Self hypnosis is a great tool for goal setting and for getting help in carrying out and fulfilling your goals, whatever they may be. This type of hypnosis can easily be learned if you really want to use this excellent method as an aid for reaching your goals. Below is a short generic view of the self hypnotic process. Though lots of variations of this method have been used, these are the basic steps you have to go through in order to hypnotize yourself to accomplish whatever you want.

1. Rank your goals from the most important goal to the less important. If possible, your goals should be measurable. Start with your most important goal. As soon as you can measure progress for this goal (like pounds lost, if your goal is weight loss, days of no smoking, if your goal is to stop smoking etc.) continuing with your second most important goal etc.
2. For each goal, you should formulate appropriate suggestions which means you have to transform your goals into specific instructions to your subconscious mind on how to achieve each goal.
3. Relaxation – use the first minutes of your self hypnotic session to get as relaxed as possible
4. Start your hypnotic induction phase by saying and repeating outloud the hypnotic words you have chosen, thinking of these words or listening to a hypnotic tape or CD custmized for your hypnotic and goal fulfillment needs. An example of an induction can be;

   "I am totally relaxed. I close my eyes and now I’m starting to drift downward. I can feel a warmth that is spreading from my feet and up my body. Every single part of my body is warm and totally relaxed.”

5. Apply the hypnotic suggestions you’ve made for reaching the specific goal you work with, say them outloud, think them or use a tailored hypnotic tape or CD

Before you start up your self hypnotic exercises you should make a time scedule for it. Do your hypnotic sessions every day, 5 minutes a day might be enough. Repeat your suggestions as often as possible during the day.

You must also measure your progress; am I closer to the goal now than I was last week? You should ask. This is the only way you can find out if this method really help you in achieving your goals.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is a writer and internet publisher. He runs the website 1st-Self_Improvement.net. Terje is a Sociologist who enjoys contributing to the personal growth and happiness of others. He tries to accomplish this by writing about self help issues from his own experience and knowledge. For example, self hypnosis and other methods for self improvement as well as help to stop smoking.

Any time of year is a good time to set goals and start working towards them. However there are certain times of year when it feels very natural to set goals. One of these times is the New Year, and another is ‘Back to School’ time.

What would you love to have achieved by December? What would you feel really proud of accomplishing? As students head ‘Back to School’ to achieve their academic goals, we can take inspiration from them and apply it to our goals.

When we begin to see advertisements for ‘Back to School’ and children get ready for the new school year, it is a great time to set goals for ourselves too. However, our goals can be related to any aspect of our lives, and not just limited academic goals.

When we think of going ‘Back to School’ we picture fall colors and cooler weather. There is a ritual of going shopping for new supplies and setting off on the first day dressed in a new outfit. There is also an element of optimism and enthusiasm, ready to embrace a new and exciting challenge of the school year. So what can we learn from students who are heading ‘Back to School’ this fall?

Resources

When students go ‘Back to School’ they are surrounded by many different resources. These include tools such as new books, pens and pencils, clothes, etceteras. Although these tools have practical uses, they also make an important impression on the subconscious mind by providing strong motivations such as confidence and courage at a time that is generally filled with apprehension.

Students are also surrounded by many types of people resources. They have friends at school who share common interests and who are working towards common goals. They have access to teachers, librarians, counsellors, etceteras who impart their wisdom and motivate and guide them to learn new information and skills.

In addition, in order for students to be successful in achieving their academic pursuits, they also need to master the resource of time management. They need to make effective use of their time at school, and then they need to have the self-discipline to manage their time at home to do homework and prepare for the next day.

Therefore, no matter what goals you would like to achieve, you need to think about which specific resources you would need (i.e. what tools do you need, which people would help the most, where will your time come from, etc.). For example, if you wanted to get fit, then your tools might be a new gym outfit complete with cross-training sneakers to motivate yourself to go. Your people resources might be the trainers at the gym and your friends who share common fitness goals. Finally you would need to set aside time each day to attend the gym, to pack and repack your gym bag etc.

