One of the key models for goal achievement is that of cause and effect. This model says that your goal is an effect to be achieved, and your task is to identify and then create the cause that will produce the desired effect, thereby achieving your goal.

Sounds simple enough, right?

However, the main problem with this model is that nearly everyone seriously misunderstands it. And that misunderstanding comes from not knowing what a “cause” really is.

You might assume that the cause of an effect would be a series of physical and mental actions leading up to that effect. Action-reaction. If your goal is to make dinner, then you might think the cause would be the series of preparation steps.

To an outside observer, that certainly appears to be the case. The scientific method would suggest that this is how things work, based on a purely objective observation.

However, within your own consciousness, you know that the series of action steps is not the real cause. The actions are themselves an effect, aren’t they?

What’s the real cause? The real cause is the decision you made to create that effect in the first place. That’s the moment you said to yourself, “Let it be” or “make it so.” At some point you decided to make dinner. That decision may have been subconscious, but it was a still a decision. Without that decision the dinner would never manifest. That decision ultimately caused the whole series of actions and finally the manifestation of your dinner.

Where does that decision arise from? It might arise from your subconscious, or in the case of conscious decisions, it arises from your consciousness. Ultimately your consciousness is the greater power, as it can override subconscious choices once it becomes aware of them.

Missing this very simple distinction has contributed to quite a number of failed goals.

If you want to achieve a goal you’ve set, the most crucial part is to DECIDE to manifest it. It doesn’t matter if you feel it’s outside your control to do so. It doesn’t matter if you can’t yet see how you’ll get from A to B. Most of those resources will come online AFTER you’ve made the decision, not before.

If you don’t understand this simple step, then you will waste a lot of time. Step 1 is to decide. Not to ruminate or to ponder or to ask around and see whether or not you can do it. If you want to start your own business, then decide to make it so. If you want to be married and have a family, then decide to attract a mate. If you want to change careers, then decide to do so.

It blows my mind that people think that something else has to come before the decision. People waste months trying to figure out, “Is this goal possible?” And this makes a lot of sense to do so if you’re at a certain level of consciousness. But all you’re really doing is creating delay, and you’ll simply manifest evidence to suggest that the goal is both possible and not possible. You think doubt in your head, you find doubt in the world.

Time and again I’ve seen evidence that not only people, but the universe itself, can sense a lack of commitment to a goal. Have you ever heard someone tell you about a goal of theirs, and you can just sense how wishy-washy and uncertain they are about it? They say things like, “Well, I’m going to try this and see how it goes. Hopefully it will work out OK.” Is that evidence that a clear decision has been made? Not remotely. Are you going to help this person? Probably not — who wants to waste their time on someone who isn’t committed?

But what happens when you sense total certainty in the other person? Will you help them if they ask for it? You’re far more likely to help a committed person because you can tell they’re eventually going to succeed anyway, and you want to be part of that success. You even feel more energized and motivated yourself to contribute to the success of people who are very clearly committed to a goal that resonates with you and which is genuinely for the greatest good of all.

Don’t you think this process works the same way within your own mind? If your consciousness is divided against itself, do you think it will commit all its internal resources to your goal? Will your subconscious give you all the energy and creativity it possibly could, or will it hold back? Think of your subconscious mind as a multi-tasking computer processor. What percentage of resources will it devote to a task that you’ve told it to execute with the words, “Run this for a little bit and see if it works, but quickly dump it if it seems too difficult?” Now what if you gave that CPU a process labeled, “Run this now?”

The universe itself works on the same principle. Think of it as the superconscious mind. When you’ve made a clear, committed decision, it will open the universal floodgates, bringing you all the resources you need, sometimes in seemingly mysterious or impossible ways.

Whenever you want to set a new goal for yourself, start by setting it. Take the time to become clear about what you want, but then just declare it.

Say to the universe, “Here is the goal. Make it so.”

Do not ask the universe for what you want. Declare it. Don’t ask. This is very similar to prayer, but you are not praying FOR what you want. You are praying WHAT you want. You are simply saying, “Here it is. Make it so.” It is like planting a seed in the ground. You do not say to the ground, “Here is the seed. Please, can you make it grow?” You simply plant the seed, and it will grow as a natural consequence of your planting and tending to it. It is the same with your intentions. Simply plant them. There’s no need to beg.

