Goal-Setting: How You Can Join The Top Achievers - Eric Garner

Why is it that some people set goals and give up on them while others set goals and achieve them with amazing ease? The answer almost certainly lies in applying the following 7 secrets of goal-setting.

1. Start With Your Strengths. Although you can base your goals on anything you want, your chances of success are greater if, first, you base them on your strengths and second, on the current opportunities in your field.

To find out your strengths, do some self-research, such as a personal SWOT: your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

2. Put Your Goals In Writing. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants, can'ts into cans, dreams into plans and plans into reality.

The act of writing clarifies your goals and provides you with a way to check your progress. You can even add reasons to give you more motivation. So don't just think it - ink it!

3. Dream Big. One of the factors that restricts the realisation of our full potential is the belief that we shouldn't go for big goals.

Yet all the evidence of those who realize big goals is that we can always achieve far more than we think. David Schwartz says in his book "The Magic of Thinking Big": "Big goals attract big resources like a magnet."

4. Pitch Each Goal. Once you have set your ultimate goal, you then need to set the intermediate goals that will get you where you want.

Don't pitch these too easily or too ambitiously or they will drop into the Drop Zone. Aim to make them challenging: out of reach, but not out of sight.

5. Express Them Right. It's important to express your goals in the right way.

• never express your goal in terms of what you don't want; always in terms of what you do want

• express your goals in performance terms not reward terms

• express your goals in terms of how others benefit

• express your goals according to the principles which matter.

6. Set Goals In Terms of Behaviour. When we set goals for ourselves, they should be expressed in behavioural terms, rather than in terms of status, rewards or position.

That’s because behaviour is something within our power, while status, rewards and position are not.

Formulating goals in behavioural terms also means we present a strong positive image of ourselves to our brains.

The brain, not knowing the difference between a real or imagined experience, then seeks to act in accordance with the presented image.

7. Pursue Your Goals With Passion. The driving force behind your goal-achievement is Desire. You must desire your goals constantly, vividly and with a burning passion. If you do, you cannot fail to achieve them.

It was said of Michaelangelo that he could blot out every distraction while working on a project such as the statue of David, until it was completed.

When you pursue your goals with these 7 habits, you’ll be amazed at how quickly they manifest themselves and how much more enjoyable the process becomes.

© 2005, Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com
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5 Goal Setting Secrets to Jumpstart Your Life - Ed Sykes

"Plan for the future, because that is where you are going to spend the rest of your life." - Mark Twain

Another year is upon us and you have your list of resolutions or goals you want to accomplish in the upcoming year. It’s time to plan your goals so that it’s not just another conversation this year, but a focused plan for success. I will share with you five goal setting techniques guaranteed to help you achieve more out of life. Use the goal setting techniques listed below to help you achieve your targets:

1. Be SMARTER with your Goals.

Make your goals:
Specific,
Motivational,
Action-oriented,
Relevant to your situation,
Time-bound,
Encouraging,
Rewarding

For example, “I will increase my sales by 15% compared to last year.” Be as specific about your goal as possible. “I will start my own catering business” is a lot stronger than “I want to go into business for myself.” Challenging goals are motivating. Set goals that will push beyond what you usually think you can accomplish. Remember to set a deadline. A goal without a deadline is simply a dream. Attach a realistic yet challenging deadline for accomplishment and post this where you can review it regularly.

2. Visualize your goals. Take 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes just before you go to bed; find a quiet place; close your eyes and relax, and visualize yourself actually achieving your goals. Remember the more senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, etc.) you can involve, the more real your visualization becomes.

I ask during my seminars, “Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that you woke up in the middle of it?” Well the reason for that is the subconscious mind is at work involving all of those senses to trick you into believing the dream is real. Well, you don’t have to wait; work at visualizing your goals today.

3. Phrase your goal in the present tense and assume success. Don't say, “I want to.” Say, “I will.” This subtle technique tells your subconscious that you have already achieved your goal, which means it will work at helping the goal become a reality. It will attract the people, places, and situations you need to achieve that goal.

4. Put your goals in writing. This simple act helps you clarify your goals and will allow you to visualize them more effectively. I recommend that you record each goal on a separate index card and review them twice a day – once in the morning (when you first wake up) and again before you go to bed.

Post index cards where you spend the most time; on the bathroom mirror, on the frig., on your nightstand, etc. This process reinforces your goals, acts as a reminder, and drives your goals deep into your subconscious. In fact, this is one of the most powerful strategies you can use to achieve your targets.

5. List the benefits you intend to receive by achieving each goal. This will keep you focused and strong, particularly when you face the inevitable roadblocks and barriers. In June, when I chose to lose 20 pounds, I listed 12 benefits, and when I had the urge to put butter on my veggies or help myself to a second serving of food, I would review this list to help me get past that craving. I lost the 22 pounds and two inches around my waistline to date. I think I will go for another 10 pounds. This was not a diet, just a lifestyle change. The more benefits you can list for your goals, the more motivating those goals will become.

So my challenge to you to is to take the time to plan your goals. Start with one goal and visualize it, write it down, and act on it. As I always say, “If you don’t invest the time to set goals then someone else will do it for you. And I guarantee you won’t like their goals.” Invest the time, start today!
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Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and success coach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Go to his web site, www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive the free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional."

Going Beyond Goal Setting By Kevin Eikenberry

I just Googled the phrase “goal setting”, and found approximately 3,600,000 web pages that relate in some way to that phrase. This shouldn’t surprise us, because conventional wisdom is that goal setting is an important skill.

It is easy to document both through anecdotal evidence as well as through research that setting goals can help us achieve more. There are hundreds of books, tapes, speeches, workshops, and websites that will provide us with tools and processes to set goals. One would think for something as important as goal setting, with as many tools as there are available, that everyone would be a goal setter.

This however isn’t the case.

While I could fill a book with the reasons why, there is one that is very important.

People don’t set goals now because they didn’t achieve the ones they set in the past.

They’ve followed the goal setting process they learned or read about, but the seminar or book stopped at the wrong time. The seminar stopped with the setting of the goal. That is like ending the game after the first play, then going to sit on the sidelines, while the goal is out on the playing field.

My advice to you, if you can identify with what you’ve just read is to stop worrying about goal setting. And start focusing on goal achieving.

In other words, stop worrying about which goal setting model to use, or which software to track your progress with. Stop making the goal setting process the focus, and start putting the focus on goal achievement.

Here are three things you can do to put our focus on goal achievement and drastically increase your success:

1. Get sick and tired. It is often said that people really begin to reach new health goals when they become “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Achieving a goal means that you want something different than you have now. To build your ongoing and sustaining drive to achieve the new item, knowledge or situation, you must become disgusted and dissatisfied with the current situation.

This doesn’t mean that you should become bitter or grumpy, but rather it means to develop a healthy dissatisfaction with the way things are now (current profitability, the cycle time for new product development, or your inability to find a bathroom in Brazil).

2. Get (and stay) excited about the result. To sustain the challenges, setbacks and disappointments along your way to goal achievement, you must have another motivation as well. You must really want the benefits that will come to you when the new goal is achieved.

Build a clear and compelling picture in your mind of what you will feel, sense, see, and believe once your goal has been achieved. Focus on the results you will gain from the goal, rather than just the goal itself. This is important because in the end this is what you are after, not “just” the goal itself. As you work towards your goal, the goal might shift, but as long as the desired results remain clear, you have improved the likelihood of achieving the end result you desire.

3. Start a plan and get started. Notice I didn’t say to lay out a complete plan of all the steps between you and your goal. If your goal is of any size and importance at all, it will require many steps, and it will be very difficult/impossible to identify them with any degree of certainty at the start.

Too many people think they need the perfect plan. They delay starting so they can get the best information. They want to talk to one more expert, read one more book, examine two more options. Get started already! Give yourself a clear idea of a general approach, and some clear first steps. Allow yourself the luxury of knowing that the next specific steps will become clear as you stay on the path.

Doing these three things will drastically increase your success in achieving any goal you set.

Actually, let me say it more strongly. Until you have these three factors going for you in large (although potentially varying) amounts, you won’t achieve the goals you set. You will lose momentum. You will lose focus. You will lose hope. You won’t be able to overcome the first setback. And you will fall into the convenient and comfortable thinking that goal setting “doesn’t work” for you or that you need a new tool, a new technique or a new guru to help you set “better” goals.

Whether you are setting goals for yourself, the team you lead or for your organization at large, take this advice to heart.

Focus less energy on setting the perfect goal and spend more time preparing yourself for ultimate success. Stop worrying about the resolution, and start focusing on the resolve that will be required to succeed.

Doing this will bring you greater success, less frustration and will help you and your organization move closer and closer to your potential.
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Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company. To receive a free Special Report on leadership that includes resources, ideas, and advice go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/leadership.asp or call us at (317) 387-1424 or 888.LEARNER.

Getting Things Done -- Especially Goal Tasks By Josh Hinds

I ran across an interesting site called, MyTicklerFile.com which is a web based tool that, you guessed it, promises to duplicate a tickler file. In case you're wondering, a tickler file is: a file of memoranda or notices that remind of things to be done.

If you've read David Allen's book, Getting Things Done, then no doubt you've learned the importance of using a tickler file -- as well as some other pretty darn handy tools for both getting organized and, well getting things done :-)

And if you haven't read the book yet... then do yourself a favor and either buy it, or head to your local library and read it. In my humble opinion its that good!

But I regress... back to the tickler file and MyTicklerFile.com in particular. Let me say right now that I'm not affiliated with the site, for that matter, at the time of my writing this, aside from my looking over the site, and my thinking it looks like a pretty useful tool, I haven't had much personal experience with it at all. So there you have it...

I have zero personal bias. Now that I got that out of the way, Id like to share some of the more interesting things that MyTicklerFile.com says it will do (as taken from its web site) and you can be the ultimate judge of whether or not you think it's something that would work for you in helping you take control of your tasks that ultimately lead to reaching more of the larger goals you set for yourself...

The following are highlighted points taken from the web page:


What is My Tickler File

My Tickler File is a web-based tool built to simplify the tracking of time-sensitive tasks (to-do list, reminders, etc) via e-mail.

Highlighted Features

* Use My Tickler File to implement Getting Things Done your way.

* Use Tagging to better organize your ticklers.

* Send ticklers to and create ticklers from your email-enabled device.

Josh Hinds' note: Things get a little more technical here. Ill include it because i'm assuming it might make more sense to you. Particularly if you're of the more technically savvy group :-)

Web 2.0

My Tickler File is a Web 2.0 service. We have included the following Web 2.0 features;

* Ajax
* Tags
* API (coming soon)

If you're like some folks, and you do better with visual examples, you can check out their, examples page to have a closer look. It should give you a good feel for how MyTicklerFile.com works... and if it is something that would work for you.

Finally, if you decide this is something that won't quite work for you, as the saying goes... Don't shoot the messenger. All I'm doing is sharing what could be a helpful resource with you. Whether it is or not is up to you.

-- Yours in goal achievement, Josh Hinds :-)

Beyond Goal Setting

The Pursuit of Potential
by Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE

The 1988 Winter Olympics were held in Calgary, Canada. I am a rabid downhill skier, so I was watching the televised events with great interest.

Of particular interest to me was Pirmin Zurbriggen, 25, Switzerland's brilliant all-around champion. The serene and religous young man was also a fierce competitor. Before the Olympics, Zurbirggen had told the media"I like pressure. I like to fight. I like to be at the best level of my talents."

I was watching the second day of an event called the two-day combined. His run on the downhill portion the day before had put Zurbriggen in first by .48 of a second.

