Goals – The Roadmap to Success – 2nd section

Continued from the previous post:

The seven steps to goal setting success

There are time tested, proven principles to achieving any goal. Here they are:

1) Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want.
It is imperative one adhere to this part of the equation for success. A strong desire and personal affinity for a goal will motivate you to take the action necessary to see it through to fruition. You must strive for something you really want to achieve, not something that just sounds good.
When setting goals it is also very important to remember that your goals must be consistent with your values.

2) A goal cannot contradict any of your other goals.
You can’t buy a $1,000,000 home if the goal for your yearly income is just $50,000. This is a “non-integrated thought process” which will guarantee frustration and disrupt all of the hard work you put into your goals. Non-integrated thinking can also get in the way of your everyday thoughts. We should continually strive to eliminate conflicting ideas from our thinking.

3) Develop goals in the 6 major areas of life.
Family and Home
Financial and Career
Spiritual and Ethical
Physical and Health
Social and Cultural
Mental and Educational
Setting goals in each of these areas will help to ensure a more balanced way of life for you as you begin to examine and change the basics of day-to-day living. Setting goals in each area of life also helps in eliminating the non-integrated thinking mentioned above.

4) Write your goal in the positive instead of the negative.
In order to maintain motivation one must focus their thoughts on what they want and desire rather than what they wish to eliminate. If your focus is on what you want to leave behind your powerful subconscious mind will be drawn to it. An old saying states, “What we focus on most in life grows.” A large part of why we write down and examine our goals is to create a specific set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out.

Your subconscious mind is a very proficient instrument; it cannot determine right from wrong and it does not judge. Its’ only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get. Writing, “I want to be a size 7 with 13 percent body fat by June 15th” is much more positive and empowering than one written, “I don’t want to be a size 13 anymore.” Can you see the difference?

Thinking positively in everyday life will also help in your growth as a human being. Don’t limit it to goal setting.

5) Write your goal out in complete and specific detail.
Instead of writing “I want a car,” in its place write “I want a navy blue 2007 Pontiac Gran Prix convertible with a navy blue leather interior, multi disc CD player, a Garmon GPS system by June 15th.” This is much more specific and detailed in its description.

By utilizing specificity we are again giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The more information you give it, the more clear the final outcome becomes. The more precise the outcome, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become.

Can you close your eyes and visualize the vehicle I described above? Now take it out on the open road and feel the comfort of the leather under you. Listen to the stereo. Notice the clouds in the horizon and feel the wind on your face as you cruise down a beach highway. Can you see it? So can your subconscious mind.

6) By all means, make sure your goal is high enough.
Shoot for the moon; if you miss you’ll still be in the stars. This does not in any way contradict the instruction above to set your goals at the right level. Failure to set your goal high enough will not motivate you to strive for its achievement. Andrew Carnegie said, “Anything worth having in life is worth working for.” Shoot for the moon!

7) This is the most important principle: Write down your goals and set a deadline for their achievement.
Writing down your goals creates the roadmap to your success. Simply the act of writing them down can set the process in motion. However, it is also extremely important to review your goals frequently. Remember, keeping your focus on your goals helps to better ensure that you are likely to accomplish them.

Occasionally we have to revise a goal as circumstances arise and other goals change. If you need to change a goal do not consider it a failure, consider it a victory as you had the insight and wherewithal to comprehend something was different and needed adjustment.

By setting a practical, realistic deadline, you let your subconscious mind push you to achievement by that date. If circumstances arise which meddle with your deadline, simply move the deadline. It’s your goal and you’re in charge. Remember, a goal without a deadline is a dream!

Your goals are written down. Now what?
First and foremost, unless an individual is essential to helping you reach your goal(s), do not share them with others. The possible negative reactions and attitudes from friends, family and neighbors can drag you down quickly. It’s very important that your self-talk (the thoughts in your head which communicate with your subconscious mind) remain positive and focused on your goal.

You must review your goals daily to in order to solidify them to your resolve and make them an indelible part of your thinking. This must become as much a part of your daily routine as eating or brushing your teeth if you’re truly serious about success in goal setting.

Place your goal sheet in a place where each morning when you wake up you can read them.

Visualize with feeling the completed goal; see the new home, smell the leather seats in your new car, feel the cold hard cash in your hands. Then each night, right before you go to bed, repeat the process. This process is extremely critical to keeping both your subconscious and conscious mind consistently working toward your goals. This step also initiates the substitution of negative self-talk you may have and replaces it with positive self-talk.

One final point: Every time you have an opportunity to make a decision during the day, ask yourself this question, “Does it take me closer to, or further from my goal.” If the answer is “closer to,” then you’ve made the right decision. If the answer is “further from,” well, you know what to do. By choosing to follow this process everyday you will be well on your way to achieving unlimited success in every aspect of your life.

Steve