Feb 9th 10
Posted by Aldohas in goal setting
A wise Chinese sage once said,
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Wise words? But what do they mean to someone who is trying to achieve their goals in life? That’s what we’ll be talking about in this article.
I am sure that you have some big goals in your life. Perhaps you want a mansion in the countryside, a sports car, or your own boat.
I am also sure that you may well be looking at this goal and thinking “How the hell am I going to get that?”
And this is where our wise philosopher comes into play.
Pick one of your major goals that you don’t know how to achieve and examine it more closely. Think about the goal and you will realise that it is made up of a number of smaller goals, each of which is in turn made up of other smaller goals.
Grab a piece of paper, write down a major goal at the top, and below it, write down the steps you can take to achieve this goal. In effect, each of these steps represents a mini-goal, and each of these mini-goals can be broken down further if necessary into more manageable chunks.
Do not become obsessed with achieving each minor step on your way to the major goal. You may find that some steps can be skipped, some become unnecessary, and that new steps appear. Review these minor steps regularly as they will change often.
Now you’ve just done this quick exercise, and you should never leave the scene of a decision without taking some action, so go do something to get yourself on the path to your goal!
An example may be that you want to buy a farm in the country. You know nothing about farms. You may break your goal down into something like:
1) Find out about farming – is it for me and what does it involve?
2) What sort of farms are there and which type do I want?
3) What is the best area for the type of farm that I want?
4) How much money do I need to buy the farm
…
…
…
Buy the farm
This is a very simple illustration of breaking down your goals. Each one of these may be broken down further into actions you can take.
Now you realise, that the journey towards a goal starts with a single step, and is made up of many steps.
Originally posted 2009-08-30 01:22:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Feb 9th 10
Posted by Aldohas in Affirmation
photo credit: TheeErin
Positive self-talk means purposely giving yourself positive reinforcement, motivation, and recognition- just as you would do for a friend. Congratulate yourself when you do well, and remind yourself of your abilities, accomplishments, strengths and skills. Keep a to-do list, check off accomplishments, and review your progress periodically.
Make self-talk work for you. When you habitually say to yourself has a very profound impact on your self-image, your self-esteem, and your performance as well as eventual success. Remember that your subconscious triggers physiological responses to match the pictures and thoughts that you have of yourself to make them happens. Make this work for you by keeping your self-talk positive.
For example say to yourself either “ I did a good job on that changing a friend’s oil even though I took a quart and ½ for myself “ or “ I did a good job of not paying a good friend the cost of supplies for the efforts he did for me “.
Stop negative self-talk. You may well be quick to nag yourself because your mother wanted you to more than perfect. However, negative self talk can be damaging because your subconscious believes what you say to your when you repeat that negative talk in your mind over and over. How is your subconscious to know otherwise? If you catch yourself using negative self-talk, stop and rephrase. Eliminate the negative words. Focus instead on the best course you can take and do it.
Make positive communications a habit. Focus on the positive in goal statements, self-talk, and all communications. Compare the following phrases, and notice how the positive words convey confidence, commitment, and enthusiasm.
For example instead of “I will try” substitute the phrase “I will “. Instead of saying to you “I should do “insert the phrase “I will do “. Try saying “ I want to “ or “ I choose to” instead of the more common “I must “.
Focus with affirmation statements. Affirmative statements are positive self-statements or reminders to help you achieve goals. They are positive messages with a punch “mental bumper stickers” of sorts to motivate your subconscious mind to work for you.
Here are guidelines to help you to use the powerful tool of affirmative statements as vital mental reminder technique.
- Make the statements personal to yourself. Not arbitrary or generic. Use the phrase “I”, your own name, or you
- Keep affirmations short. How can you use the affirmations if you cannot remember them?
- Phrase your affirmations positively. The mind accepts as truth the words that you give it. Use positive words only as affirmations. Leave out any negative words. For example say “I will not be nervous during my interview with the warden “. Rather say “I will be calm and self-assured during my interview”
- Include a positive emotion. A phrase that triggers a positive emotion strengthens the affirmation. For example “My goals are valuable and it excites me.”
- Phrase affirmations as fact. Phrase a goal as though it is happening even if you have not achieved it yet. Your subconscious believes mental messages and works to make them a reality.
- Say your affirmation at least 6 times a day. Repetition is life. Repetition enhances self-confidence, acts as a reminder, and stimulates your subconscious to help you achieve your goals in life.
It cannot be overstated the impact that positive self talk and affirmative statements can help you towards the vital goals that you have identified in your life. Remember that without goals even if you work hard you are like a ship without a rudder.
These powerful tools of positive self talk and positive affirmations can more than help speed you along to your chosen goals.