In his first of two runs in the combined slalom he tied for sixth. He did not have to do better than that, because due to the computerized formula that measures winning and losing in the combined events, even an unspectacular finish in the second slalom run would have clinched Zurbriggen's second gold medal of the Olympics (he had already won a gold medal in the downhill).

I watched as Zurbriggen exploded out of the starting gate. His run was proceeding well until suddenly, approximately two thirds of the way down the course, the tip of his right ski caught a pole and Zurbriggen went down hard. Later he would say, "I skied too close to the gate, and I don't know why. It probably wasn't a matter of more than a centimeter or two."

Why had Zurbriggen crashed and ruined his chances for the gold? Was he being careless? Did he push too hard or take an unnecessary chance? I could only speculate and no one else seemed to know.

Two weeks later I was skiing at Copper Mountain, about an hour and a half from my home. Riding up on the ski lift, I started a conversation with the ski instructor sitting next to me. I learned that he was a friend of Zurbriggen's. He told me that they had taught skiing together many years earlier.

I asked him to speculate on what had happened at the Olympics. I wanted to know if he had any insight into why Zurbriggen went down on the course. I'll never forget what he said, because it helped change my philosophy of business and of life.

"You know, I haven't talked to Zurbriggen since the Olympics, so I can't say for sure," the ski instructor told me, "But I think I understand him well enough to explain it. See, in my opinion, he probably wasn't trying just to win a gold medal. He was, as always, trying to ski his best race."

What I learned that day applies to us all. Most men and women are content to achieve their goals and objectives. Leaders pursue their potential. You and I know how good we've become. But the once question none of us can answer is: How good can be? Perhaps we give up a great deal because we place it too safe, too conservatively and don't take appropriate risks.

I don't know what motivated Pirmin Zurbriggen that day in Calgary, but I do know this: Champions in any walk of life are committed to the pursuit of their true potential, to answering the question "How good can I be?"
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Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE is a professional speaker published in the areas of leadership, change management, customer service and teamwork. He works with business organizations who want to reach the next level of success and individuals who want to perform at their best. You can email him at Mark@MarkSanborn.com, phone him at (800) 650-3343 or visit his Web site at http://www.marksanborn.com

==>> Learn more about Mark Sanborn's book Upgrade: Proven Strategies for Dramatically Increasing Personal and Professional Success.

If It's Worth Dreaming, It's Worth Writing Down By Josh Hinds

You have the idea so therefore you have within you the ability to make it a reality. Such is one of life's great truths. This may not always appear to be the case, but rest assured deep down you've got all the ability it takes.

The problem is that far to often we don't lay a foundation so that we have in place what it will take to make our idea a reality. First of all, we have to understand that things often don't just happen. They are the result of following out carefully planned steps and taking daily action until we have reached our intended destination.

Say for example you wanted to take a trip. Most likely you'd chart your course wouldn't you? You'd at least take the time to know where you were headed and write out the directions. This is the same idea behind achieving our goals, yet you'd be amazed by how many people choose to go day in and day out without having a basic plan of where they're headed.

The main thing to keep in mind is that your goals should be committed to paper. This is the same as having a map. Each time you begin to feel as though you're drifting away from what you want, you can refer back to your written goals. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Well that my friend is because it is!

Yet as easy as this is to implement the fact still remains that most people simply lack the determination to make this an ongoing process. I won't lie to you here it's going to take an ongoing commitment. It takes the understanding that all things are changing. Life is about change. The better we become at adapting to life's changes the better prepared we will be. Amidst all the changes, keeping a written plan will do wonders for keeping you heading in the direction of your dreams.

-- Here's to your success, Josh Hinds

The Benefit of Having a Goal Worth Failing For -- By Gary Simpson

Having a dream or a goal worth failing for is a sure reason for not quitting. Let me give you a powerful example then I'll follow it up with more examples and finally a personal experience of my own.

Milt Campbell was an Olympic athlete. In 1952, in Helsinki, Finland he won a silver medal in the decathlon, a grueling series of events. But a silver medal was still one place short of where Milt wanted to be.

In 1956, Milt Campbell came to Melbourne, Australia. For four long years he was the reigning silver medallist - second best in the world. But he wanted to be the best. History tells that he achieved just that. In Melbourne, Milt won the gold medal. Here is a fantastic revelation that he made:

"Many of the athletes against whom I competed in high school were far superior to me, but they quit."

How powerful is that statement given the knowledge that you now have about this amazing man? What does it tell you?

Others have displayed similar persistence in the pursuit of their dreams. Colonel Harland Sanders was rejected by hundreds of restaurant owners before he came up with the concept of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Thomas Edison said he didn't fail 10,000 times to produce an electric light globe. He said he had merely found 10,000 ways not to make one.

If you know what you want and that goal is so powerful to you then there is a simple formula for success - don't quit. Winners never quit and quitters never win. In the words of the immortal Winston Churchill: "Never, never, never, never give up."

Are you prepared never to quit, never to give up and never to surrender in the pursuit of your life goal? Let me tell you - I am not. Allow me a few paragraphs now to tell you a little bit about one of my own experiences.

All my life I have wanted to write. It has been a constant theme right through everything else I have ever done. I am a compulsive writer. I have written so many magazine articles, a dozen books, hundreds of Editorial Letters and countless short stories.

One of my short stories "The Power of Choice" is now in e-book format. This story has been sent from my various websites to thousands of people in dozens and dozens of countries all over the world. It has received remarkable accolades from so many people from as far as the UK to Iceland to Canada to the USA. I have pages and pages of emails from people telling me how the story affected them in such a positive manner.

Many have credited my fifteen-minute story with turning their lives around. When I receive these comments it is very humbling for me to know that something I have penned has so deeply affected the way other people view their lives from that point on.

Why am I telling you this? To pat myself on the back? To "big note" myself? No. None of that. I'm sharing this with you here to let you know that I have intimate personal experience with the subject I am writing about. You see, I could so easily have thrown my story into a drawer for it never to be shared with anyone. But I didn't. I believed in it. I persisted with it. Boy oh boy, did I persist with it!

Before making Power of Choice available directly from my website I originally wanted it to be published traditionally - paper and ink. So many times I would eagerly await an envelope from a prospective publisher only to be confronted with one rejection slip after another. Heh... I could wallpaper a room with them all.

I could have quit dozens of times over. But I didn't. Now, instead, I receive weekly emails full of compliments. Do you think that I am still concerned about all those rejection slips? Nah! Now, I wear them like a badge of honor. I have had the last say. I have triumphed.

Now that I have given you several examples, including one of my own, my thoughts turn to you. Your goal must be pursued with relentlessness. Are you willing to keep on failing your way to success? I hope so - because that is what it takes.

What goal is so big and so important in your life that you are prepared to fail over and over again in your pursuit of it? Let me tell you - when you find such a goal nothing will stop you from succeeding. Nothing! You can do it. Milt Campbell did it. Colonel Sanders did it. Thomas Edison did it. Tens of thousands of others have done it. I have done it. And if I can do it then so can you!
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About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice."

Using Technology to Reach Your Goals By Josh Hinds

Using my Sidekick II to keep track of my Goals ...

In case you're wondering, this isn't going to be a cleverly written article advertising T-Mobile, or the Sidekick II for that matter. The reason I am writing this is that I'm often asked what techniques I use to keep track of and manage my goals. Since I do a combination of things -- not the least of which involves using the nifty gadget you see above, I thought I'd share a bit about it here for you. In particular how I use it myself.

Out of sight, means your goals are often out of mind as well...

I don't know about you, but I can tell you from personal experience that when my life feels like it's flying out of control it can be really hard (that's an understatement) to stay focused on the task at hand. Much less being able to make sure I'm working on those tasks that will lead towards my attaining the goals that I have set for myself.

So, it's not enough to just have your goals written down. You've got to actually keep them nearby, so you can be reminded to look at them and give them the needed attention necessary to make sure you actually work on them.

That leads me to one of the ways I use my Sidekick II to keep my goals clearly in mind...

You see, there's a calendar included that I use quite a bit. In it, I like to set "tasks" -- with each new task, I set a reminder. When I'm dealing with my goals I'll set the reminders to be a repeating task. That way at any given time I can get a handy reminder for the particular goal that I've set. Since I also like to keep my goal on 3x5 cards -- often I will include a reminder to review my Goal Cards.

The interesting thing about goal setting and more importantly goal achieving, is that you want to break down your overall objective (or goal) into manageable pieces. Then work those pieces (or smaller goals) until we get closer to reaching the larger goal we want to achieve.

That's where using tools such as Goals Cards, or a tool like the Sidekick II (or any other goal tool that works for you) comes in handy. It will do wonders for keeping you focused and taking action on the things that you must do in order to reap the ultimate goal of achieving the things you've set for yourself.

One more tip... When the goal reminder I've set for myself alerts me, I make a point to take action on whatever it is that needs to be done. Procrastination has stopped way to many otherwise great achievements.

Taking action on whatever it is that needs to be done, no matter how inconvenient it may be (within reason of course) goes a long way towards helping you achieve more of the goals you set for yourself. Very often there's no better time then at that very moment to do what needs to be done. No matter what the "procrastination monster" might be trying to tell you!

--- To your goal setting success, Josh Hinds :-)

5 Steps to Create Solid, Powerful Goals By Stephanie Frank

You know where you want to go, but how do you get there? You may find that making some decisions is easier than others. What do you do first? How long will it take? Will you need help getting there? How do you decide what's right for you?

It helps if you understand what makes you tick; your personal value system. These values are the ones you live with, not necessarily every day, but over the course of your life, that enable you to live with your decisions.

First, sit down and make a list of the top 20 or 30 values that are important to you:

* family

* personal time

* fun

-- you get the idea. Narrow that list to 10, and then five. Next, rank those five in numeric order, one against the other, until you have your top three.

When making choices, ask yourself if the decision would honor your top three values. If not, it's the wrong choice for you at the time.

Setting the right goals for you is almost as important as having goals in the first place. They have to be realistic and coincide with your value system. How does your vision mesh with your goals? You may experience fear, feel overwhelmed or confused because you don’t know how to go about setting goals effectively, but it’s a straightforward process and you will overcome the emotions as you go, as you feel more in control.

The Five-Step Goal-Setting Process

1. What do you want, specifically -- This is the first thing to ask yourself in your goal planning process. What is your vision? Your dream? Without being clear as to your explicit desires, no other steps can be taken, and no progress made.

2. Why do you want it (what value does it serve) -- The pivotal question in your goal-setting process and a prime motivator. You must reflect on your values list in order to answer it. Does your desire reflect your values? If so, you've accomplished the second step and are on your way to goal setting success.

3. When do you want it – Determining specific dates for completion of tasks is a crucial part of your goal setting procedure. Knowing that you have committed yourself to achieving a certain thing by a certain date will enable you to plan your time and thus maximize your efforts.

4. What will you give up or overcome to get it – Confusion? Fear? Procrastination? Insecurity? Make sure you keep in mind why you want your goal. It will give you all the courage you need to push through your fears and move forward.

5. Create a detailed plan to get there -- We are not born knowing how to do anything, really, except eat, sleep and breathe. The rest we learn as we go along, and creating a detailed plan to achieve your goals is no different.

Brainstorm things you can do, actions you can take. Bounce ideas off of friends, relatives. Throw out ideas (none are too insignificant or crazy). After you get the first few implausible or facetious ideas out of the way, more creative, clever and valuable ideas will surface. Brainstorm until you are able to get your ideas down to very specific, measurable tasks that you can then cross off a list when you’ve finished them.

