"One day I’m gonna…" Fill in the rest of the sentence. I’m sure you can!

Lots of people are going to do lots of things - one day. Well, why not make that day today? Don’t you think it’s time to get cracking on your goals as soon as possible? Let me ask you another question…

What earthly benefit could there be to in waiting for "one day?" Will you still be waiting "one day" in five years or ten or even twenty years time? Look back on your history. There is the answer.

There is a saying that goes something like this: "The person who wanted to think it over for a day or two was beaten by the person who thought it over on the spot." This is just another way of saying: "Strike while the iron is hot."

Time is not going to wait for you. It will just make you older. The very real possibility is that you will keep putting your goals off because you will entrench that attitude in your mindset.

Get cracking on your life goals - now! There will never be a better time than right now to do it.

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

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Click here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice." You can add value to your life by undertaking the "Journey, Life, Destiny" Personal Development Home Study Course.

Part I - Doing all the Right Things and still Just Getting By?

THE ORIGINS OF THE MYTH Post WWII US economic dominance courtesy of the “Greatest Generation”.

At the end of WWII, our fathers and grandfathers, what some call the “Greatest Generation”, created a period of unprecedented U.S. economic dominance in the context of the destroyed infrastructures of Europe, and Japan. For a time, the U.S. was to enjoy a global monopoly in trade and technology. The lack of any viable competition in the steel, auto, electronics, and other key industries helped to create an affluent middle class buoyed by strong unions and high paying blue collar manufacturing jobs. In large part, this helped to create the illusion of a mythical America, a shinning beacon of freedom and prosperity that would lead the world to a new promised land. This was a time of strong company/employee loyalty, lifetime employment with a single company, and one income households that could afford new homes in suburbia, new american made cars, and college education’s for their children.

The “myth” that grew out of this time, and what our parents told us was true (and it was for many of them) was to work hard, get good grades, get a college education (preferably engineering, science, or medicine), get a good job and climb the corporate ladder with a stable company. In short, work hard, do the right things and achieve the American Dream. This was the lesson learned from our parents and reinforced in our public schools for a whole generation of “baby boomers” and beyond. It became the proverbial conventional wisdom.

BARBARIANS AT THE GATE The Rise of Europe and Asia, Globalization, and the Decline of American Economic Dominance

Any corporation (small, medium, or large) always seeks the lowest cost of labor, material, and taxes, and the most lucrative markets for its goods and services. Its loyalty is not to its country of origin but to its shareholders. There is nothing evil or sinister about this, it is just way corporations are structured and the underlying framework for how management is rewarded. In a global economy, initially this lead to the off-shoring of production. So as the economies of the world began to recover and emerge after WWII, first we saw the loss of blue collar manufacturing jobs either to foreign competition or to off-shoring. Today, televisions and other consumer electronics are made in Asia, american auto parts jobs can be found in Mexico and China, the U.S. steel industry barely survives on tariffs, our textile industry is all but gone, and WalMart, the world’s largest retailer gets 70% of its goods from China. Our dominance in the auto industry is a thing of the past. Chrysler is now a German company and GM and it’s bankrupt parts spin-off Delphi are on the ropes. As a result, those high paying manufacturing jobs that created the worlds most affluent middle class are all but gone. You might argue that this was just part of a shift in our economy from manufacturing to high technology and that education, reschooling, and the digital age created a whole new class of highly skilled technology or “knowledge” workers.

For a time, that was true and the “myth” held some of its truth. However, in a “digital” global economy, as Thomas Freidman would say, “The world became flat”, and the outsourcing of skilled technical and knowledge based labor to emerging economies with high levels of technical skills and education is accelerating. This new knowledge based outsourcing includes everything from product development to software programming to the calculation and submission of U.S. individual tax returns. Even R&D once thought to be “safe” as a corporate “core competency” that must be held “in-house” is now commonly outsourced. For example, major U.S. multinationals such as MicroSoft, Intel, Motorola, General Motors, IBM, Cisco Systems, Accenture, GlaxoSmithKline, and Astrazeneca all have major R&D centers located in India and China. Bottom line, if your job can be done with a phone and computer sitting at home or in a cubicle it can also be done by someone in India or China at a fraction of the cost. In essence, in a digital global economy the best interests of the corporation are no longer in sync with the best interests of its “country of origin” workforce. This trend and the displacement and stress it will cause will only increase until some kind of global equilibrium and parity of labor costs and capital is attained. Is this inherently bad? No, in the long run this will make for a healthier more abundant world for everyone. However in the meantime, expect a prolonged period of painful transition.

