Article

What’s The Difference Between A BUCKET LIST Item & A PERSONAL STANDARD?

Topic: MotivationPublished May 6, 2011

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I believe there is a really simple difference between a Personal Standard and something that goes on your Bucket List.rnSee, a Personal Standard is the bar you set for yourself to never drop below. It’s your line-in-the-sand that you never cross and if you do, you are the first one to get pissed-off at yourself. These are the general ways that you have decided to conduct yourself in the world. These are not goals, just ways of being. Make sense?rnCommonly these ‘ways of being’ will be formed from your personal values. Values are the foundation that your decisions, behaviors & ultimately your actions are based on. For instance, if you have the value of integrity then you would probably have something like ‘always walk my talk’ as a Personal Standard. Here are 4 examples of Personal Standards: A Personal Standard is ‘get or keep fit’rnA Personal Standard is to ‘be nice to animals’rnA Personal Standard is to ‘lose weight’rnA Personal Standard is to ‘treat all people with respect’ In contrast, your Bucket List items are the specific, measurable, end step to you achieving a goal. As your coach, I’d also go one step further and put a time-frame around ‘when’ you want to cross it off your list. I’d even go a step further and have you get absolute clarity about that end step through visualization….just like a champion athlete! Here are 4 examples of Bucket List items: A Bucket List item is ‘to finish a marathon’rnA Bucket List item is ‘to get involved with an animal rescue group’rnA Bucket List item is ‘to fit into a size of jeans’rnA Bucket List item is ‘to help out at a Soup Kitchen at Xmas time’ Homework: Grab a pen & paper and write the Personal Standards that you are going to set for yourself. The ‘ways of being’ that you will NOT compromise on, no matter what the situation. Next, review your Bucket List and question IF you have any Personal Standards on there. If you have, take them off and put them on your Personal Standards page OR re-work the current Bucket List item into something more specific.