We all have goals, but there are a few keys that will greatly enhance your ability to achieve them. What follows is a check-list to increase your effectiveness.
Secret One – Define what you want in specific terms. As Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you may end up some place else.” If you want wealth, state how much and by when. For example, “I want to be earning $250,000 a year as a financial advisor by January 2011.
Once you have defined and stated your goal ask yourself, “Is it attainable?” If you want to be earning $250K a year by 2011, but you are currently working as a waitress at Denny’s you need to adjust your goal.
Are you in control of it? Is the goal something you want for yourself that you can tweak until you get it or is it something you want from someone else and they have to change in order for you to get it? Is it stated in a positive style? In other words, is it what you want or what you don’t want? State it in terms of what you want. Is it measurable? If not, then how will you know when you have it?
Secret Two – Once you have defined your goal, write it down. Remember the Yale graduating class of 1953? Twenty years after graduation, the three percent who had written down their goals had accumulated more personal wealth than the other 97 percent combined. Writing it down helps you to see it clearly.
Secret Three – Reinforce it Daily. Make a list of the projects you will do in order to accomplish your goal with an accompanying list of the action steps necessary to complete the projects. Take a minimum of one action each day.
Secret Four – The Magic 30 Minutes: When the mind is overloaded with information, like it is at the end of the day, its automatic filtering system becomes disabled. That means that anything we allow to flow into the mind just before bedtime, is going to be absorbed making this a powerful time to implant thoughts and images of your goals.
Secret Five – Reward Progress. Each time you finish a project or an especially difficult action step, give yourself a reward. Have lunch with a friend, schedule a spa visit, a golf game or something else that has value for you.
Linda Clements is a mental coach, speaker and trainer. You can learn more about her goal management system and other services at 818 415-3092 or her website www.mind-ability.com.