In order to reach a key goal, you'll need to set interim goals – multiple short-term goals. Broken down into bite-sized pieces, the objectives are less intimidating. If you get stuck trying to create a plan, ask yourself more questions! Keep asking questions until there are no more questions, only actions left.

Prioritize your plan according to your most important goal, approach each goal individually and set a date for completion. You’ll be amazed at the progress you make!
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Stephanie Frank is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker and entrepreneur. Take the free quiz "Do You Have What It Takes To Be The Next Accidental Millionaire?" and receive over $1,574 worth of business building tools and resources at www.AccidentalMillionaire.com. Learn more about her site, "The Rich Living Institute" -- where serious entrepreneurs master success!

Goal Setting in Fitness & Nutrition by Brian D. Johnston

A goal is the result or achievement toward which effort is directed. Without setting goals in exercise or nutrition, there is far less value and purposeful direction; and they need to be measurable and realistic. For example, a thin teenager weighing 120 pounds wishing to weight 220-pounds of muscle is both specific and measurable. However, he cannot hope to achieve such a physique, especially not soon and probably not without growth-enhancing drugs. Therefore, in this instance, the goal to gain 100 pounds of muscle is specific, it is measurable, but it is unrealistic.

Non-measurable goals, such as "I want to lose fat and get lean," will never be realized since the term "lean" is subjective with no objective measurement. What is lean to one person may not be lean to another... or perhaps it is "too lean". Once the individual obtains a supposed state of leanness, will that person know that he has achieved that goal or will his perception of what he thinks is "lean" change because of higher standards and greater expectations? On the other hand, if a trainee indicated that he wants to reduce body fat to a level of ten percent, then he has a measurable goal - one that can be quantified.

Next, to achieve goals better, trainees must provide a measurement and do so in the smallest amount necessary and within reason relative to past accomplishments. Don't aim for something greater than you could ever have achieved in the past. Moreover, the more distant the goal, and the smaller the increments, the more likely the success of obtaining the goal. But it should be noted that a goal must require some degree of effort and challenge. If the goal is too small or easy to obtain, there is little incentive or sense of accomplishment or pride.

Goals can be measured in terms of outcome and performance. An outcome goal refers to that which a person is aiming to achieve, such as lifting five pounds more in the bench press next workout or a far greater weight over the course of several months. There is little flexibility in this type of goal - either it is achieved or it is not.

Performance goals refer to the process through which a person achieves those goals, including both the short- and long-term. Performance goals are much more flexible, and allows a person to reorganize a strategy from day to day in order to meet the outcome goal(s). Performance goals are associated with less anxiety, since there is flexibility and, as a result, should be emphasized in an exercise and nutrition program. It can be upsetting not to achieve an outcome goal, but if all the steps leading up to the outcome were done to the best of your ability, it is easy to maintain motivation in preparing for the next outcome goal.

When determining a long-term goal, a strategy of immediate, short-term goals (performance goals) must be considered. For example, if you desire a ten-pound increase on the best bench press, how will you get there? This is accomplished by creating a workout schedule, a long-term plan of increasing "x" pounds/ounces to the bar each workout until you achieve the extra ten pounds.

The plan may need to be reevaluated then re-designed - particularly if you fail to increase the weight by "x" pounds/ounces during one of the workouts, and falling short in the end. It could be further stated that creating a goal strategy in exercise is very similar to a marketing or business plan in that goals may be established, but they may also need reformulating on a regular basis to reflect current facts of finance, the economy, sales, customer satisfaction, etc.

GOAL SETTING PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGY

Set Specific Goals
The goal must be measurable, such as "bench press 275 pounds" by a certain date rather than "increase the bench press" and without a concrete date in mind.

Set Difficult and Realistic Goals
The goal must be within reach, yet challenging in order to increase mental arousal and motivation. Easy goals will not be motivating, yet goals that are nearly impossible will hinder motivation for future workouts. Goals must reflect your genetic ability accurately; as strength and size increases, the ability to match past goals will diminish.

Establish Short-term Goals
Each main goal must consist of sub-goals or short-term goals. Before a person can increase chest measurement by an inch, or bench-press an additional 50 pounds, he must progress in smaller amounts. Being able to see patterns in those amounts (your results over a particular period of time), or lack thereof, provides valuable data and feedback in your ability to achieve long-term goals during a specific time frame. Not being able to achieve short-term goals provides further information as to what is not working and the need for a new plan of short-term goals in order to achieve the long-term goal.

Develop Goal-Achievement Strategies
A trainee cannot achieve short- or long-term goals without knowing how he or she eventually will get there. In order to lose an inch off the waist, you must first lose a quarter-inch, then a half-inch, etc., and each step requires a certain amount of exercise and a proper eating plan. These aspects determine your daily or immediate goals.

Create Backup Plans of Action
What happens if a short-term goal is not reached? If something goes wrong, is it probable that the long-term goal will be reached? It will be difficult to get back on track if a backup plan of action is not established to correct any minor setbacks. If the goal is to lose a quarter-inch off the waist during the first month, and the trainee only lost one-eighth inch, the chances of losing a quarter-inch during the next phase of the strategy is highly unlikely (unless exercise is increased and eating is decreased). It will be necessary to rethink the strategy and decide what must be done in order to get back on track. But rather than waiting for the possibility of failure, strategize ahead of time and anticipate failure or what could go wrong.

Individual Personality Considerations. Prior to establishing goals, personality must be considered. Is the person a high-achiever or a low-achiever? Does the person have the commitment and can he or she maintain that commitment? Can the person sustain the motivation to reach a difficult goal that may be a year away while paying attention to diet and intense exercise during that time on a daily/weekly basis? Does the person have the maturity and intellect to work through any problems leading to each goal? How does the individual accept failure - as a learning experience or another "nail in the coffin" of defeat?

Provide for Goal Evaluation
At the end of each short- and long-term goal, evaluate performance, dedication, motivation, and well you did to achieve (or surpass) your goals. From this information it will be easier to establish future goals, and to make goals easier or more challenging, by learning from mistakes, failures, and successes. Also, evaluate the backup plans of action and if any of those steps needed to be implemented, your problem-solving skills, what went right, what went wrong, and any factors that were not considered.

Provide Goal Support
Share goals with others, such as a loved one, friends, a mentor, or associates on the Internet. Telling people about what you intend to achieve increases support and keeps you on the path to prove your ability rather than experiencing humiliation or embarrassment from backing down when the going gets tough. Regular updates on a long-term goal, and how each short-term goal is proceeding will keep you in check and sustain motivation.
About the Author
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Brian D. Johnston is the Director of Education and President of the I.A.R.T. fitness certification and education institute. He has written over 12 books and is a contributing author to the Merck Medical Manual. An international lecturer, Mr. Johnston wears many hats in the fitness and health industries, and can be reached at info@ExerciseCertification.com. Visit his site at www.ExerciseCertification.com for more articles.

Personal Goal Setting - 10 Tips by Steve Gillman

Does personal goal setting work? Many people want things, situations or accomplishments, call these goals, and then are disappointed when they don't get them. Call desires goals if you want, but just naming your desires sure isn't effective goal setting.

Good goals have some or all of the following:

1. They are specific. "I want to be healthy" is too general. "I want to lose weight and walk three times a week," is better.

2. They are measurable. How many pounds do you want to lose? How much money do you want to make? How will you know if your relationship is better?

3. They are in writing. There is power in writing down your goals. It makes them more real, and this influences your subconscious mind, especially if you review the goals regularly.

4. They are realistic. Sorry, but even if it is possible that you could become an astronaut, if you're already 55, you better try for becoming a pilot for now. Unrealistic goals set you up for failure.

5. They have deadlines. You'll have a new job by when? Setting dates really helps your progress.

6. They become plans. Making a goal into specific steps makes it much more likely. It isn't overwhelming to take one step at a time.

7. They are motivated. Having the goal for the right reasons is a good start. You should also learn how to re-motivate yourself, and reward yourself when you make progress.

8. They consider personal factors. Can you really get what you want if you feel like you don't deserve it? Maybe, but good goal setting takes into account personal changes that are necessary or useful.

9. They are followed by action. One of the keys to motivation and to getting where you want to be is to start with any movement towards the goal. Action begets action. Start slow if you must, but start.

10. They are not written in stone. Goals naturally evolve. Why would you become a doctor once you learned that you liked doing lab work better?

The last one is a tough one. An excuse and a change of course are not the same thing, but to know the difference means you need a certain level of self-awareness. Develop that, apply the keys to personal goal setting above, and you'll get to where you want to be.
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Steve Gillman writes on many topics including brainpower, weight loss, meditation, habits of mind, creative problem solving, generating luck and anything related to self improvement. Learn more and get FREE e-courses at www.SelfImprovementNow.com

Youth Sports Goal Settings by Ken Kaiserman

New Year's day means different things to different people. Certainly, spending time with family and friends and watching some great college bowl games. In our house, a new year also means making resolutions.

It started about 15 years ago when my wife and I were on a ski trip together - before kids. It was one of those days in Taos, New Mexico where the snow was coming down so heavy that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. For some people, the fresh powder might make for great snow conditions, but for us, it was a great day to sit by the huge fire in the ski lodge and "plan our lives".

We had a great talk that included when we wanted to have kids, financial planning and lots of resolutions - including our goals for work, working out, sports, and how we wanted to work out our relationships with the people in our lives. Believe it or not, we sat there for 9 hours and we had fun doing it. Now, every year, we talk about goals with our kids.

All of our kids already have goals, but they may not share them with us. Our job as parents is to help them focus on the correct goals, help them achieve their goals, and later, we need to help them deal with the disappointment of not reaching their goals.

Goal Setting With Kids
The first thing we need to work on with all of our kids is education. For each kid, at every age, they can focus on their schoolwork; improve their skills, and getting their homework done on time. Of course, they can also work on their relationships with parents and their siblings - something that never seems exactly where it should be. However, as you know, we at SportsKids are all about youth sports - so let's focus on sports.

All the kids I know say they are going to be professional athletes. Now, there are some kids who say they are going to be doctors, lawyers, business people, the president of the United States, or something else, but again, this is SportsKids. My eight year old son, who doesn't really know who Danny Ainge is, wants to follow in his footsteps and be both a professional basketball player as well as a professional baseball player.

Now, maybe some of our kids will end up being professional athletes, but the statistics say otherwise. Most kids won't be playing organized sports past the age of 12. Very few high school athletes will ever play NCAA Division I sports and almost none of those will ever play professionally. Knowing this, of course, shouldn't diminish our kid's dreams - that's what they are supposed to be doing - dreaming! So, as parents we have to help our kids reach their potential.

How Should We Help Our Kids?
Keith Hirabayashi is a good friend of mine. Many of you may not know who Keith is, but if you like martial arts you would know; he has been five time Grand Champion at the US World and US Open Karate Tournaments. He was named Weapons Competitor of the Decade, thanks to his expertise with the staff, the broadsword, and the three-sectional staff. He's a member of The Black Belt Hall of Fame, The Inside Kung-Fu Hall of Fame, and The Fighter Hall of Fame. In addition, he's been listed among the 100 Most Influential Martial Artists of the Last Century by Black Belt magazine. I've had many talks with Keith about goal setting and how he reached the pinnacle of his sport.

Nobody who starts out is great their first day, but they can think big. The trick, as Keith taught me, is to break your dream into manageable steps - something that's hard to do, but achievable. When Mr. Hirabayashi first started Wushu as a boy, he couldn't envision becoming "Competitor Of The Year" so he started with something easier. There was a kid in his class who was "great". So, Keith wanted to one day be as good as that guy. One day, he was that good. Then, he wanted to be as good as the assistant teacher.