Structure

Going ‘Back to School’ also provides structure. After the freewheeling nature of summer vacation, structure can seem to be a very unwelcome thing. Even adults often think they dislike structure, and prefer to be spontaneous. However, having structure in place is a very valuable mechanism to facilitate the achievement of your goals.

Structure provides a framework so that you can do your best work effortlessly. If you decide your goal is to get fit, then structuring your workouts would be beneficial. You would need to schedule when you would attend the gym, and exactly what exercises you would be doing at each workout session.

Students have their time automatically structured. Their day-to-day time is structured with class schedules, and the exams that determine whether or not they have achieved their academic goals are structured by major holidays. The first such major holiday is in December, which gives them approximately 12 weeks to work towards their goals.

Twelve weeks is also a perfect length of time for you to work towards your goals; long enough to see results, yet short enough not to feel overwhelmed. Plus, if you are feeling melancholy that the summer is over, working towards a goal can direct that sad feeling into positive energy.

New Leaf

When children go ‘Back to School’ there is a feeling of newness and excitement in the air. It does not matter what happened last year; this year is a clean slate or a ‘new leaf’. Examples of the new leaf mentality might be: homework will be done the night it’s set, rather than the night before it’s due; library books will be returned on time, etceteras. Why not take this mind-set and apply it to your goals? It does not matter that past attempts to get fit were not successful, this time you WILL succeed.

So get ready to apply the ‘Back to School’ mind-set. Write down the goal(s) that you would like to achieve by December. Then determine the resources you need. Ensure you have the structure in place, and then turn a new leaf and jump right in!

Jacqueline King works with individuals wishing to achieve their goals in life. For more information, please visit http://www.montrealaddcoach.com

Ever noticed that when you have swags of time to complete a task then it takes much more time to complete it than is necessary?

I’m aware of a similar phenomenon with money. When I have my mortgage or health insurance debited from an account before funds are paid through to me, it’s amazing how that amount is not missed and I easily live within the amount that I receive. Yet when provided my total funds available first, how hard it is to pool the amount needed to pay that mortgage and insurance?

The thoughts in my mind and the gift that is my life, are not unlike these two scenarios. When I leave such vacuums in my mind and my life, they will be filled for me. Moment by moment and usually with other people’s agendas. My points of focus are then not my own. The distractions that can fill the voids are endless.

The first thing that I work on with clients is "What end result do you want?”

This one question can be such a struggle. In fact, some people never begin working with me because they cannot answer that question - not recognising that a coach will first work with you to crystallise your vision. Often the initial responses given are, what we think that others think that we should want for ourselves. Sometimes the answer is even what ‘we think’ that we think we want!

If I can give no authentic response to that question then I must be living from someone else’s agenda. It cannot be any other way. My thoughts and activities cannot have been allocated a specific focus if I find myself aimlessly bobbing on the waves.

My mind operates like a filter and also as radar. With all the stimulus coming at me then what is my brain filtering out, and on what is my mind focused? If I feel that I have fewer options in life and am experiencing overwhelm then I have not got clear with what I really want and my life will be an expression of survival or chaos. When there’s no mental image… expect total confusion!

I am much more inspired when firmly grounding my goals in what I want and where I ultimately want to go rather than basing my goals on what I have or what I have done. The other thing to recognise here, is that there is no right or wrong answer to the question "What end result do you want?". There is also not always a single answer nor multiple answers. That is completely personal.

How do you come about the answers for you? There are a myriad of ways to get access to what touches your heart and what would fulfil your life. It’s one of the reasons that I load this e-zine up with so many "triggers" for you.

