Where do you see yourself a year from now?

“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become,” said James Allen author of the success classic As a Man Thinketh.

Every accomplishment begins in the mind.  Therefore, what you see is truly what you get.

Whether you hit your target or not is largely dependent on how clearly you see it.

So I ask you, “How vivid is your vision for where you want to be one year from now?”

Getting What You Want

“It is very dangerous to go into eternity with possibilities which one has oneself prevented from becoming realities. A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it.”

~ Sören Kierkegaard

Before I talk about getting what you want out of life, I feel it is important to address a related matter to avoid confusion.

Specifically, I want to share my thoughts on the Law of Attraction.

I have seen many write about the Law of Attraction.  In its simplest form, this law states that you attract into your life whatever you constantly think about (a key reason I believe in positive thinking, by the way).

Another way to say it is, that your dominant thoughts or your vision for the future will become your reality.  I agree with this simple, unadulterated version of the Law of Attraction.

However, some have gone on to espouse that by simply focusing one’s mind that you activate cosmic forces that will manifest what you desire without you really having to do anything.

I don’t buy this expanded version.

Even prayer generally requires a step of faith before it is answered.

As Kierkegaard says above, one must follow a possibility before it becomes a reality.

Focusing your mind on a distinct and vivid goal is extremely important.  I don’t want to take away from that.

However, one must go further.  If you want to achieve what you most desire, you must define and execute specific, intentional actions towards your goal.

Otherwise, you are simply practicing wishful thinking.

Some will no doubt disagree with me.  They will even provide examples of how once they focused their minds on a particular goal that miraculously things started to happen for them without an ounce of effort on their part.

Here’s my take on their experience.

When you focus your mind on a specific vision for your desired future, you begin to notice opportunities that you would have otherwise missed.

So, what about that chance meeting in the coffee shop?  It was a possibility all along, what made the difference was your action to follow the possibility because you had a clear vision in your head for where you were going.  You recognized the opportunity and took action by asserting yourself toward your goal.

Vision alone won’t get you anywhere, but it is still the place you must begin.

The Importance of Vision

“I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.”

~ Mark Twain

My intent when I started writing today was to emphasize the importance of having a vision for your future.  I feel like I’ve wandered off a little, but that’s okay.  It was an important diversion.

Let me bring us back on track by once again asking, “Where do you want to be one year from now?”

“Wow!  How did they become so successful in such a short time?”  This is what those around you will be asking if you grasp hold of what I’m saying here today.

In 52 weeks, you can make a major difference in your life and it all starts with vision.

You are going to spend your time and energy doing something, what will it be?  That’s the answer your vision provides.

Here are four reasons that vision is so incredibly important:

Reason #1 – Life Is Boring Without Vision

“Dissatisfaction and discouragement are not caused by the absence of things but the absence of vision.”

~ Anonymous

Are you bored, disengaged and disillusioned with life?  If so, it is likely because you lack vision.  You haven’t spent the time and energy needed to define your future.  You are wasting your time and your life.  It is slipping past you, one dull moment at a time.

I challenge you to formulate a vision for where you really want to be a year from now.  I promise you that having a clear and vivid vision for your future will enliven things considerably.  It will energize you.  It will inspire you.  It will drive you.  Ignite your passion to super-charge your life!

Reason #2 –  Vision Provides Purpose

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.”

~ Rosabeth Moss Kanter

You are capable of so much more.  A clear and concise vision provides purpose.  Suddenly all that confusion and procrastination will dissipate.  Your path will become clear.  You will march with intent.

You will rise up and become the person that your vision demands you become.  Plant the seed and watch it grow.

I guarantee you that a year from now, you will be amazed at what you’ve accomplished.

Reason #3 – Vision Guides Action

“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.”

~ Alvin Toffler

I believe you accomplish big things one small task at a time.  Every day ask yourself, “What one thing can I do today to move myself one step closer to my vision?”  Is there a conversation you can have?  Is there a book you can read?  Is there a job to be done?  Your vision will guide your action and drive you to the bullseye.

How do you get to the top of the Eiffel Tower?  Elevators aside, you get there one step at a time.  Each time you put one foot in front of the other, you get a little closer to your goal.  Of course, if you didn’t clearly understand your mission is to get to the top, you might stay stuck forever going back and forth, up and down between two floors in the middle.  Vision guides your actions.

Reason #4 – Vision Leads to Outcomes

“So many of our dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.”  

~ Christopher Reeve

Ultimately, vision bubbles up to results.  As you apply action toward your vision, your mind will shift in how it sees the possibilities.  Eventually, you’ll become aware that reaching your goal is inevitable.  You just have to follow-through.  Victory will be yours!

Get your sights focused on the target and you will significantly improve your outcomes.  Your life will blossom.  You will thrive like never before.

Define Your Vision Now

Have you struggled with creating a clear vision for your life?

Do you really know where you want to be a year from now?

This isn’t something that gets taught to us in school.  Therefore, you may need a little help figuring it out.  That’s nothing to be ashamed of.

If you need help envisioning your ideal future, then try this:

• Discover Your Passion, a strategic approach for creating the life of your dreams

Get a vision for your life and exciting things will happen!

It all starts with vision.  What do you see?  Remember, what you see is what you get.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

Are you living intentionally?

It takes deliberate and premeditated action to be happy and successful.  These things won’t just fall into your lap one day.