So where are we today? What is the state of the dream, the operating “myth”? Why are over 50% of american workers dissatisfied with their jobs? Why do 25% of employees report that they are just “showing up to collect a paycheck”. At some level employees sense that they are just pawns in a much larger game. However, they don’t really understand the dynamics behind the layoffs, outsourcings, mergers, acquisitions, and rapid globalization that together make for significant job churn, stress, and suffering in the workforce. What this looks like for the “dream” today, are two income households without any real job security, high stress lifestyles with no time for family or personal growth, heavy household debt loads, and a general grind of just getting by from paycheck to paycheck.

BUILDING A NEW DREAM - YOUR DREAM One with a basis in the reality of today’s world - not our fathers and grandfathers world.

I have no ax to grind here, my only point is that the U.S. economic, geopolitical, and social reality has shifted over the last several decades, but “conventional wisdom” about what constitutes a successful life path and career has not kept pace. Opportunity always abounds and the emergence of this new global environment is no exception, but not if you are still wedded to the “myth” of the post war American Dream and remain dependent on and at the mercy of a corporation whose decisions and strategies for survival may leave you with the short straw tomorrow. Sure, you can find another job with another corporation but nothing really changes. You are in the same global environment and just as vulnerable as before.

So what are your options? You’re smart, you have a great work ethic, and you’ve acquired a multitude of valuable skills during your career. One, you have to let go of your father’s dream, you have to step out of the box and build your own dream and not toil for someone else’s dream or some corporation’s “vision”. Let’s face it, the security you felt you had with a “good job” and a “stable company” was just a myth. Two, you have to find a new paradigm for your career and life path, one that puts you in control of your own destiny.

John Van Doren is former turnaround and startup executive in the manufacturing sector. His is currently an independent entrepreneur with a website {http://www.youramericandream.info} devoted to redefining the American Dream and the next career and life path paradigm in the context of a digital and global economy.

If you want to achieve the goal you’ve been longing to reach. Think of ways how you can cope up with the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

To start with, you should know how to build a workplace relationship that will get you the assignments you want and raises you need, make your manager really like you by doing your job well, boosting the bottom line, and helping yourself looking good and contented.

How to do that? Here are tips from the experts about the way to achieving your goals – and how to get that next big raise.

1. Sigh less, solve more.

Participating in a complaint session might be cathartic, but it could also get you in hot water with everybody. If you are unhappy with some aspect of your work situation, try to be proactive rather than resentful.

For example, if you’re teamed up on a project with a colleague whose work style doesn’t mesh with yours, go talk to your boss. Do not criticize your partner. Tell your manager who you would like to work with and how the change will benefit the company. In doing so, you’ll be able to finish the assigned task in no time and be able to achieve your target.

2. Play well with others.

Remember that you can never achieve your goals without the help of others. Your job performance doesn’t depend on you alone – it is a team effort. Good employees know that whatever they do they are all working towards a common goal, so they help each other out.

If you want to achieve your goals, you should learn how to collaborate with others instead of compete.

3. Be a girl scout.

Remember the five P’s to success: Proper planning prevents poor performance. Thinking ahead can help you manage even the simplest things. Anticipating potential problems can help you deal with or even prevent them. If this happens, then you are on your way to success, and nothing can stop you now.

4. Incorporate the “can-do” attitude.

That is, you should always get the job done and done it right, on time, and within the success of the organization as well. If you do these things, then your boss might just remember you when a higher position opens up. That is one way of achieving your goals.

5. Laugh a little.

Everyone at work just wants permission to be human, and that means being able to laugh sometimes. Your ability to crack a joke can make the world smile at you. And if everything looks good on you, that means that you have a positive outlook in life and achieving your goals is not too far behind.

6. Love your job.

The bottom line: If you really like your job, everything that goes with will like you too. When someone genuinely enjoys their work, they are motivated, and people are more willing to work with them.

Nobody can achieve their purpose in life if they are not happy with what they are doing right now. If you are not feeling positive about your work right now, take a step back and remind yourself why you choose the career you did.

