 Goals Will Change Your Life
Tools to Inspire, Develop and Help Yourself
Making Goals Happen
Become by doing. – Aristotle
 Off to a Good Start – Set Your Goal
The way to get what you want starts with a specific, written goal. Express the goal as a positive statement, rather than a negative one, and include specific, measurable results in your goal statement. It should be a goal for you, rather than for someone else. It should be important, but not outside the realm of possibility. Choose goals that stir your soul. If you figure out what you really want, and ask for it, you just might get it.
Perhaps your aim is to develop 10 new customers for your company this month. Your ambition could be to start a new company. It could be a personal achievement, say, finishing a marathon. The goal might be, as President Kennedy declared, “to land on the moon within ten years.” In your case, the goal may be closer to home. Perhaps you want to increase the happiness of your family. Your objective could be to feel fulfilled, connected and joyful. Do you ask yourself what you want out of life? Deciding the direction of your life is a worthwhile goal. Stress sometimes pushes us off course. If you are moving in the wrong direction, your goal is to turn yourself around.
Aristotle said, “Become by doing.” You may not see the end of the path. You may wonder if you have it in you to accomplish it. But, with each step forward, you build your skills for the journey. Doors open. Possibilities are uncovered. You draw in new ideas. Inspiration and intuition grow stronger.
The Task List
Prepare a list of tasks that will lead you forward toward your goal. The task list will act as a map to keep you on course. These daily tasks should be small, persistent actions. Procrastination is born out of your fear of failure. Small actions done relentlessly can lead to big results.
Train Your Mind
Change your thoughts and you can change your life. Now, train your mind in the direction of your goal. Let your goal become the essence of your life. Get jazzed up about it. Become positive about your success and your own worthiness. Practice positive affirmations about realizing your goal. Pledge yourself to success. Carry yourself like someone who has already achieved the goal.
Meditate on your goal. Practice relaxation techniques that free you from the nattering nabobs of negativity. Brainstorm about your goal. Take yourself out of your comfort zone by trying new things, visiting new places, making new acquaintances. Explore new possibilities. The novelty of these experiences will make you more creative and more inventive.
Develop focus. Keep your eyes on the goal. At the start, daydreaming about the goal and reading about the goal will help keep your focused. They will help you refine your goal and make it more concrete. When you feel you are stuck in a rut, reading and positive imaging will build your enthusiasm. It takes drive, resolve and passion to make big things happen.
Start thinking and acting like a successful person who has already accomplished your goal. Anticipate how it will feel to be a college graduate. How will you act with the new promotion. Live the success by anticipating it. Describe yourself as that successful person. I am a published author. I am a college graduate. I am a supervisor at my company. I signed up a hundred new customers.
Reflect on your progress and how far you have come. And as you make progress, recall the breakthroughs you’ve experienced. Review the results you’ve claimed. Extend thanks to those who lent a hand along the way. Maintain your momentum without getting burnt out.
Daily Strategy
To reach your goal, there are three steps required from you every day. The steps are
- sharing your goal
- taking action
- and making requests
These three easy steps, repeated every day, create positive results. Cultivate a daily routine of share, request and act. Make this routine as instinctive as your morning cup of coffee. Start each day with your Daily Strategy, three steps that lead toward your goal. Devote a block of undistracted time each day to your strategy. Let nothing interfere with your progress. Harness the big power of small actions by doing your daily practice.
Daily discipline is not just a choice. It is a basket of choices and opportunities. If you loose one opportunity, renew your determination to grab onto the next one.
The butterfly effect is what happens when behaviors are extremely sensitive to initial conditions. Weather patterns, for example, are very sensitive to initial conditions. They say, tongue in cheek, that the movement of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil could be the initial cause of a tornado in Texas. Like the butterfly effect, your daily tasks of sharing, actions and requests will make your goal a reality.
Daily Strategy #1 - Share Your Goal
Let other people know about your goal. Each time you share your goal with others, you affirm it for yourself. It becomes easier to stay the course. When other people know your goal, they can also help make things happen. They will enjoy being part of the process. Share your goal in your emails, your conversations, with friends, with strangers.
Prepare a two-minute elevator speech about your goal.
Kim’s elevator speech goes like this: “I’m Kim Smith and I am the marketing group leader for XYZ company. Our products make it possible for thousands of manufacturers to improve quality and time to market. This month, I’m going to provide these benefits for 10 new customers. Could I have your business card?
Daily Strategy #2 - Take Action
Actions, put into practice, move you forward. Your Task List will provide many daily actions. Divide your Task List into small manageable morsels. The action can include conversations, brainstorming, problem solving, tasks and learning. Each action clarifies the goal, clears the path and takes you a step closer to the final success. The power of small actions, repeated again and again, will carry you to victory.
Daily Strategy #3 - Make Requests
Requests are when you ask for directions or assistance. Is it difficult for you to make requests of others? By asking of other people, you build a team that is dedicated to your personal goal. This might be hard at first if you are a loner or if you like to be self-sufficient.
For starters, you could request information about careers. You could request that someone attend a brainstorming meeting. You could request someone’s opinion. You could ask someone to review your progress. You could ask for suggestions. It will be very useful if you have someone to help keep you focused on the goal, to be the lighthouse for your ship. And, of course, when you make a request, you are also sharing your goal with someone else.
Requests may take many directions, like these requests. Could you look over my sales letter and suggest improvements? Can you recommend an agent for my book? Will you explain this calculus problem? Do you know of any college scholarships and grants I might be eligible for? Could you baby-sit for me while I attend a parenting seminar? Can we talk about how you accomplished this? May I have your business card? Could I email you? Would you like to collaborate with me on the report? Do you know of anyone else who would benefit from our product?
Turning Points
One day you will experience an epiphany, one of those breakthrough moments. Your energies will get revved up, as something or someone gives you an extra push along the path. A breakthrough experience dissolves your resistance to action. You no longer see yourself as a victim. You no longer feel distracted or disengaged.
For Bryan, whose goal was to lose weight, the epiphany came while he sat in the doctor’s office. After the exam, he doctor said candidly, “Well, you really are fat, aren’t you?” Bryan felt insulted. The more he thought about the insult, the angrier he got. As the result of these words, he moved forward with his plan to lose weight by diet and exercise. Whenever the going got hard, Bryan recalled the doctor’s candor and renewed his commitment to the diet. In this case, his breakthrough moment was something negative that turned into something positive, because it impelled him to action.
A breakthrough may come as you start understanding yourself better. You may recognize your tendency to slack off in midstream, to tread water and watch the world go by. Another breakthrough may come when you improve your skill level and things become easier. Maybe reading this article will be your breakthrough moment. Gosh, wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Can you do this? You know you can. You can realize your goal, because you have the tools you need, the focus and the activities. Nothing is out of reach. Share your daily practices. Stay in focused action and enjoy the journey.
I hope life brings you much success. I wish you a very happy day.
----- Surfer Sam
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