Working one to one with a coach over a period allows for setting aside time for focused conversation; exploring many avenues and then gradually exposing the desired outcomes that "fit like a glove" for you. This quote may be a good place to begin your enquiry:

"View life as a series of movie frames, the ending and meaning may not be apparent until the very end of the movie, and yet, each of the hundreds of individual frames has meaning within the context of the whole movie. View your life from your funeral, looking back at your life experiences, what have you accomplished? What would you have wanted to accomplish but didn’t? What were the happy moments? What were the sad? What would you do again, and what you wouldn’t?" ~Victor Frankl~

©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.

Life is nothing but an obstacle course, its all about getting through that obstacle course *successfully* to your desired goal that most people seem to have a problem with.

And it’s only normal to encounter these obstacles in the pursuit of your goal.

It’s kind of a test to see if your worthy.

However, when these obstacles start to become a nuisance to the point of almost putting a stop to your goal(s); or worse, making one completely abandon his/her goal, one must take action and think things through.

So, with that said, here are some helpful, tested pointers that will keep your attention focused in achieving any goal that you put your mind to.

Step #1. Think positive.

This means: Do not quit. Especially when one is midway in working for a goal, there should be no room for quitting.

To quit is tantamount to going back to the starting line of goal accomplishment. That is time, energy, money, and a whole lot of things wasted and lost. It is more costly to quit than to find a solution to the problem, not to mention the frustration one feels.

Step #2. Keep a clear, open and tense-free mind.

Always be ready to receive new ideas. Focus and concentrate. Think on a wide scale manner and always be open for options(even unconventional ones) to eliminate the particular obstacle you are currently dealing with.

Step #3. Persist and Persevere.

Be sure to exhaust every possibility, even to the point of trial and error, just to be sure that there is a solution to correct the problem your dealing with.

Step #4. Simulate.

Try to picture inside your head a possible solution to help overcome and/or solve the obstacle that’s setting you back.

Step #5. Get assistance.

If all fails get assistance from other you know who are more knowledgeable on the work being done. They may be able to help you or not. Their suggestions might not necessarily be the right or exact ones you were hoping to hear, but they may trigger some NEW ideas in finding the right solution to your problem.

Those are the basic 5 steps to overcoming any obstacle that’s holding you back.

But… before I go I’d like you to consider this scenario as an example.

Let’s say you thought of a COOL new product and you are confident and excited that this product will be sellable to your target market once it hits the market.

You then go tell a friend about it, but your friend says that your product would be waste of time and money.

Your friend also tells you why it will be such a flop and gives your their reason why as follows:

"If your product idea is to be a success, how come nobody else is doing it?"

Does this sound familiar?

With that being said you decide that your friend is right and forget about your new product idea because of your friend’s comment.

This exact scenario happens all the time all over the world.

Don’t fall victim to this.

You are your own person with your own opinions and beliefs.

Though it is good to hear other peoples opinions and their reasons, what really matters the most is yours in the end based on the information you have received and researched.

So the lesson here is, be firm in your beliefs and follow your heart and minds desire.

You just never know what the outcome might be.

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In 75 years time almost every person reading these words will probably be dead. Some, like me, will be long gone before that time - unless, of course, some scientist creates a miraculous anti-aging pill. Scary huh?

The way that so many people keep putting off significant life goals you would think that they had thousands of years to live. "Ah, I’ll leave it till tomorrow / next week / next month / next year / whenever…" These words are thought and uttered by millions every minute of every day.

Life is short. It’s shorter than most people realize.

When it comes to time everybody gets treated the same way. It doesn’t matter whether you are a pauper or a king. Time does not discriminate. No matter how much money you have you will never be able to purchase any units of time. Time does not care what you look like or how talented you are. It doesn’t care where you were born or who your parents are or what nationality you are.

Apart from the air we breathe, water, food and shelter, it is our most precious commodity. From the moment we are born we begin to use it up.

Why then are so many people prepared to waste time? You know that you are not going to live forever. You know that every passing day just reduces the amount of time you have to fulfil your life goals. Set a date. Make a promise to yourself. Put some checkpoints in place. Measure your progress on a consistent basis.

How important are your goals? Are they significant enough for you to expend the required time on bringing them to fruition? Well? How just important are they to you?