Intend that your goal manifest in such a manner that is for the greatest good of all. This is very important, as intentions that are created out of fear or a sense of lack will backfire. You may get what you want, but it will yield a bitter aftertaste. Or you may get the exact opposite of what you want. But intentions that are genuinely made for your own good and the greatest good of all will tend to manifest in a positive way.

After I declare my intention, I wait for the resources and synchronicities to arrive. Usually they begin to manifest in 24-48 hours, sometimes sooner. Sometimes these synchronicities appear to be the result of subconscious action. I just happen to notice things that may have been there all along, but now I see them in a new light, and they become resources for me that I never noticed until after I declared my intention. But many times it’s nearly impossible to explain such synchronicities as the result of my own subconscious action, even if I step back and try to look at them purely objectively. Sometimes they come in such unusual avalanches that I can only explain them as the result of superconscious action. On some level the universe itself is aware of my intention and is doing its part to help manifest it. I also find that the more inviting I am of these synchronicities, the more easily they flow. Right now I typically experience about 10 per week on average, and I think that’s because I have many different intentions in the process of manifesting, so there’s a constant flow of resources coming to me.

The mental and physical planning and action steps come later. That’s how I organize the resources that have arrived. Once enough resources have come to me, I can begin to see how they all fit together to achieve the goal. But if the path seems too complicated or difficult and I don’t like what I see, I put out some new intentions to make it the way I want it to be. I declare, “Let it be simpler.” I again wait for the synchronicities to arrive, and a simpler approach becomes clear. Usually for an approach to be simpler, it means I have to get past some personal block within me. I have to grow on some level in order to be able to take advantage of a simpler solution. Or perhaps I have to learn a new skill first. So while it might be simpler, it might also be harder on a personal level. For example, by putting out the intention to do more to help people, I had to develop my communication skills. That makes the goal easier to achieve, but it’s more work up front.

It took me a number of years to be able to trust this approach before I could begin to use it as my default manner of goal achievement. I have to be open to achieving goals in unusual ways sometimes. I get what I intend, but not always what I expect. So when the synchronicities begin dropping me clues, I do not always understand how they’ll be part of the path to the goal. But invariably there’s an intelligence at work, and if I trust it, it will work just fine. Usually it will bring me new information first, so I can raise my own awareness and knowledge to the level required to achieve the goal.

For example, if I you declare your goal to become wealthier, within a few days you might see all sorts of synchronicities related to spirituality. They may seem to have nothing to do with wealth whatsoever. So you figure it’s just a coincidence, and the approach isn’t working. But the approach is sound, and it is working. Most likely it’s a signal that the path to wealth first requires you to improve your consciousness. This is especially true if your intention was for the highest good of all. If you become wealthy before your energy and consciousness have reached a certain level, then greater material wealth may only feed your problems — your goal cannot yet manifest for the greatest good of all. But if you first learn to use your energy and consciousness positively, then the greater resources that wealth provides you will be a positive manifestation instead of a negative one.

In truth this is a simple and direct process. But our minds are so cluttered with the flotsam and jetsam of social conditioning that we have a hard time thinking on this level. We get so attached to seeing our goals manifest a certain way because that’s how they manifest in TV shows or in movies. Or maybe that’s how our parents or friends did it. But this attachment to a particular “how” blocks us from allowing our goals to manifest far more easily. If we could loosen up a bit on the “how” and just learn to allow the manifestation to occur in its own perfect way, goal achievement would be far easier.

So often I see people sabotage their own goals because they do not understand the power of intention. Realize that EVERY thought is truly an intention. Every thought. So most people manifest a cluttered mish-mash of conflict in their lives because their thoughts are in conflict. They simultaneously set a goal and then unset it. “I want to start my own business.” “I wonder if it will work.” “I wonder if I’ll succeed.” “Maybe this won’t work.” “Maybe John is right, and this is a mistake.” “No, I’m pretty sure it will work just fine.”

If you are trying to achieve goals on the level of action-reaction, meaning that you’re purely focused on the action steps, while at the higher level of intention-manifestation, you’re putting out conflicting thoughts, then you’re sabotaging yourself. If you go on a diet and exercise like crazy, while all the while thinking, “I’m fat. This is hopeless. This is taking too long,” then your higher level intentions will override your actions, and negative or incongruent results will follow.

