If you’ve ever wanted success, to be more successful, to have more than you have, to provide more for your family than you already do, to have more freedom, more time, more energy, or just more of life itself, you need a sound strategy to bring you the success that you truly desire.
In this chapter, I’m going to show you a simple, effective, 5 step strategy, which will bring enormous success into your life…as long as you follow the strategy and take action.
Now, that’s a big statement, but I simply intend to give you the same top down strategy that top performers and successful people the world over follow to achieve massive success in their lives.
I believe most people have a genuine desire for more success, but they just veer off track. Life goes on, and a million other things get in the way, and then people look back on their life and wonder why their dreams never came true, and why they never achieved the success that they were destined to achieve in their lives.
The reason for this is that most people do not have a plan for success mapped out. That’s why they venture off track – because they never had have a track to follow in the first place! I am going to work with you in this chapter to map out a plan for success using a few simple principles. This is your roadmap to success.
Here’s an outline of what this chapter will cover:
Firstly, we’re going to work on the power of your Vision. Because if you can’t see where you’re going, how are you ever going to arrive? We’re going to get your vision in place so you never waver off course. This is your first key to success.
Secondly, we’ll show you the importance of Goal Setting and how the goals you set form your strategy to bring your vision into reality. I’ll give you some specific steps you can take right now to easily formulate and solidify your goals in your mind. This second step gives you something concrete to aim for.
Then, we’ll discover how to Align your Actions with your Goals. It’s human nature for us to wander off course, no matter how hard we try – so I’m going to describe a system to help keep you motivated and on track to achieving your goals. Your third step is crucial in the age of distractions.
After that, we’ll begin to give you proven strategies to Manage Your Emotional State. Emotions have the potential to empower you to success or to trip you up time and again – once I lay out the 3 keys to managing your emotions, no fear or obstacle will ever prevent you from taking action again. This is your fourth step to success, and a crucial one.
Finally, I’ll help you to blast through procrastination and Take Action. Without this step, nothing will happen – but once you read this section and take my advice, the momentum you gain in a relatively short period of time will astound you. When you master this fifth step to success, you will become truly unstoppable.
Let’s face it – your desire for more success isn’t just some idle thought. It’s not simply a lukewarm feeling of ‘Gee, that would be nice’, it’s not a mere afterthought that flits through your mind every now and then. You must want success, you must desire success and most importantly you must believe that you can achieve success because “If you think you can or you think you can’t, either way you are right.” – Henry Ford
Your success, whatever that may mean to you, is the most important pursuit in your entire life. Because I’m going to help you achieve success in areas like health, financial, relationships, once you master the principles of success I’ll reveal to you here today, you will be able to apply them again and again in every area of your life.
And you will never be the same again.
Here’s the plan:
1. Vision
2. Goal Setting
3. Aligning your goals with your actions
4. Managing your emotional states
5. Take Action
The Power of Vision
Vision is a vital part of achieving success. Your vision is what will keep you in check and bring you back on track if you happen to veer off. But action is the key to making your vision a reality. Setting goals, working hard, and staying on course are all key factors in reaching your desired vision, but the clearer you can see your vision the better chance you have of seeing it become a reality.
“Goals enable you to achieve objectives; a vision helps you realize your dreams.”
While goal setting is the way to map out your course of action in getting what you want, having a clear and precise vision is what will keep you on task and help you know when and why you may need to adjust your goals along the way. Goals are meant to be flexible while your vision is what will let you know when you have reached your objective and you have actually made it!
Here are some points to keep in mind when it comes to goal setting:
1. The goals you set are temporary whereas a vision is long term. Take the time to be specific when setting them and give them a timeframe so you can stay on track with what you are trying to achieve.
2. Goals are personal. You may share your vision with others and they may be supportive in your pursuit but they may have their own ideas as to how you should set your goals to realize your vision.
3. Properly set, goals certainly will provide the stepping-stones to a successful outcome. But they are not the destination but rather the means to achieving it.
4. Make sure that you remain flexible when setting and working on your goals. Be open to new ideas and be ready to abandon what is not working and embrace a new direction if you need to. It is not the achievement or failure of a goal that is as important as working your plan in a successful manner that will take you closer and closer to your desired vision.
5. Try to keep your emotions out of your goal setting. If you become too caught up in thinking that reaching all of your goals is what will make you happy you are losing sight of the big picture.
What is the “why” behind your vision?
When your vision first appeared you had a positive reaction. You were able to see how this vision would benefit yourself or others and even though you weren’t sure at the time how to make it happen, you were firmly committed that it was a great idea and you were going to find a way to make it a reality. The reason why you wanted to embrace this vision was perfectly clear to you and not up for debate. Keeping this vision and the reason why you want to work on it are what will determine your success. The clearer your vision remains the quicker and better your chances of success will be.
Important points in becoming a visionary
• Be specific in your vision – the more details you cover the more real this vision will become.
• Research your vision to see if it has already been approached. If it has, what were the reasons that it was not successful? Have you entertained these reasons as well? Do you have thoughts on how to counter them in order to be successful?