Originally posted 2009-06-03 01:12:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Feb 9th 10
Posted by Aldohas in goal setting
Why do we need goals? We need them so that we know where we want to go towards, right? Without goals, we are basically wandering around in the darkness hoping that we reach the right place. But, we also use goals as a motivational tool to give us that boost of energy to work towards them.
If you ask any motivational speaker, one of the key points they will tell you to achieve success is to write down your goals. Well, that’s not the whole story though. Just writing them down doesn’t give you that energy boost that you need to achieve success but I’ll tell you my secret to goal setting.
First, you have to start dreaming again and not the dreams that you have when you sleep at night, but the dreams that you had when you were kids like, “I wanna live in a mansion when I grow up.” Don’t be afraid to dream big because odds are, if you dream big but only reach half way, that’s still half way farther than if you didn’t dream at all.
Ok, so let’s talk about your mansion. Just writing down a mansion in your Goals list isn’t enough. Write down details. What kind of architecture would it be? Would it be a fairy tale type of castle? Would it be an Italian Villa? How many bedrooms? What about an indoor pool?
Another secret to goal setting is to find images of some of the things you want so that you can picture them clearly in your mind. It gives your goals a sense of realism than if you were to just think about the word “mansion.” Find some pictures of Italian Villas or indoor pools or whatever it is that you want and just imagine yourself in there.
For me, I’m a car guy so I’ve got a few cars on my list. Right now, I drive a BMW M3 but that’s not enough. Like I said, you have to dream big if you want to hit it big so I’ve got Porches, more BMWs, and even Ferraris on my list. I’ve saved images of these cars onto my computer and even set a couple of them as my desktop images on both my monitors. I know the colors I want and all the options that each car provides. It makes it much more real when you get down to the details.
So, you can start with making a list of your goals but you need to go farther. Get into the details. Find images. Picture yourself owning those items already. Doing this will only help you in whatever venture you choose to go with.
Originally posted 2009-09-15 01:18:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Feb 9th 10
Posted by admin in Management
Here are ten things that you can do to make your meetings more effective.
1) Avoid meetings. Test the importance of a meeting by asking, “What happens without it?” If your answer is, “Nothing,” then don’t call the meeting.
2) Prepare goals. These are the results you want to obtain by the end of the meeting. Write out your goals before the meetings. They should be so clear, complete, and specific that someone else could use them to lead your meeting. Also, make sure they can be achieved with available people, resources, and time. Specific goals help everyone make efficient progress toward relevant results.
3) Challenge each goal. Ask, “Is there another way to achieve this?” For example, if you want to distribute information, you may find it more efficient to phone, FAX, mail, E-mail, or visit. Realize that a meeting is a team activity. Save tasks that require a team effort for your meetings.
4) Prepare an agenda. Everyone knows an agenda leads to an effective meeting. Yet, many people “save time” by neglecting to prepare an agenda. A meeting without an agenda is like a journey without a map. It is guaranteed to take longer and produce fewer results. Note, without an agenda, you risk becoming someone else’s helper (see tip #6 below).
5) Inform others. Send the agenda at least a day before the meeting. That helps others prepare to work with you in the meeting. Unprepared participants waste your time by preparing for the meeting during the meeting.
6) Assume control. If you find yourself in a meeting without an agenda walk out. If you must stay, prepare an agenda in the meeting. Collect a list of issues, identify the most important, and work on that. When you finish, if time remains, select the next most important issue. Note: you can use a meeting without an agenda to recruit help for your projects.
7) Focus on the issue. Avoid stories, jokes, and unrelated issues. Although entertaining, these waste time, distract focus, and mislead others. Save the fun for social occasions where it will be appreciated.
Be selective. Invite only those who can contribute to achieving your goals for the meeting. Crowds of observers and supporters bog down progress in a meeting.
9) Budget time. No one would spend $1,000 on a ten-cent pencil, but they often spend 40 employee hours on trivia. Budget time in proportion to the value of the issue. For example, you could say, “I want a decision on this in 10 minutes. That means we’ll evaluate it for the next 9 minutes, followed by a vote.”
10) Use structured activities in your meetings. These process tools keep you in control while you ensure equitable participation and systematic progress toward results.
Originally posted 2009-04-27 15:33:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Feb 9th 10
Posted by Aldohas in Success
photo credit: m.mogall
If You Wish
By Joseph Addison
If you wish success in life,
Make perseverance your bosom friend,
Experience your wise counselor,
Conscience your elder brother,
And hope your guardian genius.
Success Quote
“Success is to be measured
Not so much by the position that one has reached in life
As by the obstacles
Which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”
Booker T. Washington (more…)
Originally posted 2009-06-25 01:45:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
