GoalsBook 2: The Field Book. Putting Goal Setting to Work: GoalsBook, #2

Dedication

Dedication of a book, I have found, is one of the most frustrating and difficult experiences of writing. There are so many people that deserve this level of recognition.

Okay, so here it goes:

To my mom and dad: Salvatore and Lucy! You did the best you could with what you had. I wish you were still around to see your name in print. I’m sure my father would of said, Oh not me, give it to someone who deserves it. And my mother would have said, That’s nice, do you want lasagna or ravioli on Sunday.

To the great Saint John Paul II. Your actions and words have given me sustained hope and courage and perseverance to remain with a church that has given up on me! I pray to you daily sir.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my fiancée Jackie and my dear friend, mentor, and confidant, Frank Sorokach, for suggestions, comments and getting rid of as many ain’t nots as they could find.

I would also like to acknowledge the faculty, staff, administration of Penn State University for teaching me that life outside a university setting is not only possible but, perhaps preferable!

And, of course, the staff at LMI, Waco Texas, especially Sam Maitz, who never gave up on me, even though I may have given up on myself several times.

To Vince Fazio, Keystone Leadership Group, Allentown PA, your friendship over the years has been a gift, although I seldom tell you that since we are always insulting each other whenever we speak. (In a nice kidding way of course!)

My greatest acknowledgment is to my students at Penn State, who have poked and prodded me into writing this book! You are great people! Most of you work full time and still go to school full time; no silver spoons here! You are my heros!

Introduction – Please read this first.

Because of the kind comments received about GoalsBook 1, I thought it was best to pen yet another book on goal setting.

For the readers of the first book, I am sure you noticed that the book was in parable format, that is, it was a story about goal setting.

This second installment is a continuation of that concept. Basically, many of the characters that you may remember from the first book are back in the second book, just doing more things and offering more advice to our friendly protagonist, the young man!

If the first book is about the theoretical underpinnings of goal setting, then the book that you are reading from now is the application of that theory.

So, it may sound to you that if you didn’t read the first book you won’t understand the second book. And, the answer to that is, maybe! While GoalsBook 2 is self-contained, and ready to be fully assimilated on its own, reading GoalsBook 1 would definably heighten the experience.  As a teacher of college Economics for over thirty years, I love giving my students practical examples, but only after I fully explain the theory. Understanding of theory should always precede practical application, any other way is trial and error while you are figuring out the theory through failed applications!

So, am I saying to read GoalsBook 1 before you read GoalsBook 2? The answer is only if you want to make the most of the goal setting process and be able to refine your goals in as expedient a time as possible. (Damn it, just buy the first book! If you don’t have enough money, set a goal to earn it!)

It’s not about the money, believe me I didn’t buy a BMW with my royalties to date. It’s more about saying what I think needs to be said and to, hopefully make a positive impact on someone’s life.

Over the years I have found that the goal setting process has assisted me in loving life, stretching beyond my limits, getting mad at myself and failing beyond recognition, then succeeding beyond all expectations. As I said, it is not about the money! It is about the growth; the extending of your God given talents as far as possible.

The concept of the Imago Dei fits here. We were all born in the Image of God. Basically, we have many of the qualities of God and that God’s plan for us is to be more like Him. Goal setting is one process that can continually elevate us toward being God like.

I hope you enjoy reading this second installment in goal setting as much as I enjoyed writing it. If there are moments of brilliance that you glen from your reading, it is because of the brilliant people that have taught me about goals setting. If there are moments of idiocy that you think are totally wrong and off base, it is my fault and I take full responsibility for those moments.

Prologue – Let’s begin, again.

It was a bright warm Wednesday afternoon. The young man pulled up to the front of his parents’ home. He was feeling somewhat nostalgic recently since he knew that he would be moving out very soon as his impending marriage approached.

He opened the door and was enthusiastically approached by his mother who said to him, Well, someone is VERY popular today! The young man smiled, although it was a happy smile, it was also a questioning one as well; he didn’t understand what his mother meant. She handed him a number of envelopes that arrived in the mail today. He knew that Friday was his birthday, and these envelopes had the feel of greeting cards, but, for the life of him, he could not figure out how many people would send him a card.

Over the past year, since his weekend with the CEO and the CEO’s circle of intelligent influencers, the young man developed an ever increasing circle of friends and influence, not only at the corporation, but in his life in general. Even with the increase in his responsibilities at work and his great sphere of support, he was stymied as to the number of cards he was holding.

