great equalizer.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day as everyone else.

No matter how much money you accumulate, you cannot write a check at the end of your life and purchase more time.

In my quest to discover what allows someone to become 1000 times more successful, wealthy or more fulfilled than someone else, I discovered many secrets that the leaders of every field already know.

Great leaders are great time managers.

For most people, the vast majority of waking hours are spent at work. Actually, most of your LIFE is spent at work. Therefore it is imperative that you are engaged in work that you truly love. This doesn’t mean you should immediately quit a job you don’t enjoy, rather get to working on an extra stream of income in the subject of your passion and start working towards your dreams, not someone else’s.

The foundation, the philosophy of The Time Commandments is to honor time as a precious resource. This means making a study of Time Management and Life Management. This means working on yourself more than you do on your business. This means re evaluating your values and priorities so that you are assured your life is moving in the direction of your greatest desires. No one else can do this for you.

Once you learn this strategy for success, you will gain clarity, confidence, energy and excitement. You will naturally and effortlessly integrate it into your everyday life.

Invest time in yourself. Invest time into reading books and teachings (like this one) and invest in audio programs that help you learn and grow. master your time and you will reach your Goals faster than you ever thought possible.

For more on Time Management discover The Time Commandments!

Live Your Dreams,

Jill Koenig

Jill Koenig, the “Goal Guru” is America’s Top Goal Strategist. A Best Selling Author, Coach and Motivational Speaker, she is an expert on the subjects of Goal Setting, Time Management and Business Success. Her passion in life is helping you achieve your Goals and UNLEASH your untapped potential. Learn cutting edge strategies and get your FREE Goal Setting CD at: http://www.GoalGuru.com

In a pet peeves-themed survey released recently by Randstad USA, a leading staffing firm and workforce solutions provider, employees revealed their biggest annoyances in their places of work.

The top three pet peeves found in the workplace:

Gossip(60%)

Others poor time management skills(54%)

Messiness in communal spaces(45%).

Managing Director of Operations and Human Resources for Randstad USA. “While managers impose standards for corporate culture, employees play a greater role in upholding desirable behaviors. Communication and openness are key factors in achieving a positive work environment.”

Rounding out the top seven pet peeves among employees are potent scents (42%), loud noises (41%), overuse of electronic personal communications devices in meetings (28%) and misuse of email (22%).

Observe your workplace environment and see how often you witness (or commit) these common peeves. Understand that you can make a positive or negative contribution to the overall workplace culture, attitudes and experiences within an organization.

You’ve defined your Goal, identified your key strategies, created an action plan and have started to put it into action.

What’s next?

As you proceed, it is important to measure your results and track your progress (or lack of it). This is the least exciting part of the journey of any Goal, but I assure you it is one of the most important. This is where it gets a little tricky due to the fact that every Goal is different. Each Goal has it’s own unique targets, time lines, and action plans, therefore it will require it’s own unique system and schedules for measuring.

Not every Goal needs to be measured, just your most critical ones. For example, if on the weekends you take guitar lessons to explore your interest in learning how to play, you don’t necessarily need a plan for measuring your progress. But for your highest priority Goals, you absolutely do. If you are building a business or trading in the stock market, your very financial existence relies upon your systems for tracking.

People often seek my coaching and assistance because they are stuck in some way. They say, “I am stuck! I have tried everything and nothing works!” The first thing I do is ask for their gauges, measurements and stats for the related area. Often they reply with blame or excuses about the economy or some outside circumstance for why they are off track and never is that the real reason for a decline. The reason for almost all struggle, stagnation and lack of growth is due to a lack of attention, measurement or action in the critical areas. It is usually a matter of neglect and fortunately there is a quck and easy solution to create a major turnaround.

The fastest way to create a breakthrough is to measure and examine the critical areas of your Goal.

You cannot change what you don’t measure. You cannot improve what you don’t measure. Where focus goes, energy flows so begin focusing on your major key areas that are critical to your success.

Tracking reveals the true reality of a situation. Many Goals can be measured with numbers. For example, Health Goals provide many numbers to monitor your progress; pounds, inches, blood sugar, triglycerides, blood pressure, as do a multitude of other precise diagnostic measurements.

Tracking builds confidence. When you have a great plan, are following it and producing phenomenal results, you automatically raise your own self-esteem and that optimism carries over into every other life area. Knowing that you are on track and having the validation of facts as proof gives you an enormous boost.

Tracking provides valuable feedback and indications of areas that may need to be addressed or adjusted. If your Goal is to lose weight and the numbers on the scale are going up, up, up each week, it could be an indication that you may need to re evaluate your plan or if you have a great plan and have not been following it, simply renew your dedication to it.