If you want to achieve a goal, you must clear out all the “hopefully” and “maybe” and “can’t” nonsense from your consciousness. You cannot allow yourself the luxury of a negative thought, and that is an intention to manifest what you don’t want. This takes practice of course, but it is the essential art of learning to use your consciousness to create what you want. When you are congruent in your thoughts, your goal will manifest with ease. But when you are incongruent in your thoughts, you will manifest conflict and obstacles. As within, so without.

Why is it you’re able to do this? Because you have that power. Not believing in yourself simply means you’re using your own power against yourself. You’re like a god saying, “Let me be powerless,” and you don’t even realize it. If you think/intend weakness, you manifest weakness. If you project your power outside yourself and onto the external world, you lose your power.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to do this. It is a natural human ability. But it takes practice to develop your consciousness to the level where you can apply it and especially to learn to trust it.

What happens if you decide to manifest a really, really big goal, one that seems physically impossible? The process will still work. It’s just that there will be a lot more steps, and you may be lead through various synchronicities for years before you’ve reached the point where your ultimate goal can manifest. It might take longer than your human lifetime if the goal is so big. But you will certainly make progress if you use this approach.

So what is your goal? Say it out loud right now, and let it be for the greatest good of all. Then say to the universe, “Make it so.” Wait for the synchronicities and unusual coincidences to arrive. Follow them where they want to lead you, even if it seems strange at first. Allow your goal to manifest.

Copyright © Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
http://www.stevepavlina.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.

It seems as though so many people are seeking more, wanting more, and expecting more in their lives, yet when pressed about what “more” would look like, rarely can they give a definitive answer.

They say things like, “I want to be happy,” or “I want to be rich,” or “I want the perfect mate.” To be honest, as wonderful as those statements are, they’re far too vague to ever be reached.

What does happiness look and feel like? What’s your definition of rich? How would you describe that perfect mate? Each of us has a different interpretation of what those things mean.

For example, I define happiness as having the freedom to do what I please, when I please to do it. Being rich means having tens of millions of dollars in the bank, and that perfect mate has movie actress charm and the heart of Mother Teresa.

To you, however, these descriptions could be way off course. For you, happiness could mean taking a long-needed vacation. Being rich could mean not having to struggle to make ends meet. Your perfect mate might be the one beside you all along.

The point is, we all need to define our goals, and most important, what they would look like if we saw them. Once we do that, the rest becomes easy. Once we know what we’re seeking, it’s simple to devise a plan to make it happen.

By saying, “I want to be happy, and that means taking that trip,” all you now have to do is get out your calendar, circle the date you want to go, get some brochures on the desired destination, and then plan a course of ACTION to make your dream come true. You might do it by asking your boss to take $50 a week out of your paycheck and save it toward the vacation. Or you might want to work an extra job to gain some additional cash.

You see, once you have your vision, you can create ways to make it happen because . . .

The easiest way to hit a goal is to give yourself one to hit.

Gregory Scott Reid, The Millionaire Mentor,Inc. #1 best-seling author, speaker and radio personality. Please visit my website at http://www.AlwaysGood.com and sign up for my free monthly newsletters.

Many if not everyone reading this has heard or read of the value of “Goal-Setting”. Goal setting has once again made its way to the forefront of most motivational speakers’ lectures and tape series as well as become the “hot” catchword of many books recently published. The success ratios are staggering for those that have set goals. And along with goal-setting and “stick-to-it-ive-ness” the world has seen and is seeing many “giants”. However there is a not too often spoken of “success ingredient” that we must include in the baking our “wealth-cake” and that is the GIVING principle.

Many of you have heard that “in order to get you must give” and “in order to reap you must sow” or “it takes money to make money” etc. But how many of you really understand the principle of giving? How often have you made giving a condition of your wealth building? Now many religious organizations teach on the principles of tithing. And often times the understanding of the parishioners is one of giving something in hopes of getting something in return, which in my opinion negates the actual principle of giving. That is what is defined as bartering and bartering is not giving, it is exchanging.

GIVING! No expectations of return or payment just plain ole GIVING! I suggest that everyone begin to practice performing spontaneous acts of kindness. Purchase gifts for your down-line, buy Danish for everyone in your office, and give a hearty greeting to a complete stranger. Do anything you can and something everyday for someone while not desiring anything in return.

To those that much is given, much is required. Have you sown million dollar seeds? That is the way to get million dollar crops. Have you sown fifty dollar seeds? That is the way to get fifty dollar crops. Now with the correct attitude (love) your yield can increase ten to one hundred fold. However the yield is not your concern. Focus on the giving of your time, talents and love.

