I was privileged to attend a leadership summit here in Danville, CA over the weekend that drew about 1,500 people from Northern California and beyond.  The event was put on by a local job-seeker networking group, but went far beyond just a “hang-in-there” message for those caught in the middle of this economic crisis. 

It was especially fun given that I was able to meet up with a friend and colleague who I have (until now) only known as a voice on the other end of our monthly teleconferences.   Skip Weisman was one of the keynote speakers and is a member of my network of business development consultants and coaches.  We all share similar philosophies and use monthly calls to share ideas and support one another.

A few take-aways from Skip and the other top-shelf speakers at the event:

Goals
In order to determine your best action NOW, you have to know what goal you are striving for (sounds a lot like my April 28th post — it’s good to know I’m not alone in calling out this priority).

Commitment
Getting “there” takes sacrifice and commitment.  Some great imagery of this came from Paul Kingsman’s talk.  As an olympic medalist in the 200M backstroke, he knows a lot about commitment to a vision.  Imagine having your moment of truth (whatever that is in your business: closing the deal, delivering the product, solving the problem) closely watched by 12,000 screaming fans…all while you go about your craft wearing a Speedo bathing suit!  You can learn more about Paul at his web site.

Action
Getting from where you are now to where you want to be won’t happen by itself.  In Paul’s case it took a lot of sweat and toil — that just can’t be avoided in pursuit of the goal that he set for himself.  For most of us, however, the actions that achieving our goals will require are less about sweat and more about focus.

Of course, the devil is in the details.  There are many great systems and methodologies for helping you reach your goals.  You will notice that they all boil down to a 3-step process. 

1. Set the vision of what you intend to accomplish and keep that vision present in your daily routine so you don’t lose sight.
2. Commit yourself to accomplishing that vision, no matter what it takes.  Obstacles become just tests of your resolve and creativity, incapable of altering the end result you seek.
3. Organize and prioritize your actions, taking care to truly focus on the ones that will get you closer to your vision (not the ones that constantly crop up and are really priorities for other people).

Want a system to help you set goals and organize your actions?  Check out Skip’s End Procrastination NOW program.  He has put together a great system.  Also, you’ll want to check out and bookmark his blog www.ChampionOrganizations.com – a great resource.