I know we’ve talked a lot about goals.  But today I’d like to give you enough information to truly reach them.  It is one of the most important thing we can do in our lives.  Set Goals… and Reach for them.

Do you wonder why you can’t reach a specific goal?

Physically, are you able to reach it?

Emotionally, do you deeply want it?

Could there be a reason you’re fearful of reaching that goal?

Possibly a fear of failing?

Or maybe a fear of succeeding—and not able to imagine that life?

Think for a bit how your life would be, if you reached your goal.

How would you feel?

How would your daily life feel?

What sounds would you hear?

Can you smell anything different?  What is it?

Who would be with you while you reached your goal?

Where would you be?

What would be around you, as you look around?

Ask yourself lots more questions about how your life would be.

Do you see or hear any problems or negatives with any of your answers?

Do you want this goal enough to change some habits?

Are you willing to educate yourself a little bit more, if you needed to?

Would you be willing to ask someone for help?

Does your goal match your Vision for your life?

Do you have a vision for your life?

Do you think about your life’s purpose?

If you don’t have a vision for your life, and if you don’t feel a real purpose for your life, chances are you’re prone to anxiousness, because without a direction, without a purpose, or a vision, it’s possible you’re being robbed of a state of “ease” that you could be feeling, along with an excitement for your life.

Statistics show that people who are clear on their purpose in life are prone to be happier, and to live longer.

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Goals can be too vague, too broad, or can be unrealistic.

A goal should be something you’ve never done before, but something you wouldn’t be able to do if you didn’t stretch a little.

A goal should be very specific, and you should be able to measure your progress.

If you’re setting goals, you’re doing better than most people.

If you’re setting life goals, you’re in the very top percentage of people.

●       Mark Murphy, of Leadership IQ, says your goals should be heartfelt, so you will have an emotional attachment to them.  He says they must be motivated by a Vision, or a picture in your mind.  He says it needs to be urgent and necessary—giving you the frame of mind that you must start acting on them immediately.

●       He says the goal should be somewhat difficult, dragging you out of your comfort zone, activating your senses and your attention.

●       He says the goal on its own is not enough—you need to have a plan of how you will get it done.  Many people fail here.  Most people don’t create a plan with steps to get it done.  Then the goals seem overwhelming, and most people give up right here.

●       If you want to Dream Big, that calls for Planning Big.  The bigger your goal, the more planning and organization you will need.

●       Set out all the steps you can think of.  Break it down into small steps, and plan one or two actions to take each week; focus on thinking about it, and doing small things toward it every day.  As you achieve a step, acknowledge to yourself how awesome you did to have achieved one more step.

●       I believe finding meaning in what we do is the greatest motivator, and joy and happiness are the by-product of those moments.

Social Scientist Frank Niles, PhD, says when you visualize an act, the brain automatically generates an impulse that tells our neurons to “perform” the movement.  This creates clusters of cells in our brain that work together to create learned behaviors, and it primes our bodies to act in a way consistent to what we imagined.

I personally believe this to be true, and have actually experienced the results of exercising this successfully.

Visualize yourself reaching your goals, including the process and the work that it will take to get there.  This is important.

Try to Feel what it will be like once you reach those big accomplishments.  Truly, this will form a lasting picture in your mind that will keep you motivated over the long run.

John Carlton is a legendary copywriter and says his process is to sit down and write himself a letter, dated exactly one year ahead.  He recommends to write yourself a detailed letter describing your life one year from now, in every detail we can imagine.

He says it’s powerful, and it’s another way to use visualization to map out the outcome you want.  Reading it a year later is interesting, and hopefully fun to see what you’ve accomplished.

●       ACTION is absolutely necessary to actually get to your goals.  Don’t get bogged down analyzing everything…or anything.  Just do one small thing every day, if it’s nothing but reading over your goal and your Vision.

●       If you see a place you feel you have failed, use that experience as a stepping stone to continue forward. (This is also very important)…And Continue Forward. 

If your goal is to exercise in some specific way, for a specific time,  every day, and you have a day that you absolutely Can Not do it, do one exercise set, one time.  Any step you take is a win!

Accountability partners are great—someone who will check in with you on your progress.  It works best if you check on each other.  I personally have not had this, but the people I know that do have it say it gives a lot of encouragement to go forward.