When setting your goals for life you must make sure that you include the ingredient of giving or your success will be haphazard and minimal at best. Include a percentage of your future success to go toward a charity that you are passionate about. Donate time, clothing or any talent you have today to that charity or group. Give!

If you desire to reach your goals…you must be a giver. Look at the lives of your most enlightened successful people and you will find a common thread running through them all…GIVING! Listen to the “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” series by my good friend Jerry ‘DRhino’ Clark and you will hear givers.

Now grab your goals, dust them off and insert some giving. Because if all of your goals are all about what you can get and what you want then you are simply a “taker in disguise” and “Higher Power” does not reward the takers.

Asaad

Cultivate the Courage to Roar!

Inspirational speaker and trainer ‘Asaad’ will provide you with the strategies and tools you need to live a life of significance and courage. If you have ever desired to take more action in your life and achieve more lasting results then ‘Asaad’ can assist you.

http://MeetTheGoal.com

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Goals are extremely important and are the key to any success plan. However, we hear about goals so much that we often take this step for granted. We assume that we already know everything there is to know about setting goals and thus usually skip over this extremely important fundamental success factor. Please don’t let yourself get into this trap. As Tony Robbins states in his Personal Power tape on the Power of Setting Goals “Fundamentals have to be practiced daily!”

In this article, we are going to work on your goals.

Remember my previous article? “Why start a Home business” - http://www.source-locator.com/newsletter1.htm? In that article I talked about creating your “Why”.

In this article I am going to talk about setting goals to help keep you focused so that you will have a clear cut plan set to help you ultimately achieve the reason why you started a home business.

I believe that the Tony Robbins goal workshop method is one of the best goal setting methods out there so I am going to use his method in this article to help you create your goals and help motivate you to take immediate action.

It’s extremely important to follow the steps in this mini workshop if you are going to get anything out of it.

As Tony states, there should be 3 areas for which you should set goals. These areas are:

* Financial goals – (Money)

* Thing goals – (Things you want to have)

* Personal Development goals - (Things about yourself you want to improve on)

Write out your goals

1. Sit down right now and write down the things that you want to have 1, 3, 5, and 10 years from now. Do it now! Don’t read on until you are finished.

2. Ok, now I want you to write down your financial goals for the next 1, 3, 5, and 10 years. Do it now. Don’t read on until you are finished.

3. Ok, now I want you to write down your personal development goals for the next 1, 3, 5, and 10 years. Do it now. Don’t read on until you are finished.

4. Read over your list and pick your top two goals that you want to accomplish in the next year, from each category, and write a paragraph about why you are committed to achieving these goals now.

Take your time… really think about it. Don’t rush… Don’t move on until you are done.

Ok… Are you done? If not finish up before you read on. You are only hurting yourself if you don’t take the time to do this.

If you are done, I want you to do something now to take action to start achieving the goals that you picked out in number 4 and wrote a paragraph about. Take action now! I am sure you can think of something that you can do right now. Don’t put it off until tomorrow. Take action now! Come on right now! Do something to acheive that goal now! It doesn’t have to be a huge step, just do something now so that you start to build momentum.

After you have done something to take action towards achieving your goal then read on…

Make your goals visible

It’s extremely important to make sure that your goals are always visible. If your goals are visible then they are a constant reminder for you to take action every day towards achieving those goals. Put those paragraphs that you wrote in number 4 where you will always see them. Cut out pictures of your thing goals and hang them around the house. Order a brochure for that car you always wanted but could never afford. Do whatever it takes to make your goals visible.

I hope that you took this workshop seriously and wrote out your goals and why you are committed to achieving them. I also hope that you now understand that goals are the forgotten and overlooked success element that everyone needs in order to ultimately achieve their “Why”.

Paul Lasher is a successful entrepreneur and the owner of http://www.source-locator.com which is dedicated towards helping people to start, manage and market a home based business.

To dream is the first step to create a successful career. First you dream, then you build with confidence. Dreams are like seeds. Even after sowing them you need to nurture them for a long time so that they may bear the fruit of success. Many persons fail to achieve their goals because they sow the seed but don’t have any action plan to help the seed grow into a big tree of successful career. Never forget that action is the key to the door of fortune.

1. Set Realistic Goals

Write your goals in your personal diary (you can also create a personal file in a computer) or on a small card. Chief goals of your life should not be more than two or three. If it is only one than it will be much easier for your to focus all your energy on it. Too many big goals will only create confusion in your mind.

