Do You Know Where You're Going? How to Live an Intentional Life

Cover via Amazo

Does this quote sound like you?  Do you know where you are going?  Do you feel like you are always busy but never get anything done?  I've been there.  Living an intentional goal oriented life is a relatively new experience for me.  Being a super achiever who accomplishes a lot is not.  Did you know there is a difference?  I've always been organized.   I've always had a lot of to-do-lists.  I've always worked hard. Since I was quite productive and was checking things off my to-do-list, I felt confident I was moving forward.  Accomplishments however, in and of themselves are not always the desired end result.  Although I seemed to be making progress, I was drowning in the small details of my list.  It is possible to be highly organized, energetic and productive but all in the wrong direction, much like someone who lives in New York and travels to California by way of Florida.  You can check off a lot landmarks along the way but you may never arrive at your destination.

The Key to Living Intentionally

What makes the difference? Priorities and Focus.  In the past, I created a long never-ending list of stuff to accomplish.  About three years ago, I realized the importance of setting goals first and then tackling the list.  It's not that I get any more done.  It's that the things I get done are the things that move me along the path of accomplishing the goal.  Just having a goal creates focus and helps in setting priorites.  I've also found that in each major area of my life, it helps if  I determine a theme for the year.  My career theme two years ago was developing my speaking ability and creating opportunities to lead seminars and workshops. I spoke at the Georgia School Counselor Conference.  I taught lots of parenting workshops at schools. Along with collegues Kathy Brunner and Kim Wiggins, I started the Called Woman Conference.

This year my theme is writing so I've become more intentional about developing good writing skills.  I participated in the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project last summer and joined a critique group.  Several of the conferences that I'm planning to attend this year are on developing writing skills.  I'm not only blogging but submitting my work to other publications. 

Write It Down, Make It Happen

I just finished reading a terrific book that has helped me focus on living an intentional life. I first heard about the book Write It Down Make It Happen by Henriette Anne Klauser on a Michael Hyatt blog and podcast. In the book, Klauser identifies several really creative ways to focus on goals. As the title suggests, she maintains that just writing a goal down can create such focus that it is almost magical! Here are a few of the unique suggestions that you may not have thought of:

• Write a letter to someone.  In the book, Klauser identifies a friend whose goal was to find her soul mate.  She began by writing a letter to him everyday.  Sometimes she imagined the things they would do together, the common interests they would have. Sometimes she wrote about her feelings of disappointment and frustration that they had yet to meet.  The end result?  She met and married her soul mate!  It doesn't have to be a love letter of course.  You could write letters to a prodigal child,  the future boss of your ideal job or even God.

• Challenge the fears that keep you from accomplishing your goals. Find a picture in a magazine of an angry, finger-pointing individual. Glue it to your journal page.  Beside the picture list all the negative things that you say to yourself that keep you stuck.  Now find another picture of someone who is joyful, jubilant, thrilled to be alive.  Glue it to your next journal page.  Now counter  each of the prior negative statements with something positive.  Instead of "I'm a loser!"  write "I'm a WINNER!" Writing your fears releases you from the bonds of them.  Writing the opposites creates positive focus in your mind.

• Create a Ritual.  Ritual is a powerful process that often propels us forward past fears and resistance.  It can open us to possibilities.  It can nourish a seed that will grow and flourish. Klauser recounts a Native American ritual where participants identify the things they want to bring in to their lives and things they want to take out. Arrows are created to represent both and the desired change is written on the arrow.  Arrows that represent the things to eliminate are buried or burned.  Arrows that represent the things to be brought into lives are taken to the top of a mountain and left standing in a prominent place.  The ritual doesn't have to be followed to the letter of course.  Different objects could be used instead of arrows (pencils instead of arrows were suggested in the book), and the ritual can be adjusted as fits the individual and the environment.  The important aspect is identifying what to send out of one's life and what to bring in.  

These three suggestions are just a sample of the many that Klauser relates in her book. It isn't just full of activities though.  It also has story after story of people who transformed their lives from ordinary to extraordinary through intentional goal setting living.  I was inspired and know you will be too if you read it!

What about you?  Are you living life on purpose?  Do you need some help?  Sign up for the Called Woman email list and get regular updates on resources to transform your life from unfocused to intentional.  When you sign up, you'll receive the free Called Woman Manifesto to get you started!  

Like this blog post?  Share it with your friends on facebook and twitter!