Surprise Complications Happen.  Learn to sway with the wind, because strong winds will come against you.  The best way to minimize setbacks is to Plan for Them. 

Try to think of as many possible hurdles as you can, ahead of time, and plan what you will do in that scenario.  This can be a Lifesaver! (Well, a Goal-Saver!!)  Be prepared to react.  You may even have to tweak your timeline. 

Don’t feel negatively about any change you have to make.  You’re still moving forward!

●       Set a day a week to check in on yourself.  Maybe a Sunday or Monday.  This will be for answering the question, “What did I do this week to get closer to my goal?”  You don’t even have to BE closer to your goal.  Just what did you do that was planned to get you closer to your goal.  Just check in to see if you followed your plan.  If you did, it’s a WIN!!

●       When you do the steps to follow the plan, that’s The WIN!  Give yourself a great big pat on the back!  And enjoy something special as a reward!

●       Reflect on what worked, and what didn’t.  A journal may help in reflecting on your progress. 

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What if…

What if you had to reach your goal by the end of this year…what would be a list of things you would have to do?

Prioritize these things,

and just begin doing one. 

Then another.

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What About Celebrating??

How?  By thinking into your heart about some things that actually make you feel good…peaceful…joyful…calm…whatever feeds your soul.  It’ll be different for everyone.  Make a list.  It may be small; that’s ok.  It can even just be sitting outside with a cup of coffee or tea, in the quiet.

But on that list, add “taking care of your body” so your body (and your brain) can take care of you.

Celebrating small wins along the way increases motivation through the harder times.  It boosts our energy; we can keep track of our progress; it helps us with changing our habits.

Celebrating our small wins (or not) could make the difference between failing and succeeding.  They’re important, and we need to recognize that.

We are achieving all the time—so we’re being successful all the time we’re moving forward, and we need to recognize that, also.

We might even get addicted to those small rewards, and the small wins, and want to continue them!!  Our habits change gradually.  This would speed it up a little. 

And celebrating the smaller wins help to get you back on track.  For instance, “I only had one drink today” might be the small win.  But could that win lead to only having that drink once a week?  Sure it could.  And it DOES lead to larger wins.

Moments… upon Moments…

We only have the moment we are in.  It’s the combination of moments over time that achieve the big things.

Our big goals won’t happen overnight.  Nor in the next week.  Nor in the next month—maybe not in the next year.  But it’s ok because we’re focusing on the process…the plan…taking one step at a time, and thinking about the end result where our Vision is.  And every step we take gets us to that goal.

We sometimes blindly believe our goal is still very far away, when it could actually be just around the corner—something we would never know if we give up.

What are our biggest challenges?

Some of the biggest challenges we come up against are our own behavioral challenges.  It’s easy to fall into an “ALL or NOTHING” trap.  If you can’t make the change in your behavior on your first or second try, it’s easy to think you just can’t do it.

Don’t believe that lie.  Behavior change is a challenge.  It’s got to do with our mindset, and you know sometimes our mind is near impossible to change!  But Believe you can do it!  Because YOU CAN!

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When we are “fully present” in our lives, our actions match our intentions; our heart grows, and we get to experience life filled with meaning—which so many people do not get to experience.

So

Decide what your Vision is;

Make a Plan… Just set aside some time, and DO it.

Give your plan steps that will take you to the goal.

Work on taking one or two tiny steps a day, even if it’s just reading your Vision and your Goal.

Celebrate along the way, recognizing small wins.

Be proud of it all.

Be happy about each small step you accomplish.

Enjoy your life!

And as you are thinking… and making lists… and prioritizing… you’ll want your body and mind to function at high frequency.  In order to do that, it needs to be cared-for, so please add these to your lists, and do your very best to prioritize them:

●       Get a good night’s sleep;

●       Eat good quality food—the best you can afford;

●       Leave off bad quality oils, but Eat Good Quality Fat & Oils;

●       Rest your mind—through meditation, or a few moments of concentrated deep breathing, or just sitting still and quiet for a bit of time—so you can reduce some stress in your life (soooo important!)

●       Move your body at least 20-30 minutes every day;

●       Pay attention to the toxins that you put on and in your body, and reduce them as much as you can.

And if you have trouble or would like to help along your journey, let me help you.

Thank you for reading!

Sharon