After mulling over on the very primary reason why you are in the situation you are in right now, you’ll then realize the purpose you have been aiming for.

7. Go the extra mile.

Push a little harder. Keep in mind that nothing is good enough. If you want to achieve your goals in life, you just have to keep on trying.

Bear in mind that there are no such thing as failure. If something did not turn out as it should be, it means that there is something you have missed or needs more of it. If you act on it right now, chances are, getting that dream is not a fantasy at all.

8. Believe in yourself.

No amount of advice will get you anywhere if you don’t believe in yourself. In fact, it is the very significant factor that will make you achieve your goals. You will be a winner, you can have that dream car, and you can lose weight, all because you believe in yourself. That is the most powerful driving force one could ever have.

See, getting that dream is not that complicated, though it is not that easy either. But whatever it is that will make you strive harder, just bear in mind that when you want something, you have to work hard for it and believe you can. You are the only person on earth who will know how you can achieve your goals right now. As they say, life is what you make it.

Daegan Smith is the leader of the fastest growing team of successful home business enterpernuers on the net. Find out how we’re creating financial freedom all across the globe and how to get in on the action FREE =>http://www.comlev.com

The key to achieving anything in life is focus. The key to success is focus. Whatever you focus on, you will obtain. Obsessive focus is the ability to focus on what you want until you obtain it. When you become obsessive about what you want, and you focus all your energy on that one thing, you will create a powerful force that will push you forward.

Obsessive focus is not a state in which you need to constantly exist. Just the act of focusing on your goals and desires will create results. There are times, however, when you will need obsessive focus. Extreme change calls for extreme measures. When you want something major to happen that will revolutionize your life - that is the time to utilize obsessive focus. When I started my business, I used this concept for the first five years. I did nothing but focus on building my business and making it a success. Other coaches - many of them no longer in the business - often told me that I should relax and not work so hard. However, that hard work and obsessive focus helped me to achieve amazing results. Because of the obsessive focus I placed on my business in the beginning, I now have a strong foundation from which to work.

Obsessive focus is the secret weapon that you need to call upon only on certain occasions. You will use obsessive focus only for a while because, frankly, the energy that it takes can’t be sustained indefinitely, but it can last long enough to get what you want. If you are looking to create major change in your life, you need to be obsessive and focus all of your energy on that change. Be single minded and make it happen!

Obsessive focus is the equivalent of creating a laser beam effect. If you hold a laser beam directly on an area, the laser beam will burn a hole through even the toughest steel. You could take the same laser beam and continually move it around, but you will not get the same result. If you want to burn through to reach your dreams and goals, you need obsessive focus.

You might be thinking that obsessive focus sounds, well, obsessive. Yes! Obsessive focus is obsessive, but if you want to create big changes, there are times when you will need to be obsessive, single minded and totally focused. You won’t have to do it forever, but you will have to do it for some time. How long? Well, until you reach your goal.

Coach Rachelle Disbennett-Lee, PhD, is a Certified Master Coach specializing in working with business owners and professionals in being more profitable and productive while staying sane and balanced. Coach Lee is the publisher of the award winning e-zine, 365 Days of Coaching. Her first book, 365 Days of Coaching – Because Life Happens Every Day (Universal Publisher, 2004) was named a finalist for Best Book 2004 by Publish.com and has a five star rating on Amazon.com.

Another year has flown by and here you are at the beginning of another year. This is a time when many people assess their life and make "new year resolutions" or set goals for the New Year. Sometimes they are the exact same resolutions as last year!! Did you make some of these?

I will:

* Lose weight, get into shape, and exercise more
* Spend more time with my family
* Stress less & relax more
* Get more sleep
* Save money
* Change jobs
* Be happy

If any of these resolutions sound familiar this is because these are some of the most popular resolutions made each year according to "How To Keep Your New Years Resolution.com"

The Oxford Dictionary definition of resolution is to decide firmly or have great determination, but most people are lucky if their resolution is kept until the end of their holidays. It’s no wonder many people find themselves making the exact same resolutions the next year. So how can you be successful in sticking to a resolution or successfully achieve any goal?

FIRSTLY…work on one thing at a time. Goals or resolutions involve change and sometimes it’s easier to give up and sink back into our old life patterns than stick to change. So only do one thing at a time or you may be tempted to give up!

