Have you ever noticed? There are some people who seem to know exactly what they want and how to get it. They move toward their targets with precision, and appear to achieve easily without goals or planning. They have a narrowed focus and motivation, reasons for doing what they do. They don’t even have a set of written goals, yet they move through life attaining what they go after.
Then, there are some of us that need the strategies, the written goals and plans of action, and great role models to follow. Neither is good or bad, right or wrong. There are just different needs for different people. This article is for those of us who need the latter.
What’s your dream? What goals do you have? What is it that you absolutely must have, or do, or be?
There are two steps that are supremely important to getting what you want in life.
Step One
Have you defined specifically what you want? Choose a goal that inspires you to go for it, a goal so large that when you get it, you automatically get all the other things you want in life. Have no conflicting goals, have all of them congruent with your definite major purpose in life. Make the chase exciting. The momentum will literally pull you forward to your goal. You will be on Autopilot! One Focus To Success!
Is it a car, a boat, a house, a travel vacation, a summer cottage, a great job, a new business, a relationship, a close family, more friends, better health, more energy, lose weight, run a marathon, have great clothes, make more money, be rich, just get the bills paid every month, be debt free, have more confidence, be happy, play pro sports, go to the Olympics . . . ? You know what you want, don’t you?
What do you want? Will it stretch you to capacity in order to get it? Do you have to improve somewhere? Are you excited about the prospect of having it in your life? Do you expect to get it? Positive expectation is vital to the achievement of your dream.
Do you seem overwhelmed, a little intimidated by the size of your dream? Unsure if you can do it? Many people that have attempted something great, have had their doubts at times. This is when powerful emotional reasons will blow you right on past these and enable you to take action again.
You can break it down into bite size pieces. Break it down into small actionable steps that will incrementally bring you to the desired outcome. Move forward daily and enjoy each small success. Decide to persist until . . . And you will get there! Remember that you can and you will achieve what you want! Only the timing and the strategy may vary. Believe and know this is true.
Step Two
Whatever it is that you want, you must want it with all your heart. it must be your ‘want’, not someone else’s. There must not be any conflicting feelings. By the way, logical reasons are helpful, but emotional reasons are absolutely the most powerful. If you have enough Why, the How will take care of itself! You will move mountains to get there.
“Your reasons why” must move you to action. It must make it easier to go for it than not. They are what will drive you when times get tough. Have a bunch of them! You must sell yourself on your goals’ merits. You must “fall” in love with it. Have you been, or are you in love with someone? If so, then you know that your mind is occupied constantly with your love. This is the feeling you must cultivate in order to get what you want.
You wake up thinking about it, you go to bed thinking about it, you think about it all day, how you can do more, be more, have more, give more, etc.
Sell yourself and Sell hard! If you can’t come up with good reasons, then make up some reasons to go forward. Act as if and soon you will believe what you tell yourself. Your body will become congruent with the dominant thoughts you keep in your mind. Remember that you can only focus on one thought at a time. Make it the one that will spur you on. You have direct and absolute control of your thoughts, if some negative sneaks in, feel it, evaluate it, and then move on.
These two steps in the goal making process are absolutely vital to your successfully achieving what you want. By spending the proper amount of time on them, you will be light years ahead of the average person, and you will find that getting what you want seems almost effortless. Invest as much time as you need to crank up the desire to a white hot, burning obsession. Do not move onto the next step until you have powerful emotion behind your decision. You will love the Journey. Good Luck!
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Exercise:
Clarify What You Want and Turn Up The Volume!
Take out a clean sheet of paper or use your journal if you keep one. Pick one thing that you want to have in your life, Start small, but make it something that up until now has eluded your grasp. Be specific. Write it down.
Why do you want this? Write down all the reasons you want and need this in your life. Brainstorm, write rapidly everything that comes to your mind. You can edit later. The more reasons you can come up with will determine to a great extent how voraciously you go after what you want.
Keep this paper with you and review it several times each day. Add more reasons as you come across them. Feel how badly you want and need to have this! Think about it constantly, and continually remind yourself that you will do whatever it takes. Take as much time as you need to gather as many reasons to push forward.
Then, do this exercise with another goal. Make sure that your goals are in alignment with each other, and build momentum when put together.
When you have enough reasons internalized and your desire burns hot, then, and only then, move to the next step. PLANNING
More on the “How To” later. That’s a whole other story.
Al Smith writes for and publishes The Realgoalgetter Ezine and The Realgoalgetter Blog. His articles deal mostly with goal setting, self improvement, and motivation. |