Hi everyone,

Happy Easter!  I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend.  As a professor this is a busy time of year, and this year is likely the busiest I’ve ever had.  Larger class sizes and an overload contract means I’m spending all my free time marking.  I’ll move away from marking to share some of the favorite links I’ve found recently on the web.

1. Learn how to “Manage Email Like an Expert” at Dumb Little Man.

2. Scientific proof for something that you’ve likely always known: “Bad Bosses are Killers“.

3. Zen Habits shares about “How to Live a Life of Gratitude“.

4. Seth Godin shares a wonderful short post about goals.

5. Finally, get inspired with this passionate speech by Jimmy V:

Enjoy, and have a great day!

Danny Gamache

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Hello everyone,

It feels great to be back in the flow of writing for this blog.  Today’s links are a collection of great links to help you reach your goals more quickly.

1. Alex Shalman writes about how to Set Goals With the End in Mind.

2. Learn how to use Benchmarks to reach success from Pick The Brain.

3. Zen Habits shares 7 Tips to Achieve More.

4. Seth Godin suggests that you SPRINT! towards goals!

5. Scott H Young says that you should Say Hi.

Enjoy these, and have a great week!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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Photo by Slopjop

As we end 2008 and start 2009 it is natural that we should be taking time to set goals.  Last week, I shared about the concept of setting shorter goals.  In that article, I shared how you can improve your goal setting and achievement by setting goals for either three month or four month periods.

As a professor, the four month goal setting period works perfectly because of the natural flows of the school year.  The first four months include a busy semester.  This semester, I’m teaching an extra class than normal.

The second four month period is the summer months.  During this time, I do not have classes to teach.  Instead there is time for increased study, research and writing.  My wife and I are also expecting our first child near the start of this four month period, so there will be many life changes to consider when setting goals for this time period.

The third four month period is again a teaching semester, with a different course load and different set of obligations. It is because of this natural life separation that I am setting goals for a four month period (rather than quarterly goals that are common in the corporate world).

I share my goals with you for several reasons:

• public accountability is always valuable when focusing on goals
• you can see the format I use, and the types of goals that I set
• you can hold me accountable to my goals
• you can get some ideas for goals of your own
• you can get to know me a little better

Be sure to share some of your goals in the comments below.

Here are some of my goals by category.  I have been intentionally vague on a few numbers that are rather personal (particularly financial goals). I do have specific numbers for these set in my goals.

Teaching/ Professor

• finish academic article and submit to peer-reviewed journal
• develop PowerPoint presentations for Human Resource Management course
• integrate more illustrations/videos into Quantitative Methods course

Success Professor Blog

• publish 6 guest posts per month
• increase to a total of 1500 RSS subscribers (approximately double current)
• average 4000+ visitors per month during period

Home Business Affiliate Program

• accept 12 new affiliate partners to work with
• total growth of 50%

Financial Goals

• put as much as possible on to retirement plan by Feb. 28
• increase emergency fund

Fitness Goals

• get to target weight (approximately 10 lb. drop)

Personal Development

• read 6 books, including one on writing

Spiritual Growth Goals

• continue role in church leadership
• read Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham

Now that my goals are set, I incorporate them into my weekly planning process. I also review my goals frequently throughout the week, and I will have another goal setting time at the end of the four month period.

What are your goals?  Share a couple of your goals below as a way of publicly declaring what you are going to work towards.

Written by:
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

As we enter 2009, one important step is to review your successes of the previous year.  My wife and I had a wonderful and full 2008 and are looking forward to more in 2009.  Below is a list of some of my important accomplishments and goals that I achieved in 2008.  I share this not to impress you, but rather to give you a picture of the types of things that you too can do!  You can achieve more than you imagined in 2009.

