Focus, \'can do\' attitude and motivation are key variables to achieve effective outcomes.

1. Never, never, never give in
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the spring of hope; it was the
winter of despair……..” are some of the opening lines from Dickens ‘A Tale of Two
Cities’. Historically, times have always been dialectical in journey but it has not deterred
ordinary individuals delivering extraordinary success to themselves and to society. Today
the US media and people keep reiterating that recession is gripping the economy and talk
of the emerging clouds of war. There is nothing unusual about such fears dictating a
major component of our thought process and behavior. Mark Twain once said,
“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” What can we
do about this “weather of recession and war-clouds”?
I am reminded of an incident about Sir Winston Churchill, the former prime minister of
England, who provided an excellent example of determination. He was invited to speak
in his later years at the British prep school he attended. The headmaster told the students,
“This is an historic moment. Churchill is the greatest speaker in the English language.
Write down everything he says. He will make an unforgettable speech!” When Churchill
walked out to give his speech, he peered into the audience and said, “Never give in.
Never, never, never give in!” With those words, Churchill sat down. The students were
stunned…and disappointed. These words, however, are the only words those students
needed, and they are the only words we need to face today’s challenges.
With all the technological innovations, scientific advances and knowledge explosion, we
have failed to find answers to fears and phobias that every now and then control our
minds and behavior thus eluding the pleasures of human happiness that we deserve from
the environmental breakthroughs. To overcome these barriers all our efforts need to be
directed to exploring and utilizing the Universe Within. In other words, we will have to
look inwards and develop the potential of the Universe Within. The mantra to enter and
excel in the Universe lies in self-directed Goal Setting Process, which helps you to take
charge of your life. This Process works at 5 levels and can be practiced by everybody.
This is how it can be developed:
Level One – The average individual has immense qualities of aptitudes, skills ideas,
intelligence and effort but they seem to be jumbled up and pulling in different directions.
Such individuals are pulled in circles or keep seesawing back and forth without getting
anywhere. Their confused direction does not take them to any meaningful or desired
results even though they may be extraordinary individuals in any one or more of the
qualities. The conflicting directions dampen the outcome of competencies. The lack of
effective results increasingly starts affecting their self-esteem, which in turn
progressively weakens them to face the challenges around them. How cans a person
without direction change? Everyone can crystallize his thinking and change, by making
a GOAL!
Level Two - You have often heard this – ‘Plan your work and work your plan’. ‘You
can’t get where you are going unless you know where you are going.’ You have heard
these many times but in isolated situations: at seminars, at conventions, by parents, at

2. schools but too infrequently repeated to become a part of your thinking or attitude. So
what action is required to motivate a person to the fullest potential? Now that you have
crystallized where you are going and are clearer of your direction and Goal, you start
making a PLAN to move towards that Goal by finding alternatives to various possible
obstacles you are likely to face on this journey. You define target dates to the PLANNED
steps and methods to track the progression of the steps. You begin to accept the fact that
success demands a price – that your Goal can only be reached on purpose and not by
accident, and that it can only be reached with well-tuned and realistic PLANS!
Level Three – As your goal, which was a bit vague earlier gets clearer with specific
action steps in your plan, your journey starts becoming crystal clear now. You can see it!
It’s like looking through a bunch of drainage pipes lying every which way along the road.
You can’t see too clearly at first, but as you straighten them and line them up, you can
clearly see the pattern. Everything starts falling in place. It starts to fire up your
enthusiasm. And you begin to have desire… DESIRE. …desire that burns!
Level Four – when you have chosen Goal, and you can see it, taste it, visualize it, you
realize that Life suddenly becomes more abundant. The burning desire that builds along
with each clarity comes as remarkable revelation. You can go to a party and talk to
people; you go to business conferences and you talk to more people. You talk to friends,
relatives, and customers, anyone who comes your way and realize not one out of 20 know
where they want to go? You ask someone how much he wants to make and he says
‘More’. You ask another what he wants to achieve, and he says, ‘I dun no’. As you begin
to compare yourself with other’s responses, you begin to realize ‘I’ve got laser focus and
desire of goals and plans, well over others’ and you are easily filled with SUPREME
CONFIDENCE.
Level Five - And that confidence, connected to desire, held together by that plan,
propels you to that goal. Now who among you, with this kind of accomplishment –
seeing your goal, having a plan, wanting it with all your heart and passion plus a supreme
confidence in yourself, would sit down and quit? The chances are, nobody will! So what
do you have now? DETERMINATION!
That, in short, is the Goal Setting Process.
At this stage many of you may still wonder “Can I use this Process in my life?’ Yes!
Every individual can!
Mohan Kapur
SPARC Group
can be contacted at : mohan_kapur@hotmail.com
or 678 357 0055