The 7 steps to success The secrets of being SMART The secrets of writing your goals How to avoid the fear of failure Working Exercises (Turning your goals into reality)
This book is dedicated to Judy who has created the inspiration within me to write this book and to create huge goals which I only dreamed of in the past, these goals have turned into reality, creating abundance in all areas of my life. Judy continues to inspire keeping me moving forward creating goals which stretch me and move me towards my mission and vision
Step 1: Choose a Goal
You should start with one goal and stay focused on this goal at least for 30 days. If after 30 days you feel you’re doing well and getting closer to the desired outcome you can start with the second goal. The simple rule is: Don’t set a lot of goals at the same time. You won’t achieve any. The key to goal setting is staying focused. And it is impossible to focus at many goals at the same time. Start with the most important one. Have you chosen one? Please write it down NOW!!
Step 2: Intensify your Desire to Achieve your Goal
Have you ever failed to achieve your goals? Do you know the single most important reason why you couldn’t reach it? The answer is simple: Because we did not have a strong enough desire and passion. Some may argue with that. "But I did have a strong desire and still I didn't get there." If you didn’t reach your goal your desire was not strong enough. So what is the intense desire, and passion? It's what keeps people working all hours, up early, late to bed. The desire dominates conversation, thinking, and actions. Take a moment to think about the goal you've set for yourself. • • • How committed are you to achieving this goal? Under what conditions would you give up? What if you wanted them so badly that you knew with absolute certainty that you would absolutely, positively never ever give up?
Make sure your desire is strong enough and take action Never ever Quit!!!
Step 3: Develop a Strong Belief That You Can Achieve Your Goal
If you don't believe you can reach a goal you won’t. If there is any doubt in your mind that you can achieve something, you don't give it your all. In fact, you may very well just set it aside. In order to fully achieve anything, you must believe it is possible at a cellular level. If you believe that you can be successful, that you'll enjoy being successful, then you will be successful.
Do you really believe you can achieve your goal? If yes, go the next step!
Step 4: Set a Deadline for Your Goal
Set a realistic date when you plan to accomplish your goal. Don’t commit to “as soon as possible”! Always have a specific date If you don’t have a specific deadline for your goal, you won’t have a sense of urgency and you’ll start to put things off. What’s the hurry, if you don’t have a deadline? You wouldn’t want to miss an important airplane or train journey would you? Deadline will move you to action! After you set a deadline it's time to move towards
Step 5: Write Your Goal Down
You’ve probably heard hundreds of times that it is crucial to write your goal down. But do you know why this step is so important? When you put pen to paper you turn your thoughts into something tangible. You can actually see it, touch it, and even smell it if you want to. Your goal is no longer just a thought! It becomes something, what motivates us and creates a gut feeling inside. Even the act of using the eye in coordination with the hand holding the pen makes a much stronger impression on our mind as we write out the phrase or expression. Now when we read and re-read that phrase or sentence the impression on the mind becomes deeper and deeper. There is something semi-magical about writing one's goals down which makes achieving well-written goals an almost certainty. Write your goal down, visualize It., here it, feel it
Step 6: Break Your Goal Down To Mini-Goals
Now is the time to start planning the route towards your goal! We’ll start by breaking up your big goal into smaller mini-goals. Most people fail to achieve their goal simply because they don’t break them down into smaller steps. All they can see is this big overwhelming goal they’ve set for themselves and they don’t know where to start working on it! • • • • Mini-goals let you track your progress more efficiently Mini-goals are not so overwhelming Mini-goals are easier to achieve Mini-goals let you feel the progress.
Every goal can be broken into mini goals. Mini goals should never be too difficult or too long. You don’t want to be overwhelmed by them. Ask yourself: “What steps do I need to take to achieve my goal?” These steps will be your mini-goals. Take one step at a time
Step 7: Define Your Tasks for Every Mini-Goal
We’re going to make it even easier. We’ll break down every mini-goal into small easy-to-accomplish tasks. Tasks are usually the simple things you must do to accomplish a mini-goal. If you've set a mini-goal, for example, to have a complete understanding about the local property market August 11th, you will have to accomplish a number of tasks for acquiring that knowledge. • Choosing to going onto the internet and researching an investment strategy. Read a book for 30 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at specific times. Visiting a seminar or workshop and gaining knowledge and experience task. Calling your friend or establishing contact with someone that could join your network.