Travel:

• Lived for 4 weeks in Istanbul, Turkey
• Vacationed on Mediterranian in Turkey (article)
• Visited remains of ancient Ephesus & Heirapolis
• Vacationed in Prague, Czech Republic
• Visited Krakow, Poland
• Walked on the Great Wall of China
• Olympic games in Beijing (article)
• Vacationed at Wisconsin Dells with family

Business:

• Had Public Launch of Success Professor blog (article = Lessons From my First Two Months Blogging!)
• Registered domain name, changed hosts, grew audience
• Averaged over 100 visitors a day by December
• Over 750 RSS subscribers
• Grew home business affiliate program by over 30%, even with four months off
• Earned over $10,000 from home business affiliate program

Volunteer:

• Served on leadership team of growing church
• Conducted full audit/update/ turn around church financial data

Work:

• Submitted, had accepted, and presented an academic paper at a professional conference
• Visited Bangladesh and set up student internship program
• Continued blog for my students
• Taught my two largest classes ever
• Grew my program to be the third largest at our school

Personal:

• Lost 14 pounds (article on how I did this coming soon!)
• Paid off 15% of mortgage (article on how I did this coming soon!)
• Paid off student loan
• Read 21 books (see my top 10 books)
• Entered a fishing contest and won 3 of 10 categories
• Saw the musicals: Wicked (article), Cats, and Hairspray
• Caught a Master Angler Carp (prize winning size fish)

Most Important!

• Expecting a baby for end of April!

Top Posts of 2008

10 Easy Steps to Get Started with Twitter
6 Steps to Plan Your Week For Success
Simplify Your Budget
Start Your Day with a Power Hour
You Must Fail – 6 Lessons from Michael Jordon

Thank you all for your support!  Help us start the new year by Stumbling your favorite article, and recommending this blog to your friends!

Happy New Year!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

Like many others, you may use the start of a new year to set goals for what you want to accomplish over the next year. These goals may be business goals, personal goals, or more informal resolutions. If you are like me, you enter the year with a lot of energy and excitement towards reaching those goals, and yet throughout the year many seem to fade out of focus and do not get achieved.

Part of the problem is that although a year is a brief measure of time in the course of our lives, it is often too long to stay focused on achieving our goals.  There can be too many unexpected events that can occur in the course of a year that through us off track and derail us from achieving our goals.

Some people solve this somewhat by breaking down annual goals into monthly goals.  This can certainly be a good step, but it is too easy to let the start of a new month go by without reviewing your goals and set goals for the next month.

To solve these problems, set your goals for a three or four month period.  If you ever follow the stock market, you’ll notice that corporations release quarterly reports.  This allows them to focus on distinct three month periods. The government also releases many economic statistics on a quarterly basis.  You too can take advantage of this premise by breaking your goals down into shorter periods.  By breaking the year into quarters or thirds you gain many advantages:

• you have a clear timeline that is of significant enough length to achieve recognizable and meaningful results
• you will have a better understanding of your schedule
• you should have a good idea about important life events in the upcoming time period that require your attention
• if you get off track on a particular goal you don’t wait until the end of the year to reengage
• you can use the understanding gained in one time period to set better goals for the next time period
• you get three or four points in the year for a recharge session where you are able to review your accomplishments and set new goals (perhaps have a quarterly celebration and/or retreat)

I leave the actual length of these periods up to you, as they should be based around your particular life schedule.  For example, I am setting goals for four month periods this year. For me, the four month time frame connects well with my schedule as a professor.  The first four months represent the first semester, this year with a heavy teaching load.  The second four month period represents the summer time period with a reduced teaching load and more time for research, writing and travel.  The final four moth period represents another semester with a different teaching load and different set of life circumstances.  By breaking the year down into four month periods I am able to focus on goals that are relevant to my life at each particular period of time.

As you go to set your goals here are some reminders to help you set good goals:

• set goals for each important area of your life
• make your goals measurable
• goals should be challenging and yet attainable
• short-term goals should be in alignment with your long-term goals and life purpose or mission

In upcoming posts I will share with you some of my accomplishments from the past year, as well as my goals for the upcoming four month period.  Start working on your goals and be prepared to share a goal or two.

Happy New Year!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
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A few years ago I was at an event where I had the privilege of seeing the “Flying Wallenda’s” and hear their story.  The “Flying Wallenda’s” are a hire wire tight-rope act.  Their performance is breathtaking and scary, even to watch.  One of the things that they shared is an important lesson for life and business as well.  In explaining how they do their tight-rope walking, they shared how they would walk with their focus on something out ahead of them, and they would then move slowly towards that point. They would not look down, not even at the wire.  They would only focus on the one point straight ahead of them – the point they wanted to walk towards.  As trained professionals, they would always get where they were aiming for.