Father time will not wait for you. Make a start today. Write yourself a plan. Stick to it. Spend your time wisely. You will never get it back. Become inspired.

This article comes with reprint rights providing no changes are made and the resource box below accompanies it.

Become inspired: Click here to receive Gary Simpson’s short "zenspirational" weekly message PLUS an immediate FREE copy of his inspirational e-book "The Power of Choice." Read this and you will NEVER waste time again - guaranteed!

Pick up any self-help book or attend a corporate meeting, you will probably hear the word goal. Louie Armstrong once said that dreams are goals with endings.

Dreams, goal setting and goal achievement are part of daily life. Everybody has dreams. Everyone sets goals in some fashion. And everyone wants to see many of those dreams successfully realized. If these three statements are true, then why don’t we see more success?

Success is much more about goal achievement than goal setting. How consistently you achieve your goals and how you manage your goals is what will catapult you farther than everyone else.

Unfortunately, there exists a presumption that individuals know how to set, achieve and manage goals whether personally, professionally or organizationally. This fatal presumption starts early in life and sets people up for unnecessary failure.

So how can someone turn the tide and become a consistent goal achiever? For me, the answer to this question laid within the adoption of an Action Plan For Success. This plan allowed me to explore my dreams and self-assess my life. This self-assessment included mental, physical, social, family, career, financial, ethics and beliefs.

My goals within this Action Plan are prioritized and organized. Each goal has been written using specific proven criteria. For me, each criterion is much like an ingredient in a recipe. When all the ingredients are blended together, a consistent outcome is assured.

Finally my Action Plan for Success includes a mechanism to monitor all current goals and a way to capture all achieved goals. I believe that a goal achievement summary is critical for personal motivation. We all have those gray days when we feel that we haven’t accomplished much. My goal-accomplished sheet accurately displays the results of my past efforts. Also, this helps me to see all of those dreams that have successfully turned into achieved goals.

If you take the time to create an Action Plan for Success or find has such a performance tool (that’s what I did because I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel) and then commit to the necessary actions to turn your dreams into goals with endings, you shall too receive unheard of results.

Copyright 2005(c) Leanne Hoagland-Smith, www.processspecialist.com

This article may be freely published. Permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. CEO of ADVANCED SYSTEMS located outside of Chicago, IL, is the Learning and Process Specialist. With over 25 years of business & education experience, she helps her clients to double their performance. Beginning with the belief systems, Leanne brings a unique perspective to training and development that delivers a significant return on investment. She infuses a 25 year old proven goal achievement action plan into her results focused solutions that work within a variety of industries including education, healthcare, manufacturing and professional services. As co-author of M.A.G.I.C.A.L. Potential: 7 Capacities for Living an Amazing Life Beyond Purpose to Achievement due for 2005 release, Leanne speaks nationally to a variety of audiences. Please contact Leanne at 219.759.5601 or visit http://www.processspecialist.com/individuals.htm to read how you double your performance for unheard of results.

If you are like most folks, by this time of the year you are either discouraged about your lack of progress toward your goals or you have given up on them altogether. In either case, allow me to offer you two words: consistency and decision.

In graduate school, I was fortunate enough to be able to play racquetball just about every day. Racquetball is one of those games where you can play well, lose focus for just a second, and then play very poorly.

Consistency is the key

We had a saying back then that applies in the present: Consistency is the key. Consistently focusing on doing the necessary things to achieve your goals will win out every time.

If your goal is to get in better shape, then consistently exercising and eating right will get you there.

If your goal is to save more money, then spending less on junk and consistently putting money in the bank will get you there. You either consistently blow your money on junk or consistently save it.

So if consistency is the key, what is the key to consistency?

Decisions. Making the right decision, making the right choice over and over again over time equals consistency. The word decision comes from the word incision, which means to cut. So to genuinely decide to do something means to cut off any other possibility.

