Goals Tools - A Vision, A Purpose Makes It All Work Together

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The article in today's issue is written by a member of the first Jamaican Bob Sled Team ever to enter the Olympics, and almost no one took them seriously. If you have seen the movie "Cool Runnings" with John Candy you will better appreciate how much vision they really had. By the way, if you have never seen the movie, check it out. Very Inspirational. Now to our feature article On Vision, and remember this man walked his talk.

Vision Points the Way
By Devon D. Harris

Shortly after I had completed my second season of bobsledding, I found myself back in Jamaica sitting in the officer’s tent as usual talking about bobsledding. On this occasion I was talking about the progress our team had made in the short time we were involved in the sport.

One senior officer, expecting to get a good laugh at my expense, asked me to speak in more detail about the progress we had made. He wanted to hear about start times and race results and how they compared to the more established teams. I simply told him that we had made the transition from being media darlings to true competitors.

Undoubtedly, you’re thinking that that was a strange response to the question. You may remember, that back then the Jamaica Bobsled Team was not taken seriously and was seen as a media stunt and an amusing sideshow to the serious business of Olympic bobsledding. Thankfully, none of us on the team ever saw ourselves in that light.

How do you see yourself?

The vision we had of ourselves and the one that mattered most was decidedly different from what others had of us.

We saw ourselves as equals---athletes with the talent and the ability to become world-class bobsledders. We had a vision of ourselves marching in that opening ceremony and having an opportunity to give of our best against the best.

Today the Jamaican Bobsled Team is almost a household name all over the world and generally recognized within the sport as a veritable threat. That reality exists today primarily because of the vision we held in our minds all those years ago.

Our team, like all the other athletes you see competing in the Olympics and every single person who have succeeded in life in areas outside of sports, didn’t allow anyone or anything to determine the limits of our success. The way you see yourself today will significantly impact your life tomorrow.

What is the vision you have for your life? In five, ten or even twenty years from now, what are some of the things you would like to have accomplished? What milestones would you like to reach? These are key questions for you to answer because you can never get to your destination unless you know what it is.

If you are someone who is unsure of what you want to do with your life it may be helpful to complete the following sentence: “All my life I’ve always wanted to…” It will not necessarily clearly define your vision but it will help to point you in the right direction.

Vision is a preferred future state and truthfully answering this question will help you to start creating a mental template for what that future will look like. Lets say your response is “All my life I’ve always wanted to work with children” You then have to determine the capacity you see yourself working with children?

It could be as a teacher, a pediatrician, or a day care provider among other things. Whatever it is, the means of turning that vision into reality will not always be readily obvious but through persistence, it is ultimately achievable.

Since I became aware of the Olympics in High School I have had a vision of being an Olympian but it required years of “searching” before I ended up as an Olympic bobsledder.

Practice the art of listening

It is through your vision that you determine your dreams and ultimately set your goals. How do you know what your dreams are? You know through the art of listening. Not listening to others but rather listening to yourself.

Listening to others will result in you embracing the goals and dreams that they would impose on you. You will be accepting the limitation that they have imposed on you. Don’t confuse this with accepting advice from others. I am talking about two entirely different things.

If you embrace the vision of others as your own you could never be fulfilled and you’ll end up like a dog that’s always chasing its tail. The tail is always in sight but out of reach.

Take ownership of your vision

We will always have people in our lives, family and friends who think they know what we can or cannot do and see it as their duty to tell us. In most cases I believe it is done with the best of intentions but in the end it hurts us because that is not something that we truly desire.

The question of vision for your life is one that you and you alone must answer.

In the example above, lets assume that your heart is really calling you to be a teacher but a friend or family member convinces you to become a pediatrician. You may end up being a good pediatrician but although you are working with children you probably would never be as good a pediatrician as you would have been a teacher because you simply wouldn’t be as fulfilled

Action steps

1. Complete the question “All my life, I’ve always wanted to...”

2. Do some soul searching to determine the specific path you want to take to fulfill that vision. I.e. becoming a teacher vs. becoming a pediatrician

3. Start identifying specific steps that will take you along that path.

Examples

i. Short term: Identify the college you want to attend. Apply for financial aid, etc

ii. Medium term: Complete a 4 year degree and start working in the field

iii. Complete a Master’s program; open your own school etc

4. Identifying the people who can help you through critical phases of each step

5. Start now.

Copyright (C) 2005 Devon Harris
All rights reserved worldwide
http://www.devonharrislive.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Devon_D._Harris

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• Must-have movie: Cool Runnings (1993)
• Martin Corry: Defeat was never an option

Money: Scarcity or Abundance Attitudes?