You must first imagine a better future and then willfully exercise a certain measure of forethought and planning to make it so.

If I asked you right now, “What are your specific goals?”  Could you answer me without stammering around?

If not, then you aren’t being intentional enough to realize your dreams and desires.  You need to get what you want front and center in your life.

Daydreaming Is a Smart Start

The smart way to live is to carefully and thoughtfully envision the life you desire and then intentionally live in a way to achieve your dream.

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” ~ Napoleon Hill

Remember how the teacher back in elementary school used to tell you to stop daydreaming and get busy?  Well, she was dead wrong.

You see, successful people are dreamers.  They first imagine their desired future and then they go create it.

You cannot improve your situation if you don’t first conceive in your mind where you want to go.  Ideas are the seeds of a new tomorrow for you.

So, if you want to:

• Start your own business
• Improve your relationships
• Reinvent yourself
• Stop bad habits
• Get a promotion at work
• Straighten out your finances
• Be happier and more at peace with yourself

You must first dream in your little head what that new future you want will look like.  You must then get very intentional about making it your reality.

Intentionally Create Your Future

The future for you may be next week, next month, next year or five years down the road.  It depends on where you are today and the size of your dream.

But, no matter what the timeline, you aren’t going to get anywhere until you decide to get intentional about creating your future.

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”  ~ Vince Lombardi

Did you get that?  Vince Lombardi, who celebrated a lot of victories in his life including winning the first two NFL Super Bowls, said that you have the strength and knowledge you need to live out your dreams.

It isn’t a question of that at all.  The question is, “Do you have the will to succeed?”

How much do you really want your desired future?

Are you willing to do what it takes or are you going to continue to be a slave to comfort?

Will you deliberately take action or will you continue to hide behind excuses?

It is going to take some sacrifice, work and possibly even a little money for you to get what you want.  Are you ready to get that intentional?

If you are, then you need to convert your ideas into a purposeful plan.

A Specific Plan Helps You Get Intentional

Remember, once you dream up what you want, you must then organize and mature it into a plan that you can act upon.

Here’s the path needed to achieve your dreams.

• Step 1 – Envision in your mind your ideal future.
• Step 2 – Decide to get intentional about your imagined future.
• Step 3 – Organize a plan to bring your vision into reality.
• Step 4 – Act on your plan.
• Step 5 – Evaluate results and make adjustments.

The hardest step in this process is no doubt Step 3.  How do you create a realistic plan that will actually work?

I mean if you have a solid plan that will work, you can follow it, right?  Lots of research has proven that having a good plan significantly increases your chance of success.

For example:

• One study confirms that a written business plan doubles your chances of entrepreneurial success.
• Other research verifies that 3% of Harvard MBA graduates — those with written goals and a plan to accomplish them — make 10 times as much as the other 97% combined.
• In a 2004 study, employees who adopted a well formulated savings plan increased their 401(k) contributions by over 200% in a short period.

Having a detailed plan of action definitely works and following a plan is fairly easy, so the trouble arises in creating a plan that will work, right?

Use This Shortcut to Achieve Your Goals

There is a shortcut I’ve discovered for converting your dreams into reality.

Sometimes, shortcuts get a bad rap.

However, I’m 100% convinced that this shortcut deserves respect.  Why?  Because I’ve used it a ton of times myself and it has worked without exception.

Here’s the shortcut I use.  I borrow plans from other people.

Why recreate the wheel?  For almost every goal that you want to accomplish, someone else has already developed a solid plan for achieving it.  All you have to do is borrow their plan and follow in their footsteps.  This drastically reduces the amount of time that it will require for you to succeed.

Usually for less than $20 and almost always for less than $100, you can find a top-notch plan that educates you and sets you on the path to success.  Your time alone is worth more than what you will spend on the plan.

Also, since others have already used the plan and succeeded, you have more assurance that the plan is valid.  This is a nice side benefit.

Get a Plan and Become Intentional Now

So, where do you find these valuable, but inexpensive plans?

Well, this is where I can help.  I’ve already located many of them for you.

For instance:

If you need help envisioning your ideal future, try one of these:

• Discover Your Passion, a strategic approach for creating the life of your dreams
• How to Live Your Best Life, create and achieve your bucket list

If you need help straightening out your finances, try this:

• The Super-Charged Guide to Financial Freedom, optimize your personal finances

If you need help improving your marriage, pick one of these:

• Stripped Down, strip away all the barriers to that deep closeness you so desire
• A Simple Marriage, ignite a spark and overcome the humdrums of every day marriage

These plans will help you in three key areas: goal setting, personal finances and your marriage.  What have I missed?  Is there a different area where you need help?  If so, please let me know.  If you are reading this in an email, then simply hit reply and tell me what kind of plan you need.  If you are reading this on my site, then leave a comment below.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

We’ve all been there: we want to make some change in our lives, we get all jazzed up about it, start the process and then — whomp!  We hit a speed bump, veer off the “road to change” and wind up in a ditch saying, “Oh, forget it!”

When we start out with good goals and intentions, how do things go so horribly wrong?

The problem lies in the process.  Ambiguous goals, lack of true desire, zero planning and no responsibility put you on a one-way street to failure.

You can get on the highway to success by using four simple navigation devices that lead you straight to achieving and solidifying any change.

1.  Clarify What You Want

The problem with many goals (and the reason we don’t attain them) is that we are too general in setting them. “I want to lose weight”, for example, leaves too much, er, wiggle room. It could mean half a pound or 100 pounds. How you achieve those two opposites would vary.

