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Issue # 26 | To Your Success | March 2006 |
"The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams." ----- Og Mandino CHOOSING 'SMART' GOALS Are you consistently successful when it comes to achieving your goals? We're not talking 100% success here but rather a strong passing grade. If yes then you are following, either consciously or unconsciously, a formula that works. If no, then you may be interested in learning such a formula. There are typically several reasons why people don't achieve their goals.
1. They're doing it for someone else's reasons, not their own. They just don't want it badly enough. Any one of the above can cause very serious challenges when it comes to goal achievement but if you combine several, well … good luck! I know, because at various times over the years I've been guilty of all of these. In fact, since founding Growing Into Success Training almost 4 years ago, I've missed achieving several of my business goals because of just one of these … reason number 5. In hindsight I set some of my earlier goals unrealistically high due to a lack of knowledge regarding who my market really was and how best to market my 'product' in an appealing and motivating way. I believed that a great many people would naturally be interested enough in growing both personally and professionally to invest in themselves, just as I had been doing for years. I mean, wouldn't everyone want to do that? I was wrong. What I've since learned is that most people will quite readily spend significant amounts of money on things that either make them look good or bring short-term pleasure, but not necessarily on what will truly benefit them for the long-term. Does this mean that there wasn't a market for my 'product'? No. I've successfully presented many, many programs over these past few years that have benefited people greatly (always my overriding goal). It's just that the demand for my product lay in a different area than I originally perceived. Make sense? This new knowledge enables me to be much more effective in my marketing efforts ... to focus most of my attention where the interest and demand is (corporate versus open to the public). My point is that in my situation just one of the five reasons was enough to cause me challenges in terms of achieving my goals. Let's look more closely now at these 5 goal busters. 1. You're doing it for someone else's reasons. - If your goal isn't really your goal (you've set it because you've been told to or think you should) there's a very good chance that when the going gets tough you'll quit. You just won't be motivated enough to keep doing what needs to be done to make it happen. You can prevent this by honestly answering the following questions. 2. It's inconsistent with your values, vision and who you aspire to be. - If your goal is inconsistent with who you aspire to be, your values or your vision, you will have set yourself up for inner conflict. Not only will you likely run out of motivation, you may also find yourself in the position of having to compromise your integrity in order to continue on and achieve your goal ... definitely not a good thing. If you have clearly established who you are aspiring to be as a person, what values you choose to live by, and how you want your life to ultimately, ideally be (refer back to Issues 24 & 25 on the website if necessary), then all you need do is hold up this goal to the light of these and ask yourself if it is in harmony with them or not. In other words, is it consistent with your values? Is it consistent with you becoming who you aspire to be? Will it move you closer in some way to realizing your life vision? In most cases it will be a relatively simple yes or no answer. 3. You don't write out and regularly review your goal. - If you don't write out your goal and review it at least daily your subconscious mind just won't take it nearly as seriously. Writing it out (in present tense form as though you've already achieved it using words that engage all 5 senses) makes it more real, more tangible. Reviewing it daily keeps it front and centre in your mind … keeps your thoughts on it and stimulates emotion. This of course positively engages the powerful Law of Attraction. 4. No step-by-step process. - You need a simple step-by-step process to take you from where you are to where you want to be. Without one you may be clear on what you want to accomplish but struggle with when to do what in order to bring it about. (We'll deal with this subject in more detail next month.) 5. Unrealistic goals. - If your goals are unrealistic it's likely that you'll soon fall behind, become discouraged, and give up. You don't want this to happen. You want to set yourself up to succeed, not fail. Both succeeding and failing can become habitual … which habit would you choose to develop? In order to set 'smart' goals with a high probability of successful achievement you must eliminate these 5 goal busters. Take time at the beginning of your goal setting process to deal with each of these and watch what happens to your results. I hope these tips are helpful for you. Try them on and see how they fit. This year's first few issues of 'To Your Success' are dealing with subjects covered in much more depth in The ThoughtShop, our core life success and achievement program. Although my focus has now shifted more to corporate training I still do intend to offer this course to the public on occasion … so if you're one of those willing to invest in you and live to your full potential just keep an eye on these newsletters to learn when and where it will be available. You can also express your serious interest by sending me an email. When there are enough participants to make a class we'll set the most commonly convenient dates and away we go. "Decide exactly what you want in every area of your life; you can't hit a target you can't see." ----- Brian Tracy Are you a 'working from home' business owner … or looking to become one? Are you seriously committed to the success of your full or part-time business but not sure of exactly how to achieve it? Lay down a solid foundation for your business success with this 'do at home' E-Course workshop titled, "I'm in Business for Myself … What Do I Do Now?" , available now on our website for under $30. Download it in seconds and do the work in the comfort of your home office in your own time at your own pace. "Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals." ----- Jim Rohn To Your Success, Reg Neufeld and the Growing Into Success Training Team Growing Into Success Training www.growingintosuccesstraining.com SHARE WITH FRIENDS!... If you’re enjoying this free newsletter, why not pass it along by simply forwarding this issue to someone who might appreciate it? Should they wish to receive it regularly they can be automatically added to our subscription list by simply emailing newsletter@growingintosuccess.com with their name and ‘subscribe’ in the subject box. WE VALUE YOUR FEEDBACK! … Our intent for this FREE newsletter is that it be brief, informal and include articles, tips or suggestions to help you achieve the life success you desire … and for each one to be of real value to you. Also included are dates, times and locations of some of our upcoming programs. (Complete Calendar of Public Venue Events on our website.) If you have any comments, questions or suggestions we would love to hear from you. Simply click Reply on your toolbar, jot down your thoughts, and hit send … or email reg@growingintosuccess.com. 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