Writing down your goals - the first step to enjoying an extraordinary life

June 24, 2007 · Posted in Change, Goals, Motivation · Comment 

You need goals! You’ve got to have goals!

  1. How many times have you heard or read that phrase? Countless, I’m sure.
  2. How many times have you intended to do something about it? I’d wager that almost every time that you heard or read it, you intended to act on it, but, like most people (around 95%), you’ve been able to resist the call to experience an extraordinarily successful life.

Talk to the people you know. Ask them about their goals. Most will tell you that they have goals. Some will even point to their head and say, “they are all up here”.

People think that if they say they have goals, then it is so. If you believe this, then you too, are mistaken. What you have are hopes, dreams, wants and wishes. These are the “feel good” caricatures of true goals.

You see, when a football player crosses the goal line to score a touchdown, or a baseball player hits a baseball over the fence for a home run, or a salesman exceeds a company quota, these have not only accomplished a feat of their imagination, but they have all reached or surpassed a goal (the goal line in football, the fence in baseball, and the stated quota for the salesman) that occupies actual, physical, tangible space.

A goal is a tangible representation of an imagined desire or event. Your desire to live the life you were destined to enjoy begins when you put your hand to the paper and record your goals.

Why is the act of recording your goals so powerful? Because it works. The reason that it works is most likely due to the theory of Cognizant – Dissonance. In the simplest terms, this is the fear that our life (how we are living) is not consistent with our beliefs. This inconsistency has the same motivating force as hunger. We will usually do whatever is necessary to avoid it.

If you stop to think about it, you have probably used this theory in your own life.

  • Have you ever started a food diary? The act of recording everything you eat reveals to you that what you think you are eating (your inner belief) is being exceeded by what you are actually eating (your outer life). This creates an inconsistency that bothers you ( and me ). This bothers you enough to begin to limit your caloric intake (this is the goal of people who prescribe this method) or this bothers you enough to stop recording your dietary intake (the stick your head in the sand method of outer and inner equilibrium).
  • Do you use a budget? This too, is a tool that creates cognizant dissonance. It makes us aware that we are either not making enough money or that we are spending too much. This forces us to either adapt to rid ourselves of these inconsistencies or stop doing a budget and avoid the awareness of the issue. (If we avoid it, then it doesn’t exist, does it?)
  • Have you ever signed up to do volunteer work? People know that if they can get you to agree to work on a project, even if you don’t want to do it, then when the time comes to do the work, you will be there, because you don’t want your outer and inner lives to be in conflict.

In other words, rather than writing down our goals which will create an inner inconsistency with our external reality, thus forcing us into the needed action to accomplish our goals and bringing our outer lives and inner lives into harmony, we decide it is easier to not record our goals and have a mediocre life.

It becomes easier to do nothing and have a little, than to do the things that you are fully capable of, and having abundance. You deserve more. You deserve the life you were destined for. Begin today.

1. RECORD YOUR WANTS AND WISHES, YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS

Simply take a little quiet time and write down the things you desire. Ex. – a new home on the lake

2. RESTATE YOUR WANTS AND WISHES IN A POSITIVE MANNER

“I have a new home on the lake”

3. SPEND SOME TIME IMAGINING WHAT YOUR DREAM LOOKS LIKE.

This is easy. Spend a little time everyday imagining yourself at your lake house. See yourself enjoying your boat, or sitting in a deck chair with a cool drink as you watch your family enjoy the fruits of your labor. Be elaborate and detailed.

Do this as often as possible.

4. LIST THE EVENTS THAT MUST OCCUR IN ORDER FOR YOU TO MOVE INTO YOUR NEW HOME ON THE LAKE.

  • Get a raise to afford the mortgage.
  • Cut expenses
  • Sell some assets
  • You get the point – what can you do to make your dreams and ultimately your goals become realities.

5. START DOING THE THINGS ON “YOUR” LIST.

Recorded goals are powerful tools that can help you achieve the life you deserve. Don’t cheat yourself out of the abundance that is rightfully yours. Remember:

  • You are the master of your destiny
  • MEDIOCRITY IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!

Tags: , ,

Tags: no tags

Change your priorities - create a “plan for living”

June 23, 2007 · Posted in Choices, Goals · 2 Comments 

Much emphasis in our society is placed on taking care of our families in the event of our untimely deaths. (I am not sure that there is ever a “timely” death, but that is a thought for another post.) This is how insurance companies sell policies and how funeral homes sell prepackaged funeral services. Most of all, we are very conscious of preparing a will so that our possessions will be distributed as we see fit. All of this can fit under the title – A Plan for Dying.

Some of us also see the need to create a living will in order to address the problem of mental incapacitation. In other words, should we be hurt or otherwise mentally incapacitated to the point that there is no chance of us ever recovering our mental facilities, then we can instruct the doctors to “pull the plug” via a pre-arranged legal document, thus saving our families and loved one the anguish of making this decision. This can fit under the title – Create a Living Will.

It does seem odd to me that we place a disportionate amount of time and energy preparing for events that leave us dead or as good as dead while at the same time we make no effort planning our life.

  • What is the plan for your life? If you don’t have one, then don’t feel bad. If you look around, about 95% of the people you see are in your same situation – they don’t have a plan either. Incidently, the other 5% ( who do have a plan), own about 96% of the wealth in this country. Sobering thought isn’t it? Perhaps they are more interested in living than in dying.
  • If your plan is not written down, then you don’t have a plan – what you have is a dream. Dreams are fleeting wisps of vapor that are never really very clear. They are ideas, thoughts and hopes that never quite materialize because they have no substance.
  • Write your plan down. Call it your Plan for Living or whatever seems appropriate. The point is that you will never be able to accumulate wealth so that you can retire early, travel to exotic places, pursue your hobbies as you would like or spend quality time enjoying your children growing up without a plan.
  • Your plan does not have to be elaborate, it just has to be written down. The act of recording your action plan creates a tangible template for your life. When decisions arise about finances or opportunities, look at your plan and evaluate whether these potential choices fit with your overall plan. If they do, great. If not, then discard them and go on.
  • You will not hit the lottery. I seldom state things in the absolute, but I’m pretty sure of this.
  • If I am wrong and you do hit the lottery, then you will be back to your present financial situation or in even worse financial conditions within 5 years. That is a fact that is supported by evidence. About 80% of all lottery winners ultimately end up bankrupt.

It seems that it would be in your best interest to sit down with your life partner, if you have one, and determine whether the two of you should be more concerned with living or dying. Make it a point to create a plan or a list of goals that you feel are important. Then get busy taking actions that lead to the accomplishment of your goals.

Spend your life living.

Tags: no tags