Finally, he surpassed his teacher, became the best in the world and now founded Champions Martial Arts, a studio in Brentwood, California.

In order to accomplish each of these resolutions and goals, there are a few rules that you need to follow. You need to know what you are trying to accomplish. The goal needs to be specific, measurable, and have a time limit. A person also needs to know why they want to reach the goal and then lay out a real, manageable plan on how to accomplish their goal.

Being a great martial artist, or being great at anything, requires a plan. Start by setting small goals to ultimately reach a larger goal and understand each step. A kid needs to layout a plan for practice, competition and study of their sport. Realizing that practice makes permanent, parents need to make sure their kids are practicing the right fundamentals. Playing a sport only during the organized practices and the games won't get a kid to reach their potential.

If your child plays an instrument, you wouldn't allow them to not practice between lessons. "Pistol" Pete Maravich, one of the 50 greatest NBA players, practiced literally all the time because he knew that some other kid was practicing and getting better than he was. Set small, measurable and achievable goals, lay out a path of how the goals will be accomplished, and then watch the results.

Dealing With Disappointment
Starting with the premise that our kids aren't going to reach their ultimate goal of becoming a professional athlete should in no way diminish the benefits of dreaming, setting goals, and working to accomplish each of the resolutions. It's imperative not to forget the many benefits to playing youth sports, including teamwork, good sportsmanship, developing motor skills, learning to win and to lose, and the friendships that are created along the way.

Most of our kids will figure out and realize for themselves that they won't be a professional athlete, but if we help them set small, achievable goals, practice proper fundamentals, and set out a specific plan to accomplish their goals, all of them will benefit and maybe some will actually be able to fulfill their dreams. It all starts by setting your New Year's resolutions.
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Ken Kaiserman is the president of SportsKids.com, a leading youth sports website featuring games, sports news, sports camp and league directories, community features, and the SportsKids.com Superstore with over 150,000 products. Ken coaches youth football, basketball and baseball. He also serves on the local little league board of directors as well as the Park Advisory Board.

Setting Realistic Goals by Jay Conners

When we make a sale, or take one step closer to meeting our goal, we are overcome with a felling of achievement which motivates us to sell more.

I’m sure that anybody who is reading this article has been in the situation where they may have been given unobtainable goals from one of their bosses, sales manager’s, or some higher up somewhere in the company.

When goals are given that are unrealistic, the mission is doomed from the beginning. It immediately gives a feeling of despair to the sales team, which can be devastating to morale.

The sales team will do their duty and work as hard as they can to obtain the goals, but when they fall short, they will have feelings of failure, and will be reluctant to move on.

Simply stated, unrealistic goals, take the fun out of selling.

A personal story . . .

During my years in the banking industry, I managed a sales team in a small branch inside of a grocery store. This is what is known as In-store banking. It was estimated that seven thousand people came through the grocery store where my branch was located on a weekly basis.

With that statistic, my sales team was given a goal of opening up six checking accounts per day, among other things.

This would be a monthly goal of one hundred and eighty checking accounts per month. To me and my team, this was highly unrealistic.

Then, In-store banking was brand new to the banking industry, and these goals were being handed down by people who never once stepped foot in an in-store branch.

Please understand, I am not bitter about this, I am just stating the facts, and believe this to be an on going problem with companies.

This problem works both ways. Sometimes the goals being handed down are not enough, and a sales team will fall short of what their potential could be.

Needless to say, my sales team never met their daily, weekly, or monthly goals. We did however, fight the good fight and manage to hold our own. But morale was never what it should have been.

Every six months my team and I would attend the semiannual sales rally, where we would sit and watch as the other branches so proudly accepted their awards for meeting their goals. It pained me to watch my team walk away empty handed knowing that they worked so hard.

My point is, when goals are being set, they need to be realistic and obtainable. The more you or your team reach their goal the more motivated they will be.

Once you are reaching your goal at a steady pace, challenge yourself or your team, and raise the bar. Challenge them to reach higher on a daily basis

Keep in mind, when you raise the bar, keep this new goal realistic as well, you don’t want to become over confident and put your goals out of reach.

One last thing . . .

The goals that are being set, should be put in place by a person or people who know you, your staff, and your demographics. Not by somebody in an ivory tower.

If they are not being put into place by the appropriate people, suggest this idea to someone in your organization that you can trust.
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Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

How to Achieve Your Sales Goals by Greg Beverly

Obviously, it goes without saying that your goals must be written. The second part of the goal setting process must be for you to determine WHY you want to achieve your goals. Now here is where you need to turn your own sales skills upon yourself. You cannot simply state that you want to achieve your goals to make money, or to keep your job.

You have to go deeper. Why do you want more money...? You want more money so you can ______. Why is _______ so important to you? What will having _______ ultimately mean to me? Remember, drill down just like you would with a prospect.

Don't let yourself get away crappy, off the cuff, answers. Drill down to what moves you, what motivates you every day. This is where you will find your passion and it will help you to attach that passion to achieving your goals.

After you’ve written down your goals, gotten specific about what you want and why you want it and developed a clear mental image of your goal, then and only then, move on.

When those steps are completed, it’s time to take action.

There are two types of action, physical and mental. Let’s start with the physical.

Taking Action to Move Towards your Goal

Start the first part of this goal setting technique by thinking of all the things you can do to make your goals a reality. Write them down and keep adding to the list. Then start working on the list. Take the action necessary to achieve your goals. While this will definitely include the items on your list, make that list even more detailed. For instance, to get more hot referrals, call 3 centers of influence today...to add to your credibility, get a testimonial from _______ today, then call on his/her circle of contacts.

It’s important to do something every day, even little things to create momentum. Take steps every day. If you want to get in good physical condition you would exercise daily, not at random now and then. The same holds true with your goals. Take consistent action and you will make it a daily habit.

Ask yourself this question: "What can I do today that will move me closer to achieving my goal? Then guess what? Do it!

Don’t spend too much time analyzing your actions. If you’re going to fail, then fail fast. Thomas Edison tried thousands of theories before successfully inventing the light bulb. However, it was the way he looked at failure that made the difference. Edison didn’t consider those thousands of failed theories as failures. Each one showed him another way that wouldn’t work. Each failure brought his team one step closer to success. This is where documenting your results and doing post mortems on your calls will benefit you more than you could ever imagine! Simply beating your head against the wall doing the same thing over and over again will only lead to frustration.

Notice the results you are getting from your actions and make adjustments along the way. Keep moving forward.

Changing Your Beliefs

The next and most important step is to send the right messages to your brain. You won’t achieve your goals if you don’t believe you can achieve them.

First examine your beliefs about your goals. Do you believe you can achieve them? Do you believe it will be difficult? What negative beliefs do you have about achieving the goals you have set? If you have negative or limiting beliefs about your goals then you need to change those beliefs.

You need to feed your mind the possibilities and send the right message to your subconscious mind. What seems difficult should be considered easy. What you think you can’t do should become something you can do. What you don’t believe is possible should become something you believe is possible.

If you want to close more sales, however, you don’t know how, get help and change that focus to: I know how to close more sales! Any negative belief or thought pattern related to achieving your goal must be eliminated; otherwise you don’t stand a chance of achieving your goal. You can take all the other steps required in setting goals, however, if you have a negative belief pattern related to achieving your goals, you will not succeed.

Erase your doubts. When you present to prospects, do you think they notice if you have doubts about yourself or your service? Of course they do...they read you, just as you read yourself. If you don't believe that you can reach your goals, how likely do you think it is that you will reach them?

Taking action is an important step in achieving the goals you have set for yourself. Many people fail at goal achievement because they never take any action. When you take action and send the right messages to your subconscious you’ll begin to create opportunities to achieve your goals.

Make it a day of abundance!
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Every journey in life begin with the first step. Find out how YOU can become a sales champion and live the life of your dreams by visiting www.salessuccess.yougethelp.com today.

Characteristics Of Our Goals By David Stoddard

I've done the goal setting things in the past. I heard of the studies where only the successful 3% have goals written down. I had ideas of what I wanted to accomplish. But for differing reasons, I didn't always reach them as often as I would have liked. Some were just ideas which stayed ideas. Others I worked at didn't turn out as planned. So I wondered why.

From what I came up with, some were due to things I was or wasn't doing. Not happy with that as an answer, I looked around for other possibilities. And I came up with my own list of what goals have in common. Characteristics if you will.

A goal must be…

ACHIEVABLE: Just because we may not have done something doesn't make it impossible for us. Odds are, someone, somewhere, at some point in time, has done what we would like to do. That by itself, makes it possible. And, like running the 4-minute mile, what seemed impossible before, is now achievable.

BELIEVABLE: Can we do it? Can we learn how to do what it takes? Do we have the time? Can we find the time? Do we have the self-discipline it will take to keep going to achieve it? Have we made any steps toward it? Have we reached any other goals in our lifetime no matter how small they seem now? As long as we can answer yes to some of those questions, and our goal is within reason, it can happen for us.

DESIRABLE: Whatever we set as a goal, it must have meaning to us. We should have our own set of reasons as to why attaining this goal is important. By knowing why we want to attain something is a powerful force behind our getting it. Things will happen to derail us, but keeping focused on why we do what we do, will help considerably on those days when things seem to be against us.

MEASURABLE: We need to know we are getting someplace. All too often we feel as if we are stuck just because we haven't gotten where we wanted to go yet. We don't always see how far we have come, we just see the long road ahead. By having our goal set up in such a way that we can see the steps we can take, will help provide the momentum needed to keep going.

WORKABLE: Each step along the way is part of our plan to get there. The plan should be written out so we can see what we will need to do next. Plus, it gives us something to mark off along the way. Like a shopping or to-do list, the plan gives us a basic guide for what needs to be done. It's up to us how to work it.

FLEXIBLE: Our plans should provide room for changes along the way. We have learned so much from Murphy's law that whatever can go wrong, will at some point. We need to be able to just go around the problems we face. It may mean adjusting our goal a bit or re-working our plans. But as long as we have room to change, we won't get stuck.

I hope something in this article inspired you to begin looking at your own goals. Well, at least that was MY goal.

© David Stoddard. Reproduced with permission.
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David Stoddard – the Unmotivated Motivational Writer – is author of "In Search Of Ourselves" and "Que Sera Sera – The Book." He is also editor-in-chief of "Terrific Life Concepts," a monthly motivational ezine which gives a gentle nudge to help you on your way to a better life. www.djstoddard.net

The Seven Commandments of Effective Goal Setting by Jim Rohrbach

Although I didn't have to go up on Mount Sinai to get these, let me share my "7 Commandments of Effective Goal Setting" with you:

1. You must base your goals upon your Mission Statement. If you've created your Mission Statement according to the Nightingale-Conant Build My Mission Statement link, you'll now have "big" goals to achieve by one year from today. From there, you'll need to break them down into quarterly, monthly and even weekly goals.

Stephen Covey has a great quote in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In it, he says: "If you don't set your goals based upon your Mission Statement, you may be climbing 'the ladder of success' only to realize, when you get to the top, you're on the WRONG BUILDING." Amen!

2. Set goals in all areas of your life — Mental, Physical, Emotional and Spiritual. Mental goals are your goals for your career and financial well-being. Physical goals are for the shape of your body and what you put in it. Emotional goals are for enhancing your relationships, both personal and professional. And Spiritual goals are those things you do on a regular basis that will get you more in touch with your Self, however you define that. If you don't set goals in these four areas, you will eventually find yourself out of balance ... and will subsequently get a "wake-up call" to address them.