SECONDLY…PLAN..PLAN..PLAN..you’ve heard the saying "People who fail to plan, plan to fail." Think about your goal. WRITE IT DOWN!!!! Put it where you will see it everyday. Set a start date. Develop a strategy. Write a list of points to help you reach your goal-break it down into manageable pieces and tackle it one piece at a time.

THIRDLY…Prepare for those obstacles that you know will come up. You know what I mean-if you have decided to lose 10kg you know someone will bring a chocolate cake to work on the first day of your diet. So think about what obstacles will come up and a plan to tackle each one. If you slip up-don’t let this make you totally give up. See it as one step back among all the steps you have taken and will take forward!!!! Remember to reward yourself for every step forward you do take-this will keep you in action and motivated.

LASTLY……GET SUPPORT…this is a must. It’s much easier to stay in action if you feel supported and also accountable to someone. You could buddy up with a friend or relative (as long as you are definitely sure they will support you). Or for unbiased support chose a Personal Life Coach to keep you motivated and in action.

Lisa Branigan specialises in coaching women who are stressed, tired and overwhelmed with their busy lives. Lisa is the author of “Life Solutions” a free monthly e-zine providing tips, advice and information on self-care and wellbeing.

For further information:
Phone: +61 89757 3750 or 0439 828 594
Website: http://www.quantumcoaching.com.au Email: lisa@quantumcoaching.com.au

You can forget about making New Year’s Resolutions if you’re hoping for a successful outcome. Most aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

No less than Mark Twain has written of New Year’s Resolutions, “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.”

The biggest majority of New Year’s Resolutions have gone by the wayside before January is over and most won’t even be remembered six months later. And the reason is pretty simple: Most are made in response to something negative — a habit or situation that the person wants to change or end. And therein lies the problem – it’s hard to develop momentum from a negative response. It is always easier to move toward something rather than away from something.

Consider one of the most adopted resolutions — weight loss. No one can get excited about losing weight because it requires deprivation. It’s a negative response to concerns about appearance, health, etc. The results of weight loss Resolutions demonstrate their weakness. A 1998 survey sponsored by Gardenburger found that more than three-fourths of all women between the ages of 25 and 54 make diet and weight-loss plans each year. Nearly nine of 10 respondents reported only occasional or no success, while almost half lost little or actually gained weight instead.

The people who succeed at losing weight and maintaining the loss have usually been motivated by a dream much bigger and more positive than just losing weight. They see themselves living a healthy lifestyle. They begin to act and think like people who are in good physical shape. There’s more of a radical change in a person’s thinking and actions than you see with most resolutions. It wouldn’t be possible to effect and sustain such a radical change unless the person is motivated by a big dream that is positive in nature.

Another popular aim is to quit smoking. And I can certainly relate to that — I was a three-pack-a-day smoker until I celebrated a smoke-free New Year’s twelve years ago. For over twenty years I had tried to quit many times using every tool and technique I heard about. But as long as I was trying to quit, I couldn’t break the grip.

Instead, I developed a dream to become a non-smoker. I fell in love with the idea of breathing clean air instead of smoky air, of my body and clothes smelling nice instead of smoky. I thought about how wonderful it would be to taste food again. I decided to start acting and thinking like a non-smoker, and when the thinking took hold I simply quit smoking. In all the years since, I’ve never wanted another cigarette, never even thought about wanting one.

If you’re going to make a New Year’s Resolution this year, make one with a high probability for success. Make a Resolution to develop a life plan. Most people are in a free-fall through life, careening from one crisis to the next. They wake up one day and 10, 20, 30 or more years have passed and they’re nowhere near where they thought or hoped they’d be. Working with a life plan you’re much more apt to be excited by what the future brings even if you succeed at attaining only a small part of your plan.

A life plan should address all areas of your life including finances, health, relationships, career, spiritual and even recreational. While a lot of our focus tends to be on financial issues like increasing income or decreasing debt, or health issues like losing weight or quitting smoking, the undeniable truth is that a life lived out of balance isn’t a life of quality at all.

If you were going to build a new house and you had this idea for a fabulous master bedroom suite, you wouldn’t rush out and start building the master bedroom. You’d have a complete plan before you started. When you approach resolutions and goals in the same manner, you end up with a much better chance of achieving success.

