Are You Ready to Succeed?

We've come to the end of the month, a month that I have dedicated to strategies for reaching your goals.  You possess the tools now to set and achieve your goals successfully.  If you have followed the principles of Brian Tracy, author of Goals, as I have blogged about them, you are working on the following steps.

Write down your goals on a calendar or paste them into a scrapbook or on a vision board.  Set a timeline for your goals.  Examine your values and incorporate them into your goals, making sure that none of the goals conflicts with any other goal.  Choose a major definite purpose for which you have a burning desire.  Find someone to be accountable to as you progress towards your goals.  Seek out a support system, whether it's your best friend or your Facebook community, to cheer you on.  Nurture your creativity, whether through prayer and meditation, or through exploring nature or a visit to the art gallery.  Plan to work hard and sacrifice smaller rewards now for larger ones later on.  Plan to manage your time wisely.  Visualize your goals on a daily basis, bringing you one step closer to success.  Be prepared to fail successfully, knowing that you will likely make mistakes on the journey. Be prepared to practise an attitude of gratitude.  Be prepared when that golden opportunity presents itself.  Call on the Holy Spirit, or superconscious mind, to guide you along the way.  Above all, believe in yourself!

I posted my vision board on the rec room door right beside my computer chair where I can study it everyday, burning the images into my mind.  I hung a calendar on the wall beside my computer desk, marked with my monthly goals.  I am ready, willing and able to put my plan into action.  I look forward to measuring my progress at the end of the year.  I hope you will join me in my journey.  Are you ready?

For more information, read Are You Ready to Succeed? by Srikumar S. Rao at http://www.amazon.ca/Are-You-Ready-Succeed-Unconventional/dp/1401301932.

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Believe in Yourself

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." 
(http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/203714.Henry_Ford )

Self-belief or self-confidence is a key to reaching your goals.  According to Mark Tyrrell, self-belief is a learnable trait.  In order to grow in self-confidence, you must silence your inner critic.  You must turn weaknesses into strengths.  You must be your own coach or cheerleader.  You must stop comparing yourself to others.  You must learn not to take criticism personally.  Remember that self-belief gives you the strength to take action, to bring you closer to your goal.    

Once you establish your goal, don't let anyone or anything deter you from that goal.  When Rob and I decided to adopt a baby, it was like I put on blinders.  I became oblivious to the naysayers, to the critics.  All I saw was my goal.  I kept my eyes on the prize.  I was a woman on a mission and no one was going to stop me.  Within a year and a half, I was holding my bundle of joy.  

When Roger Bannister set out to break the four-minute mile, he tried to accomplish something that hadn't ever been done, despite the efforts of many.  In May of 1954, he crossed the finish line, his arms upraised, in under four minutes.  It was like a barrier was broken, not just the ticker tape on the track, but a barrier in the mind of all runners that the four minute mile was possible.  The words "It can be done!" ran through their minds.  Within weeks, in July of 1954, two more runners broke the four-minute mile at the Commonwealth Games.  And the rest is history.  

When I think of self-belief, I think of the son of an itinerant race horse trainer who was asked to complete a project in high school.  Not accustomed to receiving good marks, since he was on the road a lot with his dad, he put his heart and soul into the assignment, nonetheless.  The teacher asked him to write a paper about what he wanted to do when he grew up.  The boy wrote a detailed paper about his plans to own a horse ranch.  He even drew a diagram of the 200 acre ranch, showing the location of the buildings, stables and track.  He included a 4000 square foot house that sat on the ranch.  

Two days later, the teacher handed back his assignment, marked with a big red "F" and the words "See me after class."  The boy met with the teacher who said:  "This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.  You have no money.  You come from an itinerant family.  You have no resources...There's no way you could ever do it."  Then she added:  "If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade."  

The boy went home with the paper and asked his father what to do.  His father left the decision in the hands of his son, knowing that it was an important decision to make.  Finally, after a week, the boy returned to the teacher with his answer:  "You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream."  

The boy kept his school paper.  Today it's sit in a frame over his fireplace in his 4000 square foot house on his 200 acre horse farm.  Listen to your heart.  Don't let anyone steal your dreams!

