What are you willing to settle for one year from now?
One year from now, I will have a fund for the camp that I will start at age 20, God willing. I will make $5 000-$8 000 from March 2020-March 2021. I will have my full driver’s license, a steady job at a nearby farm, and will do landscaping jobs during the summer. (ie, lawn and plant-bed-maintenance.) I will be up-to-date on all my schooling and will have finished my Trig book and gone on to Geometry. I will begin to write manuscripts for several books I plan to publish in a series to complement each other.
What are you willing to settle for on your 18th birthday?
At age 18 I will have begun interning in a trade such as electrics, mechanics, etc. I will take at least one course at a nearby college. I will have completed at least one of the several books I plan to write. I will have $20 000 for my life in addition to the growing camp fund. I will either begin learning or be in the process of learning a second language. I will begin working for a camp with a similar model to the one I hope to have.
What are you willing to settle for at age 25?
At age 25 I will have a successful camp that takes its income from my work in a trade and from the hay crop of the surrounding land. I will have several steady and reliable staff members. I will have the rough drafts of my books ready for publishing, and will have a plan to publish whenever I finish the drafts.
Remember, this is my plan.
“A bad plan is better than no plan. You can always revise a bad plan, or else replace it.”
– Gary North
(Note: Just because I write this now doesn’t mean that I will not revise this plan … but I would be quite satisfied with the above, because it enables me to help teenagers in the faith – not during camp by simply advising them, but by impacting them so that they remember me and the staff as examples.)
Keeping track of your time, completing your checklist all give you a great feeling about your work. Many people are successful this way. But going above and beyond – putting in extra effort, longer hours, more interviews – will put you far ahead of the rest.
Napoleon Hill advocates the strategy of going the extra mile – which means doing more and better work than what you are paid to do – for the attainment of success.
How could I apply the strategy of going the extra mile?
- Before becoming camp staff, I will begin to help out, establishing a positive image that will carry on into my working years.
- As an apprentice, I would do jobs with a good attitude and do more than asked of me.
- As camp owner, I would listen to the kids, their parents, and my employees, being sure that they felt heard, that I understood them, and that they understood my position. Running a camp is largely based on customer service (keeping people happy), but only keeping my target group happy. I won’t have to satisfy 119-year-old ladies who want me to put knitting on the schedule, because my target group will be teenagers.
How can the strategy of going the extra mile help me attain these goals?
- I will become a better worker than my peers – I have a better chance of a positive apprenticeship because people appreciate someone who does a stellar job.
- Although I would be providing extra service for regular pay, the exceptional work would make me deserving of extra pay.
- Campers will have a better experience and will be more prone to trust me, knowing that I actually care about them. Since everyone likes to feel cared-about, especially teens, this equates to more campers.
- It will build in me people skills to get going, discipline for hard work, and courage to keep going.
~ Makaylajesalyn
Yah's Girl 
Awesome! These goals sound amazing! Question though: With all of the Corona Virus and stuff going around are these goals realistic at the moment? Like how will you be able to go to camp, if (or when) it is closed? Landscaping is usually in the summer and hopefully, this all clears up by then 🙂 but if not will these be future goals? How do these goals look at the moment? How do we practice goal setting when its hard to do them?
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That is an absolutely valid question which I have asked myself often since posting this lesson assignment! Camp, for me, is so much more than a ‘training’ for my future camp, and its tearing me apart to think I might not be able to go this year, but … *sigh* … its life, even though it stinks.
It is SUPER hard to practice goalsetting when you don’t even know what new regulations could come forth the next day. Its important for me to take a step back, realize that Yah’s got my life under control, and try to get back into it from there. The important thing is that we approach our life maturely, get excited, and take initiative.
I’d advise to start goalsetting with the little things that are under your control, the personal growth and education-related things. Then – work hard and dream big!
Thanks for commenting!
-Makayla
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Thanks! That was a really nice and clear answer. 🙂 For me sometimes things might show up spontaneously, and change my goals. But- goals are things we want to achieve and even if we don’t achieve all of them, we will ALWAYS achieve at least a few and that’s basically goal setting because if you were to achieve every single goal almost instantly, I feel like the goal wasn’t hard enough. (Is that too confusing?) 😛
Sometimes we set our mind to doing something and we think ‘This is it’ without getting God’s will on it…and then have to take a step back and realize this is truly in his hands.
I agree with what you said! Thanks for answering my questions and reading (maybe) this really long and confusing thing I wrote 🙂 -Ava
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No problemo! I agree … goals are meant to be worked for!
I wish you perseverance in your goal setting (and while I’m at it, I’ll wish myself some perseverance too! ;))
Have an awesome day Ava! You da best!
~Makayla
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This is an excellent essay. You really went the extra mile 😉.
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Thank you so much! 😂
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