Related articles

• Ready. Begin.
• Define Your Mission; Goal Setting for Your Sales Pitch
• Destination: Simple (and why you NEED to read it!)
• Uppercase INTENTION
• 
  

Overcoming the Negative Voice Within

As a guidance counselor in an elementary school, I teach a lot of classes on feelings. In one memorable lesson, the book I was reading had the line in it, “Are you feeling bold?” I’ve learned never to assume that children know what I am talking about, so I stopped and asked the kindergarten class if they knew what bold meant. Being five- and six-year olds, they of course did. The child I called on confidently replied “You know it’s when you have no hair.”

One problem that I often face myself is NOT feeling so bold. Does this happen to you? There are a lot of days when I look at my goals and my accomplishments and not only do I not feel bold or confident, I feel downright incompetent and incapable of doing much more than showing up for life. And sometimes even that is a struggle.  These are the days when I ask myself, “Who do you think you are to aspire to such big goals, such impossible accomplishments? What makes you think that you are knowledgeable enough, smart enough, or capable enough to accomplish that? Who or what made you an expert in that area?” And here’s the clincher, “Everyone else is better at that than you. How will you ever achieve that?”

The Negative Voice

There are lots of ways to tackle this negative voice in our brains.  I'm convinced that we all experience it, some are just better at talking back than others.  Learning to overcome the voice with a more positive one is a learned skill.  Many writers have spoken about this negative voice in our brains that loves to tear down our self-confidence. It is that voice that carefully records all our failures but seems to conveniently forget our successes.  It is that nagging voice that raises doubt and says “What if?” every time we venture out into new territory. It is the voice that wears us down rather than builds us up.  Being prepared for this voice is a necessary and important part of following our dreams and accomplishing our goals.  

Overcoming the Negative Voice

The first step in overcoming it is to recognize the voice for what it is, a voice-- not a statement of facts.  When we give the voice too much credence, then we can be easily paralyzed by it.  The second step to overcoming the negative voice is to develop an alternative, positive voice.  This is the step that is often sadly neglected.  Just as the negative voice tracks our deficits, the positive voice must regularly track our accomplishments and achievements.  We need to nurture and nourish this important part of our psyche, so that it can fend off attacks by its opposite and keep us on track with our dreams.  

Six Steps to Slaying the Dragon Within

In his book, Do The Work, author Steven Pressfield calls this negative force within all of us, "resistance".  He begins the book by saying, "On the field of Self stand a knight and a dragon.  You are the knight.  Resistance is the dragon."  Quite an image don't you think?  How do you battle the dragon?  Here's six ways he recommends engaging in this life-changing fight. 

1. Stay stupid---Don't allow yourself to think about the impossibility, the difficulty of the task ahead
2. Be stubborn--Commit yourself to action and then don't stop
3. Keep the faith--Don't give up on the belief that you have something valuable within to create and share
4. Discover your passion--Conquer your fear and you will discover a boundless inexhaustible well of passion 
5. Enlist assistance--No one goes it alone with success.  Develop a support network and maintain it
6. Nurture your Friends and Family--take care of those you love and those who love you the most

We All Need AIR

In previous posts I've written about the first four steps.  In this post I'd like to tackle the last two equally important but often neglected steps.  Chris Hogan, trainer for the Dave Ramsey organization states that "appreciation is oxygen for the soul."  He has created a mnemonic: AIR, that stands for Appreciation, Inspiration and Recognition, all key elements of that oxygen so necessary for the health of our spirit.  When we neglect these elements, we allow the negative voice, the dragon to have victory over us.

We all need appreciation.  Appreciation for a job well done.  Appreciation for our talent and energy.  Appreciation for who we truly are and how we share that we others.  Appreciation like the other qualities is a two way street.  Just as we need to receive appreciation, we need to show and express our appreciation of others.

Inspiration can come from many sources.  It can come from mentors and friends, professional contacts and family.  We can be inspired by the books we read and the seminars we attend.  We need to be intentional about planning for our own inspiration so that the well doesn't dry up.  In order to inspire others, we need to nourish ourselves in ways that inspire.

Finally, we all need recognition on some level.  Not everyone is motivated to win first place or to become famous, but everyone needs to be recognized by those who are important to them.  Chris Hogan says that for some people, the last time they heard any applause was when they walked across the stage to receive their high school diploma.  That's a sad scenario.  We all need recognition on a regular basis even if it's not a public display.  In order to receive recognition,  we must make sure we put ourselves in situations and relationships where recognition can take place.  We must open ourselves up to the possibility.  As with all the elements of AIR, we should also make sure that we give recognition to those around us who may be equally in need.