Well, we have been talking a little bit about Money lately and so I wanted to share a brilliant post by Steve Pavlina the other day . . .

I don't know how I missed this post, I follow his blog regularly in my RSS reader, but I did come across it today and I had a huge 'AHA!' moment . . .

Many of us simply do not regard our money as "the value of services we provided" and do not visualize money goals properly. We do tend to let our current environment tell us how much money we deserve, and therein lies the problem.

Our "belief systems" have been allowed to grow from what others tell us, and not what we have consciously decided or reset in our minds, about how much is 'a little' and how much is 'a lot'.

If we have never had much money and do not earn large incomes, there are certain amounts that scare us, typically amounts of money that are above our "pay grade". Steve outlines a solution for increasing proper money awareness.

Check this post out here: Money And The law Of Attraction

Here is a little teaser from StevePavlina.com but you really have to read the whole article in order to grasp the concept.

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Is $500 a large or small amount? It depends on your perspective.

If you’re in a scarcity mindset, it might seem like a huge sum. If you have a wealthy mindset, it may be a tiny amount. That may be hard to believe, but it’s true.

I used to think $500 was a lot of money. It certainly seemed so when I would end a month with less than $100 total. If I gained or lost an extra $500, it could make a difference in my finances for months to come. An extra $500 was a significant amount of money.

But after shifting my mindset about money to invite more abundance into my life, $500 began to seem like a tiny amount. $500 represents the cash I might carry in my wallet. If I gain or lose $500, it makes no real difference in my finances. $500 is a fairly insignificant amount.

Once I got my mindset to this point (which I did mostly by imagining what it would feel like to be there in reality), it wasn’t long before my reality began to reflect it. I became a “vibrational match” for earning larger sums.

At one point having more than $100,000 in the bank would have seemed rich or wealthy. But now it just feels normal… like duh, I’m supposed to have that much cash all the time.

Some examples of financial relativity

Here are some examples to help shed more light on the concept of financial relativity.

A realtor thinks having $50,000 cash is normal

Shortly after Erin and I first moved to Las Vegas in 2004, we were chatting with a local realtor who said she liked to keep at least $50,000 cash on hand at all times (not for investment, just for her personal money).

Erin and I gave each other a quizzical look. We thought she must be very snooty or elitist to feel that way. Why would anyone need that much cash?

Eventually we realized that our reaction to her statement was precisely why we could never save up $50,000 in cash. We were pushing it away from us by assuming it was too much money to hold onto. Having $5,000 cash was . . . Read the rest of Steve's article: Money And The law Of Attraction

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Pursue Success With Passion and Purpose

Guest Author Dennis Kelley - A while back I had lunch with a friend and we were discussing how unhappy he was at his job.

He doesn't like his boss and believes the company is mismanaged and the work does not stir his passions any more. He has been in the same industry for many years and worked his way up to a good mid-level management position.

He makes good money and they live a comfortable life. He has done a good job saving money for his family's future as well. When he started in this industry it was a good job and provided well for him and his family as they started out.

But, now he feels unfulfilled and realizes this is not what he really wants to do with the rest of his career.

Does any of this sound familiar?

I asked him what he really wanted to do ... what his passion is and if he had no restraints he would pursue with a smile on his face and a kick in his step.

He immediately knew what that was. As soon as he started talking about it his face lit up, his voice became clear and he became animated describing it.

So, I asked him what was holding him back from pursuing that path.

He started talking about all the reasons he could not do it: he wouldn't make as much money to start as he does now, he would have to relocate; it would require him to take some college courses to get ready and that would take time and the list went on.

While he was talking he started to realize what he was doing. How he was letting his fears hold him back. What he was doing was making excuses to himself and, letting himself off the hook from following his dream.

He knew exactly what he wanted and he knew that his wife and family would support him all the way. Yet, he still was not taking action to move him closer to what he wanted.

We talked about what it would take to get started. You see, it's not necessary that he achieve the entire goal immediately. What is important is that he knows what he wants, sets out specific goals to get him there and a timeline to make it a reality.

Then it is about taking the first step. Just knowing that he was working toward the goal would have made such a big difference to his mental state and allowed him to have focus and hope.

Deciding what you truly want from life and then not pursing it because of your fears, is a sure way to become frustrated and to keep you from getting all you want from your life.

My friend has been going through the motions in his career for the past several years because he feels he needs to - not because he wants to.

That is changing now. He has made a commitment to start taking the classes he needs and developing the rest of his plan for his definition of success.

It is time for you to do the same thing. If the definition of success you wrote out really does stir your passions and speak to your heart, then you need to ask yourself, "What is holding me back and why?"

