Eugene Moreau – Replace Hope With Purpose (Part 3)

 Read more articles by Eugene Moreau.

“Find out who you are and then do it on purpose” – Dolly Parton

“One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began.” ~ Mary Oliver

Hope is like a magic wand…

It’s foolish to live your life with hope as your only source of direction. A hope-based strategy is like trying to use a magic wand……you know, close your eyes and wave a magic wand saying some gibberish in the hope that something, or someone, will magically appear and all your problems are taken away in a puff of smoke and their place all your dreams come true……and it’s all done like a Hollywood programme…in less than an hour……give me a break!

Have you met anyone who goes through life with a magic wand mindset? Whether they do it consciously or not, they’ve grown up waiting for someone greater than they are, someone like a father or a mother figure, maybe even a mentor or some other ‘hero’ figure – someone who has a mystical ability to step in and fix things, to bring a sense of hope when things are not going well. They live their life in hope rather than purpose. Even when they have a mission inside them, bursting to get out – they still wave the magic wand!

Here’s the bottom-line, any mission with hope as the driver will fail.

In this series we’ve already learned how to established a mission for our life (read Pursue A Worthwhile Mission) and now we need to move past the magic wand stage because hope simply won’t do the job. What is required is purpose.

Before we go much further I need to define what I mean by purpose. When I say purpose I mean: determination, resoluteness, to set as an aim, intention, or goal for oneself, to resolve to do something: “He purposed to change his way of life radically”. To move the mission from being a fantasy (magic wand stuff) into a something worthy of pursuit – one need’s resolve, resoluteness and determination.

Over the last 20 years I’ve developed a very simple tool that is used in my coaching business, which is designed to help both the individuals and the business pursue a worthwhile mission with purpose. This tool is simply called the Compass.

The Compass

Using the Compass to help you pursue your mission moves you way beyond the unreliable, shifty sands of hope and onto the firm, resolute rock of purpose. A compass is a tool specifically designed to help establish and maintain the consistent pursuit of your mission.

To start pursuing your mission without a compass would be like leaving Auckland and heading for Sydney without the tools, knowledge or skill to navigate the journey. You might well have and reliable, robust and fast ship – but without some kind of knowledge, skill or instrument of navigation you will end up relying on hope.

A ship has a compass so that the navigator can know what direction go in, and it has a specific course – a plan set by the captain, and a rudder so that the pilot can steer in that direction. All three are necessary – the compass, the plan and the rudder. A compass with a plan is of little value. What good is it having the where with all to provide direction and not have a destination in mind? As for having a rudder but no plan or compass is equally as frustrating and fruitless. Just because a ship has a rudder doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going anywhere. It needs to be steered according to the coordinates of the plan.

Let me bring this little metaphor closer to home.

There are many people who have a great ship (potential and talent) with clear sailing yet, because their ship doesn’t have all three essential elements for pursuing the mission (compass, rudder and plan) their ship never makes port.

What do I mean by clear sailing? I mean opportunities. Many opportunities come to people, but because they lack the essential elements mentioned above they are not able to make something out of them.

Here, let me give you another example, suppose you have an opportunity to start a business and this business will enable you to achieve the mission you’ve developed but you don’t have a compass, plan or rudder to help you set direction, adjust and maintain as required. It is 99.9% for sure that without a compass, plan and rudder, you will end up like thousands of businesses every year, crashed on the rocks of survival and eventual closure.

Now, let’s turn that picture around. You have an opportunity to start a business and this business will enable you to achieve your worthwhile mission….and you have a clear sense of direction, a vision, goals, guiding principles, action plans – in other words, you have a compass, a plan and a rudder to help you set direction, adjust and maintain as required.  Your chances of reaching your ‘desired outcomes’ greatly increase and now you stand a chance. With a mission compass you will be able to navigate, pilot and captain your ship into port……mission accomplished!

REMEMBER: If your mission does not have a compass, a plan and a rudder then you are relying on hope and hope is a useless strategy!

Creating a mission compass is not difficult. If you’ve already written your Three Step Mission (if you haven’t then click here and read how to do that) then you’ve already begun the process.

The next step is to define the rules for your journey and we call these the Guiding Principles.

Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles are top-of-mind beliefs and values that provide the non-negotiable boundaries for day-to-day activities in the pursuit of the mission.

Whether we are consciously aware of them or not, every individual has a core set of personal principles, or values, that can range from the commonplace, such as the belief in hard work and punctuality, to the more psychological, such as self-reliance, concern for others, and harmony of purpose.

Guiding Principles can be classified into four categories:

Personal Guiding Principles, which define you as an individual. Principles such as honesty, reliability, and trust, determine how you will face the world and relate with people.

Cultural Guiding Principles, which are like the practice of your faith and customs. These principles sustain connections with your cultural roots. They help you feel connected to a larger community of people with similar backgrounds.