Over coming the dragon within, the negative voice, is an ongoing battle that is never really won.  However with practice, we can strengthen our positive voice so that we feel more bold and confident.  What about you?  Where do you encounter your resistance?  What is your dragon?  How do you battle against the negative voice?  I'd love to hear your suggestions and comments.

Want to learn more about goal setting and how to Be Do Have, even with a busy life?  Listen to my teleseminar  with Jen McDonough where I talk about goals and goal getting! Details are here:Teleseminar

Want to spend an entire day learning more about following your passion and making your goals happen? Attend the Called Woman Conference in March and listen to an impressive line-up of speakers who can teach you how to take your dream to reality.

Do you love to write?  Attend the Coffee and Quill Seminar for Christian Writers on March 16th. It is free and open to the public.  Details are here:  CAG 

Like this blog post? Share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

Related articles

• Don't Be Their Negative Voice
• Window 97 - Anything is possible if you believe it is
• Coping Skills: The Negative Thought Challenge
• On Fighting The Negative Voices Within [Dear DBN]

Seven Steps to SMARTER Goal Setting

Cover via Amazon

The front of my favorite Mother's Day card reads like this: "Mom, remember when you told me you wanted me to grow up and be somebody?"  The inside of the card reads, "Maybe you should have been more specific."  There is a lot more to this idea than a  funny punch line. Brian Tracy in a recent interview with Darren Hardy of Success Magazine, says that he often asks audiences to write down their top three goals in three minutes. He then guesses that they have written a goal about their health, their finances and their relationships.  He is always right because these are the top areas of  our lives and we should be making regular deposits in each one to live a balanced life.

Many of us have heard of SMART goals.  In this post, I'd like to take it one step further and help the reader create SMARTER goals.  Here are the seven steps to creating a goal that works:

• Create a goal that is specific.  Every one has a wish list of how they would like their life to change. In order to write a SMARTER goal  make sure that the goal is not just a wish but a specific detailed statement of where you want to be.  Here's an example of a goal that is not specific:  Make more money.  Here's an example of a goal that is specific:  Increase my income per month by $1000.  See the difference?
•  Create a goal that is measurable.  Even when it is difficult to quantify it is important to make the goal measurable so that you will know if you are making progress.  Here's an example of a goal that is not measurable:  Spend quality time with my family.  Here's an example of a goal that is measurable:  Plan and enjoy one family activity a week.
• Create a goal that is attainable.  If a goal is too small then we aren't stretching ourselves but if a goal is too big then we can undermine our motivation and give up early in defeat.  Here's a goal that is probably not attainable:  Lose 12 pounds a week.  Here's an attainable goal:  Lose 2-4 pounds a week.  When we set goals that are attainable we are energized by the gains that we make regularly rather than discouraged by our lack of progress.
• Create a goal that is relevant.  We are motivated by what we want in our lives.  Goals that are created because we "should" achieve them or because someone else wants us to achieve them won't work.
• Create a goal that has a time frame.  A deadline gives a goal urgency and momentum.  The difference between I want to lose weight and I want to lose ten pounds in the next month is the difference between someday and soon.  
• Create a goal that is energized by writing it down.  In the book, Write It Down, Make It Happen, Henriette Anne Klauser tells story after story of the importance of writing a goal down in order to create success.  Writing a goal down helps us cement it in our brain and creates focus. 
• Create a goal and review it regularly.  Finally, don't just write a goal down and forget it!  Review the goal daily perhaps several times a day to make it such a part of your life that you are always aware of the possibilities around you that will make the goal successful.

When I wrote the Wyatt the Wonder Dog stories, I had a vague goal of publishing them somehow, someway, someday.  I am embarrassed to say that I waited around for ten years for the right person to walk into my life and announce, "Any one here want to publish a children's book?"  It never happened.  Finally, one day I decided to do something instead of waiting.  I set a goal of publishing the first book in one year.  I began researching and asking knowledgable people about how to self-publish a book.  One person I contacted via his podcast was Dan Miller of 48 Days to the Work You Love.  He answered my questions on his podcast and gave me the encouragement I needed.  Step by step I moved forward and at the end of a year?  I had my first book in hand.  

If I can do it so can you!  Now it's your turn.  What are your goals for the year?  Are they vague wishes or are they SMARTER goals?