Using specific language in goal-setting helps your brain know exactly what it should be moving toward. For example, “I want to lose 16 pounds over the next two months.” Now, your brain can do the math and understand that translates to two pounds per week. With this knowledge, it can begin assessing what it will take to make that happen.

2.  Verify Why You Want

If you’re not really, really, really interested in making a change, you probably will stop trying at the sign of the first challenge. I coached a client once at the beginning of her goal-setting. When I asked her what made this goal so important she didn’t have an answer. After further talking she realized the goal was what her partner wanted, not what she wanted!

Knowing why a certain change is important to you will help you stay committed. Ask yourself, “How will this change affect my life?” When you have a good list, make sure those are changes that you deeply desire. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being “I want this sooo badly!”), where do you rank the goal overall? If you find yourself on the low end of the scale, look for a different project!

3.  Strategize How You Will Get It

You wouldn’t drive across the country without directions, so why would you attempt to make a change without a plan? At the outset of any goal-achieving motion we often feel that twinge of, “I’m overwhelmed”. Breaking down all of the steps that will lead from the present moment to the future moment of success will make the entire process of change not only manageable but very simple.

Take the end goal and back it up, step by step, making an outline of every single thing that would have to happen to get to the end result. Small actions lead to small successes that add up to big change. Charting your course will give you a guide to follow so that you feel organized, which means you feel in control, which means you feel pretty good about your ability to move forward!

4.  Amplify Your Accountability

When we begin any project, we have a lot of energy and excitement. It feels good to make a decision, take an action, and imagine the fabulous outcome. Then reality settles in, the work begins, and the excuses start to flow.

It’s critical to have a system of holding yourself accountable so that you sustain the energy and focus necessary to move all the way to the end. Accountability begins with yourself:

• Giving yourself a task and expecting you will follow through. Imposing deadlines can help you stay accountable for taking action in a specified time-frame.
• Giving yourself rewards can help you sustain excitement that makes you want to do the tough work.

Outside of yourself, a buddy can be extremely helpful. This can be a friend, family member, colleague or even an online acquaintance. Telling someone else what you are attempting to do take the idea out of your fantasy and bring it into the cold world of reality. This way, you also find support, and can engage your buddy to cheer you as well as check in to make sure you follow up on your self-promises.

Use These Steps to Solidify the Change You Desire

When you look back over your life, I bet you feel enormously proud of certain dreams you’ve achieved, goals you’ve accomplished and changes you’ve made. Clearly, you’ve got skills. What did those experiences have in common? Take your best gifts and strongest skills, organize them through the clarify, verify, strategize and amplify system and then — get to work!

Your best self is waiting to be discovered.

About the Author:
Michele Rosenthal, author of “Before the World Intruded: Conquering the Past and Creating the Future”, is a trauma survivor who struggled with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for over 25 years. Today, Michele joyfully lives 100% free of PTSD symptoms.

The host of “Your Life After Trauma” on Seaview Radio, Michele is a mental health advocate, public speaker, award-winning blogger, writer, workshop/seminar leader and Post-Trauma Identity Coach.

For more information please visit http://www.yourlifeaftertrauma.com, and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

Have you crashed and burned on your goals for the New Year?

Over a third of the people who set resolutions have given up on them after just one month according to Statistic Brain.  That’s sad.  I mean people set goals to lose weight, get organized, spend less, break bad habits and enjoy life more.  I want them to succeed.

How are you doing on your resolutions?  Maybe you haven’t forgotten them yet, but maybe you aren’t making the progress you really want either.

Get Back Up to Speed on Your Resolutions

Since we are at that one month point, I thought I’d share some strategies to help you experience more success with your resolutions.  A big part of what it takes to reach a goal is going about it in the right way.  A bad plan will almost certainly lead to disaster.

Here are three ways you can repair and recover your resolutions:

1.  Focus

I’ve found that the single most important thing you can do to increase your chance of reaching a goal is to focus.  Dave Ramsey says, you have to become “gazelle intense”.  To escape certain death when being pursued by a cheetah, a gazelle must use extreme and intense focus.  Nothing can distract it from the task at hand.  The gazelle must give 110%.  It cannot falter or make a mistake if it wants to survive.

You can apply gazelle intensity to any goal.  You begin by focusing on one goal at a time.  Often, we make a list of goals and try to tackle them all at once.  This divides our attention, resources and resolve which greatly impedes our probability of success.  Instead, pick your highest priority goal, the one that will give you the most bang for your buck, and attack it with all your might.  Get radical on it!  Go to extremes to achieve this ultra-important goal.  Your intense focus on this one thing will lead you to victory.

2.  Break It Into Manageable Chunks

We make the mistake of setting goals that are too big.  Losing weight is the most common New Year’s resolution.  You may know that ideally you need to lose 100 pounds.  That’s a great long-term goal, but it is too big and daunting out of the gate.  You need to break it up into smaller, more manageable chunks.  For example, you should target losing five pounds the first month.  When you accomplish this, you’ll feel more empowered and you can then set your goal for the next month.  You stack these mini-successes on top of each other and before you know it, you’ll have lost your 100 pounds.

Doing your research and being realistic about what is possible helps tremendously.  If you exceed your first milestone goal, no problem, you can increase your goal for next month.  But, if you set too big of a goal, then you will likely become discouraged quickly.  You need those small wins to stay motivated and to keep your emotions on track.  This is a huge part of what it takes to achieve a long-term goal.