Every person needs to be realistic. Analyse everything - your personality, your circumstances, your resources, only then you will be able to set realistic goals. The goals should be in harmony with your unique talent. Suppose you have a talent for negotiations and you set a goal to become a big engineer it will be unrealistic. Choose a goal in which you have to negotiate with others like property dealing, sale-purchase of automobiles, marketing or any other business transactions. And if you have talent for acting or writing you can’t set a goal to become a businessman. If you set a goal that is unsuitable to your basic personality you will always be in conflict and may not get much success.

2. Deadline is Necessary

You must fix a deadline to complete a work or achieve a goal. Without giving deadline to a work we often scatter our energy and the work may linger on for days, months and sometimes for years. When you prepare a ‘to do’ list also write a deadline with every task - definite time and date when the work is to be finished. Then try your best to complete that work before the deadline. If you are able to complete a big task before the deadline award your efforts with a gift or tour.

3. Small Steps

Chief goal should always be divided into yearly and monthly goals. Then it should further be divided into weekly and daily tasks. Always keep in mind that small drops of water can fill a bucket. Construction of a magnificent building starts with a small brick. Take a step today and you can cover a distance of a thousand miles.

4. Delegate

As you make progress you need other persons who can share your work load. One person can’t do everything. So wise delegation can make remarkable difference between success and failure. If you can’t do a certain work you should appoint a person who can do that. Rule of right work to right person must be followed. Every successful person has a good team whom he delegates his work to achieve his goals.

5. Evaluate Every Week

Once a week you need to evaluate your work. Take the analysis in written - the work you did, the time you wasted, the deadlines you missed etc. It will help you to improve your next working schedule.

6. Celebrate Your Success

Every achievement in life must be celebrated. Celebrate it in the way you like. Also reward yourself with a gift. When you work hard to get victory, to hit the target or to succeed in your mission you deserve to celebrate. Celebration refreshes our mind and prepares us for our next challenging job.

Anandrahi
CEO: News of India Network
Director: LSE-India (for Communication
Skills and Personality Development)

Trained thousands of persons to get great jobs, improve personality and achieve goals in business.

Best-selling Books written by Anandrahi: 1. Think Your Way to Wealth and Power
2. Fire of Success in Your Mind
3. Speak English and Influence People (To get an ebook write an email).

emails:
anandrahi@newsofindia.net
anandrahi@yahoo.co.in

Setting goals is difficult enough without adding the word finance in the mix. Many people are reluctant to tackle the task of determining financial goals. Unfortunately failing to do so can have an adverse effect on achieving a comfortable lifestyle later on in life. This article helps to guide you in successfully determining financial goals that you can actually achieve.

Before setting your financial goals there are 3 simple rules that must be followed. You will first need to learn to how effectively control your day-to-day financial affairs. Consistently doing this will allow you to do the things in life that bring you satisfaction and enjoyment. This is commonly referred to as making a budget. The next requirement is to choose a course of action that you can follow to financial success. Finally you must build a financial safety net such as a personal savings account or retirement investment.

Simple Steps To Setting Financial Goals

Step 1 - Identify and write down your financial goals. This will help you visualize your dreams and desires in the form of goals. This can include saving to send your children to college, buying a new car, saving for a down payment on a house, going on vacation, paying off high interest credit card debt, or planning for your retirement.

Step 2 – Take the time to break down your financial goals into several smaller more manageable time driven steps. These include short-term (less than 1 year), medium-term (1 to 3 years) and long-term (5 years or more) goals. Doing this simple task will make your goal setting process easier and more attainable.

Step 3 – Educate, Educate, Educate – Spend some time doing your research on financial topics. Read magazines and books on finance related subjects such as investing. Surf the Internet’s for investment web sites and don’t be afraid to learn about the stock market.

Step 4 – Periodically check your progress through a self-evaluation. You’ll want to check your progress monthly, quarterly, or at any other interval you feel comfortable with, but at least semi-annually, in order to confirm that your program is working. If you’re not making a satisfactory amount of progress on a particular goal, re-evaluate your approach and make changes as necessary.

Remember there are no hard and fast rules for implementing a financial plan. It is okay to dare to dream about riches, just be realistic about what you can actually do. When you write your goals down for your visualization process you will identify any that seem unobtainable and quickly see the more realistic goals that will lead you to financial success. The important thing is to at least do something as opposed to nothing, and to start NOW.