Want to learn more about goal setting and how to Be Do Have, even with a busy life?  Join me for a free teleseminar on February 19th with Jen McDonough!  Details are here:  Teleseminar

Want to spend an entire day learning more about following your passion and making your goals happen? Attend the Called Woman Conference  in March and listen to an impressive line-up of speakers who can teach you how to take your dream to reality. Early Bird Registration ends February 1st!  

Like this blog post?  Share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter!

Related articles

• How to set smarter goals
• Six steps to smarter goal-setting
• What Are Your Writing Goals for 2013?
• Goal setting the right way

Maybe You Should Be More Specific...

Mother's Day card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is one of my favorite Mother's Day cards of all time.  The front of the card reads, "Mom, remember when you told me you wanted me to grow and be somebody?" When you open the card it reads,” Maybe you should have been more specific.”  I love this sense of humor but there's really more to it than just a funny punch line. 

 The fact is, whether we are inspiring our children, setting goals for ourselves or interacting with co-workers in the workplace, being more specific is actually a good idea.  Somehow, in my experience, this is something most people seem very reluctant to do.  We like to talk about goals in a vague and general way. We like to get all involved in the process but don’t want to take time to revise it. We like to talk with authority about how this or that plan or strategy isn’t working, but when we are held accountable with facts, no one much wants to take the time or effort to put them together and analyze them. We’d rather whine and complain about the problem rather than focusing on solutions.

Most people who set goals simply make a wish list rather than a goal list. Goals for the most part tend to be areas they know they need to work on but don’t know how or sometimes even why. This includes goals like: lose weight, make more money, or spend more quality time with family. Although these goals are all important, before you set your goal, you must know why it is important to you. You have to have more than a little “I wish”. You’ve got to have a big “I can’t live with out it!” Most of the time, lists of goals sound more like someone’s wish list for Santa than a list that they are passionate about achieving and putting in the hard work to do so. 

When I first wrote the Wyatt The Wonder Dog stories, I had a vague goal of getting them published somehow, someway, some day. I waited around for ten years for the right person to walk into my life and announce, "Any one here want to publish a children's book?"  Finally, one day I decided to do something rather than keep waiting.  First, I set a goal of getting one story published within a year.  Next, I began asking knowledgeable people about how to self-publish a book. I had already sent the story to about ten different publishing companies with no luck and I decided I could either continue down that path or try something new. One person I asked was Dan Miller, author of 48 Days To The Work You Love who has a weekly podcast where he answers questions about work and careers. When I explained my situation and asked him if I should self-publish he gave me an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Then he enumerated lots of reasons why this was the way to go. This was just the encouragement I needed and I was hooked. I set a new gotta-have-it goal of doing something, anything, every single day to move me toward my publishing my book.  Some days that meant I checked out a website and tried to understand self -publishing. Some days it meant I spent time editing a story and other days it meant that I called an art teacher I knew and asked if she would draw illustrations for the book. I joined groups online and asked for advice. Gradually, slowly, baby-step by baby-step I made progress. In twelve months time, I held the first copy of my first book in my hand! It was truly a dream come true and it all started with a mission, a vision and a specific measurable goal with small steps every day toward that goal. You can do it to!

Take a hint from my mother's day card, goals should be:

• Specific • Measurable • Attainable • Realistic • Have A Time frame

Last month, I asked the question, "Where do you want to be in three years and what needs to be in place to make that happen?"  This is nothing more than goal setting in disguise.  I promised that I would answer the question myself.  Here are two of my goals:

Establish a consulting business where I speak and teach personality style and leadership techniques to  educators at least once a month.

Write a weekly blog that  is motivational and inspirational.

Publish one book a year.

Now it’s your turn. Where do you want to be in three years?  Write it down.  Review it.  Is it measurable?  Attainable?  Realistic?  Oh, and don’t forget to be specific.

The Balanced Life

Image via Wikipedia

There is a story of a man clinging to a horse that is galloping at breakneck speed down a country road.  Another man walking along the road calls out to the rider as he whizzes by, "Hey, where are you going?"  To which the rider yells back, "I don't know, ask the horse!"

Do you ever feel like you are that rider and your life is that horse?  If you have not identified your mission and begun setting goals in your life that pertain to your mission, then I bet you do too.  Wouldn't you rather be the man walking down the road, knowing his destination, making progress toward arriving at it and having the time to ask someone else questions?

