President's Tip of the Week

Evolving Goals & Your Opportunities
(9/29/09)

My goals were fairly unique when I started seeking out a Toastmasters club. More than just simple shyness, agoraphobia was on track to ruin my life and I needed a safe, nurturing environment to help me battle it. I started out with a goal of simply getting out of the house, working on overcome my social handicap, and building my self-confidence.

Over the years, however, my goals have evolved, especially since I have achieved those first two goals and the third is an ongoing process. My current goals are to continuously challenge myself to grow not only as a speaker, but especially as a leader, and to focus on improving my critical thinking skills.

Think back to the goals you had set for yourself when you first joined. Have you met any of them? Have you challenged yourself with a new set of goals? My tip for you this week is to do just that: evaluate your originals goals, and set new ones.

You have two great opportunities to create a new set of goals for yourself this time of year – don’t wait till New Years to get started on this. First, now is the time to submit your check for your dues renewals, if you haven’t already done so, and start another six month term with the club. Challenge yourself to meet an educational goal (whether it is a communication or leadership goal) over the next six months.

Secondly, officer elections are coming up in just 5 weeks. Think about what skills and interests you have or that you would like to develop and which office they might align with the most. Consider challenging yourself in the area of leadership, and serving your club at the same time.

I’ll be sending out descriptions of the various club officer positions soon, but here are the different offices we have to get you thinking now: President, Vice President Education, Vice President Membership, Vice President Public Relations, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant at Arms. Be thinking about these opportunities and about your next set of goals!