I was hoping to find an impetus that would inspire me to write.

I don't easily come up with subject matter that is thought-provoking or informative but I think that I've accomplished both in this post.

Please let me know if you feel differently.

Yesterday, I received an email in response to a statement that I made in a previous post that I wrote called 'Five Key Elements Of A Personal Plan When Changing Careers' where I said "Making a career change without a personal plan is like making a conscious decision to skydive without a parachute."

The email went on to suggest that according to a recent Bellevue University study many Americans are not where they want to be in life and backed up that claim with these four statistics that regardless of your current situation, are compelling to say the least.

  • 40 percent of adults across the nation said they are not where they want to be in life.
  • 31.8 percent say they thought they would have achieved more by now.
  • 60 percent of the population can't put a finger on exactly what's holding them back from achieving their goals.
  • 1 in 3 adults across the nation admit they don't currently have – or don't know if they have – the level of education and skills required to achieve their life goals.

The second reason that prompted this post was based on an article that I read on Addicted2Success called 'You are Where You Deserve To Be….Here's Why!' written by Chad Howse.

Here is an excerpt from Chad's article that caused me to pause and let the magnitude of his statement sink in. "We're as successful as we deserve to be because we've put in the amount of work that determines the amount of success we've achieved. We've also risked and sacrificed what is necessary to be where we are. No more successful, and no less successful than we are right now…Success, no matter how you define it isn't a right. It's something that has to be earned."

I believe that most of the angst and confusion that many of us have about our personal and professional future can be calmed and clarified through the development of a personal plan that includes goals and an associated course of action that will eventually lead us to our desired destination.

Having a plan gives us a clearer understanding of what we want from life that includes specific actions and timelines that will move us closer to our objective, an understanding of what pitfalls we may face along the way, and something to lift us up every day, week, month, and year.

Have you taken the necessary steps to create a plan to get you to where you want to go or will you be content as one of the 60 percent of the population who can't put a finger on exactly what's holding you back from achieving your goals?

"You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight."- Jim Rohn

The Importance of Setting Goals is just one of the areas addressed in my new educational workshop for hotel sales managers called 'Mapping the Course'.

Tom Costello is the CEO and Managing Director of iGroupAdvisors, a performance improvement consulting firm dedicated to helping hotels and their sales managers grow their business and generate more revenue. Connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+, or contact him by email at [email protected].

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