3. You must commit your goals to writing. You have to write your goals down, because if you don't, you're just daydreaming. A close corollary to this is that once you write them down, it's probably a good idea to look at them once in a while, like every day.

4. Your goals must be realistic. You might want to add the word "optimistically" in front of realistic. This is the essence of the coaching relationship I have with all of my clients — I want them to be able to stretch themselves without setting their goals so high that they feel overwhelmed.

I believe ALL producers, especially "rookies" (first 1 - 3 years), benefit from having some type of coach or mentor (formal or informal. Either can work if the commitment is there.) to help them set and evaluate their goals on a regular basis. And producers who consider themselves to be professionals should welcome this type of coaching ... after all, all professional athletes have coaches. You wouldn't want your favorite team to play its games without one, now would you?

5. You must find a way to quantify your goals, with a deadline. Obviously it's easy to quantify dollar production numbers. It may be more challenging to find a way to quantify the number of new accounts needed to achieve those numbers, or to determine other career benchmarks needed, such as professional designations, improved technical ability, computer skills, etc. But what fun is any game where you don't keep score?

6. Show flexibility when moving toward your goals. By analogy, if your goal was to become "King" or "Queen" and you started to move toward this goal, you might find that there was a preliminary step — to first become "Prince" or Princess" You would then adjust your goal accordingly. Notice I said "adjust," not wimp out.

7. The way you get good at goal setting is the way you get good at anything, which is to P - R - A - C - T - I - C - E. The process of effective goal-setting is not taught in schools, or even in many business organizations. So most people have never engaged in the discipline of sitting down and writing out exactly what they want to achieve, and by when. And often, when they do begin, they set their goals too high, like wanting to run a marathon in the next year before they've ever walked around the block. Then they get overwhelmed and they quit. That is what makes it important to have a coach who can guide you through this process, providing the training, support and accountability you'll need to become a top achiever.
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Success Skills Coach Jim Rohrbach, "The Personal Fitness Trainer for Your Business," coaches business owners, entrepreneurs and sales professionals on growing their clientele. He has helped hundreds of individuals to achieve their goals since he developed his first coaching program in 1982. You can visit Jim on the web at www.SuccessSkills.com.

7 MUST-HAVE Conditions To Goal Setting - Emmanuel Segui

The three keys to living without limits have always been the same. They are clarity, competence, and concentration. Goal setting will help you live without limits. Learning how to set goals is an art. Learn why setting goals is a necessity.

Here are 7 Must-have conditions to set goals.

1. State your goal in positive terms.

People often set a goal in terms of what they don't want! "I don't want to smoke, to be angry..." It's "what I want to do or want to be" See the difference? Hear the nuance? Are you ready to state positively every goal you want to achieve?

2. Make sure the goal can be self-initiated and maintained.
The goal doesn't depend on the attitude of your neighbor, on the behavior of your wife or family. The success of your goal must depend on you, and you alone.

3. Your goal must be sensory specific

Here comes the importance of clarity. The clearer the picture, the more compelling and the more attractive it is, the greater the drive to reach your final destination. Act as if the goal is already achieved. Make a very clear image, in rich details, and you will be so enthusiastic that you will automatically attract the solution.

4. State the context of the goal.

"Where and when will my goal be achieved?" The answer can be obvious for some goals but not at all for others. Try to be as specific as possible.

5. Run a Quality Control check on the goal to ensure balance in all areas of your home/work life.

Above all, you don't want to lose your balance. When you run this 'Quality Control Check", you play a win-win strategy. Everything is one system and the whole system must win. You will find peace of mind in knowing that you are in harmony with the system. Step back and look at all areas of your life. Is your goal worth it?

6. State the resources needed to achieve the goal: what is the price to pay?

There is always a price to pay, for everything. There is always some kind of sacrifice to make when you set a worthy goal. In this step, you will define all that you will need, in terms of time, money and energy.

7. State the value and the consistency of the goal.

Why do I want to reach this goal? Why is it important to me? Is this goal in harmony with my vision, beliefs and values? Answer these questions. If you don't seem to be satisfied with the answers, maybe you should change your goal. Set a new goal until you feel it is in harmony with your passion, vision or mission.

When you properly set a goal with this model, two important things occur. First, you are in total harmony with your vision, belief and value systems because your entire "You" agrees and offers no resistance. Second, you are programmed to succeed. Indeed, your very (whole) neurology and physiology are both instructed to drive you towards obtaining your desired goal. You're totally focused.

Again, The three keys to living without limits have always been the same. They are clarity, competence, and concentration. When you set crystal clear goals, and you respect the 7 must-have conditions, you can literally live without limits, can't you?
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You can live your dreams. A lot of people already are. Learn the ultimate secret to turn all your dreams into reality. "Moving from Vision To Action" will teach you the 6 steps necessary to do exactly that. And you will find peace of mind doing it. Believing in your dreams and achieving them is a warm and great feeling, isn't it? Click here and move forward NOW!

Goal Believing is the First Step to Goal Achieving by Kevin Eikenberry

We've just gone from "the Holiday Season" to the "Goal Setting Season." Each year, about the time we turn our calendars to a New Year, we hear a lot about goal setting (even though it is sometimes disguised as information about making your New Year's Resolutions). While the research and polls show that most people don't set goals, most everyone thinks about it at this time of the year.

It is a funny thing. People will say, "You really need goals." But when you ask them what theirs are, they sheepishly reply, "I don't have them, but everyone really should."

There are many reasons why people don't set goals. Some of the biggest reasons are:

• People don't know how

• People have set them in the past but didn't reach them

• People are afraid of failure

Of course setting goals is just an exercise that we know helps us achieve goals. So, while we all want to achieve goals, many of us don't even set them.

The Real Objective

Think about it. Is goal setting really the objective? No. What we really want is goal achievement. Goal setting is a part of the recipe, so while we need to learn this skill, it is just part of your solution. The biggest missing ingredient in most people's goal achievement recipe is faith, conviction, and lack of doubt. In other words, a deep seated, in the gut belief.

The fact is that most of us don't achieve our goals (however clearly or vaguely they are set) because we don't ultimately believe that we can reach the goal. That is why I believe the first step to successful goal achievement, regardless of your process or the steps you follow in setting your goals, is to absolutely believe that you can (will) accomplish it.

Driving a Ferrari doesn't make you a race car driver. Having the best paints, canvas, brushes and easel doesn't mean you will paint masterpieces. And having the best goal setting process won't guarantee goal achievement either. But belief will.

The Size of the Goal

Much is written about how big goals should be. They should always be big enough to stretch us - how much we should stretch depends in large part on what we can believe. If I have a total conviction that I am capable of and will reach the larger goal, then it is fine. Because without belief, you won't hit the goal, regardless of what it is.

David Schwartz wrote in The Magic of Thinking Big, "Believe Big. The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief. Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success. Remember this, too! Big ideas and big plans are often easier -- certainly no more difficult -- than small ideas and small plans."

It is a known fact that our beliefs become our reality. Most of us accept this as truth, but haven't applied it to goal setting. Beliefs lead to actions which lead to results. If you believe, you will act in accordance. If you feel your belief wavering, act as if your belief was strong and your belief will become stronger.

So rather than starting with a goal setting process; start from a state of belief. Begin by thinking about things you want to achieve, and believe you can and will achieve. Then write them down, and follow the process or format of your choice.

Start with belief - be it for your personal, family, financial, professional or business goals - and you will have taken the most important step towards achieving your goals.
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Kevin is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. Kevin publishes Unleash Your Potential, a free weekly ezine designed to provide ideas, tools, techniques and inspiration to enhance your professional skills.

What is Goal-Mapping ...

Goal-Mapping
By Marla Sloane, Ph.D.

Goal-mapping is like a treasure hunt, you must first start out by knowing what you are looking for. Be very specific on what you want without limiting yourself. The next step is charting out what course of action you must take to get what you want.

I encourage women to map out a treasure hunt on what they want in life, and to use that chart to reach their goals. That is exactly what I did to get my Ph.D. degree. I knew that I wanted to get my degree in psychology, and to write a book. My goal was to use my dissertation as a self-help book, and with the successful completion of my dissertation I could be awarded my degree. I enrolled in the Ph.D. program and completed all my core courses.

It took a very long time, but I never gave up; persistence is the single most important aspect in attaining a goal. It was time for me to write my dissertation, and at this point I was scared and almost ready to give up because money was running out. I found a way to make ends meet while I could devote my time to finishing the book.

While enduring the arduous task of writing I kept my vision and knew I had to be true to my goal. While most of my friends were supportive, many people in my life were not. I was ridiculed for even attempting such a grand task. I kept working on my book, and then one day I was on my last chapter. I turned it in; successfully defending it, and received my Ph.D.

For me, my treasure was my Ph.D. degree. I kept following my directions to find my treasure and I got it! If I can do it, you can too.

GOAL MAPPING

1. Be specific on what you want.

2. Do what is necessary to reach your goal.

3. Be persistent, don’t ever give up. Even if things look grim, look for solutions and ways to keep your vision.

4. Don’t let others discourage you, everyone feels fear, and everyone is criticized. The only difference is that the one who finds her treasure doesn’t let the fear and criticism stop her.

5. Stay on the map for the duration. It may be tempting to abandon the goal, or to go on a different hunt, but keep your focus and stay focused on your treasure.

6. When you find your treasure, open your box and accept your treasure graciously!
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Marla Sloane Ph.D., is a successful author and speaker. Her Positive Affirmations subscribers have reached world-wide proportions, and her book, “The Masks We Wear and How to Live Without Them” is at the heart of her teleclasses; From Ordinary to Extraordinary…Unmask Your Potential; teaching individuals how to remove limiting labels. Marla has also produced, Trilogy of Meditations, for your Mind, Body, and Spirit, which is distributed nationwide, and in Europe.

You can contact Marla at: Marla@marlasloane.com You can visit her web site at: www.marlasloane.com

Establishing Dreams and Goals By Jim Rohn

(Excerpted from Week Six of the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan)

One of the amazing things we have been given as humans is the unquenchable desire to have dreams of a better life, and the ability to establish goals to live out those dreams.

Think of it: We can look deep within our hearts and dream of a better situation for ourselves and our families; dream of better financial lives and better emotional or physical lives; certainly dream of better spiritual lives. But what makes this even more powerful is that we have also been given the ability to not only dream but to pursue those dreams and not only to pursue them, but the cognitive ability to actually lay out a plan and strategies (setting goals) to achieve those dreams. Powerful! And that is what we will discuss in detail this week: How to dream dreams and establish goals to get those dreams.

What are your dreams and goals? This isn't what you already have or what you have done, but what you want. Have you ever really sat down and thought through your life values and decided what you really want? Have you ever taken the time to truly reflect, to listen quietly to your heart, to see what dreams live within you? Your dreams are there. Everyone has them. They may live right on the surface, or they may be buried deep from years of others telling you they were foolish, but they are there.

So how do we know what our dreams are? This is an interesting process and it relates primarily to the art of listening. This is not listening to others; it is listening to yourself. If we listen to others, we hear their plans and dreams (and many will try to put their plans and dreams on us). If we listen to others, we can never be fulfilled. We will only chase elusive dreams that are not rooted deep within us. No, we must listen to our own hearts.