3.  Expect Failure

Finally, I suggest that you expect failure from the beginning.  What I mean is that you should anticipate some setbacks along the way.  The path to success is rarely a straight line.  Those that reach their goals know this little secret.  They don’t get demoralized and quit when they experience a setback or a roadblock.  You have to persevere if you want to reach your goals.  Therefore, you should expect some failure along the way.  By preparing for some disappointment up front, you minimize the chance of giving up.  Those that stick to their goals through thick and thin are much more likely to succeed.

When a stumbling block appears on your path, you simply make an adjustment.  You may need to adjust your tactics, your attitude or your milestone goal.  This is not taking the easy way out.  It is being flexible.  Of course, you can’t use this as a crutch, you must be willing to compromise, but you can’t be forever soft on yourself.  Learn from your mistakes and use them to catapult you to greater success.  Expecting a certain amount of failure in your journey toward your goals is essential to staying committed.

Recover and Repair Your Resolutions

I’ll ask again, “How are your resolutions going?”  If they need repairing, use the tips above to get things back on track.  You may have already strayed from the course, but that doesn’t mean that you have to give up.  Your goal is still before you.  You can pick up right where you left off.  It is just a matter of getting focused, breaking it down into chunks and expecting a little failure.  I wish you the best!

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

Have you discovered the power of vision boards?

Your mind is a powerful tool.  Your job is to direct it toward the things you want most from life and then watch how quickly it produces results for you.

I’m not talking about any hocus pocus and I don’t believe that just thinking about something will manifest it in your life.  However, I do believe that visualization of your goals and dreams is a proven technique that you shouldn’t ignore.

If you are a visual person, then images are an extremely effective way for you to focus your mind.

A photo can literally speak a thousand words to that magnificent brain of yours.  You should leverage this capability to maximize your achievements and success.

Vision Board Examples to Inspire You

I’m a big believer in the use of vision boards.  There is just something very powerful about them.  Your mind is a waiting receiver.  What you feed it determines what you get out of it.  A vision board is an effective way to consistently nourish your brain with motivating images of the life you most desire.

I’ve written before about how to create and use a vision board.  Today, I want to inspire you by showing you some examples of what vision boards look like.  I hope this will encourage you to make one if you’ve never done so or, at the very least, to revisit a board you created in the past.

Here are some great examples of inspirational vision boards:

1.  Wellness Board

What do you most want to stay focused on?  You should center your vision board on this one thing.

In the example shown, personal wellness is the specific topic.  All the words and images that appear have meaning that would keep you mindful of the value of taking good care of your mind, body and soul.

Board by WiseWellWoman

2.  Masculine Board

Got testosterone?  Your board should reflect who you are or want to become.  Obviously, this example is very masculine, but it is also very well done.

It doesn’t leave any doubt what it is about.  I love how the words reinforce and amplify the meaning of the images.  This is powerful stuff that is inspiring, motivational and designed to hold the viewer accountable.

Board by Ron Sombilon Gallery

3.  Travel Board

Traveling the world is a passion of mine so, I truly appreciate boards with this type of theme.

If you have the desire to travel, then you could create a board that displays images of the specific places you most want to visit.

You could use your vision board as a kind of bucket list.  This is a great way to remind yourself of what you are working so hard to achieve.

Board by LizaWasHere

4.  Flexible Board

I like this example because it shows a different approach.  In the examples above, the pictures are pasted on to poster board, but in this case, the pictures are just tacked to the board.

This technique gives you some flexibility to change the board with time.  You can adjust it as your interests and goals evolve.  Very smart!

Board by Natecull

5.  Artistic Board

Finally, your board doesn’t have to use actual photographs.  If you are an artist, then you may choose to create your own images using your favorite medium.

This might even be more effective because the images you create go along with a specific vision in your mind.  The options for how you create your board are truly endless!

Board by queercatkitten

Be Inspired to Create Your Vision Board

These examples prove there is no one right way to create a vision board.  You can be as creative and clever as you want to be.  The idea is to get those mental images you have in your head out where your mind kind process them and start to guide you toward the actions to make them a reality.  What are you waiting for?  Go create your vision board!

Have you used a vision board before?  Was it effective for you?  Leave a comment letting me know of your experience.  It will be useful to the others that read this post.  Thanks!

Photo at the top by SharonaGott

It can be very difficult to stick to your goals and resolutions when life is so busy.  Our plates are full and yet we want to improve.  How can we do it all? Is it even possible?

This is no doubt a dilemma that many of us face.  In fact, this article was inspired by a reader comment on my article from a few days ago called Ideas for Overcoming Obstacles to Improvement.

In the article, I talked about how we have a struggle going on inside us that pits comfort against personal improvement.  These two desires are often at odds with one another.

In response, Jen (that writes a blog called Inspired!) stated:

“I was doing really well sticking to my resolutions but then work got hectic, life got hectic, I got tired and suddenly it feels impossible to go for that run after work or tidy the house or just keep on top of everything generally.

I can see that there’s a conflict between choosing comfort and choosing to pursue goals which are difficult. But the comfort I’m seeking at the moment isn’t more food or more alcohol but more sleep!”