If you want to get into better shape, get the junk food out of the house, because if it’s there you will eat it. If you want to save money, have it taken out of your paycheck and sent to savings before you ever see it.

There’s one question to ask yourself often to keep you consistent and making the right decisions. What do you really want? Do you really want the short-term enjoyment of that candy bar or do you genuinely want the long-term enjoyment of being in better shape and saving money?

Visit The Article Guy for more leading edge tips and tools for writing articles that bring you prospects, publicity and profits. You can also subscirbe to our monthly Article Empire Tips Newsletter. You are also invited to visit my Express-Start Article Writing Program for more information on the next article writing tele-seminar.

Don’t you hated when you start to do something in particular and all of the sudden you find yourself distracted once again doing something else, without finishing what you set out to do in the first place?

It happens to me all the time. I start the day focusing into one thing and then by the end of the day end up doing something completely different.

I think some people get bored doing one thing only, so we are easy to get side-tracked.

That’s why I decided to investigate more about Setting Goals. I found some great information and decided to setup a site to help others as well into Setting their Own goals and sticking to them until they have achieved them.

Here you will find some usefull tips for getting your goals into shape and achieved.

The key to successful goal setting is your ability to motivate yourself and stay motivated until you have achieved your goals.

Stay focused…it is extremely important to take your goals seriously and you will achieve any goals you set your mind to do.

First, let’s take a look at what motivation really is.

Motivation is not a product of outside influence; it is a natural product of your desire to achieve something and your belief that you are capable of doing it

Positive goals that are geared toward your pleasure are much more powerful motivators than negative ones that are based on fear. The right combination of both is the most powerful and motivating mix.

Now let’s look at what you can actually do to motivate yourself and stay that way.

1. Start with visualizing your future success and model the feelings you’ll experience when you achieve it

2. Mentally walk the path towards this success and base your feelings at different milestones on the way

3. Assign a high priority to each task that you must achieve which will give each task a priority in your mind

4. Set a target for the amount of work you will do each day toward your goals

5. Visualize the desired outcome: Create a picture of what the desired outcome will look like, and have this vision in your mind at all times

6. Set milestones of the things you like to do and the things that you are good at

7. Use visual indicators to monitor progress and complete the task

8. Give yourself affirmations to remind yourself of how capable you are at reaching your goals

9. Watch movies that motivate you

10. Listen to music that motivates you

11. If you work better with competition, make a deal with a friend or family member to compete for the goal for example who gets there first! It can be hypothetical and doesn’t necessarily have to be for real

12. Get help and support from people around you or from a professional in the field for example a personal trainer, finance manager etc.

13. Define your own version of success, don’t let others define success for you

14. Ignore any negative influences or responses to your efforts

15. Make a conscious effort to do better than you have ever done in the past

16. Focus on the positive achievements and not the negatives

17. Share your successes with others as this will keep you focused and help you voice your accomplishments which will realize your achievements for you

18. Acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses and work on them both

19. Train yourself to finish what you start by refusing to quit until you are done

20. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and don’t punish yourself for making them Express your goals in a positive way. That is a key component to setting goals that you can attain.

Express your goals in a positive way. That is a key component to setting goals that you can attain.

For more information about Goal Setting, visit us at: http://Howto-Help-Guides.com/goalsetting

Author: Edna Melendez
We are always looking for ways to improve our lifes.

So what the heck are life goals, you ask. You see, many of us have goals, and while that’s wonderful we have to make absolutely certain that they are in line with our life goals.

Life goals are basically just a fancy name for more long-term goals. Our larger dreams, the things that get us so excited we long for their achievement. Since our long term goals are where we ultimately want to end up, it’s rather important that our shorter-term goals, or those action steps that support our long-term achievements are working together.

Here’s an example:

If your dream is to become a graduate of your local college and go on to get your MBA, but your short term goals are not leading you to spend more time studying then you can just about bet you’re going to have some type of struggle between what you desire and actually achieve. Essentially you’re planning long term for one thing, yet taking steps in an all-together different direction.