Copyright © 2004 Vic Johnson

Vic Johnson is a popular motivational speaker, author and Internet Infopreneur who has created some of the most visited personal development sites on the Web, including the goal setting portal, http://www.Goals2005.com that features goal setting programs and software as well as weight loss, smoking cessation and debt reduction solutions.

You have a choice it would seem – you can float along on the river of the life, don’t worry about where it takes you and maybe disappear over a waterfall or go with the flow but steer your way towards your objective.

If you want a chance at achieving something you have to set goals. If you want to achieve your goals then there are a number of simple rules to follow.

Write them down! Only 5 % of the population writes down their goals! Take a wild guess whether they achieve them or not? If you don’t set goals then at the end of next year you will find your no further forward than you are now at the end of 2004! Writing down your goals involves imagining or visualizing them. Don’t write them on scraps of A4 paper and then throw them in the bin! Get a little notebook you can carry in your pocket and refer to on a regular basis. This sounds crazy but you need a kick up the **** on a regular basis and referring to your goals will do just that!

Make your goals detailed and specific, I want to live somewhere warm and nice is a bit vague even for the subconscious mind! Who, what where, why, when! If nothing else it’s pleasant and relaxing to visualize being in a situation where your dreams have come true. Having problems actually coming up with a goal? Imagine if money was no object and you could spend your time just enjoying yourself? What would you do tomorrow, next week? Next month? Where? Who with? How long for? Etc

Write your Goals in the present tense, for example “I do not smoke and I feel great”. Sounds like mumbo jumbo but if you keep telling your brain that you are a certain way it finds a way to ensure that your reality actually matches your view of reality!

Re write your goals……set a time each day to read them, a time each week to revue them and re write re word them. No this is not a progress report to your self. If you haven’t achieved your goal do not spiral into depression wondering why it’s not happening. The very fact that you have written and re written your goals ensures your mind is focused and moving towards success.

Now stop thinking about doing something, get a small note book and write down what you want to achieve…..let your imagination go wild…..just write it down!

Robert Lee is the webmaster and owner of http://www.2minutes2.com where he writes and offers information and advice on the everyday use of Hypnosis, NLP and Speed Learning.

Think you can’t change? Many of us already know that we need to improve our state of well-being in order to extend our lives as we age. Making changes are traditionally difficult, but the good news is that it’s never too late to make changes for the better. The first step is to understand what’s important to you, and then determine the choices and decisions that represent where you want to be. Maybe you want to start a new career, lose weight, stop smoking or start exercising. Whatever the change is, be sure you understand why you want to make the change.

Take a moment to think about a time in your life when you made a successful change or developed a new habit. What was your motivation for the change? What was your attitude at the time? What obstacles or barriers did you have to overcome? Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take. Once you make the decision to change, you must practice that new behavior one day at a time until it becomes a habit - a lasting change.

What allows some people to change, while others don’t? According to Dr. James Prochaska, developer of the "Stages of Change Model," people cycle through a very distinct set of stages when making changes in their lives - from not being interested in making any changes, all the way through to maintaining a change after it’s already been made. This is the real challenge for everyone, because resistance is always the initial response to making a change. Sometimes people don’t see the positive side of change until it’s shown to them (or until they are forced to realize it on their own). Change is a choice. It’s something we decide to do. The same goes for wellness - it’s a choice, and once you have decided to change, you’ll feel better.

Embracing the concept of change is a big thing, because interestingly, many people think they don’t have a choice when it comes to change. Why? For some it’s fear, guilt, love, pain, time management or even a court order. What motivates one person may not be the same thing that gets another person to act. Everyone reacts differently to changes weather voluntary or mandatory.

To start making a change, let go of certain assumptions or ways of doing things, to make room for new ideas. Work on this one day at a time until you feel comfortable. This often comes into play when I work with sedentary people to increase their activity level (people who work a lot and don’t have a lot of time to exercise). One of my clients’ complaints was, "I don’t want to take an hour or 30 minutes to walk." My solution was to suggest several two-minute intervals that would equal 30 minutes throughout the day — just stand up, walk around and visit people throughout the office, for example. The result was successful. He exercised and actually became more sociable as a result! Once he became comfortable with walking, I got him up to 10-minute intervals three times a day. Now he’s walking 30 minutes at one time and enjoying it. This all took place over the course of a few months.

