Last week, I was a guest instructor on the Train Your Brain Weekly Call.  I was covering the topic of Managing Rapid Success and one of the first questions Jana asked me was what was my definition of success.  I replied that I currently subscribe to Earl Nightingale’s definition that Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal (or something to that effect).

We went on to discuss that the reason I prefer that definition is because there is no finish line.  It always leaves me striving to achieve more, and it inspires me to keep pushing to not just hit my goals, but to blow past them.  Turns out, I’m in decent company…  Today, I found this post talking about Bruce Lee‘s vision of what a goal is.  In case you don’t want to click through, here’s his quote,

Way to go, Bruce!

What’s interesting (to me) is that one other thing we discussed on the call was the concept of a white belt being the most dangerous of the levels of martial arts.  Most folks think that the 9th Degree Black Belt is the most dangerous.  I totally disagree.  I think it’s the white belt.  It’s the person who has just enough knowledge that they think they know it all.  Kind of like a sophomore in High School, they have just enough knowledge to provide a false sense of confidence which in turn makes them dangerous.  The good news is that in Martial Arts, there is a process that gets followed in order to achieve progress.  Set a goal, follow a plan and eventually you will get there.  And then maybe you don’t.

What’s my point in all this?  EVERYONE has that “just enough information to make you dangerous” aspect of their life.  Maybe it is in finances.  Maybe it is in relationships.  Maybe it has to do with your professional life.  Find out where you are and more importantly, set a goal for where you want to be.  Even if you don’t hit it right away, just like Bruce says, at least you’ll have something to aim at.

What are you aiming for in 2013?  I’d love to hear from you.  Oh, and please don’t bully the Freshmen.