He noticed in the few seconds that as he was thinking these thoughts that his mother was staring at him and was obviously just as curious as the young man was as to who would send him these birthday wishes. The young man, playing with his mother said, Oh, thanks mom, I guess I’ll take these up to my room and open them. Like heck you will! You open them right here. I want to know who my son’s admirers are. Laughing, he said, Okay, okay, you win. And placing the bulk of the letters under his left arm, he held the first letter in his left hand and making a small opening with his right forefinger, made a jagged cut in the white envelope. Using the same finger and his right thumb, the young man grasped the card inside and removed it. At first, he didn’t quite comprehend what he was looking at, and then slowly the pieces of the mental jigsaw puzzle came together.

On the front of the card was a horse; but not just a horse, a magnificent creature with a coat that didn’t shine, but radiated; muscular legs and a handsome face and head. Atop of the horse, in a pair of ill fitted chaps, twill bedecked, brushed leather vest and a hat that was designed for a person with a much bigger head, sat a short, somewhat pudgy individual who looked so out of place on this beautiful steed as to look comical. The young man immediately recognized the person as Marv Huffburg. Below the picture was a caption that read, Happy Birthday, Partner... and when the card was opened the caption continued, ...and shalom! Your friend, The Jewish Cowboy!

As the young man opened the cards, he stared to well up a bit. He could not believe that these wealthy, powerful people, with so much responsibilities and obligations would take time out of their busy day to mail, heck, to even think about his birthday! He got cards from Sam, Father Jo, the senator and they were all written in! He couldn’t wait to get to the CEO’s birthday card (if in fact the CEO remembered.)The young man was beginning to understand some of the unwritten commandments of success. One of the biggest is that before you can receive, you must give! Yes, he thought, to lead is to serve! He knew that if he went to the CEO (who did send the young man a lovely, motivational birthday card, though the young man didn’t know at this time) and acted surprised at the birthday cards, the CEO would marveled at the young man’s surprise! The CEO would have appreciated the young man’s emotion and at the same time would have dismissed it because the thought of sending out the cards was the nature to these people. Yes, he was beginning to understand! But, there was no card from the CEO!

The other cards, some funny, some serious all had the same effect on the young man, they anchored the notion that what he experienced a year ago was not simply an academic exercise, but a life altering set of events.

The young man thought about this for hours and caused him to sleep late that night. One thing that he wondered about was why the CEO did not send him a card. All of the people that he (the CEO) supposedly mentored over the years did, but the CEO did not!

The young man’s mother was proud of him, very proud.

The next day, which was Thursday, in his office at the corporation was an envelope on his desk with his name hand written in deep, bold script made from a fountain pen on the front. Inside was a hand written note from the CEO which read:

Greetings (and Happy Birthday!),

I would like to see you in my office on Friday morning at 7:30 AM sharp!

We have some things to discuss.

I look forward to your visit.

Well, the young man thought, I guess tomorrow morning I will get my greeting from my boss.

Chapter One - Tangible and Intangible Goals – Before You Can Have More You Gotta’ Become More!

The young man was sitting in the CEO’s office at 7:15. Mary was already there and so was the CEO, but his door was closed.

The young man took notice of Mary. She was a woman in her mid-sixties; very well groomed, perfectly organized and extremely intelligent. He was sure that if she chose a different path in life that she could have held the guiding chains of corporate America. His thoughts revolved around the concept of ‘interdependence.’ Basically, he thought that we all rely on each other, some to a higher degree than others, but the reliance factor was there.

Mary asked the young man if he would like something to drink and he graciously declined as he had his fill of coffee for the day.

As he sat waiting for the CEO, the young man mused about the past year. The strides that he made in both his personal and professional life has been nothing shy of amazing. Certainly, he was on his way, even without the expert tutelage of the CEO and his minion of goal setting successful professionals. What the CEO did was to expedite the success process through the catalyst of goal setting.

Since his special weekend, the young man set some very important, strenuous, yet reachable goals. The residue of reaching these goals was focus, energy and a much broader sense of enthusiasm, motivation and concentration. Everyone around him noticed his new found single-mindedness and equanimity. Most people liked what they saw and wanted to emulate his behavior. While some, especially his friends and social acquaintances did not! They simply could not calculate his change in behavior and metabolize that change. They eschewed further situations with the young man under the guise of being busy or having alternate commitments.

The young man was cognizant of this radical change in the behavior of his friends and surmised that it had to do with his change in behavior to a more goal centric, success minded individual. But what flummoxed him was the fact that, although his behavior became more focused, he was the same likeable person that he always was. He never put on the airs or acted in any way aloof. Yet they avoided him!

What could their reason be? Were they jealous or small minded? Or unable to break out of their mental model? Whatever! He did know that it was not his problem, but theirs. The young man would have loved to assist them the way that the CEO’s team had assisted him, but they simply did not want to change. The young man also noticed that most of