Meeting Theme: Motivation

Motivation: What Puts People In High Gear?

It may not be what you think

Meeting Theme: Motivation

A company hired a writer to boost its online visibility, but no one there had ever worked with a writer before. On the writer’s first day, his manager pointed to a work station and said, in effect, “Go to it.”

Without instructions or deadlines, the writer was free to add articles to the company’s website. He chose all his own topics and photos and made his own decisions on story length, tone, headlines and subjects to interview.

The result? In a year, the website’s readership went from zero to half a million. In the next six months, the website rose to the number one position in its field as the result of an online search on the web.

Later, a law firm made him an offer to double his salary. He took the job, but soon came to realize the new firm’s methods allowed much less creative freedom. Whenever the writer penned an article, one of the law partners would pull up a chair next to his and go over the copy, line by line, dictating things like paragraph length and photo selection. After two days at the firm, the writer quit and asked for his old job back.

What forces brought the first website to the top of its industry? And what forces drove the writer away from the law firm with its fat paycheck? If money doesn’t float everyone’s boat, then what is it that motivates people to do their best?

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JIA Meeting – New Day, New Location

JIA Toastmasters will not be meeting today (Thursday), as we are trying a new date and location to provide greater opportunity for our members and guests to attend.

Our new meeting day is on the 1st and 3rd TUESDAYS, still from 6:30pm to 8pm.

Our new meeting location is as follows:

Owens Corning
1035 Talleyrand Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32206
(Follow Posted Signs)

We hope this new day and location will be helpful to those of you who have found it difficult to attend on Thursdays. Another notice and RSVP request will be sent as a reminder for our first meeting at the new location, scheduled for THIS Tuesday, February 2nd.

If you have any questions, please submit them to contact-3862@toastmastersclubs.org.

Meeting Theme: Communicate Your Goals

Goal Setting And Planning

Successful leaders focus on what they want to achieve. They know what they want, and they devise ways to get it. The secret to their success is their ability to set and achieve specific goals. The abilities to set clear goals and plan how to achieve them are important leadership skills. If you cannot identify and communicate goals and plan how to achieve them, you will have difficulty fulfilling other leadership responsibilities.

• A goal is a specific objective you and your team must achieve.
• A plan is the blueprint for achieving these goals.

Characteristics of Goals

Goals should not be grand or complex. They need only be statements of results you hope to achieve. For example, a Toastmasters club president’s goal may be “To be a Distinguished Club by June 30.” A vice president education’s goal may be “To have three members receive their CC award by May 31.”

A goal has several characteristics. It is:

• Specific. It clearly states what must happen.
• Measurable. Results can be easily validated.
• Action-oriented. It begins with the word “to,” followed by a verb.
• Realistic. It is challenging, yet practical and achievable – not too high or low.
• Time-bounded. It contains a timetable for achievement.

For our next meeting, be prepared to share at least one of your goals for this year and the reasons why you set these goal(s).