• While it is good to share your thoughts with others you are also opening yourself up to the opinions of others. When entrepreneur and billionaire Sara Blakely came up with the idea for her revolutionary shapewear, Spanx, she didn’t tell anyone for a year. And when she did start to share her vision she was also met with the typical, “If it’s such a great idea, why hasn’t someone else thought of it yet?” That kind of thinking can cause a true visionary to doubt themselves which is a surefire kiss of death for a potential million dollar idea.
• In order to be a true visionary you don’t need to know how you are going to make your vision happen you just have to know that you will!
Setting Your Goals to Achieve Your Vision
With your vision firmly in place it is now time to begin breaking what may seem like an immeasurable goal into small achievable steps. Putting enough thought and passion into your goals will set you on the path that will bring you closer and closer to your vision.
Don’t be overwhelmed if a goal appears to be too difficult to achieve, it just means you may need to break it down into smaller steps. Make sure that you set your goals high enough that they will propel you forward. Achieving three mediocre goals will not give you the same feeling of accomplishment.
A goal is defined as “the aim or object towards which an endeavor is directed and the terminal point of a journey or race.” The importance of setting and achieving goals was recorded in a study that began in 1953 at Yale University. While it was found that only 3% of the students who were graduating took the time to set any goals, after 20 years this group was more successful financially than the 97 percent who did not set any goals. In addition, they were in better physical health and were in successful relationships
11 Steps for Setting and Achieving Effective Goals
1. Make sure that your goals are congruent with your values.
In order to achieve your goals the must be in alignment with what you believe in order to become your reality.
2. Put your goal into writing and be specific.
Writing your goals down is the action that will confirm them and capture their essence in a tangible manner. You can write down your goals in a personal journal, on index cards that you can keep on hand whenever you need to refocus, or even via a vision board which will illustrate your goal even further through the use of pictures, positive quotes, and motivational articles. If you do not write your goals down they will remain vague and undefined and soon will disappear from your thoughts to become a distant memory.
3. Take the time to review your goals on a regular basis.
If you take the time to go over your goals every day you will have a better chance for success. Confirming your goals each morning and evening will keep the importance of your goals at the forefront and keep your actions on track. Visualization is a powerful tool when you are focusing on the goals you have in front of you. When you can visualize your goals it will be much easier to achieve them. It will also bring you closer to reaching your vision. If you can see it you can make it happen.
It is also important to recheck your goals regularly to make sure they are still working towards bringing you to your desired vision. Don’t be afraid to shift gears and eliminate goals that are no longer working. Situations and details may change, it is much more important to reevaluate a goal that is no longer relevant than to remain rigid and adhere to the “finish what you start” attitude. You can work hard or work smart.
4. Be as specific as you can when you are deciding and writing out your goals. The more details that you include the better your chances of completing them. Vague goals are “I want to earn a lot of money.” What is considered a lot of money? It is different for everyone. Decide what amount of money you will have to earn in order to feel that you have achieved your goal.
5. Make sure that you express your goals in a positive manner. When you express your desired results in a negative way you will just draw more of the same negative behavior your way. Instead, position yourself in such a way that the focus is on the positive aspects of your goals. If you see yourself as already experiencing these goals you will find yourself drawing all the elements to yourself to make them happen.
If you have had health problems, instead of deciding that you don’t want to be sick anymore you may want to provide yourself with a phrase such as “I am enjoying a high level of good health and energy. I am working from a position of strength and am getting better every day.
6. Engage all of your senses when expanding on your goals. This means define what you will see, hear and feel when you reach your goals. The more definitive your responses are the more clearly you will be able to see your goals being reached.
7. Some goals may need to be defined in measurable terms. Goals that pertain to losing weight, feeling better, or improving your relationships may need to be spelled out more clearly so that you will know when you have reached them. An end goal is one that looks to the final objective or at the end product. It is not entirely something that you can control. A performance goal however is something that you do have control over and rely on your efforts in order to be realized.
8. Make sure that your goals challenge you. You may shy away from a goal that you believe may be difficult or even impossible to reach, but a goal that is not challenging at all will never even be attempted. You may not consider it seriously enough to even take action to complete it.
~Business Game Changer Special Promotion~
9. Create goals that may seem challenging but ones that you can break down into doable action steps. You may decide to run a marathon but have yet to even walk around the block. While that goal may seem a million miles away it can be accomplished slowly but surely if you devote the right amount of focused attention on a regular basis. Many people who have lost large amounts of weight have begun an exercise program in order to become toned and lose weight consistently. It is not surprising that many of these people do sign up for their first marathon after years of being a couch potato.
10. Set up a time frame for achieving your goals. If your desire is to save a specific amount of money, lose a set number of pounds, or even signing up for that marathon, set up a time frame that will motivate you yet drive you to achieve these goals. Once you begin setting goals and achieving them you will reach a sense of accomplishment that can’t be beat.
11. Once you have achieved your first goals you may want to set goals for all areas of your life. If your weight loss goals have been achieved you may be so motivated you may want to put your skills to use in going back to school to earn your degree; you may want to finally purchase your own home; or you may want to finally find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.
This is an extract from a chapter in the book, Secrets of Success. Available from Amazon,