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All of these tasks must be set with a deadline. By focusing your mind on the easy-to-accomplish tasks, and completing those tasks, you'll be making great progress towards your mini-goals without feeling overwhelmed. Make sure to write down ALL tasks, even those that take only a short while to complete. Then, when they're accomplished, cross them off. As more and more tasks are successfully accomplished, and crossed off, you'll find yourself becoming more encouraged, and more confident about your abilities. And the more tasks you complete on time, the closer you'll be to success. Clearly define your mini-goals
SMART Goal Setting
I encourage you to pick up a pen and a piece of paper and jot down the goals you want to reach. Look at each goal and evaluate it. Make any changes necessary to ensure it meets the criteria for SMART goals: S = Specific M = Measurable A = Attainable R = Realistic T = Timely Specific Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. Specific is the What, Why, and How of the SMART model. WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build etc. WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you want to ultimately accomplish? HOW are you going to do it? (By...) Ensure the goals you set are very specific, clear and easy. Instead of setting a goal to lose weight or be healthier, set a specific goal to lose 4 cm off your waistline or to walk 5 miles at a brisk pace. Measurable If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. In the broadest sense, the whole goal statement is a measure for the project; if the goal is accomplished, the is a success. However, there are usually several short-term or small measurements that can be built into the goal. Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the change occur. How will you see when you reach your goal? Be specific! "I want to read books of 100 pages on my own before a specific date” shows the specific target to be measure. "I want to be a good reader" is not as measurable. Establish solid criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goals.
Attainable When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop that attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. Your begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals. Goals you set which are too far out of your reach, you probably won't commit to doing. Although you may start with the best of intentions, the knowledge that it's too much for you means your subconscious will keep reminding you of this fact and will stop you from even giving it your best. A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you. For instance, if you aim to lose 10lbs in one week, we all know that isn't achievable. But setting a goal to loose 1lb and when you've achieved that, aiming to lose a further 1lb, will keep it achievable for you. The feeling of success which this brings helps you to remain motivated. Realistic This is not a synonym for "easy." Realistic, in this case, means "do-able." It means that the learning curve is not a vertical slope; that the skills needed to do the work are available; that the project fits with the overall strategy and goals of the organization. A realistic project may push the skills and knowledge of the people working on it but it shouldn't break them. Devise a plan or a way of getting there which makes the goal realistic. The goal needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment. A goal of never again eating sweets, chocolate or perhaps smoking may not be realistic for someone who really enjoys these foods. For instance, it may be more realistic to set a goal of eating a piece of fruit each day instead of one sweet item. You can then choose to work towards reducing the amount of sweet products gradually as and when this feels realistic for you. Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren't very capable. Set the standard high enough for a satisfying achievement! Timely Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, or next months, putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards. If you don't set a time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there's no urgency to start taking action now. Time must be measurable, attainable and realistic. Everyone will benefit from goals and objectives if they are SMART. SMART, is the instrument to apply in setting your goals and objectives.
Writing Your Goals and Objectives
Why Writing Your Goals Is So Important?
Writing down your Dreams and Goals is an important first step towards achieving them. First, because by writing them down it forces you visualize your Goals. And second, because the act of writing them down creates a commitment on your part. Only about 5% of the population actually takes the time to write down their Goals and Dreams. Maybe that is why so few people actually are living the life that they would like to be living. Writing down your goals creates the roadmap to your success. Although just the act of writing them down can set the process in motion, it is also extremely important to review your goals frequently. Remember, the more focused you are on your goals the more likely you are to accomplish them. Here are the four rules of writing goals down: 1. Write your goal in the positive. Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write down and examine our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. Your subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right from wrong and it does not judge. It's only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get. Thinking positively in everyday life will also help in your growth as a human being. Don't limit it to goal setting. 2. Write your goals out in complete detail. Instead of writing "A new home," write "A country house with 5 bedrooms and 3 baths and a view of the sea". Once again we are giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The more information you give it, the more clear the final outcome becomes. The more precise the outcome, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become. Can you close your eyes and visualize the home I described above? Walk around the house. . Look down at the garden full of flowers. Can you see it? So can your subconscious mind. 3. Write in present tense. Write your goals down in the present tense. This is because the unconscious mind chooses a path of least resistance. If you write, "I will be slim" the unconscious mind does nothing thinking that the will be may be postponed until later. A friend had a business, which was losing money. He set his goal to break even the next month. Every month the next month would come and be this month so his goal would be true to break even the next month, which would never come. Eventually he changed his goal to, "I am breaking even this month." That very month he broke even for the first time. Write them in present tense, first person, as if they are currently true.
