We all at one time or another set out a goal for ourselves. Sometimes they work but often times they don’t. We tell others we tried something but it didn’t work. We believe goal setting is another executive coaching delight. It can be. Many people make a great deal of money teaching goal setting, prosperity consciousness, weight loss and too numerous to mention others. Why don’t they work in the long term? What goes wrong? Is it just wishful thinking? Many of these programs can be helpful for connections but years later the goal is not within reach. So we give up and say we tried that.

We can learn a great deal about goals and planning by reading “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. He has it down to a science. No general would go into the battle at dawn without a clear objective, a strategy to …