A much more effective solution would be to work backwards where after outlining your longer term goals you start looking towards more immediate steps you can take that will lead to the overall outcome.

It’s my hope that you got one thing from what I said above, that life goals are not to be taken lightly. They should be totally in line with your values, the things that you personally believe to be important. When we are careful to align our long term plans with our natural abilities I believe that we can actually steer our lives on the course we want it to take.

Personally my life goal is to create opportunity for those around me. To positively impact those I am fortunate enough to come into contact with. After identifying my life goal I have a standard with which to measure my short-term goals.

For instance, if I have an idea or goal I’d like to work towards I look at it objectively to see that it fits into and will help me reach my long-term goals, if it doesn’t then the idea is discarded. I record the idea along with the reason I passed on it, and simply move forward with my daily routine.

You’ll put yourself at a distinct advantage when you make sure your short-term actions lead you towards your long-term objectives.

– Here’s to your success, Josh Hinds

Josh Hinds specializes in helping people set and achieve their goals and live the life of their dreams. For expert advice on goal setting visit http://GoalsSuccess.com now!

Do you find yourself amazed at how quickly the months pass? Do you find yourself in a small panic over all you know you have to do and how little you feel you are actually accomplishing? Join the crowd! We live in a busy world where our time, priorities and energy are constantly challenged. The reality is that there is simply not time for everything and we don’t have enough energy to complete everything.

What do we do? There are 5 simple steps to create greater success by managing our time and getting things done in business and life that are important.

1. EVALUATE. What do I really want? Where am I headed? What am I doing now?

2. GET REAL. What is really important that will impact and support your long term goals the best? What is not important? What is distracting me? What is not really supporting my long term goal?

3. PLAN. What do I need to do to accomplish my goal? What are the KEY action steps? How will I do this? What schedule or strategy will keep me focused?

4. FOCUS. Who do you need to be and what structures do you need to have to accomplish this (mindset, attitude, accountability)?

5. MONITOR/EVALUATE. Am I doing little, unimportant things? Am I procrastinating? What is working/ what is not? How could I streamline what I am doing?

What happens with good intentions and goals…

Plans begin as ideas in our head; we desire to have or do something. The key to the success of the idea is a plan. You know the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Sometime our ideas will make it to paper in the form of a SMART goal and sometime not. If we do write a goal people sometimes we will create some action steps, but rarely do they take the time to thoroughly think through what actions are actually needed at each stage to accomplish the goal completely. Sometimes people will start planning and get overwhelmed at how much work it will actually take or get overwhelmed with the process and give up. Often our goals remain our dreams because we fail to carve out time to make them reality. A management tip is to create a plan from start to finish. With this plan, decide if you have the time, energy, resources and desire to bring it to completion. Next, estimate HOW LONG each task will actually take. It is common to underestimate how much time each step will take and therefore it never gets done. Remember, if you are going to add something to your schedule, you must also plan to say "No!" to something else to make time to accomplish your goal.

Step 1: EVALUATE…

To create an effective plan, begin with a careful evaluation. Most people are constantly evaluating their present state without much problem. We are constantly assessing, "What do I really want right now?" We look at things around us and talk about what we would like to be different in our life. We talk about our goals, New Year’s Resolutions, current intentions, etc. We often state them as fact and sincerely intend to accomplish those in our life. We see how they would make a positive difference and desire for them to happen. There is a small percentage of people who also evaluate the questions, "Where am I headed?" and "What will it take for me to get there?" Evaluation is a tool that allows you to anchor where you are now, determine where you want to go and create markers along the way to ensure you stay on course. Without a longer term vision, we tend to react to current situations, "I need to make more money, I need to lose weight, I need to get this business off the ground, etc." This leads to wandering through life without focus or purpose. Evaluate the present and then also evaluate the future and what it would take to get there.