When we fail to be intentional about where we are going in life, one of the consequences is often a life out of balance.  Generally, this means that we invest too much time and energy in one area and neglect other equally important areas. For instance, we may invest in our work, and neglect  family or friends or our spiritual growth.  We may invest in our family, but never set aside time for our own spiritual and personal growth.   Our lives are never perfectly balanced of course and certainly there are particular seasons of our life that call for some sacrifices in one area or another.  However, if we consistently starve one area or role of our life of our time, our attention, our energy, then we will one day discover that we have  created a situation that may be hard to restore.

One of the best ways to insure that this does not happen is to set goals for each of the major areas of our life and then make regular deposits of time and energy into those areas.  When we neglect to set goals in all the areas of our lives, it is then easy to cheat those areas out of our most important resource; our time.  The end result is often not only a life out of balance but sometimes the loss of relationships that are significant and meaningful to us.  Living a life that is not intentional and goal oriented is often a life out of control, much like riding a runaway horse.  You’ll be moving quickly toward a destination, but you’ll have to ask the horse to figure out where you are going.

What about you?  Is your life out of balance?  Are you living a life that is intentional?  How do you make sure that you don't cheat certain areas of your life?

Planned Neglect

Image via Wikipedia

This is one of my all time favorite counselor stories. I was teaching a kindergarten class about safety rules and I asked the students for some examples.  I got the usual; wear your seat belt in the car, stay seated on the bus, don't run in the halls etc.  Then I called on one little girl who told me in her most serious voice that “you should never, ever run in the bathtub." 

I think running in the bathtub though is a great description of the way many of us approach goal setting and goal accomplishment. We’re expending a lot of effort; we're slipping and sliding in constant motion but getting nowhere.  Sometimes it helps just to take a deep breath and refocus.

One of the most useful techniques that I have found for accomplishing goals is planned neglect.  It is certainly not a natural approach for me but it is definitely successful when I use it.  It very simply means that I plan to ignore or neglect those tasks that call so loudly to me but that interfere with achieving my goals for the day.  What sort of things are these?  For me, these are simple, compelling things that on the surface seem seductively quick and easy to do.  For example, checking my email, emptying the dishwasher, putting in a load of clothes and a myriad of other things that I think I will quickly complete before I get on with the big important task at hand.  I can occupy myself endlessly with the little tasks, convincing myself that I am accomplishing much because I am checking so many things off my to do list.  At the end of the day however, when I allow myself to be sucked into this vortex of activity, I have accomplished much of little significance.  Often, one small task leads to another and before I know it the time has disappeared and there is something that I really feel I must do that causes me to put the major goal aside for yet another day.  There is an appointment to make or it is mealtime and I must prepare and eat something.  The day has been lost in a wasted effort.

Here’s how I have tackled this problem.  First thing in the morning I spend some quiet time identifying my primary, gotta-do-it goal.  Often, this is a blog to write, a marketing effort to plan and execute or most recently writing a few chapters of my book.  During days when I am not on my regular day job, I schedule the first block of time in the morning to accomplish this task.  I do not allow myself to even look at email, or begin any household chores first.  These are danger areas for me where time can vanish before I even recognize it and I am left with a wasted day.  Once I have finished about 90 minutes of focused time on my goal, I then take a break and allow myself to do something that is very time limited before I get back to work.  This might be making a cup of tea and starting a load of clothes in the washer.  Things like reading email though are out.  I am easily lost in the vast world of the internet if I allow myself to even peek at one!

I repeat this process until I have accomplished the goals I have set for the day.  Once I have done so, I then can delve into things that may seem urgent but that will overpower my primary goal if I focus on them first.  I have found the technique of planned neglect to be one of my most powerful tools in my arsenal of goal setting.  It certainly keeps me from running in the bathtub!

What about you?  How do you accomplish the most important tasks in your life?

Are You A Loser... Or A Learner?