This principle can easily translate into our businesses and the rest of our lives – whatever we focus on is what we will move towards. This is always true, and works clearly in our lives and business.  Where you are today is primarily a result of what you have focused on in the past.  If you focus on failure, chances are that you will fail more than you will succeed.  If you focus on the next step towards your goals, you will move in that direction.

What you focus on also will determine which of your goals you make progress towards. If you focus on how you can be a better parent, then you will make progress towards that goal.  You will leave work in good time and do what it takes to spend time with your children.  If your main focus is advancing in your career then you will likely make progress towards that goal.  You likely will stay late at work, take work home with you, and do what you can to make your boss happy.

This isn’t magic and it isn’t something that happens all at once. It is just good success psychology.  I see this principle all of the time in my job.  As a professor, I interact with a wide variety of students with different goals and maturity levels.  It is clear the ones who focus on the social side of their college experience – they will take the steps towards more social interaction.  What they may neglect is their school work and their marks.  On the other hand, the ones focused on achieving excellence in their studies will likely do well on their assignments.  This doesn’t mean that they will all get A’s.  While many will, some will score B’s and C’s.  Because they focused on pursing excellence, they will no doubt do better than they will otherwise.  They may not be the best, but they will all move towards the goal they are focusing on.

This principle is a major reason why more people are not successful in their business. They get distracted and look away from their goal.  These distractions can come in many forms.  You may get distracted by your work, by your family, or by entertainment.  Certainly many of these can be good things.  They are not things you want to neglect.  You need to ask are they taking you away from focusing on your goal.

The starting point for this process is, of course, your goal.  Before the “Flying Wallenda’s” even stepped on to the tight-rope they picked their goal – the spot they would focus on. They clearly fixed that spot in their mind and in their sight.  In business and in life, you must know your goal and it must be clear.  You must be able to picture your goal in your mind and be able to clearly articulate your goal in an instant.  That way, when you step out into your day you always can have your goal in mind.  By focusing on your goal in this way you will always be doing things to move towards it.  If you look to your goal throughout the day, you will not miss opportunities to move towards your goal.

Once you have your goal you need to step out and move toward your goal. Do this even if there is fear.  I imagine the “Flying Wallenda’s” still have fear when they step out onto the tightrope.  Moving toward every significant goal will require moving past fear and out of your comfort zone.  When moving through fear it is extra important to keep your eye focused clearly on your goal.

Just like the “Flying Wallenda’s” we are moving towards what we focus on, whether we realize it or not. Once you realize this you can move towards goals that YOU chose.

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
Related articles: Six Steps to Plan Your Week for Success

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This article is a follow up on my popular articles Six Ways to Grow Daily and The Success Professor’s Top 10 Book Choices.

Podcasts are a fantastic way of learning, being inspired, and for personal growth.  They are audio presentations that you download and are able to listen to at your convenience, whether on iTunes or on an iPod (or other Mp3 player).  If you don’t currently listen to any podcasts the first step is to download iTunes. After subscribing to podcasts, such as the ones listed below, iTunes will automatically download any recent episodes every time you open the program.  I listen to some podcasts directly on my computer and download others to my iPod.

Each of these podcasts can be found by searching for the title in the iTunes store, or by subscribing at the webpage linked to in the title of each podcast.

1. Inspiring Words of Encouragement – Zig Ziglar

Motivational expert Zig Ziglar offers this excellent podcast.  The subject list is diverse within the framework of living a positive life.  Past episodes include tips on success, lessons for salespeople, and even parenting advice.

This podcast is updated every two weeks, and I never fail to be encouraged, inspired, and to learn from every episode.  The full archives are available for download also, giving you lots of powerful motivational material.

2. Mosaic – A Community of Faith, Love & Hope

One of two churches that make the list.  I hesitate to call it a church.   Partly because it meets in a night club, and partly because it is nothing like most churches you may have experiences with.