Set a Goal and Life Gets Hectic

I completely understand Jen’s situation.  It is a very common one.  Life definitely gets hectic sometimes.  In fact, it often seems it happens just after you commit yourself to a goal.

You get inspired, set a goal or resolution, and then WHAM, life comes crashing in on you.  The kids get sick, it gets busy at work, the car breaks down and it seems as if your house is about to fall apart.  It feels like everything starts working against you.

How do you juggle all life throws at you and still accomplish your goals?

It certainly isn’t easy, but it is possible to make steady progress.  How?  Well, I’m going to share a few ways that I’ve been able to make this work for me.

By the way, I have a busy full-time job, two kids, a marriage, a home, a blog and plenty of other commitments.  So, I can relate to the pressure that Jen and many of the rest of you feel.

Sticking to Your Goals When Things Get Hectic

Here’s my suggestions for sticking to your goals even when life gets hectic:

1.  Focus

When you are busy, you’ve got to get intensely focused.  You can’t afford to spread yourself across multiple goals.  You have to pick one or two that are your absolute top priorities and focus whatever energy you have on these.  You’ve got to divide the good from the great here.  Good goals are often the enemy of great goals because they spread you too thin.  Focus on the great ones that will make the most positive difference in your life and finish these before you tackle anything else.

Is your life dictating that you need more focus?

2.  Do the Big Rocks First

In her comment, Jen says, “I got tired and suddenly it feels impossible to go for that run after work or tidy the house or just keep on top of everything generally.”  My response?  You’ve got to do what is most important to you first each day before you do all the other stuff that wears you out.  I don’t have room here to fully explain the Big Rocks technique, but you can read about it and apply it.  It works for me.  I get up an hour early every day to write articles for this site.  If I waited until the end of the day, it would never get done.

Are you accomplishing your big rocks first?

3.  Lower Your Expectations

This might sound odd, but when life starts getting in the way, you may have to lower your expectations regarding your goals.  Mainly, I’m talking about extending the timeline.  It might not be possible to accomplish as much as you originally planned by your target date.  Too often, people give up when life gets hectic.  Instead, I recommend just lowering your expectations to something more realistic.  It might take you longer, but at least you’re still making progress.

Do you need to lower your expectations?

4.  Don’t Become the Victim

Finally, when life gets hectic, it is easy to become the victim.  You’ve got to guard against this.  Don’t let yourself start saying things like, “I would have lost the weight, but my boss assigned me all this extra work and now I don’t have enough time to exercise.”  This implies that it was out of your control.  That you were just a victim of your circumstances.  You make the choice to give up or continue toward your goals.  You are not a victim.  You either make your goals a priority or you don’t.  If you put a goal on the backburner that’s okay, but be sure you accept the responsibility for making the decision.

Are you playing the victim?

A Hectic Life Shouldn’t Kill Your Goals

Life gets hectic for all of us from time-to-time.  This is the chance to prove to yourself that you have what it takes to succeed even when times are tough.  Sometimes you have to get creative in finding new ways to keep moving forward.  Stick to your goals by using the suggestions above to make adjustments, but don’t give up entirely!

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

Like most people, you have that fervent desire for success in various aspects of life. Be it in a fulfilling career, a business pursuit or finding love and making it last, you would do your best to hold all these.

Many other people do, too. But you’re probably a few steps ahead because you know the value of setting goals and a course of action to reach something.

But even with set goals, some things still hold you back. It’s mostly forceful questions of your strength and will to sustain your action plan toward success.

Will it work? Will it be easy? Will the achievements come soon?

Well, it’s a matter sticking to your goals and keeping yourself inspired to work for its success.

People often have great dreams and even their crudest means to achieve something fantastic are inspiring to a certain point. They did set goals, but somehow they failed to follow through for various reasons. In the end, they sulked at the thought someone might flash the “L” for loser in the next corner.

Now definitely, you wouldn’t want that. You are determined, after all, to make the “L” sign be two fingers flashing a “V” for the victory you will have. Or it could be the V for “peace” that you find, knowing you did stick to your guns – or goals! – and the blissful contentment that comes with the success.

So how do you stick to your goals till you achieve your dreams? Here’s how:

1. Have a Clear-Cut, Specific and Realistic Goal

Be it in time element or the courses of action, your goals need to be very clear. This makes it so much easier to accomplish instead of just generally saying, “I will be rich!” Of course, anybody can dream to have all the bucks, luxurious wheels and homes and a flashy or comfortable lifestyle. But you MUST have the picture of what you want.

Having a specific desire or dream gives you a reality check. It’s easy to say, “Someday, I’ll be a famous rock star!” or that in ten years time you’ll dine with corporate giants. Say all your wild dreams, and then follow it with questions like, “Do I have the talent to be a rock star?” or “Do I need a degree in business or just climb the corporate ladder like mad without a background of the industry?”

The point is, you need to have a dream – BUT first make sure it’s something you can work on and have the potential to achieve. The secret to achieving something is to have measurable or quantifiable answers to the general questions. If you have a clear-cut goal, you have a picture of the outcomes as well as the necessary steps to achieve all of it.

Once you have the clarity of goals and valuation of yourself and your potentials, then you could make realistic goals that COULD be achieved. Clear goals mean clear course of action, working well with positive and negative pressures around you, and not being distracted from your focus.

2. Create Your Atmosphere of Success

Often, even the most determined people end up failing because they are overwhelmed by negative forces surrounding them. But you can stay glued to your goals when you are surrounded with people who inspire you, push you further and even make room for you to work harder. These people can be family and friends, or they can be workmates or peers who share the same mindset about achieving goals.

