Are you one of the many who think they need goals but never get serious about them? Or are you one of the very elite few who actually realize the incredible benefits to be gained by getting VERY serious about setting goals.

The increase in income alone is a major benefit of goal setting and should be enough to make anyone take a serious look at it. However, there are many, many additional benefits that can’t be measured in numbers that improve the overall pleasure of life. So, put the two together, and wow, think about what this could do for you.

To make goal setting really work for you, there are things in your life you need to throw away right now ? you don’t need them, you don’t want them, they are doing great harm to you.

1. Anger: This is rampant now more than ever because of the collapse of our economy and the devastating effect this has had on the lives of so many people. We want to blame someone for what has happened to us ? we’re angry at everything and everyone that upset our life. The truth of the matter is, you are not hurting the person or thing you are angry at, you are only hurting yourself. They don’t even know you are angry with them. As Buddy Hackett, the comedian, once said, “I never hold grudges; while you’re holding grudges, they’re out dancing!” Throw away your anger!
   

    

2. Self Pity: This is such a natural and comforting thing to cling to; and the people who won’t give it up will never reach their full potential ? not even close!? Don’t blame others for your problems. Take ownership of everything that is yours. If you don’t like those things, decide to change them, which usually means changing yourself and your attitude towards life. Throw away the self pity!

 

3. Making Excuses: Instead of making excuses for things that come up in your life that are uncomfortable or unwanted, say, “I am responsible.” Do you know what this will do for you? It will give the power of the situation to you and will take you out of the role of victim. You will become free, mentally and emotionally. By the way, you can also say, “I am responsible” when good things happen in your life! How great is that?! Throw away your excuses!

These harmful, self-destructive habits and emotions won’t disappear the first time you throw them out. They’ll sneak back into your life as soon as they can because you have been such a good host to them, and they want to stay with you. This is normal and happens to everyone. That’s why you must practice doing this consistently for several weeks, or however long it takes to permanently eradicate them. Throw them out!

Set yourself up as a personal services corporation ? You, Inc. – ?and make yourself the president. You will be in charge of and responsible for everything. Set up your goals for this corporation ? salary, vacation time, leisure time, continuing education, training needed to be more effective in your job, marketing yourself, etc. Be very specific in what you want and what you want to be.

You are president of your career. Picture yourself as a powerful person who is self-determined and self-directed. If you don’t like your past, dismiss it as just that ? the past. You cannot change anything that has happened; you can only learn from it.

Be very specific about your goals for this corporation because they will determine, in a very great way, whether you will fail or be hugely successful. You are the architect of your own destiny ? make the blueprint amazing, wonderful, and ?awesome!

How many times have you heard that setting goals is the most important ingredient in your quest for success? Have you taken it seriously, or instead thought “That’s great for other people, but I don’t know how to set goals, I don’t know where to begin.”

The “setting goals” statement is THAT IMPORTANT!! Tom Hopkins, sales trainer, says “Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.”

Research has found that the 3% of college graduates that have clear, written goals earn ten times as much as those who have no goals or have unclear, scattered goals. Now that’s pretty compelling and certainly a strong motivation to start writing clear, concise goals. Yes, it has been proven over and over again that writing your goals down on paper brings much more success than just having them roaming around in your head.

It becomes REALLY exciting when you think about these facts:

1. You have more natural potential than you could use in a lifetime. A Stanford University study found that the average person uses only two percent of his/her mental capacity, with 98 percent being unused and wasted.
2. Anything a person thinks about, long enough and hard enough, can be accomplished. If there is a burning desire within, it will materialize on the outside.
3. It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from or where you have been. What matters is where you want to go and how much effort you are willing to put into your desire to accomplish more success, more wealth, better relationships, etc.
4. You are the one in charge of the great potential that you have. Your thoughts are creative. As the saying goes, “You become what you think about most of the time.”

Just for a moment think about the power of the human mind. That’s your mind they’re talking about!

The human mind has a built-in desire for success and accomplishment. We are born with it, so it should be easy to be goal oriented, right? Unfortunately that is not true. We are influenced by everything around us ? our family, friends, childhood, education, religion, etc.