Source:  "Follow Your Dream", Chicken Soup for the Soul (1993) at http://www.chickensoup.com/.    

For more information, read The Power of Self-Belief by Oluseyi Eyitayo at http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Self-Belief-Oluseyi-Eyitayo/dp/1857566394.

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Glenna's Goal Book

"Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be open." 

(Matthew 7:7)

In 1977, Glenna Salsbury was a single mom with three daughters, a car payment and a house payment.  She also had big dreams.  She attended a seminar about goal setting where the speaker talked about a principle called I x V + Reality (Imagination x Vividness = Reality).  Glenna put the theory to the test.  Knowing that the brain works in images rather than words, she decided to make a goal picture book.  She bought a scrapbook and filled it with pictures from old magazines which represented her dreams, including:

1.  a good looking man
2.  a woman in a wedding gown & a man in a tuxedo
3.  a bouquet of flowers
4.  a diamond
5.  a Caribbean Island
6.  a lovely new home
7.  new furniture
8.  a Vice President of a corporation

She studied her goal book regularly, imprinting the images on her brain.  Eight weeks later, a good looking man pulled up beside her in his sports car.  He asked her out on a date, where he presented her with a bouquet of flowers.  Within a year, he presented her with a diamond ring.  After two years of dating, they married in California.  They honeymooned on St. John's Island in the Caribbean.  A year later, they moved into their lovely home filled with new furniture.  At that point, Glenna showed her husband her goal book.  At the same time, she became vice president of human resources at her company.  Never give up on your dreams!  Glenna is living proof.

Source:  "Glenna's Goal Book", Chicken Soup for the Soul (1993) at http://www.chickensoup.com/book-story/36234/glennas-goal-book.

Click here to read about one woman's attempt to make a goal book:
http://thatprecariousgait.com/2011/04/24/you-cant-get-it-if-you-dont-ask-for-it/.

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Remain Flexible

"Be clear about your goal, but be flexible about the process of achieving it." (Brian Tracy)

If you have been trying to reach a goal for several months or even years and do not appear to be getting any closer to that goal, maybe it's time to change your approach.  If you change your strategy, you change your results -- hopefully, for the better.  In his book Goals, Brian Tracy recommends that you pick a stalled project, write down the reasons for stopping, list reasons why it's important to you, and finally, revise your plan.  Have a Plan B, C, D, etc.  Don't get locked in a stagnant strategy!

I think about a political science course that was recently offered at the University of Western Ontario where my husband teaches.  Originally, the course was advertised as "Women in Politics".  Almost no one signed up for the course.  Then, the course organizers simply added an extra word:  "Women, Sex & Politics".  All of a sudden, the course was full.  The change required very little effort.  It didn't cost anything.  It just required a bit of brain power.  But it made a world of difference.

Automobile magnate Henry Ford declared bankruptcy in 1903 after having gone bankrupt twice, first with the Detroit Automobile Company and later with the Henry Ford Motor Company.  He started a third business, the Ford Motor Company, hiring James Couzens as his Vice-President.  Henry Ford's strength, his attention to detail, could also be his weakness.  He tended to hang on to his vehicles until he got everything just right.  However, Couzens warned him:  "Stop shipping, and we go bankrupt." Henry Ford shipped and kept shipping until the day he died in 1947.  His estimated value?  Almost two billion dollars.

Note:  Read Achieve Your Goals:  Strategies to Transform Your Life by Andy Smith at 

http://www.amazon.com/Work-Life-Achieve-Your-Goals/dp/1405315865.

Take Charge of Your Life

"When you take charge of your life, there is no longer need to ask permission of other people or society at large." (Geoffrey F. Abert)

In his book Goals, Brian Tracy devotes a chapter to taking charge of your life.  He says that only you are responsible for everything you do.  It is up to you to create opportunities for yourself to achieve your goals.  Don't just wait for the right time -- act!  If you stay in your comfort zone, you will never realize your true potential.  Take the risk.  Step outside of your comfort zone.  

"Action springs not from thought but from a readiness to take responsibility," according to Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Taking charge of your life means taking responsibility for it -- the good, the bad and the ugly.  It means accepting what can't be changed and changing what can be changed (the old Serenity Prayer).  