Social Guiding Principles, which indicate how you relate meaningfully to others in social situations including those involving family, friends, and co-workers.

Work Guiding Principles, which guides your behavior in professional contexts. They define how you work and how you relate to your co-workers, bosses, and clients. They also reveal your potential for advancement or repositioning in the organization.

The following table provides examples of each type of values.

The next step is to ‘unlock’ a vision that clearly describes what your mission looks like in five years time.

Unlocking Vision

A vision serves the purpose of inspiring, motivating, and focusing. When you have an inspiring picture of what the future looks like – this becomes an intrinsic motivator.  A vision is the product of a mission. If you have no mission, then your vision is most likely going to be a pipe dream, a fantasy.

A vision is not an abstract sentence, it is a concrete a word picture that gives clarity and focus for goals and actions to be established.

The simplest visions are always the most powerful. For example, Starbucks’ vision was “2000 stores by 2000.”   John F Kennedy set America onto a very clear path when he said “We will put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.”  

Vision statements answer the question, "What will mission success look like?". Here are a few examples of succinct word pictures from the real world of business:
 

• eHam.net: Be the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet.

• Coachville: Everyone is a coach.

• Bill Gates: A personal computer on every desk running Microsoft software.

• Soup Kitchen: No child in our city will go hungry to bed in the evening.  

• Illiteracy Programme: In two decades our services will no longer be needed.

An example of an individual five-year vision: (What will success look like in five years?)

“I am mentally, physically, emotional and spiritually healthy, with a close and vibrant social network built around four satisfying interpersonal relationships, infused with a soulful connection with God experiencing joy and peace everyday and earning no less than $125,000 a year doing work I love and a cause I have a passion for.”

Here’s an example of a family five-year vision: (What will success look like in five years?)

“We are a healthy, vibrant, generous family, living our life in two countries so we can experience perpetual spring and summer, our favorite times of the year. We are financially intelligent allowing us to live in a comfortable, wise lifestyle, and we participate in and serve the communities we live in with our collective talents and skills.”

After you unlock a vision the next step is to establish the goals that will lead you to that five-year vision.

Establishing Goals

Once you’ve unlocked your vision the next step is to start stepping down, one year at a time, four, three, two and then, finally a one year goal

For example, ask yourself this question: Knowing now that my vision is “__________“ what goal must I achieve one year before then? After you’ve set that four year goal you then go about setting three, two and one year goals using the same question, in principle.

Each goal needs to be succinct – to the point, no more than a short sentence, almost thematic in nature.  This one sentence rule forces you to be incredibly focused and state clearly and plainly what it is you intent to accomplish within the stated time frame. Almost everyone reading this will have heard of the SMART goal process, so I won’t labor it here. I will simply overview it for those that need a refresher.

SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific-Measurable-Attainable-Realistic-Time Bound.  

SPECIFIC – A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:

    *Who:          Who is involved?
    *What:         What do I want to accomplish?
    *Where:       Identify a location.
    *When:        Establish a time frame.
    *Which:        Identify requirements and constraints.
    *Why:          Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

Example: A general goal would be, "Get in shape." But a specific goal would say, "Join a health club and workout 3 days a week."

MEASURABLE – Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

ATTAINABLE – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

REALISTIC – To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.

Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

TIME BOUND – A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there's no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.

Note: ‘T’ can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

THIS IS IMPORTANT

Once you have established your four, three, two and one year goals, the next step is to turn all of your attention to what is required to achieve the one year goal. It stands to reason that achieving the one year goal positions you to focus on the two year goal, and so on.

The 416 Action Plan

As I’ve mentioned above, the focus now turn to what has to happen in order for the one year goal to be achieved. The 416 Action Plan is a perfect way to do this.

Now we ask two simple questions:

1. What four outcomes must we achieve in the next 12 months for this one-year goal to be achieved?

2. What four milestones would deliver this one outcome? (Whichever one it is)

When you have finished this process you have developed an action plan that focuses on executing the activities you need to achieve the one-year goal. By focusing on the one-year goal, you’ve not positioned yourself to prepare for the 2-year goal, and so on.

Let me close…..

As you can see, defeating the enemy called average is about making sure the foundation is sound, solid, and secure.

The steps are not complex. In fact, it is profoundly simple……. but not easy.

1. You have to avoid negative input. To read more about avoiding negative input click here.

2. You have to have a mission in your life that is worth pursuing. To read more about pursuing a mission click here.

3. Now we know that when we have a mission, we need to replace hope with purpose and this means making sure we have a compass, a plan and a rudder to steer us straight to a vision that begins to live our mission, our reason for being here on this earth!

Next time, we’ll close this series out with the final article on this subject…’Stay On Track.’

Until then…..fight the good fight!
Eugene

Part Three of the Series – Defeating the Enemy Called Average