4. Re-write your goals. When the words are written and then repeatedly re-written they have maximum impact. So don't be content with a first draft. Write down your goal. Then rephrase it, compact it, add motivating adjectives, a week later you may want to adjust it again. Keep on fine-tuning. Writing your goals down is the first step to make the goals more real. Somehow having things in writing really makes them seem more important to most people. It will also make it easier to make the plans needed to reach your goals if you have something in writing. Putting it in writing breathes life into it making it a force which cannot be easily stopped.
Overcoming the Fear of Failure
Fear of failure is one of the greatest fears people have. Fear of failure is closely related to fear of criticism and fear of rejection. Successful people overcome their fear of failure. Fear incapacitates unsuccessful people. The Law of Feedback states: there is no failure; there is only feedback. Successful people look at mistakes as outcomes or results, not as failure. Unsuccessful people look at mistakes as permanent and personal. Buckminster Fuller wrote, "Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence only of trial and error experience. Humans have learned only through mistakes." Most people self-limit themselves. Most people do not achieve a fraction of what they are capable of achieving because they are afraid to try—because they are afraid they will fail. Take these steps to overcome your fear of failure and move yourself forward to getting the result you desire: Step One: Take action. Bold, decisive action. Do something scary. Fear of failure immobilizes you. To overcome this fear, you must act. When you act, act boldly. Action gives you the power to change the circumstances or the situation. You must overcome the inertia by doing something. Dr. Robert Schuller asks, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" What could you achieve? Be brave and just do it. If it doesn’t work out the way you want, then do something else. But DO SOMETHING NOW. Step Two: Persist. Successful people just don’t give up. They keep trying different approaches to achieving their outcomes until they finally get the results they want. Unsuccessful people try one thing that doesn’t work and then give up. Often people give up when they are on the threshold of succeeding. Step Three: Don’t take failure personally. Failure is about behavior, outcomes, and results. Failure is not a personality characteristic. Although what you do may not give you the result you wanted, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. Because you made a mistake, doesn’t mean that you are a failure.
Step Four: Do things differently. If what you are doing isn’t working, do something else. There is an old saying, "if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got." If you’re not getting the results you want, then you must do something different. Most people stop doing anything at all, and this guarantees they won’t be successful. Step Five: Don’t be so hard on yourself. Hey, if nothing else, you know what doesn’t work. Failure is a judgment or evaluation of behavior. Look at failure as an event or a happening, not as a person. Step Six: Treat the experience as an opportunity to learn. Think of failure as a learning experience. What did you learn from the experience that will help you in the future? How can you use the experience to improve yourself or your situation? Ask yourself these questions: (1) What was the mistake? (2) Why did it happen? (3) How could it have been prevented? (4) How can I do better next time? Then use what you learned from the experience to do things differently so you get different results next time. Learn from the experience or ignore it. Step Seven: Look for possible opportunities that result from the experience. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, says "every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit." Look for the opportunity and the benefit. Step Eight: Fail forward fast. Tom Peters, the management guru, says that in today's business world, companies must fail forward fast. What he means is that the way we learn is by making mistakes. So if we want to learn at a faster pace, we must make mistakes at a faster pace. The key is that you must learn from the mistakes so you make so you don't repeat them. Although we all make mistakes, fear of failure doesn't have to cripple you. As self-help author Susan Jeffers says, "Feel the fear and do it anyway."
Working Exercises Turning DREAMS Into Reality
Action Sheet
Use this worksheet to create a list of dreams, goals and desires for the future. Don’t worry at this stage how you will achieve these dreams, or the details. Simply create a list to be used as a starting point.