Realizing what is holding you back is a major step you need to take in your journey. You can't begin a journey to get what you really want if you let your fears get in the way.

Take the time right now to analyze your success definition and decide what is getting in your way. Talk to someone you trust about your dream and work out what it will take for you to get it.

This will allow you to begin to identify your goals and build the plan to finally get what your heart desires. Don't let anything get in the way!

by Dennis A. Kelley,

Author The D. Kelley Group - http://www.AchievingUnlimitedSuccess.com

dennis@AchievingUnlimitedSuccess.com

How To Get Rich By Setting Career Goals Effectively

How to Set Career Goals Effectively

Guest Author Edmund Tai - In this article I am going to specifically guide you on setting goal to earn extra income by establishing your own career whether it's home based, freelance, online or offline.

My purpose of enlightening you on how to set your career goals effectively here is to make it as simple as possible. There are 12 easy to do steps:

1. Determining how much extra money you wish to make.(a specific financial goal)

2. Setting a time frame or deadline to achieve that financial goal you have set above.

3. Identify a clear purpose of WHY you wish to achieve that financial goal. This is crucial as it will give you a constant motivation and direction to keep you focusing on your financial goal throughout the process.

4. Set aside a specific time daily dedicated for this project. Block it on your calendar and do not allow other matters to interfere you for the time you have set apart.

5. Start by identifying an area where you have passion, strong interest, or area that you have skills, technical knowledge or experience. This is important as it will ensure the end result of your project much more effective and efficient.

6. Tape into a pool of resources where you can take your time to search for your desired information and required business tools. You can join and search for the relevant resources on the internet.

7. Ensure that your selected idea fulfills the following criteria:

• Low start up capital and low operating costs (as low as possible)

• Able to use channel that reaches out to widest possible target market or global market. (example: Internet)

• Inflation resistant- select needs/products/services that are not very much affected by inflation.

• Able to run it with time flexibility.

• No employee needed.

• Low competition products/services, try to modify it so that it's different from others

8. Once you have found your idea, do a thorough research about it. Gather relevant information through the available resources on the web. Remember a successful person takes up 70-80% of the time planning and 20-30% of the time executing the project. Work Smarter not just harder.

9. Once you have gathered sufficient information, take some time studying it. Do not copy other people ideas blindly. Make sure you modify it with your own creativity and plan your own promotional strategy. This will ensure your business stands out in the crowd. For more ideas on promotional strategy, search in my website, www.elibrarybank.com under software/tools category.

10. Before you start to set up your business, get some advice or opinion from people that you know about your ideas. If possible, try also to get some technical advice or professional assistant from your social contact who have expertise in those fields.

11. Calculate how much start up cost you need and make sure that's within your budget. In my website collections, we have hundred of ideas that require very minimal start up cost.

12. After going through all the steps above, you are now ready to start and running your own part-time business. Make sure you join the right resource directory and stay connected with them for updates on money making ideas, tools and resources that will help you to achieve your success. It will save you lots of time in step 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11. You can visit my website or contact me if you want to learn more about how to set career goals effectively.

by Edmund Tai - Free resources download

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edmund_Tai

Do You Have Goal Setting Worksheets For Your Goal Setting Program?

How Can Goal Setting Worksheets Help You?

Goal setting can be done in many ways. For example, you could simply think about it, make big plans or even use goal setting worksheets. Success is determined by a system that can streamline the process. Join me as you discover how goal setting worksheets can help you.

In any goal, there is always a way for its achievement. We can look at the success as a spectrum. On the one end, failure, and on the other, success. To achieve success then needs to do things different. After all, we see many people who have a goal, even if they haven't consciously thought about it. For example, those who want a Yacht, and want to retire to a sunny beech, but in most cases never do.

I truly believe that every goal you desire for the fulfillment of, you can achieve. However, tools are needed. You can't put on a new tire on a car, without effective tools, not can you succeed without the effective tools.

In goal setting, this is the goal setting worksheets. You see, from that spectrum of success, we can see less we do, less we get, and the more we do, the more we get. This applies in most cases but not all cases.

You could plan to make a cup of coffee, and make it into a 100 page business plan of how you will make the coffee. What we need is a simple way to do things. A goal setting system with goal setting worksheets that make this possible.

There are many places that offer goal setting worksheets, and some even offer comprehensive goal setting systems. These can be a great way to keep things simple, without having to fall short on the necessities of goal setting.

You can think about a cup of coffee and make it without plans; however, you can't just leave your life goals to such chances. They must at the very least be written down on paper. Even if you don't have a goal setting system, simply writing it down, will improve the likelihood that you will achieve that goal.

