“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it”

- Michelangelo

OK, so I’ve decided to make a documentary. This is actually quite a huge task when I think about it. What’s my first step? This may seem a little strange but my first step is to set a goal. Why? Because if I want to hit a target I need to know what I’m aiming for in advance. A clearly defined goal will help guide my daily and weekly actions. Goal setting is important. It’s something I’ve never done that well in the past. It’s something I’m going to do this time.

“The strangest secret in the world is that you become what you think about”

- Earl Nightingale

One of the best summaries I’ve read on the value of goal setting came in a weight loss book, surprisingly enough. It’s Tom Venuto’s “Burn the Fat / Feed the Muscle” book. What follows is a brief summary of that critical first chapter. Tom obviously has in mind goal setting with regards to how it effects weight loss. However you can apply goal setting to any aspect of your life.

Here’s what Tom says. Your brain is made up of two parts, The Conscious and Subconscious mind. The conscious mind is what we are aware of. It is our rational, logical, analytical thinking part. The subconscious mind on the other hand does not think at all. Rather it simply takes in orders and carries them out whether the orders make sense or not.

Venuto compares our mind to that of a ship. The conscious mind is the captain and the subconscious is the engine room. The captain can see what is going on and sends orders to the engine room. The engine room simply obeys the commands no matter what. If the captain sends it bad information, for example information that will crash the ship onto some rocks, the engine room will simply obey. It has no choice.

This is why having a goal is so important. Your Captain needs a target so that it can send accurate information to your engine room. Like any ship, you need a destination. My destination is making this film.

In his book “Psycho-Cybernetics” Maxwell Maltz compares the human brain and nervous system to a perfect goal striving mechanism. As you strive towards your goal you may well make mistakes. However with a goal you will be able to make course corrections so that you will eventually hit your target.

So what is my goal? Here it is. My goal is to create a documentary on America. It will answer such questions as what made America great, what Americans and the world take for granted about America, as well as what steps America needs to take to remain a great country. It will be shown at the Politics on Film film festival on May 9, 2010 where it will win the award for Best Documentary.

I’m sure I’ll revise this goal as I move forward. Nonetheless there it is. There’s a lot more to goal setting that this and I’ll have more to say about this I’m sure in future posts.

PS – One thing that is really annoying me is that I don’t seem to be able to format my posts properly with this wordpress theme. I can’t add spaces, italics, bold face, etc. I may have to find a new theme. Very annoying.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Goal Setting 101 (slideshare.net)