Goal Setting Guidelines Interview with
Margaret Murphy, My Future My Self

You'll get goal setting guidelines as they relate to purpose and sense of direction in this Inspiration and Motivation in the Workplace Interview.

I’ve known and respected Margaret since 2002. She’s adored and revered by her clients and colleagues because she's down-to-earth and brings bright insight and intellect to every exchange. I consider her an expert in the goal setting guidelines arena as it relates to purpose.

She's also a great role model, because she lives a life on purpose.

Margaret's background is impressive. She's worked successfully with top level execs at many Fortune 500 companies. Not only does she have goal setting guidelines, purpose and organization development expertise - she’s interesting and fun to be around!

One of the BEST goal setting guidelines: "There is work that is work and there is play that is play; there is play that is work and work that is play. And in only one of these lies happiness. " --- Gelett Burgess

Our interview was focused around the questions asked in my free Wake Up Eager Assessment around the area (Self Direction) goal setting guidelines. Click here to take this free assessment now.

In our interview my questions were focused around gaining insight into the goal setting guidelines Margaret uses and recommends. There are many nuggets in the interview, I captures some of my favorite goal setting guidelines insights in bold.

Enjoy!

Suzie: Tell folks what you’re passionate about in your work, along with what you do and why you do it. Also, tell us about a hobby or interest that you have, outside of work.


Margaret: I made the decision about a dozen years ago to think of my life as one continuous thread – not just think of it that way, but live it that way. I decided to not live a work life and a life life but to integrate my life.

My passions in my life and in work are the same – I love to learn, to discover, to strategize, create, and solve. Being a consultant and coach means I have to do the things I love in order to be successful. On the personal side, I love travel, new people, new experiences. I love figuring out how to win a tennis match. I am a sports nut. The immediacy of competition captivates me.

Suzie: In your experience – how does a lack of a sense of purpose negatively affect lives and careers?


Margaret: First, I am going to answer that backwards. I will answer what I think successful people do. I am pretty sure that not everyone who is successful in life or in a career has actually sat down and written out a purpose, nor even thought about it. Although they could probably do it if a great consultant like you facilitated it! But, I do think they are aware of their values and their strengths and then (whether deliberately or intuitively), they are continually making the changes they need to make to put themselves in situations that are healthy for them.

I think the negative consequences of not doing this range from apathy and disillusionment to burnout and resentment. And I firmly believe there are physical health consequences.

Suzie: Why do you think so many of us struggle with this idea of creating of purpose in our lives?


Margaret: For many of us the word “purpose” implies that we need to have an over-arching, central driving force in our lives – something that implies we are much “larger” than we actually feel on a day to day basis. It can be daunting to try and come up with something so meaningful. Purpose is also something that has a permanence to it – once you state it, you just can’t up and change it or avoid it – you have to live up to it - so we are reluctant to state it, even to ourselves.

Suzie: Most of us know that setting goals can be ‘good’ for us – but so few of us do it. What holds us back? What can we do about it? What goal setting guidelines do you recommend?


Margaret: Goals should be inspirational but unfortunately they can also be something that sets us up for failure. How many of us start our diets or exercise programs over again every Monday?

I think the solution to effectively setting goals varies from person to person. Some people do well with small, achievable, day to day goals. Others need a huge goal, almost a vision, in order to inspire themselves to action. For example, let’s say, you are single but would like to be married. Some people will do better by setting a goal of first joining a singles group, then setting another goal once they have done that. Other people won’t spring into action unless they inspire themselves by setting a goal of “a year from now, I will be married!”

Suzie: Do you believe people can answer the question, “I live on my own terms, not by the rules or preferences of others.” with a positive/high score of 5 (scale 1-5) in corporate America today? Why or why not?


Margaret: Certainly not - not if they are including their corporate work life as part of the answer. We join organizations (corporations) because we feel we can achieve more by being within the organization than we can on our own. Otherwise, we would be a society of individual craftspeople.

Part of the price we pay to be within an organization is that we have to understand when we can “do our thing” and when we may have to put our own needs second to the larger good. In the best corporations, people disagree, they debate and when all is said and done, someone usually will have to compromise, may have to accept the preferences of others. However, everyone - the individual and the organization - is better off having had the open debate.

Suzie: What three things do you recommend people do to increase/find their own sense of purpose in their life? Or what are the actions do you most recommend? (Expand on your goal setting guidelines.)


Margaret: Start with listing your core beliefs – the things that you believe make the world work for humanity. So for example, you may have a core belief that people must give back to society or you may have a core belief that people are responsible for their own destiny and should not expect help from others. You might have a core belief that people must constantly be learning and growing in their knowledge of the world around them, while someone else may have a core belief that people should become an expert in one thing and then use that expertise to the benefit of themselves and others.

You could call these values too. I would not list more than 3 to start.

Then I would ask myself to what extent I am enacting those beliefs in my life (including work). In other words, what specific things am I doing that show I am living those beliefs and how well am I doing?

Based on the answer, I would then set some specific goals to ensure I live my life closer to my core.

Suzie: What do you think are the things that stop most people from waking up eager (loving their life, feeling more happy about themselves...) more often?


Margaret: I think the number one thing that keeps people from waking up eager is the sense that they have little or no control of their day to day work or of the decisions that affect them. It is impossible to wake up eager when you feel powerless in a major area of your life, such as your work. Often, people believe they are helpless to change things but the reality is that they fear change more than they fear the “known” – even if the “known” is not a good place for them.

Suzie: What things do you personally do to stay energized, focused and interested in your work?


Margaret: I read voraciously. I daydream. I reflect and I think a lot. I am on the internet exploring and researching. I write – articles and a blog. I don’t let go of people that inspire me and challenge me. I am always in discover mode!

Suzie: Margaret, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to share goal setting guidelines and insights about purpose and self direction. How can people contact you?


Margaret:margaret@murphywestmoreland.com or margaret@myfuturemyself.com or send me comments at my blog, My Future Myself (Opens a new window)

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