HARD Goals: The Secret to Getting from Where You Are …” by Mark Murphy (McGraw Hill, $28).
Murphy deals in motivation that keeps your motor running. Getting to where you want to be is all about your mind on overdrive. But don’t confuse overdrive with workaholism. There’s a vast difference to defining and following a course of action versus becoming so self-absorbed in the goal that life passes you by.
Here’s a look at his HARD elements — Heartfelt, Animated, Required, Difficult — that intertwine to create the mindset of achievement.
Heartfelt — Your passionate connection to the whys of your goal. It may be intrinsic to the goal itself — a personal connection to people who will benefit when you achieve your goal — or it could be focused on the extrinsic outcome. You have to do what you are in order to have the passion for what you do. Steve Jobs of Apple combines all three connections. He’s driven by turning new ideas into reality and making customers Apple evangelists. Profits allow him to turn more new ideas into reality
Animated — What does your “best” look like? “Imagine, envision and picture what you ultimately want to create and how you’ll get there. The mind’s eye is a far more powerful motivator than words. By creating an image of your goal “you can conceive it being a part of your life.” The more vivid your picture, the more achieving the goal becomes a necessity — it’s hardwired into your actions.
Required — Do something NOW! Creating your tomorrow starts today and continues every today. Think of every day’s actions as an investment in that picture you animated. Waiting only devalues your goal’s importance. Once devalued, you lose interest.
Difficult — You must push the bounds of your comfort zone. Things you’ve done that you didn’t think you could do. These serve as reminders of your capabilities. Think about the pride felt when you accomplished your “impossible.” “Difficult goals work because they force us to pay attention; we simply can’t sleepwalk through them.”
Before you read the book, take the 12-question quiz at hardgoals.com/hard-goals-quiz/
“Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable” by Dave Crenshaw (Jossey-Bass, $19.95).
In this business parable, you’ll follow Jason (who at entry-level feels underutilized) and Tracy (Jason’s manager who’s overwhelmed by her inbox and needy subordinates) as they learn how to become difficult-to-replace assets. The outcome: They increase the tangible value to their work and become examples to their colleagues.
Given their different positions, one would expect each would have a different journey to discovery. Not so. Their paths share three common denominators:
1. By focusing on your most valuable activities (MVAs), both your ability and the difficulty of replacing you increase. Every job has key functions that should occupy the vast majority of your time. The rest of the time is busywork. Too many people spend too much time on busywork because it’s easy.
2. By playing to your strengths, you do your best work. When it comes to MVAs, you need your A-game because that’s the only game that makes you more valuable.
What about dealing with your weaknesses? Look to your colleagues’ strengths; use them to fill in your gaps. Learn from them, too, so you can improve your A-game. It’s win/win collaboration because your strengths offset some of their weaknesses.
3. By buying into the myth of multitasking, it takes longer to finish your MVAs. Constantly shifting focus between tasks (especially when shifting from MVAs to busywork) results in wasting time. Why? No one just picks up where he/she left off. It takes at least 10 minutes to refresh your thoughts and refocus. If you jump between tasks once every hour, you’ve wasted an hour each day; 12.5 percent of your time is unproductive.
Crenshaw provides a number of fill-in-the-blanks templates that help you identify your MVAs and manage time effectively.
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