Let's take a look at some practical steps/thoughts on hearing from our hearts on what our dreams are:

Take time to be quiet. This is something that we don't do enough in this busy world of ours. We rush, rush, rush, and we are constantly listening to noise all around us. The human heart was meant for times of quiet, to peer deep within. It is when we do this that our hearts are set free to soar and take flight on the wings of our own dreams! Schedule some quiet "dream time" this week. No other people. No cell phone. No computer. Just you, a pad, a pen, and your thoughts (you get to do this in the workbook exercises this week).

Think about what really thrills you. When you are quiet, think about those things that really get your blood moving. What would you LOVE to do, either for fun or for a living? What would you love to accomplish? What would you try if you were guaranteed to succeed? What big thoughts move your heart into a state of excitement and joy? When you answer these questions you will feel Great and you will be in the "dream zone." It is only when we get to this point that we experience what Our dreams are!

Write down all of your dreams as you have them. Don't think of any as too outlandish or foolish - remember, you're dreaming! Let the thoughts fly and take careful record.

Now, prioritize those dreams. Which are most important? Which are most feasible? Which would you love to do the most? Put them in the order in which you will actually try to attain them. Remember, we are always moving toward action, not just dreaming.

Here is the big picture: Life is too short to not pursue your dreams. Someday your life will near its end and all you will be able to do is look backwards. You can reflect with joy or regret. Those who dream, who set goals and act on them to live out their dreams are those who live lives of joy and have a sense of peace when they near the end of their lives. They have finished well, for themselves and for their families.

Remember: These are the dreams and goals that are born out of your heart and mind. These are the goals that are unique to you and come from who you were created to be and gifted to become. Your specific goals are what you want to attain because they are what will make your life joyful and bring your family's life into congruence with what you want it to be.

Until next time, let's do something remarkable!

Jim Rohn
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Announcing The Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan! One of the Most Comprehensive Resource and Success Plans Ever Created For You To Reach All Of Your Goals in the Next 12 Months!

S.M.A.R.T. Goals By Jim Rohn

(excerpted from the Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan)

Jim Rohn's Second Pillar of Success: Goal-Setting, Part Three - S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Hi, Jim Rohn here. As you know, we are focused on the Second Pillar of Success this month - Goal-Setting.

We have introduced the four main components of Goal-Setting:

1. Evaluation and Reflection.
The only way we can reasonably decide what we want in the future and how we will get there, is to first know where we are right now and secondly, what our level of satisfaction is for where we are in life. As we focus this month on goal-setting, our first order of business and our topic two weeks ago was evaluation and reflection.

2. Dreams and Goals.
What are your dreams and goals? Not related to the past or what you think you can get, but what you want. Have you ever really sat down and thought through your life values and decided what you really want? This isn't something that someone else says you should have or what culture tells us successful people do or have. These are the dreams and goals that are born out of your own heart and mind. These are the goals that are unique to you and come from who you were created to be and gifted to become. Last week we showed you exactly how to find out what you want from life.

3. S.M.A.R.T. Goals.
S.M.A.R.T. means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-sensitive.

Specific: Don't be vague. Exactly what do you want?

Measurable: Quantify your goal. How will you know if you've achieved it or not?

Attainable: Be honest with yourself about what you can reasonably accomplish at this point in your life - along with taking into consideration your current responsibilities.

Realistic: It's got to be do-able, real and practical.

Time: Associate a timeframe with each goal. When should you complete the goal?

We will spend time this week looking at how to apply the S.M.A.R.T. test to your goals to make sure they are as powerful as they can be!

4. Accountability.
Think of the word "accountable." It means to "give an account." When someone knows what your goals are, they help hold you accountable. Whether it is someone else going through this program with you (have you thought about inviting a friend to join you on this one-year journey?) or just someone you can give the basic idea to, having a person who can hold you accountable will give you another added boost to getting your goals! Next week we will show you how to set up an accountability partner.

This week we will be discussing point 3 - S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

S.M.A.R.T. means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-sensitive.

I really like this acronym S.M.A.R.T., because we want to be smart when we set our goals. We want to intelligently decide what our goals will be so that we can actually accomplish them. We want to set the goals that our heart conceives, that our mind believes and that our bodies will carry out. Let's take a closer look at each of the components of S.M.A.R.T. goals:

Specific: Goals are no place to waffle. They are no place to be vague. Ambiguous goals produce ambiguous results. Incomplete goals produce incomplete futures.

When we are specific, we harness the power of our dreams and set forces into action that empower us to achieve our goals. We then know exactly what it is we are shooting for. There is no question. As we establish our priorities and manage our time, we do so for a specific goal to achieve the results we expect. There is no wondering or guessing. The future is locked into our minds and we see it - specifically - and that is powerful! Never underestimate just how important it is to have very specific, concrete goals. They act as magnets that draw you toward them! A S.M.A.R.T. goal is specific.

Measurable: Always set goals that are measurable. I would say "specifically measurable" to take into account our principle of being specific as well. Our goals should be such that we know when we are advancing and by how much. Whether it is by hours, pounds, dollars or whatever, we should be able to see exactly how we are measuring up as we proceed through the journey of life using our goals. Could you imagine if you didn't measure your goals? You would never know which way you were going or even if you were going anywhere! A S.M.A.R.T. goal is measurable.

Attainable: One of the detrimental things that many people do - and they do it with good intentions - is to set goals that are so high they are unattainable. Yes, it is very important to set big goals that cause your heart to soar with excitement, but it is also imperative to make sure that they are attainable. In the next section we talk about being realistic. So what does it mean to be attainable?

An attainable goal is one that is both realistic but also attainable in a shorter period of time than what you have to work with. Now when I say attainable, I don't mean easy. Our goals should be set so they are just out of our reach; so they will challenge us to grow as we reach forward to achieve them. After the next paragraph, I will give you an example of a goal that is both attainable and realistic. A S.M.A.R.T. goal is attainable.

Realistic: The root word of realistic is "real." A goal has to be something that we can reasonably make "real" or a "reality" in our lives. There are some goals that simply are not realistic. You have to be able to say, even if it is a tremendously stretching goal, that yes, indeed, it is entirely realistic -- that you could make it. You may even have to say that it will take x, y, and z to do it, but if those happen, then it can be done. This is in no way to say it shouldn't be a big goal, but it must be realistic. This is to a great degree, up to the individual.

For one person a goal may be realistic, but for another unrealistic. I would encourage you to be very honest with yourself as you do your planning and evaluation. Perhaps it would be good to get a friend to help you (as long as that friend is by nature an optimist and not a pessimist). This can go a long way toward helping you know what is realistic. A S.M.A.R.T. goal is realistic.

Example of Attainable and Realistic: Knowing that perhaps you could use a bit of help differentiating attainable and realistic, here is an example: You are overweight and have 150 pounds to lose to get to your proper weight. Is that goal attainable? Yes, considering that you also make it realistic. For example, it isn't realistic to think you can do it in 5 months. 18-24 months would be realistic (with hard work). Thus, losing 150 pounds in 2 years is both attainable and realistic, while losing 150 pounds in 5 months is neither attainable nor realistic.

Time: Every goal should have a timeframe attached to it. I think that life itself is much more productive for us as humans because there is a timeframe connected to it. Could you imagine how much procrastination there would be on earth if people never died? We would never get "around to it." We could always put it off. One of the powerful aspects of a great goal is that it has an end, a time in which you are shooting to accomplish it.

You start working on it because you know there is an end. As time goes by you work because you don't want to get behind. As it approaches, you work diligently because you want to meet the deadline. You may even have to break down a big goal into different measured parts time frames. That is okay. Set smaller goals and work them out in their own time. A S.M.A.R.T. goal has a timeline.

Be sure to spend some reflection time this week to make sure your goals fit the S.M.A.R.T. parameters. Go through the reflection questions below and the action points associated with them. Doing so will put a real engine in your goals and make them charged with power to help you accomplish your dreams.

Until next time, let's do something remarkable!

Jim Rohn
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Announcing The Jim Rohn One-Year Success Plan! One of the Most Comprehensive Resource and Success Plans Ever Created For You To Reach All Of Your Goals in the Next 12 Months!

The Easiest Way to Hit a Goal Is to Give Yourself One to Hit By Greg Reid

It seems as though so many people are seeking more, wanting more, and expecting more in their lives, yet when pressed about what “more” would look like, rarely can they give a definitive answer.

They say things like, “I want to be happy,” or “I want to be rich,” or “I want the perfect mate.” To be honest, as wonderful as those statements are, they’re far too vague to ever be reached.

What does happiness look and feel like? What’s your definition of rich? How would you describe that perfect mate? Each of us has a different interpretation of what those things mean.

For example, I define happiness as having the freedom to do what I please, when I please to do it. Being rich means having tens of millions of dollars in the bank, and that perfect mate has movie actress charm and the heart of Mother Teresa.

To you, however, these descriptions could be way off course. For you, happiness could mean taking a long-needed vacation. Being rich could mean not having to struggle to make ends meet. Your perfect mate might be the one beside you all along.

The point is, we all need to define our goals, and most important, what they would look like if we saw them. Once we do that, the rest becomes easy. Once we know what we’re seeking, it’s simple to devise a plan to make it happen.

By saying, “I want to be happy, and that means taking that trip,” all you now have to do is get out your calendar, circle the date you want to go, get some brochures on the desired destination, and then plan a course of ACTION to make your dream come true. You might do it by asking your boss to take $50 a week out of your paycheck and save it toward the vacation. Or you might want to work an extra job to gain some additional cash.

You see, once you have your vision, you can create ways to make it happen because . . .

The easiest way to hit a goal is to give yourself one to hit.
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Gregory Scott Reid, The Millionaire Mentor, Inc. #1 best-seling author, speaker and radio personality. Please visit my website at http://www.AlwaysGood.com and sign up for my free monthly newsletters.

7 Effective Ways To Set Your Goals In Motion Today By Caroline Jalango

1. Stop seeking approval from people.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to fulfill your dream. Trust yourself and give yourself permission to succeed. Having support from people whose opinion you value is a wonderful thing but it should not be the criterion for whether you begin acting on fulfilling your goals or not

If you really desire to turn your idea into reality, constantly floating it around and seeking the approval of people will waste your time and kill your dream. What will happen to your idea if you don’t get the approval of those whose permission you so desperately need? Nothing!

2. Don’t wait for perfection.

Waiting for a time when everything is perfect and in place will cause you to lose your enthusiasm and abandon your goal. Conditions may never be as perfect as you desire. You may never have all the money, time, or knowledge you desire to begin working on your goals.

You must take risks, learn and improve as you go along and then watch as everything begins to fall in place. If you have to wait for the perfect time to begin working on your goals…you will be waiting a long time!

3. Create time for the goal.

Many people have dreams, ideas or goals, which remain unfulfilled because they are too busy doing everything else but work on the goal! If you have a goal to accomplish, you must be ready to invest your time, and resources to ensure that it succeeds.

Making excuses about lacking the time to work on goals that are important to you is a procrastination tactic, which will kill your dream before it has a chance to see the light of day. There is always time to work on what we love and consider important. Create that time and see your dreams begin to unfold!

4. Decide once and for all!

The process of goal accomplishment, like most things in life begins with a decision. You decide what you want to achieve and then you plan how you intend to achieve it.

If accomplishing your goal is important to you, your inability to make crucial decisions about what you should do, how you should do it and when you should do it, will waste your time and choke your dream. Make up your mind and stop second-guessing yourself. When your mind is made up…nothing can stop you from making progress with fulfilling your goals.

5. Be bold and take the initiative.

Be bold! You are the one in charge of turning your dreams to reality. You need to be proactive and actively involved in the process of working on your goals to ensure you achieve them.

