Long time reader, commenter and friend Paty conducted this quasi-interview with me.  With her permission, the exchange has been posted below.

Paty:  First of all, have you always been [goal orientated]?  If not, what was your motivation to change?

Clifford:  To be honest I’ve never considered myself a goal orientated person.  I just do stuff.  My mom confirmed that I have always this way, even as a kid.  Maybe it was the environment I grew up in . . . who knows?

Is it important to have goals?  I believe so.  If you want to get somewhere, knowing the destination is the first step.

Paty:  Do you have a system you like to follow?  If so what is it?

Clifford:  Many books about setting goals and achieving them exist.  How many have helped me?  Zero.  That’s not to say the methods don’t work.  Some talk about making lists, others use SMART, some employ “pin the tail on the donkey” method . . .

My “system” starts with motivation.  If you’re really not motivated to do something, then it doesn’t matter what technique or system is applied.  The goal or objective is not going to get realized.

So what is it that motivates someone?  Motivation is usually tied to some emotional need.  Love, hate, fear, joy, sadness etc are all emotional needs that require something.  Motivation is that drive to address one of these emotional needs.  Marking people understand this and play on these emotions.  This in turn motivates us to buy a product or service.

Once that motivation is present, then a simple “To Do” list is created.  For simplicity, my first list answers the question: “What do I need to do to get started?”.  Then those tasks are outlined.  Sometimes my lists reach 30 or 40 items.  Do I try to accomplish all items in one day?  Absolutely not.  The quickest path to burnout is doing everything, all at once.  My goal is to complete between 5 and 10 items.  If you focused on simply completing five small items per day, you’d be amazed at your progress after a week.

What defines a small item?  Something consuming maybe 5 minutes.  If you don’t think a lot can be done in five minutes, time yourself reading this:  ”Yes, I’m interested in purchasing a duplex.  Could you research the MLS and send me a listing that matches XYZ criteria at X to Y price range?  Thanks!”

My daily schedule is blocked out like this:

• 9 am to 10 am - All phone calls are made during this window.
• 11 am to 1 pm - Errands are run.  If my physical presence is required, I go during this time.
• 4 pm to 6 pm - Work on other projects.

That’s it.  After 6 p.m., I’m usually in the kitchen making some kind of balsamic red-wine reduction.

While my schedule may sound overboard, I realize that certain times of the day need to be blocked out for activities.  If that time isn’t blocked out, then I keep putting stuff off for later.  Putting something off is a great way not to accomplish something.

Admittedly my system is rather simplistic.  But it works.  My greatest challenge is getting started.

Part 2 will follow tomorrow.

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