Pastor Erwin McManus is an amazing communicator of God’s word.  He does it in a way that communicates the true message of Jesus.  He speaks of important personal development topics such as work, relationships and money.  Be sure to make your way into the archives of past messages.  My favorite messages that I recommend you check out are entitled, “Fear”, “Work”, and “Everyone Gave”.

3. Dave Ramsey Show Podcast

Financial guru Dave Ramsey and author of the Total Money Makeover (one of my top 10 books!) hosts a national daily radio show that talks about your life and your money.  The podcast is a one hour segment (forty minutes because no commercials!) each day from his radio show.

In this segment Ramsey helps people with life and financial issues, guiding listeners to make a change in how they think about money.  His goal is that “you will live like no one else so later you can live like no one else.”

4. The Daily Boost

This is a powerful motivation podcast from motivationtomove.com   The free podcast is generally a once a week motivating message, that comes out of their daily podcast service for “premium” members. Currently they are sharing the top 10 messages of the year with all free subscribers.

The messages are short, about 10 minutes a day, and provide a powerful personal development tip that motivates you to move forward.  I am considering upgrading to the paid premium membership, the podcasts are that good!  At least check out the free version.

5. Duct Tape Marketing Podcast

John Jantsch, author of the book Duct Tape Marketing, hosts this excellent podcast filled with interviews of marketing experts and entrepreneurs.  It is always informative and helps to keep up to date with trends in the world of marketing, particularly social media and new marketing. These podcasts come approximately once a week and there is a fantastic archive of previous episodes.

6. Alex Shalman Podcast

Alex Shalman’s personal development podcast is an outgrowth of his excellent blog.  This podcast is a weekly podcast that interviews people on the topic of personal development.  Alex asks excellent questions that give you an insight into how successful people think about their lives.  This podcast is brand new and that is the only reason it isn’t ranked higher on my list.  If the quality continues as it has in its first few weeks it will quickly move up my ranks.  The podcast is weekly and comes every Monday.

7. Meeting House Podcast

The second church service on our list is led by pastor Bruxy Cavey.  Bruxy is the author of the book “The End of Religion” which might give you a pretty good picture as to why this church is so unique.  They consider The Meeting House as the irreligious church.  Bruxy is an excellent communicator and speaks on many relevant issues of today including topics such male/female differences, the God debate, and even a series called The Secret Revealed.

8. CBC Radio Vinyl Café

Stuart McLean is a master storyteller.  This podcast of his weekly radio show is a fantastic break from the ordinary as it allows you to listen to a master story teller at work. This podcast is a wonderful break for relaxation and stress reduction.  If you are looking for a personal development angle beyond the rest it is this: listening to Stuart will help you become a better storyteller for all of your presentations.

9. Harvard Business Review Ideacast

This weekly podcast from the editors of Harvard Business Review shares interviews with the author of an article in the current issues of the Harvard Business Review.  Listening to this podcast allows you to hear about import research in the world of business and get application ideas directly from the author.

10. Maximum Impact Podcast

This podcast from the leadership experts at Maximum Impact (John Maxwell’s company) provides excellent lessons on leadership.  It is filled with interviews and insights with each episode feeling like a diverse radio show.  Unfortunately they have not released a new issue in several months.  That is the only reason this podcast slipped so low in my rankings.  It is well worth going through the archives and catching up on previous episodes.

I hope you get as much out of these podcasts as I do.  Now it’s your turn.  Did I miss any?  What are your favorite podcasts, and why?  Share in the comments below!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
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Hi everyone,

On Sundays I share important personal growth links from around the web. Here are some recent finds:

1. Neuroscience Marketing shares how to Personalizing Your Communication with Post It Notes and Beyond!

2. Marketing expert Seth Godin shares about the difference between Reacting Responding and Initiating.

3. Read how Gratitude can Change Your Life at Zen Habits.

4. Check out Tim Ferriss’ new TV show Trial By Fire.

5. See why All Financial Matters says We are all Self Employed.

Hot Articles from the archives:

The Principle of Thankfulness

Recent Blog Carnivals the Success Professor appears in:

Personal Development Carnival

Business Books Blog Carnivals

Have a great week!
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache