Create the Life of Your Dreams, One Goal at a Time

It takes as much energy to set a large goal that will stretch you, as it does to set a very small goal that does not challenge you at all. When you set worthwhile goals they should feel a little daunting and require a stretch to achieve. An effectively set goal is one that clearly states the goal, why it is important and how you intend to achieve it.

Clearly State your Goal—In Writing
Very few people ever clearly state their goals in writing and then they wonder why they never achieve their full potential, why is that? By following and applying, note I said applying these simple principles below you will most certainly realize all your goals and dreams. The first thing you need to do is create a clear vision in writing of what you want to achieve. Have crystal clear picture in your mind about exactly how you want your life to be when you realize your goals.

Just imagine if you got on board a plane and the Captain’s voice came over the intercom. “Good morning, this is your Captain speaking, welcome aboard flight 231 or is it 321 or maybe 123, I’m not really sure. I have no idea how much fuel we have on board, it doesn’t really matter what the weather is like today and I have no idea how long the flight will last as I have absolutely no idea where we are going”. I don’t know about you but I am getting off that plane as quickly as possible. What amazes me is that we would run off that flight, but we are content to fly through our own journey of life with a pilot exactly like the one in the example above.

It is now time to stop acting like that really scary pilot and clearly define where you want to go and how you want to get there. If you are working in alignment with your values, mission and your life’s purpose, and you have a positive motive for action. You will always find the energy to do what is necessary, rather than what is comfortable to achieve your goals.

You can lose material things, but you can never lose your mastery – what you learn and who you become in the process of achieving your goals.
When you create a vivid picture in your mind of exactly what you want to achieve, you have something concrete to aim for. The clearer the picture that you create in your mind, the easier the journey to get you there will be and the more determined and single minded you will be, when you are faced with any challenges or barriers along the way.

To illustrate: Florence Chadwick was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. She decided next to swim the Catalina Channel, a 21-mile stretch of ocean between Catalina Island and the coast of California. She attempted the swim first on July 4, 1952, with millions of people watching on national TV.

Because the fog was so dense and she was unable to see shore, her stamina waned and she asked to be pulled out of the frigid water, in spite of her mother’s and her trainer’s encouragement. When she pulled out, she found that she had given up less than one and a half kilometers from shore. She reported later, “Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I might have made it.” She made the swim again two months later, becoming the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel.

Don’t forget to dream really big
First decide who or what you want to be and then set challenging goals to lead you toward realizing just that in your life. Your self imposed comfort zone, limits your thinking, and stops you from realizing your full potential and in many cases stops you in your tracks and prevents you from even starting toward living your dreams.
To move you in the direction of creating those compelling, challenging and exciting goals, you need to have a clear vision statement and be driven to succeed.
You need:
• To eliminate those habits and beliefs that are bogging you down and holding you from living your bliss.
• To learn to dream those big dreams that you had as a child. It is never too late to have an amazing childhood.
Begin this process by visualizing your ideal life in all areas, namely, financial, career/business, Family time, health, relationships, personal and community. You can use this as starting point to develop your specific and time constrained goals. Another handy tool to use to refine this process is to take a piece of paper and write down at least 100 things you would like to have, 100 things you would like to do and 100 things you would like to be. If you cant come up with 100 that is ok, the purpose of the exercise is to get your brain to really stretch itself and come up with the most weird and wonderful ideas.

Once we have completed this exercise you will have a wonderful base to help you identify your goals. You will also be equipped to identify one really big goal or banner goal that will really stretch you and when you achieve it, completely revolutionize your life. This is the one goal that will catapult you toward living your bliss, the one goal that when you achieve it will change your life forever.
Once you have identified your breakthrough or banner goal, try to choose a reasonable number of other goals that you are going to devote all your energy toward achieving. I recommend that you never attempt to work on more than three goals at a time.
Once you have refined all your goals always remember that your breakthrough or banner goal deserves special attention. You must try to devote sufficient time each day to realizing this crucial dream. You will make time available each day by applying the new habit of introducing Meetings with Your Future into your daily schedule. http://www.andrewhorton.co.za