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Morning Column
Attain Your Goals by Creating Your Life's Opus
By Douglas Vermeeren
Most people want to live a fulfilling and rewarding life. That's
why there's no shortage of self-help materials on how to set goals and
design an ideal life. However, even with the plethora of information
available on how to create the life of your dreams, many people still
feel dissatisfied and unable to reach key goals they've outlined for
themselves. What are these people missing?
The key is to know how to turn your goals into performance. A
great analogy is to think in terms of creating your own life's Opus. Why
an Opus? Because that's what you are capable of. Some dictionaries
define an Opus as the most brilliant composition a music composer
creates in a lifetime. You are your own instrument and you create your
personal symphony by what you do in your life. Realize that you have
unlimited potential and that anything is possible. Your personal
symphony can be grand. It can be colorful. It can be inspiring. You can
choose it to be anything you like. Therefore, your personal Opus is
really about taking your life and creating the most incredible and
awesome legacy that is within you-that's how your goals become reality.
So how exactly do you create an Opus or long-lasting legacy?
While many people may believe that creating an Opus is about reaching
big and monumental milestones and goals, it's really nothing more than a
combination of small and great achievements along the way. When you
consistently do little things that advance you toward your goals, you
are working from an achievement process and are creating your own
personal Opus. Unfortunately, after outlining what they want in life,
people often feel stuck. They know what they want to achieve, but they
lack the insight on what to do next-on how to create real performance.
The following steps will help you past this stumbling block.
1. Start with a vision of where you want to go.
Your vision of your goal needs to be clear and precise. You also
need to understand why you want it. Why is this goal important to you?
These motivating factors in terms of the value you attach to your goals
will help you in your pursuit of them. Part of this vision is to make a
definite and committed decision that you're ultimately going to achieve
what you've outlined for yourself. You must believe that your goals are
not just whimsical dreams-they're determined decisions that you're going
to contribute your efforts toward to ultimately create your Opus.
2. Have a belief in yourself that you can really do it.
If you don't truly believe you can achieve your goals, you'll
prove yourself right-you won't achieve them. That's why your belief in
your ability to achieve your goals has to resonate throughout the entire
goal achievement process. Never let go of your belief in your ability to
create an Opus. Stay committed and always know that you are on your way
there.
3. Build a solid plan.
Your goal achievement plan begins with surrounding yourself with
people who have been where you want to go or who are currently going
there right now. These people could be mentors or coaches, or just
people you feel comfortable asking questions of. As you talk with these
people and get their insights, remember that this is your personal
journey. There are things that your mentors, coaches or other people may
have experienced that will not be important or applicable to you.
Therefore, you need to personalize the information they give you and
analyze the answers to see how they fit into what you're doing. You
don't want to simply repeat what they've done; you want to create your
own unique Opus.
4. Take notice of everything.
As you start with small steps, your probability of success will
increase. All of sudden, steps will appear that you'll have to
accomplish, work will come in that you'll have to complete, and actions
will become evident that you'll have to take. You'll feel as if you're
being "pointed" toward the path of goal attainment. As you go through
the tasks and steps, you'll be able to see if your actions are
successfully contributing toward your goals or if they need to be fine
tuned. For example, sometimes you'll take an action, and by doing so
you'll better understand something you need to know to complete the
process, although the action itself didn't contribute to your goals in
the originally planned way. That's OK. Everything is important as long
as you learn from it. Sometimes a part of your plan is just learning
what the next best steps are.
5. Take the correct actions that will yield the best results.
Many people say that the final step to achieving any goal is to
simply take action and do it. In reality, you need performance, not
action, to create a real Opus. Many people today think they're taking
action but they're not really getting anywhere. For example, you may
know a business person who is always on the phone or at the office
working hard, yet the person never advances. He or she is taking action,
but it's not the right action-the action isn't contributing to the
person's overall goals. Real performance is calculated action to a
particular end. That's why the last step is to take the correct actions
that will get you to that final destination in the most effective way.
This doesn't always mean the quickest way, because sometimes taking the
longer route will give you a bigger payoff at the end. And that's what
creating your Opus is all about-the biggest payoff for yourself and
others.
A Symphony of One
Remember, your Opus is not just what you do; it will be the
legacy of what you become. That's why a substantial part of creating
your Opus is to focus on the legacy you're leaving, not just individual
goal achievements. You also need to focus on your contributions-what you
give back to society, to your family, or to the people around you. Why
is this important? Because your legacy and your success are your marks
on the world, and your Opus will be filled with contributions of whom
you became.
The next time you think of a goal for yourself, think beyond the
actual event or task. Remember that any goal is really just a small step
along the way toward your life's Opus. Having this mindset from the
beginning makes it possible for you to attain bigger and better things,
and to create an Opus the world will want to know about.
Doug Vermeeren is an author and motivational speaker on goal setting and
human performance. Doug is the producer of "The Opus," which is a
follow-up movie to the Law of Attraction documentary, "The Secret." The
film will premiere internationally in March, 2008, and its story focuses
on taking a vision, turning it into a plan and putting it to
performance. Doug is also the author of "Accelerated Achievement" and
"Amazing Success." For more information, visit www.TheOpusMovie.com or
to contact Doug, e-mail Doug@douglasvermeeren.com.
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