Step 2: GET REAL…

Then, get real. Does this fit in with where you are headed with your long term goals in your life? What is doing this going to get you? What is the cost (consider time, money, energy, emotional, etc.) Are you willing to pay it? If you do really want this, what is going to be important that you do? What is distracting you from making this happen?

Identify Key Result Items:

o Write exactly where you are headed and what this is going to get you.

o Identify what you will have to do and write that down.

o Identify what you will have to say "no" to and commit to 3 things you will have to stop to make this happen. Identify what this will "cost" and write down how you will "pay" for it. (This is not just financial, it may be something intangible like - COST: time with the family, PAYMENT: work later during week, but home Friday for dinner and family day all Saturday.)

o Identify 5 main distractions and how you can eliminate those.

Step 3: PLAN…

Next, plan what it will take to make this happen. You already have some Key Result Items from your Get Real Exercise. Take those and add to the list other ideas of what you know you will need to do to accomplish your goal. What are specific action steps you will need to take? Stop a minute and in your mind focus on your long term goal. See it in full and complete form. What is there? What are you doing? What do you notice about yourself and your actions? Now, in your mind walk backwards what did you do to get there? For example, if part of my long term goal is to have a thriving independent business, I may visualize myself in an office with the flexibility to be remote. Part of what I would need to do is establish an office, design portable systems, have a virtual assistant, have tools and resources for office work, etc. This becomes one Key Result Area: A functional Office. Then I walk backwards and plan steps I would have taken to create this functional office. Put dates on each broken-down action step and estimate what it will take to make each step happen (time, cost, etc.). Allocate completion targets accordingly.

Step 4: FOCUS…

Now that you have your plan flushed out and in place, who do you need to be to accomplish this? Going back to your vision of your completed goal, what mindset and attitude did you have throughout the project? How did you do this? What schedule or strategy kept you focused? What systems of accountability did you have in place? What kept you on track and focused? One of the most common errors people make is IF they get their plan complete, they begin work and get caught up in the rush of life again and start reacting and forget about their plan. When you created your plan you were looking at the big picture. When you are working in the trenches of life, you are limited to see what is in front of you, unless you stick to the plan. There is nothing wrong with evaluating and refining your plan as you go, but only when you are looking at it in perspective of the whole picture and not the short term moment. The story is told about the caravan crossing the Sahara desert. The desert was barren and large. Many parties got lost crossing the great plains as they could not see their destination over the horizon. A team went in and put in markers for travelers to focus on as they crossed so they would use each marker as a point of reference until they could see the city. This allows many parties to cross the treacherous desert in the most direct and efficient path. This is your plan. Plan it well, establish milestones to focus on, trust them and stay the course!

Step 5: Monitor…

Step back occasionally and evaluate what you are doing. Go back to step one. How are you doing? What is working what is not? Are you on track or off course? Make adjustments to get on track, re-design what is not working to new solutions and refine the plan in area that would increase efficiency or results toward your goal. Keep your long-term goal in mind and check to make sure your short term goals are supporting the long term goals. Notice your behavior. Accomplishing big goals is hard work. Plan first and keep your eyes on the pre-set short term goal that position you to reach your bigger vision.

Bottom line…

None of these strategies are rocket science. The challenge is to maintain the discipline, focus and clarity to implement these basic strategies. Evaluate your long term goal, be realistic, plan, set structures for focus and have check points to monitor. Invest your time in your plan and maintain the course once it is set. If you are serious about these goals, take action today. Insure your success by developing an accountably system for yourself. Hire a coach as your strategic partner to run with you. Find a buddy in a similar situation. Whatever it is, build environments to support your vision. Take the time to plan and design structures for success and you will see a difference! Here’s to you and your success! Have fun!

Christy Geiger is a strategic planning coach and the owner of Synergy Strategies, a business and life-coaching company that works with IBOs and professionals to implement their thousands of great ideas in ways that will maximize time, energy and effort! Through solid vision, goal and strategy planning, clients are able to maximize their personal effectiveness and accomplish their mission! Visit http://www.synergystrategies.com/