To make a lasting change, you start wherever you are and stretch a tiny bit more each time. If you fall off the wagon, or experience resistance, identify the cause or circumstances— who you were with, where you were, or your emotional state. The key is to get up and get back on the path again. You may go back and forward a few times because making a lasting change is hard. Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take. But you need to be ready, able and willing to make change happen.

Diane Randall is a Certified Wellness Coach who works primarily with adults over 30 to help them reclaim their zest and drive for life. Randall began her wellness journey over fifteen years ago when an unexplained health crisis forced her to adopt a better way of living, and has since used her education and experiences to help countless others. Randall speaks and writes about a variety of health and wellness related topics affecting the adult community.

When it comes to achieving accomplishments there are two foundational actions that must take place. When these two actions take place, and take place in the right order, you will become unstoppable. You will also enter into an elite group of people who actually do both.

You see, most people are given to only one or the other, and in doing so negate their opportunity to accomplish what it is that they want to accomplish.

What are these two actions?

Intake and output.

Think about it. Do you want to have a healthy body? You must take in proper food and output vigorous exercise. Do you want to be financially fit? You must intake income and output investments.

The same is true in our personal and professional lives. But what specifically do we intake and output?

We intake information and we out put effort through the exercise of our will.

The twin actions of accomplishment then are the intake of information and the exercising of our will.

As I said, most people do one or the other. They are simply information addicts or they are action addicts. You have some who go to every seminar in the world and then never exercise their will to put it into practice. Others are simply a flurry of action but going in no specific direction.

When you only intake information you become fat! Not physically fat but personally fat. You become lethargic. You become frustrated because all of this information was supposed to change your life!

When you only exercise your will and become a tornado of activity you become spent. You become tired because you aren’t achieving anything but a busy schedule!

But when you put these two together - WOW! Look out because you will turn the world upside down! So let’s look at these two a little closer.

How can you intake information?

1. Choose as close friends, people who will challenge and stimulate you intellectually and personally.

2. Go back to school.

3. Buy success products and listen to them.

4. Read books.

5. Go to a seminar.

6. Get involved in an ongoing discussion group with people who want to grow.

How can you exercise the will? This is a bit simpler but not so easy.

1. You simply must act on the information.

2. Eat better foods - put down the ice cream.

3. Save more money - stop spending on superfluous items.

4. Lose weight - start walking every day.

5. Manage your time - shut off the TV.

All of these things we know what to do, but we must simply do it.

Are you a person who has all the info? Then act. Are you a person who acts but doesn’t get anywhere? Then learn.

Intake information, exercise the will. The twin actions of accomplishment.

About The Author:

Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams.

To see Chris "live" at the upcoming Jim Rohn Weekend Event as he speaks on the subject of Secrets of Influence go to http://Chris-Widener.InspiresYOU.com/ or call 800-929-0434.

One goal-achievement tool I just started using is a scoreboard. It’s very easy to create and maintain. You make a page to score your progress towards all your measurable goals for the year. A scoreboard is nothing more than a table with 3 columns. The first column is a list of your goals. The second column is where you are now, your current reality for each goal. And the third column is where you want to be at the end of the year for each goal. The specific time frame is arbitrary. Fill out the scoreboard for all your measurable goals, and then put it somewhere where you’ll look at it every day. Update it weekly.

Some of the things I measure are my weight, body fat %, web site visitors, income from this site (currently $0), number of speeches given, number of articles written, days per week I meditate, number of info products released, and mailing list subscribers.

I also add a 4th column to the scoreboard just to show the difference I have left to go between my current reality and my goal.

Furthermore, if a goal isn’t easily measurable, then I just give it a rating on a scale of 1-10. That helps to objectify progress towards highly subjective goals. So if you want to improve your relationship, and you currently rate it a 4, while your goal is a 9-10, then you can see you still have a lot of work to do on that goal, whereas if you rate it an 8, you know you’re getting very close.

I like that my scoreboard gives me an immediate snapshot at a glance of how I’m doing on all my goals. I see all the numbers — the hard data — in one place. This helps me determine where I need to focus my efforts for the coming week. It only takes a few minutes a week to update all the figures, so it’s not particularly burdensome to use.

One refinement you might also consider is adding an additional column for the % complete. But many of my goals don’t fit the percentage model, so I opted not to do this. It’s something to consider though if most of your goals translate well to percentages.

Keep score, not to compete against others, but to know where you stand.

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.