Timothy Gorman is a successful webmaster and publisher of Best-Free-Insurance-Quotes.com. He provides insurance information and offers discount auto, life and home insurance that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

Other websites operated by Tim

Cellular-Phone-Solutions.com - Free information and resources regarding cell phones and cell phone plans.

Military-Loans-Online.com – Which provides free money saving loan quotes on all of your loan needs to include home equity loan information.

6 Simple Steps To Achieve Your Deepest Desires

It’s been a long time since I played soccer. But I have a passion for it. Everyday I would think that I am making the winning goal from every angle of the field. Then I would also imagine that I’ve won the championship, that I’m also the highest scorer in the game. I would really love to play again, but I’m too busy with my job & other stuffs.

Then the opportunity came when my friends invited me to play. I haven’t been practicing, but I’m making better moves than those who have been playing every day.

What made the difference?

Well, that’s the power of imagination & visualization. If you want to be a doctor, visualize as one. Act like one. Think of what prognosis you’re making, the patient you’re seeing, the operation you’re handling, and the operating room you’re in. Visualize the procedure. Experience the success. Make everything real.

You should also affirm. Believe that you are what you are visualizing. So you want to be a doctor? Tell yourself, "I’m the best doctor in the world." Don’t say to yourself, "I will be the best doctor in the world."

Affirm strongly. Say "I am," not "I will," because "I will" suggests something that will occur only in the future. You have to experience it NOW, not in the future.

You must sink into your subconscious your deepest desire. The subconscious mind can do what the conscious mind cannot. Here’s an exercise.

Get a comfortable & quiet place to rest.

Relax your whole body. Command every part of your body to relax starting from your feet up to your head.

Count back slowly from 20 to 1, where in each count you relax deeper & deeper. Upon reaching 1, you are completely relaxed.

Now affirm your deepest desire. If you want to be a doctor, say," I am the greatest doctor in the world." As you’re saying that, picture yourself to be the best doctor ever, helping every patient you’ve ever met. You may say "I am now explaining to the medical community my methods" or anything that will affirm what you’re conceiving in your mind as of the moment.

After about 10 to 20 minutes of continuous confirmation and visualization, count slowly from 1 to 20. Upon counting, slowly be aware of your surroundings. Feel refreshed and invigorated after doing this exercise.

Repeat this exercise everyday.

What you have just learned is a very powerful technique to greatly enhance the power of visualization & affirmation by imbedding it into the subconscious. What once is nearly impossible to achieve will become easier to reach from now on.

About the Author
Jack Sinclair is President of Templar Bond, the online wealth generation company. When he’snot busy researching new ways for his clients to become wealthy, he’s busy helping someone improve himself or herself in one way or another.
You can get his free 7-day passive income course by visiting 7 days to Freedom.

In my earlier article “Setting Financial Goals – Part 1” I identified the 4 simple steps to setting up achievable financial goals. I mentioned that your financial goals should be broken down into smaller more manageable goals and then written down to help you visualize them. This article expands upon that information.

Writing your goals down has an additional effect besides allowing you to properly focus in on their success. In some cases you will discover that some of your goals are unfortunately so broad focused that they are unobtainable. However, don’t despair, as you will also be able to identify the smaller more tightly focused and thus achievable goals very quickly and easily. When writing down your goals don’t be afraid to dream about riches or retiring early in life just be realistic in your expectations.

Goals are more easily obtainable when they are broken down into separate steps or categories based on time frames. When you place a time frame on your goals you are programming your mind to subconsciously motivate itself to succeed in fulfilling your goals. There are 3 time frames that are generally recommended for goal setting. They are short-term goals (within 1 year), intermediate goals (3-5 years) and long term goals (5 years or longer).

A short-term goal generally takes one year or less to achieve, based on the date the task is needed, the total estimated cost, and the required savings. An intermediate-term goal is the type of goal that can’t be accomplished overnight but doesn’t require many years to accomplish. Examples might include buying a car, getting an education or paying off your debts like credit cards. Normally an intermediate-goal is anywhere from 1-3 years. Finally a long-term goal is a goal that requires an extensive time commitment (5 years or longer) in order to get accomplished or fulfilled. Examples of long-term goals might include college education for a child, retirement plan or purchasing a home. Whatever the case, these goals generally require longer commitments and often more money in the end.

