Assignment:
Goals: What Is Your Primary Aim?
I've been thinking of a good way to begin this entry, and there's probably no better way to start than by sharing with you what Michael Gerber wrote in his book, The E-Myth Revisited:
"I'd like you to imagine that you are about to attend one of the most important occasions of your life.
It will be held in a room sufficiently large to seat all of your friends, your family, your business associates -- anyone and everyone to whom you are important and who is important to you.
Can you see it?
The walls are draped with deep golden tapestries. The lighting is subdued, soft, causing a warm glow on the faces of your expectant guests. Their chairs are handsomely upholstered in a golden fabric that matches the tapestries. The golden carpeting is deeply piled.
At the front of the room is a dais, and on the dais a large, beautifully decorated table, with candles burning at either end.
On the table, in the center, is the object of everyone's attention. A large, shining, ornate box. And in the box is . . . you! Stiff as the proverbial board.
Do you see yourself lying in the box, not a dry eye in the room?
Now, listen.
From the four corners of the room comes a tape recording of your voice. Can you hear it? You're addressing your guests. You're telling
them the story of your life.
How would you like that story to go?
That's your Primary Aim.
What would you like to be able to say about your life after it's too late to do anything about it?
That's your Primary Aim.
If you were to write a script for the tape to be played for the mourners at your funeral, how would you like it to read?
That's your Primary Aim.
And once you've created the script, all you need to do is make it come true.
All you need to do is begin living your life as if it were important.
All you need to do is take your life seriously. To create it intentionally. To actively make your life into the life you wish it to be."
What is your primary aim?
At a restaurant, a waiter comes to your table and asks, "Which entrée would you like?" Pretend, for a moment, that I'm your waiter, atthe restaurant of life. And now I'm asking you: What do you want? Who do you want to become? Note, I'm not asking for your opinionon what is possible and what isn't, or your opinion on what you think you're capable of and what you aren't. I'm asking you: What doyou truly and seriously want in life?
Do you know? Have you ever taken the time to seriously examine what it is you want most? To sit down quietly with pen and paper inhand and write down -- as specific and as detailed as possible -- your aspirations, your goals?
If not, why? It's been said that Americans spend more time planning their vacations than they do planning their lives. Does that includeyou?
This task is not easy. It's absolutely amazing, as I've found from my own experience, how difficult it can be to figure out what we wantin life. But we absolutely must do this, because if we do not, what will become of us? How would we spend our time?
ZigZiglar wrote:
Howard Hill was probably the greatest archer who ever drew a bowstring. He was so accurate, he killed a bull elephant, a Bengal tiger,and a Cape buffalo with a bow and arrow. In newsreels, I have seen him repeatedly hit the target dead center. After sending the firstarrow to the center of the bullseye, he would then literally split that arrow with his next shot.
Now, I have never shot the bow and arrow to any degree. But I'm here to tell you that if your health is good and your eyesight is good,
I could spend 30 minutes with you, and at the end of those 30 minutes, I would have you hitting the bullseyemore consistently than
Howard Hill did on the best day he ever had.
Provided, we first blindfolded Howard Hill. And spun him around a few times so that he would have no idea which way he was facing.
I hear you saying, "Zig, that's ridiculous! Of course he'd lose! How on earth could you possibly hit a target you couldn't see?" That's a
good question. Here's a better one:
How can you hit a target you don't even have?
-ZigZiglar