Tracy points out that blaming others gets you nowhere.  When you blame others, you give up your power to change.  You become a victim rather than a victor.  Don't wait for others to change.  You only have the power to change yourself. When you change, often others will follow suit.  For instance, the fiance who thinks she is going to change her future husband's bad habits is usually sadly mistaken.  However, she can work on her own bad habits.  Changing her own behaviour might be a positive influence on her future husband's behaviour.

I'll leave you with one thought:  "If you don't build your dream, someone will hire you to build theirs." (Dhiruhbai Ambani)

For more information, visit www.positivityblog.com.

Read Take Charge of Your Life by Dr. William Glasser at http://www.amazon.ca/Take-Charge-Your-Life-Choice-Theory/dp/1462037437.

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Identify Your Major Definite Purpose

"What would be the one thing that would wake you out of bed in the morning and get you fired up for your day?" (www.sourceofinsight.com)

Brian Tracy devotes a chapter to "Your Major Definite Purpose" in his book Goals:  How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Every Thought Possible   Imagine what you would like to be known for long after you die.  What would you like your tombstone inscription to read?  

Tracy outlines steps to identify your major definite purpose:

1.  It is something that you personally want, not that someone else has suggested.  It should excite you, make you happy.  

2.  It should be clear and specific.  When written down, it should be something that a child could understand.

3.  It should be measurable ex.  I would like to earn $100,000 by June 1, 2016.  Or, as an ESL instructor, I would like to teach ten people how to speak and write English fluently.

4.  It should be believable and achievable (at least 50% success rate).  For instance, if you want to become a millionaire within a year and you have no money in your bank account, such a goal is likely not within your reach.  It might serve to discourage rather than motivate you.

5.  Your major definite goal should be in harmony with all of your other goals.  

6.  Your major definite goal will likely help you achieve many of your other goals.

Don't think that you need to have a paying job to have a purpose.  As Rick Warren says "If you're alive, you have a purpose."  Your purpose might be to raise the next generation as a stay at home mom.  Your purpose might be to help others as a volunteer at your child's school, at the general hospital, at the local playhouse or at the neighbourhood soccer field.   Volunteers really do make the world go round.  Your purpose might be to start a daily blog.  I still derive great joy from mine, even after almost five years of blogging!  Having a purpose makes you feel alive; it gives you a feeling of self-worth.  Everyone needs a major definite purpose.  What's yours?

For more information, read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren at 

http://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Driven-Life-Rick-Warren/dp/0310205719.

Create Your Future

"Where there is no vision, the people will perish." (Proverbs 18:29)

In his book Goals, Brian Tracy highlights a study of 3300 successful leaders.  The number one quality that they all possessed was vision.  Their long term perspective led to financial and personal success.  

Tracy recommends that you envision a five-year plan.   Idealize what your business or family life will be like five years from now.  Practise "blue sky thinking":  just as the sky seems limitless, so too are your plans for the future.  Imagine anything is possible.  Write down what your job situation will look like:  your co-workers, tasks, level of responsibility, goals and status.  Estimate what your finances will look like: your salary, mortgage, bank account, investments, retirement.  Envision your family life:  spouse, children, extended family.  How will your health fare ex. appearance, weight, diet, exercise?  Will you be involved in the community ex. charity, volunteering?  Will you practise self-improvement strategies ex. go back to school, update your skills?  The author maintains that often people overestimate their yearly goals and yet underestimate their five-year plan. 

I remember back  to the Christmas of 1997:  my sister Lisa had us all do a visualization exercise at my parents' house.  She handed out pieces of paper and asked us all to write down ten goals and put them in an envelope to be examined five years hence.  My number one goal was having a child, as was Lisa's, I suspect.  At the time we had both been married for several years and yet remained childless.  Well, we didn't have to wait five years.  The following Christmas, I brought my bundle of joy to my parents' house and my mom snapped a picture of him under the Christmas tree.  Two years after the goal writing session, Lisa brought her bundle of joy to my parents' house and my nephew and son played together by the foot of the Christmas tree.  

Have a long term vision.  Write it down.  The sky's the limit!  Watch how God acts in your life.

Note:  For more information about visualization, read my post "Conceive, Believe, Achieve" at 

http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2015/01/conceive-believe-achieve.html.