I was talking with a teacher recently about a student in her classroom whose behavior was out of control one day to the point that she decided he needed a visit to the principal to reinforce the rules. She had to admit that she was amused however at his comment upon arriving at the principal’s door. It seems that under his breath he muttered, “I bet nothing good ever comes out of a visit here…”


Contrary to his prediction though, something good did come out of the visit. He now knows his boundaries and his behavior has improved. One of the hardest lessons to learn in life, for adults as well as children is that although bad things happen to us, something good can come out of a bad experience.  I can relate to this student's comment since this has been a difficult and eye opening lesson for me as well.  I've gone through a number of stages in this learning experience.  Earlier in my life I questioned hardship and asked, "Why me?  What have I done wrong? " or I compared myself to others and asked, "How come they are successful and I'm not?"  Later, I viewed hardship as something to struggle through and to gain something from the experience that I could use in some way either for myself or to counsel others through hard times.  In my current season of life, I feel that I have an even newer and different perspective.  Now, when faced with hardship and struggles, I ask myself the question, "Where's the opportunity in this?" Sometimes it's very difficult to see and takes a lot of searching.  It doesn't negate the pain or the suffering by any means.  But it does create something positive out of something negative.

Can you think of a time in your life when it seemed that everything was lost? Your hard work didn’t pay off? Your life had taken a turn for the worse? You felt like a failure? You were rejected by family or friends? Looking back on that experience from today’s perspective, do you feel that it became a turning point for a more positive life … that it guided you down a different path to a different goal but that you have ultimately been blessed by the change? Much of this depends on how you approach the experience. Do you regard it as a failure and yourself as a loser? What if instead you decided to treat the experience as a time to refocus, perhaps in a different direction? What if you decided to learn everything you could from the situation? What if instead of a loser… you decided to be a learner? What if you asked yourself, "Where's the opportunity in this?"

What Are Your Roadblocks To Success?

Image via Wikipedia Do you have trouble getting started? I know I do and judging from the number of people that I talk to about their future plans that just never seem to materialize, I’d guess that this is a common problem. In a recent article in Success magazine by John Maxwell, he says “If you want to win, you’ve got to start.” Seems pretty obvious doesn’t it? So what’s the hold up? While getting started is an action step, many times it is our internal critical voice that prohibits us from taking that first step. Here are four key roadblocks to getting started:


• Not knowing exactly what you want. If you haven’t yet set a goal it’s hard to achieve. Many times we distract ourselves by identifying so many possibilities that we are overwhelmed with the choices. We say things like, “I could do anything…if I only knew what it was that I wanted to do.” This involves learning to set priorities. Pick one or two goals and put 100% of your effort into achieving it. You can always backtrack to other minor goals later.

• We know what we want but we are afraid to ask for it. We are afraid we may fail. We secretly have a desire, a goal but we are afraid if others know about it, we will be turned down, rejected, embarrassed if we don’t achieve it. We may try to achieve on our own without using our resources, usually to no avail. We say things like, “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.” We are actually cheating ourselves with this one. Our social network is often more willing to help us achieve than we give them credit for.

• We are afraid of success. Just as fear of failure can paralyze us, so can fear of success. What if we don’t really know what to do, how to act, how to perform? What if we are overwhelmed with the responsibility of success, the amount of time and energy that it requires? What if we are successful and it turns out not to be what we expect it to be? Again our internal voice is paralyzing us with what if questions. We may say, “What if I succeed and they expect me to know everything and then find out I don’t?” We fail to recognize the flexibility, the power and the control that we have in any given situation.

• We know what we want but we don’t know the steps, the path, and the way to achieve it. This is a research question. There is always someone who has gone before us in all that we do. We need to find a role model and connect with them to discover how they were successful. We can then design our own way.

Sound like a daunting job? It is difficult but not impossible. Roadblocks can be cleared and the road paved for success. Don’t let fear, lack of focus or lack of knowledge keep you from making that first step to achieving your goal.

Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending. Carl Bard

Related articles

• Goal Setting Is Not Enough, Commitment And Follow Through Are Critical (realgoalgetter.com)

Just Do It!

Image via Wikipedia You've identified the goal, you've written it down in the present tense, you've visualized it regularly... now what?  Is this all just mind games and  psychological mumbo jumbo?  We all know that you could do all this from now until the end of time and if you took no action, you might feel like you were making progress but in reality you would be fooling yourself.  Much like a student who believes in himself and visualizes making a 100 on a test but NEVER studies, nothing will happen.  Much like an athlete who believes in herself and visualizes winning the tournament, but never practices, nothing will happen.  You've got to move ahead to the next step in achieving your dream:  Identify all the steps you can think of to make your goal real.  Talk about them with the encouraging people in your life.  Get some more ideas and write them down.  Finally, write the steps down in chronological order and number them. Now the fun begins.  Review your list weekly and identify something you can do every day, no matter how small to move you closer to your goal.  Oh, and then DO IT!

The time for action is now.  It's never too late to do something.
-Carl Sandburg