Just because you have shared your ideas with others does not necessarily mean that you are no longer responsible for turning them to reality. Don’t sit around waiting for others to make suggestions and guide your idea to reality. Don’t leave your dream entirely in the hands of others. Nobody cares about your dream like you do.

6. Invest in your dream.

No idea is self-funding. Don’t be deceived into thinking that people will invest or finance your idea just because it is brilliant. If you are lucky, someone may invest in it, but if you are not, you will have to invest your time, energy and finances towards activities that will fortify and fulfill your dream.

You may have to invest in the acquisition of knowledge or expertise that will help you achieve your goals. It would be a good idea to keep some money stashed away to finance your goal.

7. Do one thing at a time.

Commit yourself only to projects and activities which are connected to your main goal. Whatever you do should directly or indirectly add up to a move toward your main goal. Failure to do this will confuse, overwhelm, sidetrack, and drain your energy.

To get started on achieving your goals, you need to plan for it and make it a priority. If you keep crowding and cluttering your life with what does not matter, you many never, ever accomplish your goals.

Remember that you can’t do all things, but you can do one thing!
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Caroline Jalango is a life coach for unstoppable women who are willing to step up to the plate and take a shot at living exceptional lives wherever they are. Visit www.motivationzone.com

Stop Procrastinating - Start Achieving Your Goals by Lori Radun

It has been said that 60-80% of New Year's resolutions will be broken within the first two weeks. In other words, a lot of people have a hard time making the changes in their life they want to make. So you are not alone. Personally, I am not a huge advocate of New Year's resolutions because I believe in setting and achieving personal goals all year around. That being said, I wanted to share with you the top ten ways to increase the likelihood for success with achieving your goals.

1. Stick to 1 or 2 important goals

Having a laundry list of all the things you would like to change in your life can be overwhelming. Your chances for success are much higher if you stick to 1 or 2 of your most important goals. This allows you to concentrate all your energy and focus on these goals. Once you achieve those goals, you can always set 1 or 2 more.

2. Be realistic

It's okay to think big and want the best, but it is more important to succeed, so be realistic. Ask yourself whether or not your goals are reasonable and possible. It is probably not realistic to set the goal of never yelling at your kids again. How will you feel about your resolution when your children test you on a very bad day and you yell? Certainly one can cut back on yelling and work to find alternative ways to deal with misbehavior, but an all or nothing attitude may set you up for failure, and feeling like you've failed can set you up for more failure. Instead, accept and honor your humanness.

3. Be specific

Be as specific as possible when determining goals. Articulate how you will measure success and exactly what you are trying to achieve. Setting a goal to lose weight is too general. A better choice would be to set a specific and manageable goal. For example say, "I will lose 25 pounds by June 30, 2005." Be specific when answering the what, when and how.

4. Connect to your motivation for achieving your goal

Why do you want to achieve this goal? Why now? Make sure your motivation comes from your heart, and not from your head. In other words, your goal should be something you really desire, and not something you know you SHOULD do. Really connect to why this is so important to you. Pay attention to whether or not you are being driven by fear or love. Beware of setting goals based on what someone else in your life thinks you should do. Your resolutions should come from your authentic self.

5. Examine your belief in your ability to achieve this goal

What do you believe about your ability to achieve your goals? If you have tried to reach the same goal many times before without much success, your confidence could be wavering. You could be feeding yourself negative messages without even realizing it. Be conscious about positive thinking. Remind yourself that you are capable of doing anything you set your heart to. Tell yourself every day that you have the ability to take the steps it will take to reach your goal.

6. Create a detailed plan to achieve your goal

Let's say your goal is to eliminate the clutter in your home. But how will you start when the clutter is overwhelming? It may be helpful to break large goals into intermediate, manageable steps. Make a list of each area you need to tackle. Then break each area into even smaller segments that can be tackled easily.

For instance, set time aside to clean out old clothes, then to organize sweaters, then to throw out old shoes, and finally arrange clothing by color or type. Don't forget to specify a time limit for accomplishing each of the smaller steps. Before you know it, the larger goal will have been met.

7. Recognize that you may encounter obstacles

Most people give up on their goals because they run into some type of obstacle along the way. Obstacles can be internal or external. Examples of internal obstacles include negative self-talk, limiting beliefs and discipline issues. Some external obstacles are the lack of time, money or resources. Know in advance what hurdles you may have to conquer.

8. Identify a plan of action to overcome obstacles

If you are trying to give up chocolate (I would never try this!), what are you going to do when you get a craving for chocolate, or when all your friends are chowing down on chocolate cake? Maybe your plan would be to carry a sweet substitute with you at all times. Or perhaps you could involve yourself in a fun activity when the urge strikes. If your obstacles are tougher and you need more support, consider hiring a life coach to help you work through your blocks.

9. Enlist the support of an accountability partner

As you work towards your goals, it can be very helpful to have someone in your life to be your support partner. Consider asking your partner or friend to help you stick to the goals you have set. Use this person when you are struggling and set up a plan to check in regularly with him/her. As a coach, I have the privilege of trading coaching services with my peers. My coach helps me achieve my goals, overcome any obstacles, and celebrate my success.

10. Celebrate success along the way

One of the most important things you can do for yourself is celebrate your small successes as you work towards your larger goals. Don't wait until the end to reward yourself. You deserve to be recognized for your efforts and your commitment, especially when your goals take a long time to achieve. If you don't celebrate on your journey, you will lose your motivation. So celebrate, celebrate, and celebrate!

Achieving your goals can be tough work sometimes, but it is also very rewarding. If you fall off your path, remember you can always get back on. It's okay to take a few detours. It's also okay to take a break to rest. Don't beat yourself up or give up hope. Start again where you fell down and before you know it, you will be a pro at accomplishing your goals.
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Lori Radun, certified life coach for moms. Get her free monthly ezine for moms who want healthier and happier lives at www.true2youlifecoaching.com.

The Parable of the Jackrabbit: The Missing Key to Effective Goal Setting By Leslie Householder

So you've got a goal, and you know someone who has already reached it? Maybe it is earning a certain degree, or opening a business and making it fly.

Before you try to duplicate what others have done to attain what they have, be sure of one thing. Understand the Parable of the Jackdabbit:

A man was on a journey and came to a field. In this field he observed a dog, jumping around, darting to and fro, and disappearing in the long, long grass each time he landed. The man stayed back, fearing that the dog had a terrible disease that caused him to jerk wildly and bark incessantly.

Cautiously, he passed along side the field on the well-paved path; keeping an eye on the ravenous dog to be sure it did not harm him. Coming to the end of the field, suddenly the dog appeared in front of him, holding a jackrabbit in its jaws. Placidly, the dog glanced at the man, and walked away.

This man was hungry. Thinking about the dog, he decided it would sure be nice if he could have a rabbit to eat, too. So he turned around, retraced his steps along the path for a time, and entered the grassy field. "Well, here I go," he said, and he began to jump and dart, growl and bark. Up and down, back and forth, trying to duplicate all of the crazy movements he had seen by the dog, believing this would somehow produce a rabbit. All day long he did this, and at the end of the day, he was still hungry, and very, very tired.

Disappointed, he returned to the well-paved path. He said to himself, "This is a well-paved path; many people have traveled this way before. I guess I just need to stay on it, and eat whatever I find along the way. Chasing a rabbit just didn’t work for me."

What did the man do wrong? He acted as though he was chasing a rabbit, but there was no rabbit in sight. Isn't it interesting that not only did duplicating the dog NOT produce a rabbit, but it probably kept them very far away?

If you want a rabbit, you may need to leave a well-paved path, but before you start jumping and barking, make sure you have your eyes FIXED TIGHT on a rabbit.

Identify your dream, visualize it, write it down, make it real in your mind, get excited about it, and chase it by following the promptings that come to you from your inner voice. Trust your gut; it will lead you to the rabbit you have in mind. Others may look at you and the choices you make and they might even think you are crazy, like the dog. They just don't see your rabbit as you do.

Based on the best-selling book, The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can.
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Leslie Householder is a wife and mother of six children. She is the founder of http://www.ThoughtsAlive.com and is the author of "The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can" and "Heavenly Help with Money Matters." She has been published in Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield's Chicken Soup for the Latter-Day Saint Soul, and has been published online in ezine articles since 2002. Leslie is a certified facilitator for Bob Proctor's Life Success Programs, and she is also an independent motivational speaker and success coach.

Quick Tips On Achieving Your Goals By Ed Smith

Want to achieve your goals faster?

Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice.

First, take your top priority goal, and write out the goal to help etch it into your mind, then plant reminders of the goal in places you will see during the day.

Next, set up a way to measure if you are making progress towards the goal and develop a way to get feedback on if your are making progress.

Then, continually repeat the goal to yourself, visualize or daydream yourself achieving your goal, and go on record to others that you are going to achieve your goal.

Use the power of positive expectations to pull you towards your goal by only viewing the goal as something that you can't fail to accomplish. With every action you take throughout the day, ask yourself if you are moving yourself towards your goal, or moving away from your goal.

Next, use your feedback system to see what is working and what is not and make the necessary corrections as you move towards your goal.

Finally, keep repeating these steps and your goal will change to an accomplishment.

Copyright Edward W. Smith 2005
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Edward W. Smith is the author of Sixty Seconds to Success, hosts and produces the Bright Moment TV show, is a motivational speaker and is president of the Bright Moment seminars.

Contact Information:
Edward W. Smith
PO box 8106
Englewood NJ 07631-8106
201-568-0019
edsmith@brightmoment.com
www.brightmoment.com

Four Steps to Goal Setting By Beth Densmore

When setting goals it is important to know if the goal is realistically attainable. Time is precious; you don’t want to waste it moving toward a goal that you will never be able to realize. So, how can you quickly evaluate the attainability of your goal? Ask yourself these four questions:

Do I have the Desire to realize this goal?
Do I have the Ability to realize this goal?
Do I have the Resources to realize this goal?
Do I have the power to Execute this goal?

D = DESIRE:
In order to reach a goal you must have the desire to do so. Desire comes from deep within you and is never imposed upon you. You may have a project or assignment that is imposed upon you, but if your goal is to finish the project in a specific time frame, you need to create the desire to do so.

A = ABILITY
You must possess the ability to attain your desired goal. If you, like me, have the proverbial two left feet, you do not have the ability to reach a desired goal of being a ballet dancer. You may, however, have the ability to become accomplished at Yoga or Tai Chi, both incorporating the fluidity of ballet, but not needing quite so much expertise. Your desire hinges on your abilities.

R = RESOURCES
Given that you possess the desire and the ability to reach your goal, you must evaluate if you have the proper resources. Do you have the time, energy, money and support that you need available to you? If your desired goal is to start a new business, have you calculated the money you will need and planned how to get it? Have you thought about where the time will come from to dedicate to the new start-up? Will your energy level sustain the additional workload? Do you have a support network that will bolster and comfort you when you need?

E = EXECUTION
This is the step that makes a goal a reality. Are you able to execute the plan you have put in place? Do you have the power to make your goal a reality? Can you follow through even when there are obstacles in your path? Have you thought through the process of attaining your goal? Do you have the Desire, Ability and Resources to Execute?

If you can answer yes to these questions then you are ready to make your goal live.
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Beth Densmore is a Personal Life Coach and Motivational Speaker who offers support, inspiration and motivation to those who are in transition and want to achieve a goal. For more information and more free articles like this, visit her site at http://www.newfocuscoaching.com.

