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Antelope and Chipmunks
Know Your Goals and Focus Upon Them

Is your life an antelope hunt or a chipmunk chase?

A former world leader is credited with a view of goal- setting from which we can all learn.
He used an analogy wherein he regarded himself as a lion — the
head of the pride, no less — and all of the issues he ever faced as either
‘antelope’ or ‘chipmunks’. Even when a lion is dying of hunger, he
won’t give chase to any of the many smaller animals, like chipmunks,
which gambol near- by, offering a quick and easy snack. Why? Because
even if he did make the effort and catch one — and there’s always an
outside chance that he’d fail — it simply wouldn’t satisfy him.
However, even when weakened by hunger to the extent that he can
hardly move, when an antelope shimmers into view miles away across
open plains, the sight moves the lion to action. Even so weakened that
he knows a failed effort could be the end of him, the lion commits to
the hunt. If there’s even a slight chance of success, he’ll give his all —
because success will fill his belly for weeks to come. The greater
reward is worth his all, and so he begins the long process of focused
effort that he clearly envisages will end in a successful kill.


A single-minded focus upon clearly defined ‘antelope’ is what also
characterises most successful businesspeople.
Have you identified your antelope? Do you hunt them every day at
the expense of less-satisfying chipmunks? Look out across your plains
and spot your own antelope.

1. Think about your life or your business and write down what you’d
like to achieve. Would you like to drive your company sales up to
10M, write a book, or tramp through the Himalayas? Write
down everything you’d ever like to achieve.

2. Take time to identify the one item on your list that, more than any of
the others, gets you excited and deep-in-the- gut passionate when
you consider achieving it. This is your first antelope — shimmering
in the heat of day, miles out
on the plain of your life.

3. Focus on this first antelope. Build a clear picture of it in your mind.
How will you feel when you catch it? How will it change your life? What
will your loved ones say? Get a clear If there’s a slight chance of
success, the lion commits all. mental picture of exactly how the end of that
successful hunt will feel. See it in full color, full detail. As you sight your first antelope
and begin the process of throwing your whole self into an all-ornothing
hunt, you are going to need the energy to keep you in the
hunt — even when things become difficult. That energy is
passion. Fuel your passion: review the mental picture you’ve built,
and write down all of the benefits you’ll enjoy once you’ve run this
beauty to ground. Write them all down in detail
— the more benefits you write down, the greater the pas- sion you’ll
bring to the hunt.

4. If it were easy to catch antelope, we’d all dine on venison daily! It’s not.
Write down everything you can speculate might stop you bringing your antelope down,
and work out pre- cisely how you’ll deal with each of these obstacles. Have a clear strategy
to deal with all of those pitfalls that you can predict in advance — it will enhance your
confidence and vision.

5. Set yourself clear deadlines. Think about the various stages of
a successful hunt. What will you have to do first? How long will it
take you to do this (realistically)? When will you be finished with
this stage? What has to happen next, and when will that stage be
complete? Work your way through all of the stages of a successful
hunt. Your target deadline will be the date at which the last stage of
your hunt is complete.

6. Now do it again — go back to your list and see if there are any more
antelope, and work them down to the deadline stage. Don’t separate
out a whole herd — simply find one or two prime candidates.
Later, as each is run to ground, you can replace it with a new antelope.

7. Finally, take a 3”x5” card and note all of your antelope as succinctly
as you can (includ- ing your deadlines). Once they’re written,
see if you can refine them — make them even sharper and more
compelling. Keep this card on you at all times. Read it first thing in the
morning and last thing at night. As you start each day, ensure that
you have scheduled some actions that are going to take you closer to
your antelope. No day should go by without moving you closer to
one or all of them. Don’t allow yourself to get distracted by those
easier-to-catch chipmunks that present themselves — always keep
your focus on those more satisfying meals way out on the plain.
Leave Chip ’n’ Dale to those with lesser appetites than yours
— get on the trail of your own antelope. Today!

‘Run your day by
the clock, but
run your life with
a vision.’
ZIG ZIGLAR