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Removing Roadblocks to Success

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." (Henry Ford)

Everyone encounters roadblocks on the path to success; some are personal, some are external. Personal obstacles, those within your control, include a lack of: time management, self-esteem, communication skills, drive, expertise, or education.  You may have loosely defined goals.  You may be focussing on what you don't want rather than what you do want.  You may be resistant to change. You may have internal conflict holding you back.  Brian Tracy points out that you may be living in a comfort zone, where you are so complacent with your job or your relationship with your significant other, that you are reluctant to change, even if it is for the better.  

External obstacles, those out of your control, include:  the economy, competition, location of jobs, lack of support and stereotyping.  

Here are some steps to follow when you encounter roadblocks:

1.  Identify the obstacle.

2.  Brainstorm what you can do about it.

3.  Seek advice from experts, confidantes.

4.  Choose the solution that is best for you.

5.  Write down your plan.

6.  Set a time frame.

7.  Act.

Your attitude is everything in your attempt to leap over any hurdle.  See it as an opportunity for growth.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:  "Life's a journey, not a destination."  Enjoy the ride. 

Be willing to negotiate.  It certainly helped John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962! The President's willingness to negotiate helped prevent World War III.  

Ask yourself how committed you are to the goal in the first place.  Where there's a will, there's a way. If it's something you really want, you'll make it happen.  Again, as I said in yesterday's post, your passion will drive you forward.

For more information, read Overcoming Roadblocks:  Removing Roadblocks on the Journey to Your Success (Andrew Neilsen) at http://www.ebooks4free.us/197/book9781502751249.htm.

      

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Measure Your Success

"What gets measured gets done." (Peter Drucker)

If you have been following my posts this month, I am focussing on goal setting and achieving, something Brian Tracy talks about in his book Goals:  How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible.  If you want to learn more about how to set goals, visit my post "Chasing Butterflies vs. Digging for Gold" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2015/01/chasing-butterflies-vs-digging-for-gold.html.  

Once you have set your goals and put your plan into practice, you need to measure your goals.  One blogger suggests the following:

1.  Track your daily goals at IDoneThis, an e-mail based productivity log started in 2011.

2.  Join a goal setting website like www.goal-buddy.com (set your goal; build new habits; manage your tasks).

3.  Use the Seinfeld Method.  Keep a daily calendar in which you check off every day that you complete your goal.  A chain of checks starts to develop.  Try not to break the chain.  Visit here for a Don't Break the Chain Calendar:  http://www.writersstore.com/dont-break-the-chain-calendar.

4.  Keep a journal.  If you are working towards something intangible, like being more content, journaling is a good forum for showing the progression of your daily feelings and state of mind.

5.  Schedule a weekly dinner with your family, friends or colleagues to review your weekly goals.  Accountability goes a long way.

6.  Schedule a monthly review of your monthly goals.  Are you focussing on your major goal?  What are you goals for the following month?

7.  Assign each goal a measurable unit ex. chore chart with tasks and time allotments; a chart to spend more time with your family ex. weekly date night with spouse; # of activities with children.

8.  Other ways to measure your goals are:  rate your goal achievement on a scale of 1 to 10 (very unsatisfied/unhappy versus very satisfied/happy).  Assign a monetary value to your goal ex. If you don't follow your plan one week, you give so much money to charity.  

9.  Each month ask yourself:  Whether the goal is still worth pursuing.  How you're doing?  What action steps are needed to bring you closer to your goal?

Note:  There is a difference between tracking your goals, recording what you have done, and measuring your goals, calculating how far you've progressed towards your goal.

For more information, visit http://www.wisebread.com/get-it-done-how-to-measure-your-goals.

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Chasing Butterflies vs. Digging for Gold

"Realize what you really want.  It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold."  (William Moulton Marsden)





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In his book Goals:  How To Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, author Brian Tracy references a study conducted on a group of Harvard MBA graduates in 1979.  One group upon graduation did not have any specific goals (84%).  The second group had goals, but did not write them down (13%).  The third group wrote down their goals (3%). Ten years later, a follow up study was conducted.  It turned out that the second group, who had goals, was making twice the amount of money of the first group, who was goalless.  The third group, however, who had written down their goals, was making ten times the money of the first two groups!

