January 2016

If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.

- Yogi Berra

Are you spinning your wheels?  Only dreaming instead of also doing?  Taking decades to do what can be done in months?  If so, you are not alone.  A lot of folks, including inventors, let life pass them by.  Life is too precious for that.

Setting goals can help you live a full and exciting life, which includes bringing your inventions to market.  Richard McVicker (member of the Indiana Inventors Association for more than 40 years, patent illustrator at Barnes & Thornburg LLP for 49 years, and patent-holding inventor for 55 years) told us how.  Try it; you’ll like it.

A goal is a specific, attainable, and major accomplishment that you crave with your whole being.  Want it so badly that you imagine it with all of your senses.  Figure out: what you want and when you want it; who will benefit from it; and what you will do and when you will do it to achieve your goal.  Think of goals as pacts with yourself.

Personal—strongly motivated by your inner self; very disappointing if not attained

Attainable—something you can really accomplish within from 5 to 10 years

Challenging—something big that requires a major effort from you and help from others

Tangible—create and keep reminders of how the result will look, feel, smell, taste, and sound; write the goal on paper and share it so others can help you and hold you accountable

Specific—plan the details of who, what, when, where, why, and how

Make attaining your goals enjoyable by harmonizing them with the rest of your life.

Identity—See yourself as a winner, as someone who persists until you accomplish what you set out to do.

Family—Involve, rather than neglect, your family.  Find and share aspects of your goal that interest members of your family.

Social—Build and lead strong teams that help you achieve your goal.

Spiritual— Set a goal that matters to you, that makes you feel worthwhile to some person, cause, ideal, or worldview.

Education—Use your goal to help you learn something new every day and to grow as a person.  Learn from your mistakes and learn to adapt your goals to changes in your life.

Finances—Be realistic and budget expenses in line with the rest of your life.  Can you design the results of your goals, or how you achieve them, to help people in need?

Health— Minimize stress by making your goal fun to achieve.  Breaking a goal into subgoals that you work on for as little as 15 minutes each day will lead to big results.  Can you exercise while thinking of solutions to problems or make a balanced diet part of your goal?

Setting and working toward a goal makes you strong.  Concentrating your efforts on something that matters a lot to you:

Gives you energy and a positive attitude;

Drives away fear of failure;

Empowers you to persist through the distractions and setbacks that life brings;

Helps you turn a wish into reality; and

Makes your decisions easier.

Believe it—goals can improve your life!

Thank you for sharing your insights with us, Mr. McVicker!