If we look at that success spectrum again, we will find that there are things we can do to either make it more likely to manifest in our lives, and decrease the time to achievement. Achieving both of these is a science and an art in goal setting.

It needs smart goal setting. And smart is all about finding solutions that makes life easier, cut down the time to achievement, and increase likelihood of success. This takes time, and even with a full on system, you may find that you can tweak the goal setting systems to meet your needs.

Goal setting worksheets are great for many reasons. Once you use them over time, you will find them become second nature. And then your goal setting will take on a new meaning. With you setting goals and achieving them on almost a daily basis.

By Koz Huseyin

Find out more about smart goal setting and the goal setting worksheets I use, and get your free eBook worth $7, where I give you the 10 best goal setting ideas. Get your copy by visiting: http://www.howtogoalset.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Koz_Huseyin

Practice Positive Self Talk - Believe In Yourself!

Self Improvement - What Are You Telling Yourself?

Guest Author Krystal Kuehn - Did you ever listen in on your self-talk? Most self-talk messages are an evaluation of some kind. We evaluate our work, feelings, experiences and our lives. We determine what is good or bad; and what is acceptable or to be rejected.

Many people evaluate themselves negatively. They might call themselves "stupid," "lazy" or some other unbecoming label. Maybe that is how you talk to yourself as well. You might not think anything of it at the time or even realize that it is actually damaging to your self-esteem.

From the time we are born we are evaluated, judged and labeled. We receive both positive and negative feedback about our performance, traits, and habits. We are told what we did right and what we did wrong.

We constantly receive messages of approval and disapproval. All of this shapes our identity and determines what we believe about ourselves. Eventually, we repeat to ourselves the messages that we've heard and now believe.

Both positive and negative messages have a tremendous influence on a person's self-esteem as well as their attitude. Think of a time when you were encouraged and strengthened to believe in yourself as a result of someone's positive feedback and faith in you.

Conversely, imagine a time when you lost your confidence and felt like giving up because you believed a negative message of criticism and defeat.

No one likes to be negatively evaluated, judged or put down. Yet, it is all too common to focus on what is wrong with ourselves and others instead of what is right; and, to overlook strengths and worth.

As a result, many end up feeling that they fall short. And, they spend their lives trying to live up to certain standards in order to feel good about who they are and what they are capable of.

Everyone needs to feel intrinsic value and worth. Everyone has strengths, assets, potential, intrinsic beauty and worth. If we look for these things and all that is good in ourselves and others we will find them.

We can make a conscious choice to set aside our negative evaluations, judgments and criticism. We can compliment instead of criticize, defend instead of blame, build up instead of tear down, and accept and love instead of judge or reject.

Much of whether or not we will do these things depends on the kinds of messages we listen to and believe.

We don't have to replay those old messages that leave us with negative labels and discouraging self-talk. The only way to stop listening to them is to begin listening to messages of encouragement and hope.

We want to hear the truth in love. Messages of simple acceptance of who you are, messages that help you see yourself as valuable, special, and worthy, and messages that build you up to believe in yourself can become louder and louder as we begin to speak them to ourselves and others.

by Krystal Kuehn

Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC is a licensed professional counselor, author, teacher, and musician. She specializes in helping people live their best life now, reach their full potential, overcome barriers, heal from their past, and develop a lifestyle of health, happiness, and love.

Krystal is the cofounder of New Day Counseling, a marriage and family counseling center and BeHappy4Life.com, an award-winning self-improvement and personal growth site where you can find hundreds of free resources, online workshops, video presentations, insights, and inspiration.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Krystal_Kuehn

How Do You Organize Your Day Around Your Goals?

Goal Setting, to Do Lists and Day Planners Considered

Guest Author - Lance Winslow - Ask any organized person if they have a system to help keep them on the track to success and they will probably laugh at you, but then explain how they keep their schedule going using a day planner, PDA or perhaps a To Do List.

Some folks do all this and more, and they are the most successful people amongst us. Why, because they know how to set goals and what they must do to achieve those goals.

They have an advantage over other folks because they write it all down and keep track of it all. The bigger picture, their life's goals and all the little micro-goals that are necessary along the way.

They treat all goals as if they are the main goal and fight to stay up with their assigned tasks that will lead them to these goals. Perhaps, when you see someone with a PDA, To Do List or a day planner in tow, you will realize that you are looking at a successful person.

No, not all of them are totally successful, but they are all on their way, because keeping tabs on the mini-goals of each day is how you keep up the pace to achieve the bigger goals, the ones, which really matter and ultimately decide your success in life, career or sports.