We have not been taught to think about goals. Our educational system doesn’t teach the importance of this, not even at the college level. And most people grow up in homes where goal setting is not discussed or used.

The fear of failure is a huge deterrent to setting goals. It doesn’t matter how you start. What matters is that you do start. You’re not going to be a perfect goal maker on your first try. Play around with your thoughts on what you want to achieve in life. Write them down. If you let yourself do this without restraints, you’ll be amazed at how many goals you have, some will be short term, some will be long term. Now you can start analyzing them, career, personal, business, etc. It’s a good idea not to share them with anyone right away. They belong to you, and you don’t need any dream stealers. And don’t forget to dream BIG!

Imbed into your mind the desire you have of achieving your goals and the incredible power of your subconscious mind. Negative thoughts will surely make you fail, positive thoughts will bring positive things, without fail! When you find a negative thought creeping in, such as “I can’t do that,” I don’t have what it takes, “This can never happen for me,” just say the word “cancel” and replace the negative thought with a positive one. This will take some practice, but it does work. Besides, you’ll feel much happier thinking positive thoughts instead of the negative ones that do nothing but drag you down.

Do you find yourself constantly juggling deadlines, never seeming to be able to “catch up?” Do you put off starting new projects because you are so far behind on existing projects? Are there times when you just want to find a time machine to give yourself more hours in a day to finally get on top of all your projects?

You are suffering from Procrastination!

Procrastination is the largest contributor to lost productivity and missed deadlines there is. If you want to get out of your procrastination sinkhole, here are seven steps to help you become a productive, reliable and calm person.

1. Create daily schedules – This is so important! Create a daily schedule for yourself which outlines routine tasks that must be done on each day. We always have tasks that must be completed by a certain time. By setting up a specific time of day or week to complete these tasks, you will no longer have them hanging over your head, nor will you have to worry that you could inadvertently forget about them, and their deadlines would come and go. Use a journal, organizer, or calendar to help you plan and schedule your tasks so you can start them promptly and finish them on time.

2. Long-term goals list – Take time when you will not be interrupted and make a list of the projects that have been assigned to you or that you want to tackle but just never seem to be able to fit into your day. Ask yourself some very important questions for each item: Will this bring value to my life or job? Am I doing this because it is easy and I want to or because it will bring value? Should I delegate this item to someone else? Be sure to take into consideration all the people included or affected by the project. After you have made your list, prioritize it.

3. Start thinking proactively – As soon as you receive an assignment or decide on a project, start planning how you will complete that task. Take out your calendar and set mini-deadlines. If there are other people involved in the project, coordinate with them and set up the schedule together.

4. Break large projects into smaller ones – The larger the project, the harder it is for people to get started simply because they are overwhelmed and they don’t know where to start. At the beginning of the project, take time to break the project down into its basic elements. If other people are involved, work together to identify each sub-element. It is important to remember that some sub-elements may rely on the completion of other projects or sub-elements done by other people. Now is the time to make your schedule with everyone’s input.

5. Review your progress and schedule periodically – Set up a time, either by yourself if you are the only one working on the project, or with others involved to review your progress and schedule. It may be necessary at this point to make changes to the schedule based on your progress so far. Don’t insist on sticking to a schedule that is unreasonable, your chances of a successful completion are much greater if you remain vigilant but flexible.

6. Reward yourself – It is important to reward yourself after completing difficult tasks, even if it was only one of the many tasks in the overall project. Small rewards are important to keep everyone involved and to stay motivated. Everyone likes to have a treat once in awhile, and this is a great time to do that. You can base the type of reward on the difficulty of the tasks completed.

7. Be kind to yourself – If you are like most people, you didn’t become a procrastinator overnight, and you won’t stop procrastinating overnight either. There will be times when you fall off the wagon and find yourself in a crisis situation again. That’s ok. Just take a moment to reassess and learn from your mistake. Get right back on it and don’t look back. Remember, you are getting rid of bad habits and are setting up new, beneficial ones. Habits take time (at least 25 to 30 days) to be established.

Although it may seem like a daunting task, you can conquer procrastination by consistently following the steps outlined above. This is something that is definitely achievable.