Brian Tracy says there are seven keys to goal setting:

1.  Goals must be clear, specific and detailed.  Vague statements like:  "I'm going to be a happier person" will not be beneficial to you.  Goals must be written down.  The act of writing it down helps transform what might seem like a pipe dream into a realistic goal.

2.  Goals must be measurable and objective.  A third party should be able to evaluate them.

3.  "Attaching a deadline to each goal is like ending a statement with an exclamation mark!" says Brian Tracy.  A deadline keeps you dedicated to the task at hand.  Goals can be set at one week, one month, six months, one year or five years.  Daily goal setting is also recommended.

4.  Goals should be challenging.  They must take you a bit out of your comfort zone.  At the same time, they should be attainable (50% probability rate).

5.  Goals must be in harmony with your values and with your other goals.  For example, building a successful business and playing golf every afternoon do not go hand in hand.

6.  Goals should be balanced among the many aspects of your life:  career, family, finances, health, spiritual life, community involvement.  A well rounded person is a more happy and fulfilled person.

7.  You must have a major purpose for your life.  You must have one goal that strives towards this purpose.  As you move towards the one major goal, you will likely find yourself achieving the smaller ones as well.

It's up to you how you want to organize your goals, whether in list form or as a chart.  You can write them on a calendar or on multi-coloured notepad paper.  You can save them on your cell phone or IPod or tuck them away in a secret drawer.  I would recommend that you keep them somewhere that is easily accessible and visible to you.  If they are handwritten, use pencil just in case you need to made changes or additions.   Brian Tracy suggests that you revisit your goals frequently to see how you are progressing.

For more information, read:

1.  Motivation and Goals:  How to Set and Achieve Goals and Inspire Others by Jim Cairo (1998) at http://www.amazon.com/Motivation-Goal-Setting-Jim-Cairo/dp/1564143643.

2.  Goal Setting and Self Directed Behavior Change by David A. Kolb and Richard E. Boyatzis (2011) at http://www.amazon.ca/Goal-Setting-Self-Directed-Behavior-Change/dp/1178802795.

www.blogofmanly.com

Conceive, Believe, Achieve

"Imagination rules the world." (Napoleon Bonaparte)

Since today is the first day of 2015, I thought it would be a good day to focus on goals.  Anyone who reads my posts regularly knows that my dream is to publish a book.  My goal is easily identifiable.  Is it achievable, though?

Read my post "Whoever Believes Will Achieve" (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2012/11/whoever-believes-will-achieve.html).  What stuck out in my mind when I re-read it recently was that the mind makes little or no distinction between image and reality if the image is vivid enough.  That is powerful stuff!  

Successful athletes use visualization techniques to improve their performance.  Once such athlete, Mary Lou Retton, used to carry around index cards to help her visualize nailing a gymnastics routine. Her Olympic medal haul included one gold, two silver and two bronze.

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." 

Napoleon Hill, author of the above quote, is a believer in visualization.  According to Brian Tracy, author of Goals:  How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible (see http://www.amazon.ca/Goals-Everything-Faster-Thought-Possible/dp/1605094110visualization) visualization activates "the law of attraction", drawing people, circumstances and resources into your life to help you achieve that goal.  Tracy also maintains that visualization activates "the law of correspondence".  If you change your mental pictures inside, it will change your outside world. You become what you think about most of the time.  

Brian Tracy says visualization includes four parts:

1.  frequency:  how often do you spend visualizing an image 

2.  duration:  how long do you spend visualizing an image 

3.  vividness:  how vivid or clear is your image

4.  intensity:  the amount of emotion you put into that image

If you are an archery expert, you will appreciate Tracy's analogy:  You can't hit a target if you can't see it.  The author recommends that you visualize late at night, thereby enabling your mind to accept that at a deeper level during sleep.  The other optimum time to visualize is early in the morning, before the mind is filled with the day's activities.  

"Have complete faith that your pictures will materialize."

According to Tracy, "[Visualization] can do more to help you step on the accelerator of your own potential than any other exercise you engage in."  So, as you write a list of new year's resolutions for 2015, remember:  Conceive a goal.  Believe that you can reach that goal!  Achieve it!

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