Many people have goals but lack intensity and commitment toward those goals. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, they easily get thrown off course. On his Achieve-IT blog, Brad Isaac lists six steps that we too often take that guarantee we'll fail in achieving our goals. Sidestep these pitfalls, and you heighten the odds of success:

• Make your goals vague or difficult to visualize. When setting goals, use adjectives such as "more" and "some," or other wishy-washy phrases instead of stark definitive terms. Or continually change your mind on your goals.



• Think and speak negatively about your goals. Tepidly set them out, but also backtrack in the next breath. You want a promotion, but protect yourself by telling others, "I can't get a promotion. It's too hard to take on more responsibility."



• Avoid planning incremental steps. Express your goal as a general wish, rather than planning the steps that it will take to get there.



• Don't do -- talk. Because talk is easier than action, fill up your day with socializing, talking about all the things you might do some day (if you had the time).



• Wait until you're motivated. Working towards a goal can be difficult, so instead wait until the motivation magically arrives. At least you have the peace of mind that comes from knowing someday you might do something.



• Don't set a date for achieving the goal. Since setting a date would create pressure, avoid it -- and the progress that might be sparked by a deadline.

Want to achieve a goal? Avoid those failing steps.

Some people will never walk away from a sale. But Ed Brodow, in his book Negotiation Boot Camp, says that you should always be willing to walk away because if you are too anxious for a deal you lose your ability to avoid unreasonable demands from the other side.

Walking away can force the other person to change his position. Walking away demonstrates your commitment to your position or product, and indicates you have given all the concessions you are prepared to give. Walking away when you are selling can help the other party sell your position to their boss.

He recalls receiving a call from the CEO of a high-tech firm, who indicated he was looking for a keynote speaker for a conference. "You have three minutes to tell me why I should hire you," the CEO said. Something about his brusque manner irritated Brodow, who said he was busy and didn't think he was the right speaker anyway. The CEO immediately went from curt to pleading.

"I am not saying that you should always walk away from a sale. But if you don't even consider the option of walking away from the negotiation, you may be inclined to cave into the buyer's demands simply to make a deal. You must be willing to say, 'next!' or your customer will sense your uncertainty," he says.

The signal-to-noise ratio, common to radio and electronic communications, can be borrowed to evaluate your marketing and presentations. The ratio measures irrelevant information in a display. You want the highest signal-to-noise ratio, whether you are making a PowerPoint presentation or developing a newspaper ad.

In his Presentation Zen blog, Garr Reynolds says your message can be degraded by noise when you select inappropriate charts, use ambiguous labels and icons, or unnecessarily emphasize items such as lines, shapes and symbols that do not play a key role in support of the message. "In other words, if the item can be removed without compromising function, then strong consideration should be given to minimizing the element or removing it altogether. For example, lines in grids or tables can often be made quite thin, lightened, or even removed. And footers and logos, etc. can usually be removed with good results," he says.

Many companies these days hold daily huddles, in which all employees come together for a brief meeting in which they share what's on the top of their agenda. "Daily huddles are too streamlined to irk even hard-core meeting grouches. They last no more than 15 minutes. They start on time," Leigh Buchanan writes in Inc.

Problem solving is forbidden, left for other forums. Beyond that, however, the meetings are endlessly customizable. At Healthcareseeker.com the meetings are held not at the start of the day but at 11:45 a.m., since people are always hungry and the session doesn't drag on. Citizant consulting goes for early in the day -- 8:43 a.m., exactly. "The odd time gets people thinking in increments of minutes and subtly influences the meetings' pace," advises CEO Raymond Roberts.

• Ten ways to make a tough decision: 1. Take time out. 2. Think: Is it right for your company? 3. Consider those who will be affected. 4. Believe in yourself. 5. Do your research. 6. Focus. 7. Stick to your guns. 8. Be prepared for fallout. 9: Remember: It can only make you stronger. 10. Don't repeat your mistakes.
  (Source: Management Today)



• One conversation can change your life, be it a chat with a mentor or sharing your feelings with a colleague. So the next time someone invites you to a coffee, take the time to join them -- and open your heart to their words, allowing yourself to be changed.
  (Source: Robin Sharma's blog)



• If readers find something they like on your home page, is it clear what they should do next? Web writer Nick Usborne says your site must make clear what is the next step, perhaps even with a link labelled with those words or certainly a clearly delineated primary link rather than a jumble of secondary links. "You need to make it blindingly obvious what the reader should do next," he advises.
  (Source: MarketingProfs.com)



• Don't feel guilty if you don't reply to every e-mail. If it doesn't need a reply or is a waste of your time, move on, and delete. You already did the writer a favour by reading.
  (Source: Radical Hop blog)



• Quantity over quality, or quality over quantity? That choice faces us every day and chief technology officer Alexander (Skip) Angel says you -- and your boss, and your company in general -- must choose to focus on quality, not quantity. Eliminate things that divert you from the truly important.
  (Source: Random Thoughts Of A CTO blog)

I'll assume that Jon Stewart or Rick Mercer aren't available on your budget. So instead, try playing with the content you address rather than looking for entertaining pyrotechnics. There is no reason, for example, that every year must repeat the same agenda as the previous year, with, say, a ritual of strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats analysis followed by a brainstorming of new ideas to pursue. Broad strategy should be built for more than one year, and doesn't have to be reformulated every year.

Instead, consider taking on one issue in depth for a change. If there's an element of strategy, marketing or operations that is particularly daunting, focus just on it. Or address some of the biggest contradictions in your organization -- where do rhetoric and reality diverge the furthest? Ask yourself what are the five biggest irritants in your organization and how can you eliminate them? What are the ten best ways to energize staff, or improve recruiting? Be creative: Brainstorm now about how to jazz up your brainstorming session in January.

An annual strategy session is useful, bringing everyone together to move away from the nitty-gritty and build bonds. But if it's same-old, same-old, it will just irritate everyone, since most of us don't have time to waste. But there are many novel paths you can take in your strategy session that will make it fruitful beyond repeating last year's agenda (or blowing the budget on Jon Stewart or Rick Mercer).

We are always learning from our clients and thought we'd pass along a tip that came up in the course of a recent project. Managers often struggle with how to frame a planning priority without discouraging input and buy-in from staff. One way is to present the priority in the form of a question.

For example, rather than stating that senior management has decided internal communications will be the new priority, ask staff what changes in communications practices would help the team function more effectively. Instead of announcing to staff that next year's priority will be to develop new services, try asking them what new services would best deliver a sustainable increase in revenue. This direction-as-question approach defines the priority but still invites input. Recently we have seen that technique work with great effect, and perhaps you can make good use of it too.

As we close out our seventh year of the 8020Info Water Cooler, we want to send out heartfelt thanks and best wishes to our readers, clients, associates and friends. It has been a record year for us, with more than 50 projects taking us from Halifax to Kelowna, from the City of Kawartha Lakes to Greater Madawaska, from our base in Kingston to communities throughout the great region of Eastern Ontario. May you too have wonderful prospects in the New Year and a safe and happy holiday season.