Making The Goal-Setting Process a Partnership By Andrew E. Schwartz

MAKING GOALS: Effective and motivational goals engage employees in work they can realistically perform and complete, and which has been shown to be relevant both to the organization and to the employees’ interests.

MAKE THE GOAL-SETTING PROCESS A PARTNERSHIP: There are four kinds of goals you and your employees should discuss and develop together:

1. Routine. This is an extension of what people are already doing. “Last year you produced 20,000 units; this year, you’ll turn out 22,000." “Last period you trained 150 people. This time you’ll train 180.” “You’ve been making 15 new business calls per week. You’ll up that to 18.” There’s some challenge, of course, to improving performance over that of the last time period, even if the goals are not particularly new or exciting.

2. Problem solving. Departmental errors are too high. Missed deadlines are too many. The work flow is sluggish. In short, you have problems. Set goals with employees that will identify problems and, hopefully, solve them.

3. Innovative. Your employees have the know-how to suggest new and better ways of doing things. Putting some of your best people to work on innovative goals makes good business sense and is motivating for employees.

4. Personal. What are your employees doing for themselves? What kind of training and education, skills building, or behavioral change could benefit an employee? What steps could the employee take to advance his or her ability and to become more valuable to the organization? Nothing is more important to employees than their personal objectives.

Copyright AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: TrainingConsortium
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CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Start Working on Your Goals Today! By Cathy Gariety

The alarm goes off at 6am, you roll out of bed and run down the hall to wake up the kids. You’re going to be late again! You shower fast while the kids are getting dressed then you head downstairs to grab nutrition bars because you don’t have time to make breakfast. You grab the backpacks on the way to the babysitters, give them fast kisses when you get there and you’re on your way to work. Did I mention the crying?

It’s only a description of the first hour of your day? It’s no wonder we go through life without setting goals or developing an action plan! We have no time! Without goals, we merely exist day to day. Before you know it, years have gone by without much progress.

It’s estimated that less than 3% of people actually document their goals but it’s these same people who accomplish more than all the others added together. If your goals aren’t documented, they remain dreams. Twenty years from now it will still be your dream.

The acronym S.M.A.R.T. may help you to define them in a way that will ensure results.

S – They need to be specific. Stating that you want to lose weight or pay off your bills is not specific enough. What are you going to do? Why are you going to do it?

M – They need to be measurable. How are you going to do it? You need to be able to see progress. With concrete and measurable goals, you will.

A – Are they achievable? Are they realistic?

R – Are they relevant to your situation now? Does it motivate you?

T – Set a time frame for completion. When are you going to achieve it?

Next, develop an action plan based on your timeline for achievement. Don’t become discouraged if your goals are not met on your first try. Goals will be revised because circumstances and priorities change in life. Expect it – plan on it. You’ll have obstacles but find alternatives.

If your life is chaotic it will be harder to manage but the important concept here is not to give up. You need an action plan more than the person who has it all together. Keep adjusting the plan. Work with it! As time goes on you will see results as long as you keep it in focus.
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Cathy Gariety is a Registered Nurse and Personal Coach at Power Group Coaching based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. You can contact her at cgariety@power-group-coaching.com

Cultivating Belief in Your Goals by Al Smith

The Belief That You Can Do It and more importantly, That You Will!

First, You must choose one goal and commit to it's achievement. It seems that this is always the starting point isn't it? It must be something that you feel you can not live without, or you must develop that feeling for it to work. Remember, reasons first, then action.

Did you choose one? Are you committed to making it a reality in your life? Did you decide that you must have it and absolutely will have it? Is it do or die? Are your reasons for having it, strong enough to propel you forward right now and compel you to action when you may not 'feel' like it? If not, then choose another one, this is no time to waste your energy on something you are not serious about.

Aggressively research and brainstorm all the ways you can get this goal. Do not consider any negative thoughts at this time. There is another time for that. Write them down quickly as you think of more. Use shortforms and abbreviations if you have to, but keep the flow of thought going for as long as it takes. This is a tremendously important part of the process.

Remember those negatives that kept coming up throughout the above? What challenges or problems will come up when you start taking action? What do you see happening or preventing you from getting what you want? Write these down also. Be honest with yourself, if you think it, write it down. There is no such thing as unimportant thought. It is all important, vitally important!

Next, come up with solutions that will take care of these problems. Write down multiple answers to each problem. Stay positive and focused on your target. Write down everything that comes to mind. All those things that could keep you from succeeding, come up with tons of ways to deal with them. This will give you unstoppable confidence in your ability to have what you want.

Break down your solutions into action steps, into small workable tasks that you can complete quickly. Break each step down into 5 smaller actions. Then break those down into 5 smaller ones. Keep breaking down tasks until you have absolute belief in yourself that you can and will do it, right now, today!. In fact, Break them down until they are ridiculously simple!

Small, simple actions are easy to accomplish, and when these particular actions are put together, they equal the goal result that you want. Belief becomes automatic because you "know" that there is nothing standing between you and your goal.

All that is left is to work your plan. You created it, you are committed to it, you must do it, so just do it, and go get your goal. Start with the first step and complete it right now, today. So what are you waiting for? Go For It!

Are you still here? Go get that goal! LOL!

No plan is perfect so there will inevitably be obstacles and distractions, little things which will stand in your way for temporary periods of time. When this happens, just break these down. And start again . . . and again. Stay flexible and adjust your approach when these occur. Believe, and have faith in the long term.

Adjust your plans and actions as necessary until you have what you want. The result is in the bag, it is a sure thing, all that will change are the strategies, and the timing. You will prevail. This is true. If this is a major complex goal, you will want to work it backwards through smaller goals, and then break them down into action steps.

Focus on the solution instead of the fear or doubt. This strategy will work for any goal you pick. Focus on what you want continuously, with passion, and with absolute faith, knowing that you have absolutely done everything necessary. Act with that level of belief, and certainty that causes miracles to happen! Go make your miracle!

(c) Copyright All rights reserved Al Smith
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Al Smith writes for and publishes The Realgoalgetter Ezine. His articles deal mostly with goal setting, self improvement, motivation, and overall health and fitness. Stop by The Realgoalgetter Website and subscribe to The Realgoalgetter Ezine.

3 Steps to Reaching Every Goal by Jason Gracia

Having goals in our lives is important. For some, merely creating goals brings about a positive change. When you make a goal, you are creating an exciting challenge for yourself. To make sure you meet that challenge with the right tools, you will need to do three things.

1. WRITE IT DOWN

The first step is to write your goal down on paper. This may seem like a simple step, but it makes your goal visible and tangible. Get out a clean sheet of paper, and write your goal down in clear words.

It doesn't have to be a big dream for it to be useful. Any goal you have should be written down. It should also be somewhere you will look often, or pass by during the day.

2. BREAK IT DOWN

You may have a goal of losing weight. This alone seems like a difficult thing to do. But when we break this goal down into its different parts, these smaller goals become easier to handle. Losing 10 lbs. seems overwhelming, but losing 1 lb. a month for ten months is something you can definitely do.

3. REMIND YOURSELF

With so many things to do during your busy day, your goals can sometimes be put aside. Write yourself a reminder, and place it where it will be seen often. Your fridge, bathroom mirror, or desk are just a few of the places where you could post your goal.

With these three steps, reaching your goals will be much easier. You want to be happy, and you deserve it. Now you have the tools to go and get it!
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Visit Jason's Motivation123 Web site to receive a free Motivation Idea-Kit, free motivation newsletter, plus hundreds of articles, tips and ideas to help you live a happier life today.

Reaching Beyond Your Goals - Julie Jordan Scott

We walked together towards an ultimate challenge. A rock climbing wall 44 feet tall. I saw it looming ahead, slowly realizing what we would be asked to do next. I was not particularly concerned, because I knew I would be able to take on my normal stance: cheerleader, encourager, both feet firmly on the ground supporter of whomever would take the roll of victorious climber.

Feeling triumphant, I donned the rock climbing gear. Yes, I have on my cheer leading garb, I thought to myself. It dawned on me: we were all expected to at least attempt to climb the wall. I set my sights on the first platform, about 15 feet high. Surely that would show my willingness to participate in the group event. It only required I venture marginally outside my vision of my own abilities.

Rarely are people who are seeking significant life change challenged by setting their goals too low. In fact, the contrary to this is normally the case. Right?

Think for a moment, though, if this is actually the truth. Do you set your sights upon that which you are capable to achieve? OR do you instead settle for that which you have been lead to believe you are capable to achieve?

I had eyeballed the wall beforehand, to see which route to take up the wall. I noticed during my first trip it was really not that hard at first. My larger concern was my friend who was upon the wall above me, who had stopped and was wanting to come down. As is also a usual role for me, I made the decision to come off the wall, so my friend could easily and swiftly get down.

The person "on my belay" (a rock climber's constant support and safety system) said to me, "You do not even want to know how close you were to getting to your next hold." At that point, I really did not want to hear. I did know I wanted another chance to fulfill my goal of arriving at the first platform. None of my peers had reached it yet.

For my second climb, I simply started up the wall. One hold before the next simply and easily. There was no one immediately above me nor below me. Before I knew it, I reached my goal. I looked up, towards the top. In a split second, I made the decision. I was going up.

The decision, while simple, was actually monumental. I am not a particularly athletic person. Remember, I am great at being supportive of the people achieving amazing physical feats, not being an active participant. I stood there, held on to the wall and said a silent prayer before stepping off the platform to the next few holds.

Not looking down, I called out for verbal cues. I made some fancy moves with my feet. I reached the second platform. I cried, prayed and sang in my head as I thought, "Just get to the next platform. Just the next one." I looked up, and asked my helpers below for advice and encouragement.

As I climbed higher, I became critically aware that I was not alone in any of the climb. I had my partner who was "on my belay". As I would reach up with my hands and lift my leg to the next hold, he would tighten the cord, literally lifting along with me.

I also had the power of prayer, time to pause, and moments of quiet singing as I got to each platform. I also had the leverage of my own fierce determination. I had a lifetime of believing I was not physical that I was battling to overcome. I had many hours of negative self talk telling me, "I can't do X, I can't do Y, I can't do Z because I am 1, or 2, or 3."

The wall had become symbolic of all I had wanted to do, yet believed I could not do because of my own self imposed limitations. In that quick decision on the first platform I decided I was no longer being a participant in my own destructive beliefs. I was going to become completely, fully an expression of my destiny.

After being the first of only two from my group who reached the zenith, I was literally giddy with the feeling of accomplishment. The man on the belay said, "What are you going to do next?" My response? "ANYTHING!"

The wall taught me many things. First, I sometimes aim too low because of false beliefs I have continued to perpetuate in my life. Second, I have an amazing support system in place if I am willing to share my control with them just as when the belay assisted me in each of the higher holds. Third, remembering to pause, pray, and express powerful emotions at each platform filled me with the necessary strength to continue the climb.

Without each of those components, I would not have made it. In day to day living, doing each of these activities is crucial to living a full, complete, destiny filled life. Finally, in each decision I make, I am either saying YES or NO to possibilities. In saying NO, I am saying NO to unbelievable growth. In saying YES, I can fully embrace that I can do "ANYTHING!"

And if I had "fallen off" the wall? I would have been safe and protected. I would have tried again.

YOU can do anything. Live Passionately, Today!
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Julie Jordan Scott is a Personal Success Coach who left her career as a government bureaucrat and built a successful business in less than six months. She now combines mothering 4 children with inspiring people worldwide with her books, ezine, teaching and personal coaching. Visit www.5passions.com for free resources for YOUR success Contact Julie now. ph: 661.325.4116 or email julie@5passions.com