As we stated before you will need to accurately identify what your financial goals are in order to have them come true. You will need to identify the necessary steps that need to be taken in order to achieve your goals. Examples of such steps include the following:

· Start placing 5% or 10% of your paycheck in a savings account.

· Educate yourself on different investment strategies such as IRA’s, stocks, mutual funds and various other personal investments. There are many more and all can assist you in short and long term goals.

· Make a budget for yourself that leaves you with some extra money (remember the 5% or 10%) and stick to it.

· Take every opportunity to use coupons. It seems like small savings, but when added together you could save 20-30 dollars at each trip to the grocery store.

· Shop around for bargains and do not live outside of your means.

· Work with a credit counselor to get help in lowering your monthly expenses and get rid of your debt.

These are just some of the things that you can do in order to realize your financial goals. If you truly set your mind to it and visualize the successful completion of your goals you will find that they are more attainable in the long run.

Timothy Gorman is a successful webmaster and publisher of Best-Free-Insurance-Quotes.com. He provides insurance information and offers discount auto, life and home insurance that you can research in your pajamas on his website.

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Being clear about and choosing what I want, followed by a firm decision to achieve that outcome, is where freedom and power is available. Yes, decision does mean ‘killing off’ other options!

A great way to think about goals is that, goal setting is ‘making a choice’.

Handwriting my goal, impresses it on my subconscious. Expressing my goal in the affirmative ensures it is a “moving toward” goal rather than something that I am “moving away from”.

It is then vital to make a deliberate decision to accomplish my goal and also to place strong, heartfelt emotions behind a list of benefits that I receive in producing the result.

For the accomplishment of my goal, there are crucial actions that will need to be taken at specific times. Obstacles (real or imagined) will also want contingencies by answering these questions for myself:

What circumstances or conditions may prevent me from achieving this goal? How will I manage each of those?

Writing down and displaying all of the above will serve as signposts to keep me on track, give me deadlines to increase the efficiency of my actions, provide strategies for overcoming blocks and my listed benefits are my personal reminders of why I am taking the actions, for those times that I procrastinate.

I will increase confidence in my ability to obtain what I want when I record and celebrate my personal victories along the way.

Then it’s time to take a first step and continue taking forward steps.

“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” (Buddhist Proverb)

©Thea Westra is an international life coach who resides in Perth, Western Australia. She is editor and publisher of a free, monthly newsletter at http://www.forwardsteps.com.au Thea also publishes a few blogs, visit here http://inspiration-daily.blogspot.com/ for directional links to each.

Is your life on purpose? Does just the question stop you in your tracks? Have you been so caught up in the pace of our world that you’ve not even thought lately about whether or not your life is going in the right direction?

Of course, living a life on purpose starts with knowing what your purpose is. Are you crystal clear about what the purpose of your life is? If you aren’t sure, then you’ve just identified the place at which you should start a new life of purpose. Start by getting clear about what your purpose is. Don’t feel bad if you don’t already have this clarity. In a recent survey of more than 3000 people when asked the question, "What have you to live for?" 94 percent said they had no definite purpose for their lives — 94 percent! That leaves only 6 percent of us who know why we’re here. It’s no wonder we’re not a particularly happy society.

How can you know if you’ve hit your purposeful stride? The life you lead should be a full expression of your purpose. Those of us on the outside looking in should be able to figure out atleast the broad scope of your purpose just by looking at your actions. The person you are should be a reflection of your purpose.

Knowing your purpose however is really only the start. Many people feel they know their purpose but also realize that their life doesn’t reflect it. In other words, they aren’t living true to it. When you’re living your purpose your life and the person you are become perfect reflections of it.

The good news is that it’s not too late. It is possible to start living on purpose immediately, even before you clearly know your purpose. Because asking yourself, "who am I and what is my life for?" begins to move your life into a new direction. It all starts when you ask the question. Don’t stop with just asking the question. Answer it as well. Then get busy becoming.

"Seek and you will find. Ask and it will be given unto you."

Make this week really count. Discover and start living your purpose.

Thanks for sitting with me.

Live some. Love some. Learn some. Everyday.

C…

Clyde Dennis, a.k.a. "Mr. How-To" has been writing and publishing Articles and Newsletters online since 1999. Clyde’s company EASYHow-To Publications provides "How-To" information on How-To do, be or have just about anything one can imagine. For more information visit http://www.EASYHow-To.com. Email correspondence for Clyde should be sent to: cdennis@easyhow-to.com