You can either set yourself up for failure by doing nothing or taking it easy without incrementally moving forward each day, or you can strategically plan your successful journey using all the tools at your disposal. Please think on this.

Copyright Lance Winslow

"Lance Winslow" - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Are Your Year's Goals Achieved? It's Getting Late In The Season

Have you ever noticed that with the beginning of each season there seems to be a push for people to make improvements in their lives? Just before the end of the year and then when the New Year arrives most people talk about making new years resolutions.

When spring comes people talk about wanting to shed a few pounds to fit into summer apparel. In the fall people discuss that they are going to plan for holiday time better and at the holiday’s people make promises to make more of an effort to stay in touch with family members and friends.

Usually within a few weeks of making a statement about changing our ways we are back to our old routine.

Here are a few tips that you can take to help achieve your goals this year:

Write down the goal that you want to work on. By writing the goal down you are making more of a commitment to work on this area of your life. Write down your goals every morning until they become part of your day.

If you seriously want to achieve your goals, then discuss them with the important people in your life. By sharing what you want to accomplish with others they can help keep you accountable by asking you what you are doing to achieve your goals. Give your friends and family permission to remind you what you have said you want to accomplish.

When you are working towards something it is often times easy to forget or overlook small steps that are made to achieve your goals. By keeping a journal of the steps that are taken to achieve your goals you can look back and see that you have been working on things, or you can look back and realize that you have not been making effort and that you need to put more time into what you want to accomplish.

The goals we set for ourselves are meant to better our lives and to increase our happiness. The journey towards goal achievement does not have to be paved with self denial and pain.

Make an effort to enjoy the steps made along the way. Bask in the glory of making small improvements. Things are not going to change over night. If a goal is worth writing down and talking about it is most likely going to take a while to achieve it.

So often people let their goals fall by the wayside because they feel defeated if they do not accomplish them immediately. When you are writing down the goals that you are working on also write down a reasonable time frame in which to complete them.

Do not make the time so long that you will procrastinate and do not make it so short that you are setting yourself up for failure. Be realistic and take time to enjoy the journey to achieve your goals.

Remember it's more important to happily achieve your goals then to achieve your goals to be happy . . .

Vocabulary Words To Live By for Healthy Relationships

Read a great piece today about Words To Live By. Somewhere in my past I found it, wrote it out, and then promptly misplaced it. It isn't mine, but anonymous. Anyway, here it is. I thought it has merit and maybe you will enjoy it too.

Words To Live By

It’s not always easy being in a relationship. Friends and lovers aren’t always going to agree with everything you say or think, but that’s a good thing. Hearing someone else’s point of view is the best way to educate your self and to remind yourself that you aren’t always right.

Besides, loneliness is much worse than compromise. For long, healthy relationships, these are 10 words to live by:

1. Trust:

If you can’t trust someone, do you really want them to be in your life? Make sure you earn their trust by being open, honest and a good listener and friend.

2. Honesty:

If you are always honest, then you prove you can be trusted. Honesty might be tough sometimes, and though the truth can hurt, knowing it can only make you better and stronger as a person, and a friend.

3. Time:

As in, take the time to listen to your friends. Spend time with those you love, and take time out of your busy day to remind them just how much they mean to you.

4. Forgiveness:

Forgiveness has a double benefit: You feel stronger for being the better person, and those who have wronged you feel better knowing that you have been able to forgive their sins. It’s a time tested trait that everyone needs to learn.

5. Compromise:

No one always gets their own way. The ones that do probably don’t actually have any true friends, just hangers-on. A trait of true friendship is understanding that you aren’t always going to get your way, though sometimes you will. Give a little, get a lot.

6. Agree:

As in, agree to disagree. Why keep fighting over something that will never be resolved? Get over it, forgive and move in with the knowledge that even through troubled times, you can still make your friendship work.

7. Communication:

Communication is essential for understanding what is going on inside someone’s mind. No one knows what you are thinking until you let tell them. Keep the lines of communication open at all times, and you’ll be stronger for it.

8. Listen:

Being a good listener is being able to listen without judging. If a friend needs to get something off their chest, just be there for them, and let them do the talking. When you need the same, they’ll be there for you.

9. Love:

Learn to love without prejudice and without guilt. True love sees no borders and knows no boundaries. By the way, Love is a verb, you do it so you can feel it.

10. Learn:

Learn from your mistakes in your past. Learn how to love. Learn what makes your friends happy, and learn what it means to truly be a good friend.

There is no greater feeling than being loved and respected by those who surround you. And being a true friend is the gift that keeps on giving.

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Thanks for listening . . .

Al