You can also stick to your goals if you fill the spaces you move in with reminders of your desire. Write motivational words on the fridge door, have similar inspiring lines on your coffee mug at work or a framed picture on your bedroom wall. These reminders will be your constant “silent” cheerleader as you pursue victory. You could even fill your iPod with songs that bring you back to the reasons why you’re working on the goals, and have one theme song as your phone’s ringtone!

Study other modes of how to make your goal a powerful magnet wherever you are, and do make yourself a forceful element moving towards it – all the time!

3. Act Now and Party Later

Many people lose sight of their well-set goals because they opt not to take action right away.  Unknowingly, their goals are slowly moving farther away as they put off until tomorrow the work they could do today!

Seize the day, make the wisest choice and act now. This is the right mindset of someone who wants their goals at hand. On the sad side, the people who wallow in dreams and don’t take immediate action wait for tomorrow. Once a door of opportunity opens, they scramble and act unknowingly, resulting in haphazard attainments, if at all. Now, you wouldn’t want to do that, right? You want consistent movement toward your goals, you desire smooth and educated actions and you definitely want to be prepared for whatever challenges come.

So instead of a laid-back approach to achieving success, map out the routines you will need to undertake. Have a well-scheduled action plan as this will help you determine what you will need for each step along the way. Consistently pursuing your goal will also push you to always be ready, and make each of your endeavors more meaningful. It gets you excited at the challenge of a new task as well as elevates your joys in each completed task of the road toward success.

With this, you need not leave your laid out actions and plans for tomorrow or get distracted by the trivialities that pull you away from your goals; instead, you do the tasks for today and congratulate yourself for the results, and have a quiet celebration that you’re a few steps closer to your dreams.

Ready to do all these? Here’s my “V” for you…it means I wish you peace with the certainty of a good road ahead; and it’s also for the victory you will get every day until that final moment when you reach your set goal!

Arina Nikitina is a blogger who shares practical goal setting, motivation, and productivity tips at http://www.arinanikitina.com

Photo by ivanlanin

To-do lists are a staple of productivity teaching. Whether you follow the Getting Things Done approach or the Put Things Off approach, or one of the dozen other popular or obscure methods, the to-do list is likely to appear in it somewhere.

They act as reminders, prompts, and motivators (it’s satisfying to cross things off, and gives a sense of achievement). However, they can become busywork, they can become a whip to beat ourselves with, and they can become an unhelpful administrative overhead.

Make Your To-do List Useful, Practical and Sustainable

These twelve tips can really help to improve the effectiveness of your to-do list:

1. Sprinkle With Quick Wins to Build Momentum

We all have times when our energy is lower. In fact, there’s a natural cycle of energy, about an hour or two in length, that goes on throughout the day. When you’re starting work, restarting work, or in one of those slump points, a couple of quick, easy tasks that you can tick off your list are a good way to keep from bogging down. I call these "momentum tasks". For example, taking 5 minutes to clear clutter out of my email inbox can be a good momentum task.

2. Time-box

Time-boxing is setting aside relatively small periods of time, usually around half an hour or a little less, to focus on a task. At the end of each period, allow time for a break.

One of the classic time-boxing strategies is the Pomodoro Technique, which uses a 25-minute working span followed by a 5-minute break. Find the rhythm that works for you and use it to increase your productivity. It’s a good idea to use smaller time-boxes for the momentum tasks, since the idea of those is that they’re quick wins to build your momentum for the really important stuff.

3. Prioritize High-value Tasks

Even though you will want to have a few quick and easy momentum-builders, it’s obviously important to spend 80% of your time on the 20% of possible activities which will get you the biggest wins. If you find yourself perfecting something that doesn’t really matter, ask yourself why you are avoiding the things that do matter.

4. Link To-do Items to Higher-Level Goals

One way to motivate yourself towards, and even identify, the high-value tasks is to connect them to your life goals. I have an approach I call "two-level goals" which works like this: First, write out about 5 things that are important goals for you, that you really want to achieve in life. Then, under each goal, write things that are achievable today (or this week) that will move you closer to that goal. This is now your to-do list. If it doesn’t fit under a goal – why are you doing it, exactly?

5. If the List Gets Overwhelming, Pull Back and Prune Back

If your to-do list is out of control, or if it feels like it’s controlling your life instead of being a tool for you to control your life, it’s time for a reassessment. Two-level goals is one way to do this. The next few points give some others. "Prune to-do list" can be a very high-value to-do-list item!

6. Build a "to-not-do" List of Timewasters

The flip side of concentrating on the high-value tasks is that there are probably some low-value tasks that have crept into your day and are squatting there taking up space they don’t deserve. Put them on a hit-list, and when you find yourself doing one, switch to a momentum task instead.

7. Find Items You Can Delegate, Outsource or Transfer to Others

You don’t always have to do everything on your list yourself. This is called "living in a society". Not everyone is in a position to pay someone else to do some of their tasks (but ask yourself, if you did, what could you achieve with the time you save?) Often, though, you can find someone who can do the task more quickly, better and with more enjoyment than you can.

8. Ask Yourself If There’s a Better Way

Take a "creativity moment" to daydream about how else you could achieve your goals, apart from by doing this task in this way. All innovation, and most successful businesses, starts with someone doing this.

