Setting Goals, Career Change and Escaping The 44-Hour Work Week.

Setting Goals, Career Change and Escaping The 44-Hour Work Week.
by Mark McClure
http://www.goalcreationmaps.com

Is Goal Setting compatible with the ideas in Tim Ferris's bestseller on Lifestyle design, "The 4-Hour Work Week" ? As with most self-help best sellers it has a catchy 4-letter system ('DEAL') to simplify the principles! (Actually, 'DEAL' is a sound strategy.) This article looks at four important ideas from the book for people ultimately looking to get out of the corporate rat race. The first goal is to escape the illustrious cubicle farm so beloved of big corporations.

1- Self-Belief
Since many of Tim's readers are likely technology literate Gen X or Y folks who are looking down the barrels of an ongoing (US) housing price bubble and the social security time bomb of massive Boomer retirement, it is timely that he is 'preaching' to the converted when he implies that saving for the 'promised' good times of tomorrow-land is not the deal it once was.

Mr. Ferriss doesn't discount the need for responsible personal financial planning. Just the opposite! His words tell us that it is their personal beliefs which keep many people from realizing their potential - and having some fun doing it! They cannot fathom how it is at all possible to take a number of short-term retirements during their 'biggest earning' years.

The fundamental lesson here is that of reframing your beliefs concerning what is attainable for you. Tim calls this perspective "The New Rich" (NR) and for him it is now a perfectly normal way to live. However, to a cubicle wage slave toiling away for 60 plus hours a week, it probably seems plain crazy. But with some active preparation and goal setting, the probability increases of it working for more of us too, albeit initially in baby-steps.

2- Re-Planning Retirement
Tim reckons the current ideas about slaving away at a JOB for the best (physically and mentally) 40 plus years of your life and then retiring, is now antiquated. More likely is the reality that people will live long lives but not be able to afford "permanent retirement" and also maintain a decent standard of living i.e. they will still need to work anyway. If that's the case then it makes more sense to find meaningful work while we are in our prime years and break it up with extended "mini-retirements".

For salaried employees with typically just 10-20 days annual leave, this is again a difficult concept to buy into. But there are major shifts underway in how work gets done in the global economy (e.g. the teleworking opportunities available via always-on Internet access) which are dissolving the protection of distance for many job functions. Tim's recommendation is to come up with an image of your ideal work life and then focus on win-win ways of demonstrating the productivity improvements this will inevitably deliver.

3- Build Up Your Strengths
In some business circles it is accepted wisdom to round out your skill set by brushing up your weaker areas. However it can be a frustrating experience to focus on such skills when the ability is not there in the first place to justify the time and effort for the improvements seen.

So what would cause you to concentrate on your strengths and align your goals in a 'New Rich' direction? Tim reckons it's not just a quest for happiness - and contends that the fundamental motivation is "excitement". You are in your element when you find yourself doing many of those exciting things you have been putting off and off for later - or perhaps forever.

4- Build a Dreamline
Tim uses an interesting method he calls 'dreamlining' to come up with enthusing visions for the near term - he is not at all into long term goal setting because of the multiple unknowns arising in the future.

His system for dreamlines is designed to get you into action as quickly as possible. NOT taking action is what, logically enough, kills most peoples' dreams stone dead.

The 'D' and 'E' sections of DEAL in Tim's book are for people in the planning stages of jettisoning their daily attachment to the cubicle farm. Tim understands that his readers bring a wide range of personal and financial constraints on this self-empowering road trip. Easy does it!

The second part of the book is for those who have already committed to the goal of living a 4-hour work week - or as close to it as they can get! For these people Tim explains his approach to constructing multiple passive income streams based around an ecommerce Internet business model.

Dumb Goal Setting for Smart People! Find out how in my free Goal Creation Report:
http://www.goalcreationmaps.com

Goal Setting Mark McClure is Asia's leading change-the-game career coach and a goal setting mentor.

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