Every leader has dreams.  Most of us have had dreams since we were children.  We had dreams of who we wanted to be – a fireman, a policeman, a soldier, the President of United States, a CIA spy, or, maybe, rich.  Whatever it was and whatever it still may be, dreams can come true.  In order to make them a reality, you have to think of them as something different than dreams – goals, or, specifically, long-term goals.

Goals

I once told a friend, “All your dreams can be realized with the mere implementation of incremental goals.”  In college, most of us learned about creating long-term and short-term goals.  You can have short-term goals without long-term goals, but, generally, you cannot have long-term goals without short-term goals.  Short-term goals are the steps on the path to long-term goals and planning is the key to the gateway to that path.

Leadership quote from Lester R. Bittel:
“Good plans shape good decisions. That’s why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.”

Plans

Creating a plan lets you know what to do and when to do it.  Planning creates tasks for every day and detailed plans even create tasks for every minute and every hour.  Planning and tasks keep you focused and direct your effort to accomplish the short-term goals.  Once you have reached the short-term goal, your planning drives you past it to the next short-term goal.  If you have created a good plan that accounts for problems, stumbling blocks, then you can work your way around those obstacles on the path toward your long-term goals.

Decisions

The better your plan is, the better your decisions will be.  Planning requires you to think about the many facets of a task and objectives (short-term goals).  When you plan, you should thoroughly consider the points of who, what, when, where, why, and how, and, also, realize that each may have multiple sub-points.  When you plan, then when you encounter a decision point, you have the knowledge and the considerations to guide your decisions.

Remember: “All your dreams can be realized with the mere implementation of incremental goals.” ~Jonathan Frye

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I had one of these days last week and the jet lag is still a problem.  I tried to function as best as I could, but it seems everything would still go wrong.  And then, my girlfriend calls.  She is a very beautiful lady, a wonderful person to know and a great person to be around.

After we finished her purpose for the call, I had let out some steam.  I said, “I have to tell you something; I am having an incredibly bad day.”  And she listened, she asked me what happened, and she was there for me.

We all need a friend at times of need.  Someone who will listen to us, someone who will care about us, and someone who make us think about what is going bad and good.

Of course, the best way to find and have someone like this is to be someone like this.

Today’s quote:
“If you’re going to have friends, you first have to be a friend.”

Leaders require a great friend at times when their leadership is tested the most.  But to find someone who will be that great friend for you, you first need to be that great friend to them.

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