To start off the new year, I wanted to do something different than just wishing you a happy new year, and actually HELP you have a really happy new year!
Have you made any resolutions for 2011?
I haven’t.
Instead, about 9 months ago, I made my resolutions for each year, for the next five years, set goals for each one, and then an end goal for 10 years from now.
Seem like a bit much?
It’s not really. To me, it was about putting resolutions/goals (whatever you call them) into a bigger context and with a larger purpose. Setting your goals for years from now helps you see the big picture and helps keep your “eye on the ball”.
Is your goal really to lose 15lbs? Or is it to live a healthier life and enjoy your life more?
Is your goal really to save $10,000 this year, or is it to be more financially secure, and on the path to financial freedom?
See how context comes into play?
Well here are two bodies of knowledge that helped me come along with my goal setting:
1. This one was HUGE. I remember 1st year in university – I believe the course was ADM 1300, and the professor was Peter Koppel. He had us write down our goals for the next semester, then the next year, the next five years, ten years, and then twenty five years! Now naturally – we didn’t really know what we wanted, and couldn’t even imagine ourselves that far from now. It got better…. He asked us to write down the activities that we need to do in order to achieve those goals. The room went quiet for about 3-4 minutes, and everyone began writing down what they thought had to be done, and what kinds of actions and activities they would have to be doing to achieve their goals. Then he said “ Now look down at those activities that YOU said YOU would have to do to achieve YOUR goals that YOU defined, and ask yourself this question “Are you doing those activities?”, and more importantly “WHY NOT?”. Talk about looking at yourself in the mirror! I really didn’t have any reasons. Maybe a few excuses, but nothing that should keep me back. I felt like an idiot! Like someone had just called my bluff, and I was sitting there with nothing to show. At that moment I realized that NO ONE was going to not only tell me what I was going to do with my life, but no one was going to do it for me.
2. This was a great one as well. I picked up “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill on audio CD for my car. This book has about a dozen chapters, but the first 3 really stuck with me. The first one was about desire. It was about knowing what you wanted, and having a white-hot burning desire for it. You would write down exactly what you wanted and define a time period in which you were going to get it, and then what you were willing to trade in return (example – 80 hours a week, money, sacrificing relationships with others, bad habits, good habits, WHATEVER you felt you could reasonably give up in order to get what was important to you). The second chapter was on faith. Not faith in god, or heaven and hell, nothing like that – instead faith in yourself and an acknowledgement that you could in fact achieve the object of your definite purpose. This FACT was reinforced with plenty of cause and effect logic, and even many real life examples. The third chapter was about affirmations – or “telling yourself you can”. I LOVE this chapter for so many reasons. Mainly because I am a huge believer that you can do anything you tell yourself you can do, but it all depends on what you tell yourself that you can do! Get it? People have certain attitudes and beliefs that limit themselves and direct their lives in certain directions, and their end results is often directly attributes ONLY to these two factors, and not the situations themselves that these people find themselves in. For example – how is it that some people in the world can rise out of poverty, filth, hunger, and handicapped beginnings, to make something tremendous of themselves and end up giving back to the world and communities they came from? But yet – you (or someone you know) can sit there and tell themselves “I have no chance with (insert generic obstacle that people put in front of themselves)”. People in this world are dirt poor, are in bad health and in many cases DYING – yet can still uplift themselves and people around them – but you (or your friend) can not? Take John and Jim – two identical twins, but John tells himself “I’m a loser, I can’t get anything right, and I’m destined to fail” and Jim tells himself “ I’m a winner, things always work out for me, and I’m destined to succeed!” Now take these two twins, and start them off through life the same, and put them through the same set of circumstances through life. Would you agree that John would only see the negative in everything, always assume the worst, and possibly may never even SEE the opportunities around him, and not make the most of those that he does find? How about Jim? Do you think he would only see the best in every situation, spot the best opportunities and make the most of them? Do you think he would even think of failing? Try this: for the next 10 seconds, look around you and spot as many brown things as you can, and then come back to read the next sentence. I’ll mark your spot, GO! __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Great! Now how many brown things did you see? A dozen?
Now answer this: How many red things did you see?
You might answer none!
Now look around and spot as many red things as you can. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They were there the whole time, and yet you didn’t see them!
Why is that?
Well – simply because you weren’t looking for them!
The point is that there are all kinds of different things around you at once – including opportunities and pitfalls, your own strenghts and weaknesses. Which ones are you seeing?
Chapter 3 of this book helps you reinforce who you are, and what it is you are striving to achieve, and puts in place some positive affirmations to correct your mindset and put you in a position to find the BEST in life, and those opportunities that you need to make the most of, and it helps you understand that you can in fact make the most of them.
You need to realize that you CAN achieve the object of your definite purpose, and therefore you should demand of yourself persistent, aggressive and continuous action towards its attainment. And that is what the third chapter helps you do.
So what are you going to do about it?
I would start with the 1st exercise I talked about. It’s really an eye opener.
I would then go to amazon.ca and order the audio CD as well – no joke.
Here it is:
http://www.amazon.ca/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill/dp/1596591587/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293909397&sr=8-1
Now what about your thoughts?
Do you have a certain kind of goal-setting methodology that works best for you?
Any interesting or innovative ideas?
Any that are tried, tested and true?
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