Ever since I was in high school, I’ve always wanted to be a world-class orator and public speaker. I would shamelessly volunteer myself to do presentations and even participate in speaking contests.

The problem was that I sucked!

During that time, no matter how hard I try, I’ve never won any oratorical competitions; I’d bore people to death when I lead presentations; Even worse, people would loose interest, tune out to what I was saying and in some cases walk out.

The good news is that none of these epic failures stop me from pursuing my dream of being an eloquent speaker. Year after year I would shoot for the stars and be all gung ho about becoming a rockstar orator.

Nothing Happened.

It was about 15 years ago when it dawned on me that to elevate my public speaking game, it can’t be just paying a lip service on Jan 1st and regret that nothing happened on Dec 31st. I have to be intentional. I have to be willing to put in the time and necessary effort to make things happen.

How can you ensure that this shift happens? Here are 5 steps that you can take to be intentional and achieve your goals:

1. Set a Specific, Baby-Step Goal
   While we all have big dreams and want to achieve life-changing goals, it’s almost always next to impossible to do it if it’s quite vague. Also, you have to make sure you prioritize your goals and go after what you know is more important (i.e. improve your health vs buying that big house). So instead of saying “I want to get in better shape”, aim for something more specific and tangible like “I would like to lose 10 lbs in 6 months”.
2. Create and Track a Realistic Plan
   Once you’ve defined your specific goal, the next step is to figure out the how and the when. Be as detailed as you can be and timebound it. See how Leo Babauta documented a detailed plan on how he will almost give up the use of the Internet for the entire month of January 2014. Checkout how Karen Cheng learned how to dance in a year. Use personal calendar or tools like Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar or Trello to schedule, keep track and set reminders for these activities.
3. Seek Regular Inspiration
   While you want to be always motivated and make sure that you keep up with your plan, unexpected things happen. In some cases it may discourage you from fighting the good fight. That’s why it’s important that you get your daily dose of inspiration — I get mine from Our Daily Bread, Freakonomics, Andy Stanley’s Leadership podcast, Ted Talks and Upworthy.
4. Engage with a Community
   Be vulnerable and authentic to a group of people you trust. You need a community to encourage & motivate you. Equally as important, you need someone to be brutally honest with you if you are going off track. If you don’t have a close circle of peers who can keep you in line, I encourage you to join goal-oriented communities such as 100 and MeetUp groups.
5. Review and Re-adjust
   As you create your plan, make sure you allocate time to review how you’re doing in meeting specific milestones. Not only can this help you understand where you are in the grand scheme of things, but knowing that you’ve completed key tasks can give you that boost of encouragement to press on. When unforeseen circumstances get in the way, don’t stop! Re-adjust your goal and continue to run the race. Imagine what the world will be like if Thomas Edison, JK Rowling, and Walt Disney gave up their dreams when they faced seemingly impossible challenges?

If you’re wondering how I’m doing with my passion for public speaking, let’s just say it’s still a work in progress ;)

So what are you waiting for? Go get ‘em Tiger!
Make Sure Your #ShiftHappens!