9. Motivate Yourself by Having a "Done" List.

If you sit down to write your to-do list and you’ve already done six things today – write them down and cross them off! They count.

If you’re using an electronic to-do list of some kind, try to use one where you can see how many things you’ve achieved, rather than just removing them when they’re finished. It’s motivational. (But it’s also important to be able to clear the "done" items out of the way, so you can see your to-do list shrink. Maybe you can transfer them to another file.)

10. Make Sure You Include Rest, Fun and Self-care

They’re important too. If you don’t schedule time with family and friends, time spent resting, time spent looking after yourself and enjoying yourself, and your life is busy and demanding, guess what? These things are not going to happen in the exhausted intervals when you’re too worn out to do the next thing on your list. Block them out, and defend them. If you’re not living your life, it’s not going to get lived.

11. Consider Making Lists at Multiple Timescales

A simple to-do list is better than a complex one, but sometimes you do need to separate daily, weekly and longer-term tasks. Make sure they always relate back to your goals, though, and that the weekly tasks are becoming daily tasks when they need to.

12. Anything You’ve Had on Your Daily List for a Week, Decide Whether You’re Doing It or Not, and Do It – or Not

If you’ve been putting it off for a week, you don’t want to do it. Why do you not want to do it? And does it need to be done? If it serves your goals, go ahead and get it out of the way. But if it doesn’t, drop it off the list. Remember, you control the list, not vice-versa. It’s your tool.

What else do you do to get best value out of your to-do list?

Mike Reeves-McMillan blogs at Living Skillfully: Change Your Life on personal development, stress management and living a more glorious life. His current project is the course Stop Procrastinating, Start Succeeding.

Photo by db photographs

This is a wake up call.  The year is two-thirds over already.  It is hard to believe, but it is true.

Are there important targets that you have yet to hit?  If so, then it is time to get busy finishing up your goals.

What resolutions did you commit to at the beginning of the year?  Do you remember?  I’m not here to create guilt, but I do want to motivate.

The year is not over yet.  There is still time to dig out those dusty resolutions and goals that you were so passionate about just a few short months ago.  Why not review them now and make one last surge toward the finish line?

It Is Easy to Let Goals Be Forgotten

There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Goals slip into the abyss very easily.  They slither away from us and wind up totally forgotten if we aren’t vigilant in pursuing them.

It happens to almost all of us from time-to-time.  I’ll admit that this wake-up call is as much for me as it is for you.  Someone else rang the alarm bell for me this past weekend reminding me that the year was two-thirds over. 

As a result, I stopped for a moment to think, “What are my goals for this year?”

It is always good to review your goals for the year at least monthly to make sure you are still on track and to be certain you remain mindful of what is most important to you.

Standing still is lethal in today’s world.  It makes life stale, boring and it puts you in danger of losing your job, health and prosperity.  You’ve got to keep growing to stay alive.

Get Moving Toward Your Goals

People generally fall into one of three categories when it comes to achieving goals.  Let me address each category individually with some advice for those that need it.

Here are the three categories of people relative to goals:

1.  Goal Achievers

There are those people, albeit a small few, that set goals, stay focused on them and accomplish what they’ve set forth to do.  I call these people, not surprisingly, the Goal Achievers.  If you are in this group, then I’d like to congratulate you for your discipline, perseverance and, oh yeah, your tremendous success!

This is the group we should all strive to join.  They are the truly wealthy not the ones just pretending to be rich.  They have the best jobs, nicest families and go on the most exciting adventures.  How is it that they have all the things others desire?  Because they set meaningful goals for themselves that focused their efforts.  They then worked diligently to achieve their goals.  Hopefully, you are already a member of this group, but if not, please read on.

2.  Goal Neglectors

The second group is what I call the Goal Neglectors.  This is probably where the majority of people fall.  You might even be one of them.  The Neglectors at least occasionally set goals or verbalize resolutions, but their attention and resolve soon fades.  Within a short timeframe they generally completely forget whatever it was that they wanted to do.  It could have been losing weight, paying off debt, starting to exercise or increasing their education.  Whatever it was, it is soon completely neglected and mostly forgotten.

If this is where you find yourself two-thirds of the way through the year, then don’t despair.  Feeling guilty and beating yourself up won’t accomplish anything.  Instead, I recommend following my 5 Steps for Rejuvenating Your Goals and Resolutions.  I wrote this earlier in the year, but if you missed it and find that you are neglecting your goals or resolutions, then it should help you get refocused and headed toward being a Goal Achiever.

3.  Goal Lackers

Okay, the final category is the Goal Lackers.  As you might have guessed, these are the folks that don’t really have any goals or direction set for their lives.  They are floundering in a sea of aimlessness wondering, “Why does opportunity seem to always pass me by?”  They often believe they are the unluckiest souls on Earth.  Of course, what they fail to realize is what Thomas Jefferson put so eloquently, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”  Setting goals and working hard to achieve them is the best way to improve your circumstances.

I doubt many of the Lackers are reading this, but just in case you are one and want some help or maybe you know one that you want to pass this along to, I’ll offer some advice on getting started with goal setting and personal improvement.  In fact, I’ll give Goal Lackers a framework to follow to develop meaningful, personal goals.  These Five Steps to Self Improvement work every time.  How do I know?  Because I’ve used them myself to develop goals and achieve greater success.