For every Goal that does not succeed, there are always numerous indicators along the way that would have provided a snapshot or a warning ahead of time and all throughout the journey, if the critical components would have been measured and appropriate action taken, the Goal could have been salvaged.

Your Action Plan:

1. Examine your highest and most important Goal and the key areas that will ensure it’s success. What are the aspects you will need to measure so that you will know on any given day, at any given time, whether or not you are progressing on track?

2. List at least ten precise critical components you can begin measuring and tracking. (if you come up with more than ten, that’s even better).

3. Create targets for each of the chosen areas. This can be done by looking at the end result and tracking backwards. What are the ideals you will need to achieve in order to successfully realize your Goal?

4. Create the most appropriate schedule for tracking and checking your gauges and schedule it into your planner. How often should you measure your metrics, stats and gauges and examine your progress? If the Goal has no end, as such with an ongoing business, you can certainly break it down via yearly, quarterly, monthly, daily and even weekly measurements.

Since each Goal is unique, your Goal will require unique systems and schedules for tracking it. By implementing this for all of your highest priority Goals, you will instantly begin to produce better results.

Goal Achieving abides by the Universal Law of Cause and Effect. If you don’t like the results you are creating, change your approach, increase your efforts, modify your plan, but don’t stick your head in the sand and neglect to see the truth of the situation.

The fastest way to improve your results is to measure your progress. So re examine your most cherished Goals and see where you stand. Your mind will instantly begin to search for ways to make improvements in those key areas.

Numbers don’t lie. Welcome whatever data you receive and take the appropriate actions to ensure your success!

Live Your Dreams

Jill

Copyright 2007 Jill Koenig

“If it’s easy to do, it’s easy not to do.” -Jim Rohn

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Monday Momentum: The Best Way to Begin Your Week
By Jill Koenig
Author, Coach, Motivational Speaker

Let me ask you, how did you begin your day today?

And how do you approach your week?

With positive determination and strength, eager to seize the day and opportunities before you?

Or with apprehension, dreading all you have to do?

Do you guide the direction of your week based upon your Goals?

Or do the circumstances of the week sweep you off track leaving you feeling like there’s never enough time?

I learned very quickly that Mondays are a crucial day.

Some people are going to have a rough week simply because theyhave not decided to create an amazing one starting right now,today.

Your Goal for Mondays should be to create as much momentum asyou possibly can towards completing your Goals and objectives,creating measurable progress, advancing your mission, giving asmuch as you can and taking a bite out of life.

I call it “Monday Momentum.”

Why?

Because Monday sets the tone for the remainder of the week.

When you create momentum, it is actually easier to do what needsto be done later and the energy that your momentum createsactually carries you through.

Momentum breeds Momentum.

Momentum feeds your energy.

Momentum is contagious.

Here are tips for creating Monday Momentum:

* Plan your entire week on paper in advance on Sunday evening.

* Get up a little earlier Monday mornings.

* Listen to an uplifting motivational or educational audio. http://www.TheTimeCommandments.com is a great one to get yourhead on straight to take on the week with focus, clarity andenthusiasm. (spaced repetition is one of the most powerfullearning strategies known to man)

* Get your workout in early in the morning. (this will energizeyou to take on the day and you can even do this while you arelistening to the audio)

* Look at your Goals. Rewrite them.

* Drink lots of water and be sure to follow healthy diet andnutrition (http://www.diets101.com) to keep your energy upthroughout the day.

The beginning of anything is always a crucial time.

The same applies to your week.

The first hour in the morning is the rudder of your day.

No one should be hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock.

You should be popping out of bed like bread pops out of thetoaster!

When you get off to a great start on Monday morning, the rest ofthe week will follow and you will breeze through the rest of theweek with vitality and vigor.

What you do with your time and what time of day you do it iscritical to understand in relation to Time Management. High performing men and women consistently apply this secret and advance rapidly in life.

And Time Management is as much about having the right prioritiesand energy to create an amazing day full of momentum to buildupon, which will lead to an amazing week, which leads to anamazing month, which leads to an amazing year, which leads to anamazing life… follow me?

Create a new habit of generating Monday Momentum.

What will it cost you if you don’t?

http://www.TheTimeCommandments.com

Become invigorated.

Become unstoppable.

Live Your Dreams,

Jill Koenig

http://www.GoalGuru.com

Jill Koenig, the “Goal Guru” is America’s Top Goal Strategist.
A best selling Author, Coach and Motivational Speaker, she is an
expert on the subjects of Goal Setting, Time Management and
Business Success. Her Goal in life is to help you UNLEASH your
untapped potential. Learn cutting edge Goal Strategies at
http://www.GoalGuru.com

Media Requests: Jill Koenig is a dynamic high energy tv and
radio guest available for interviews and corporate speaking
engagements.

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