Wake Up and Achieve Your Goals

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.
~ Albert Einstein

Goals are extremely important to living a happy, fulfilling life.  However, we often fall asleep to our goals.  We doze off and forget them.  With the year two-thirds of the way over, an alarm is going off.  It is time to wake up, jump up and get going!  If I could reach out and gently shake you right now to bring you back to reality, believe me I would do it.  Please let this serve as your wake-up call.  A great life is out there.  All you have to do is go get it.

Photo by koka_sexton

Why would you waste another day living less than the very best life possible?  Henry David Thoreau tells us, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” 

Is this going to be you?  Are you living up to your full potential or are you living a life of quiet desperation?

Your best life is out there for you to pursue, but no one is going to do it for you.  Not your boss.  Not your spouse.  Not your children.  Not anyone.  If you want more out of life, then you’ve got to wake up, take charge and make it happen.

Make a Plan for a Better Life

He who fails to plan, plans to fail
~ Proverb

How do you start living a better life?  You become very intentional.  You design your future.  How do you do this?  By making a very specific plan.  Without a plan, you will be tossed by the currents and who knows where you will end up.  It likely won’t be where you intended.  Are you going to let your life get away from you like this?  Maybe it already has to a degree.  Why not get it on track and keep it there?

There are probably a million variations on how you can go about creating a specific plan for your life, but here are three components that I think nail it down pretty well.

1.  Creating A Life List

Nothing happens unless first we dream.
~ Carl Sandberg

A life list answers questions like these:

• What do you want to do with your life?
• Where do you want to live?
• How do you want to spend your time?
• What are your dreams?
• What causes are important to you?
• How much money do you want to make?
• What kind of job do you most desire?
• What kind of home do you want to own?

A life list is basically a complete vision for your life put together one puzzle piece at a time.  To paraphrase Stephen Covey, “To get what you want, you must begin with the end in mind.”

2.  Setting Unambiguous Goals

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Once you have your life list, then you can start to build a series of unambiguous goals.  You write out as specifically as possible what you want and when you will get it.  For example, if you want to buy a house, you say, “I will own a home by January 1, 2012.” 

Some of your goals will be short-term and some will be long-term.  That’s okay.  The main thing is that you get down on paper what you really want out of life.  This charts a specific course.  This definiteness of purpose will set in motion a flow of energy that will propel you forward.  You’ll be amazed at how fast you make meaningful progress in the direction you want to move once you have your goals clearly stated.

3.  Defining an Action Plan

Action is the antidote to despair.
~ Joan Baez

Once you have translated your life list into unambiguous goals, then you need to decide on what concrete steps you need to take to bring your goals into reality.  This means putting together an action plan.  For each of your goals, ask yourself, “What action steps do I need to take to accomplish this goal?”

Writing goals is powerful, but without action, it is all for naught.  You have to act if you want anything to really change.  You have to plunge the shovel into the earth if you want to dig a hole.  Once the course is charted, then act with courage and purpose to bring your life list into reality.  Dreams are realized one small action at a time.

Stand Up and Make It Happen for You

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.
~ Doug Firebaugh

Putting together a life list, writing out goals and defining an action plan sounds simple, but it isn’t always easy.  If it was, then more people would be living the life they really want.  You would already have everything you desire.  There would be no need for me or anyone else to even mention all this, because we’d all be enjoying wonderful, satisfying lives. 

But, that’s not really the case is it?  No.  Instead, most of us, maybe even you, are leading a life of quiet desperation.

It is time to stand up.  It is time to make a plan for living the life you really want.  It is time to reach out and get a little help to put things on the right track toward your full potential.

I have a suggestion that will help you do all this.  To give yourself a leg up, buy a copy of How to Live Your Best Life: The Essential Guide for Creating and Achieving Your Life List.  This is the best workbook I have ever discovered for walking people through creating the life they really want.

Because I feel this ebook is such a great resource, I have negotiated a special offer with Marelisa for my readers.  For everyone else, she recently raised her price to $14.60 and believe me it is worth every penny of that, but to make this decision easy for you, I have asked that she give you one more chance to buy this terrific ebook at her introductory price.

Special Offer Details

Click here and enter supercharged as your discount code during checkout and you’ll get the $9.50 introductory price until August 31, 2010.  This is 35% off the regular price!

There is no risk involved.  If you aren’t 100% satisfied, then you have up to 60 days to notify Marelisa and she will refund your money, no questions asked.  This is a deal that can’t be beat.  You can buy the ebook at a terrific discount and receive a money-back satisfaction guarantee.  What have you got to lose?

To be totally transparent, I want to tell you up front that out of her generosity, Marelisa shares a percentage of her sales with me to help support this site, but even if she didn’t, I would still recommend her book to you because it is truly that good.

Stop Making Excuses and Start Living

Heaven never helps the man who will not act.
~ Sophocles

You have no excuse for living in quiet desperation for another minute.  It is up to you.  What will you do?  Will you stay where you are and continue down this path or will you reach for change?  I’ve done everything I can do for you.  What will you do for yourself?

You have been presented here with an opportunity.  Will you recognize it?  Will you act upon it?  Many will not.  They will make up yet another excuse.  They will choose to believe negative things.  They will let their so-called rational minds talk them out of it.

However, a few will act and those few will realize the benefits.  They will start to move themselves toward a better life.  They will smile knowing their song will be sung.  What will you do?  I hope you’ll make it happen.

Photo by paul (dex)