Shape your future

On average, two or three of these individuals will admit to having goals out of the 50 individuals in attendance, and typically only one of these people will actually have their goals written down. I then ask the group what would happen if I got into my car after the presentation, not knowing my next destination. Where would I end up? Most people laugh and answer "nowhere!"--which is my point exactly. It seems like a silly question to ask, but if we don't know where we want to go with our lives, where are we going to end up? We spend more time planning our vacations than we do planning our lives. Why is that? A goal is nothing but a dream with a deadline. Creating a road map is necessary if we are to become successful individuals.

Ask Yourself...
* Have I established goals for the next year, 5 years, 20 years?
* Am I truly living the life that I want to live?
* Have I made myself accountable for what I want in life?
* Will my failed goals lead to unwanted consequences?

Our goals drive us, they allow us to shape our future and provide us with the ability to grow and excel in each of our endeavors. That being said, it is important to remember that in order to achieve our goals we must first document them. When we do write down our goals something amazing happens; we become creators, creators of our own paths. Remember, what the mind can imagine, it can create: Anything is possible. HOW we are going to achieve our goals at the time of setting them may not be clear, but if reasons come first answers will come second. If you have a big enough WHY, the HOW will manifest itself--you will find a way to make things happen!

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein

Ask Yourself...
* Do I have goals that have been left unaccomplished for an extended period of time?
* Am I truly making strides towards accomplishing my goals, or am I hindering my own efforts either consciously or unconsciously?
* Am I willing to look at things differently so that things can change?
* Am I open to new ideas or strategies that may positively assist me in the achievement of my goals? Where can I get ideas? Who could help?

Each year on the first of January, I take the time to reflect upon my goals from the previous year. I like to evaluate what I have accomplished, and review everything that has manifested throughout the year. It always makes me smile to see how things have unfolded for the goals which had a strong WHY even if I did not really know at the time how I would get them accomplished...amazing how that works! To continue, now that I have reviewed my previous year's goals, I am ready to set new goals and design a roadmap for the next year's journey. My successes motivate me to create new goals for the coming year and open up my mind to all the future possibilities.

My Goals, Categorized

1. Personal development and relationships -- What skills do I want to develop? What do I want to learn? What relationships do I want to create?

2. Career -- What do I want to accomplish? What kind of impact do I want to have?

3. Fitness, nutrition and food for the soul -- What level of physical fitness do I want to maintain or achieve? What can I do to improve my eating habits? What practices can I partake in that will cultivate my spirituality?

4. Material things and time savers -- Have fun with this one -- have I been dreaming about purchasing a new car or installing the latest home entertainment system? Or do I want to hire help for household duties so that I can have more time with my family and friends?

5. Economic -- What income level do I want to achieve? Are there investments that I would like to make within the next year?

6. Legacy -- What do I want to leave behind? What do I want to be remembered for?

7 Steps Goal Setting Strategies

1. Brainstorm each of the categories for 5 minutes, don't think too hard and allow your thoughts to come naturally.

2. Next, establish a timeline for each of your goals, whether it be a year, 5 years, 10 years or 20 years.

3. Decide upon a few goals (three or four from each category) that you wish to focus the majority of your attention on.

4. Now determine the WHY of each of your top three or four goals.

5. Decide if the WHY of each of your top three or four goals is "strong" enough--does it empower you enough? If not, pick another goal from that category which does get you motivated and excited.

6. After that, put your goals through the "SMART" system.

S -- Specific -- Is your goal too vague? Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. Answered by what, why, and how.

M -- Measurable -- How will you know when you have succeeded? Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

A -- Attainable -- A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you.

R -- Realistic -- To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying achievement!

T -- Time-bound -- Do you have a timeline? Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards.

Finally, beside each goal -- write one action step you can take this week to get you closer to your goal. (i.e.- If you want to start doing Yoga -- Your action step would be to contact the Yoga school you wish to attend, and ask about their classes and schedule.)

Make sure to place your goals in an area of your home, or office, which is frequently visited. The probability of accomplishing your goal(s) is increased when your ambitions are reviewed on a day-to-day basis.

Finally, have fun with your goal setting. Remember to THINK and PLAY BIG -- the more successful and fulfilled you are, the more you will contribute to the people around you and ultimately, to the world. Furthermore, embrace the fact that what we can think about we can create. Leverage the power of your subconscious to plant the "right" seeds in your brain and watch what can happen!

Inner Talk

Over recent times I have been battling the small inner voice inside. It has been saying strange things. This reminded me of the things I say to myself...my inner talk.

One of the more frequently faced challenges experienced by people is performance expectation. They express frustration that they often possess identical, if not superior, physical attributes to their competition, yet they're consistently being out performed by the competition. In many of these cases the factor that separates their performance from the competitions has been found to be rooted in their belief as to their ability to outperform the competition.

In other words they are operating with a limiting belief as to their athletic ability and level of their performance. Yet it is well documented that an individual's core beliefs in any given area of their life will ultimately determine the reality they draw into their life-positive, negative or stagnant.

So how does one go about changing a limiting belief to a positive one -- one that will result in improving your performance? It has been established by psychologists and neuroscientists that every person in the world carries on an ongoing dialog, or self-talk, of between 150 and 300 words a minute. This works out to between 45,000 and 51,000 thoughts a day. Most of out self-talk is harmless thoughts that serve our daily activities like, "I need to stop at the cleaners."

The danger is when inner dialogue takes on a negative connotation such as, "I'll never be as good an athlete as he is," "I don't have the mental toughness to compete at this level," or "I'll never be that fast." The ongoing negative reinforcement created by habitual negative self-talk results in the creation of a limiting belief(s) that goes on to become self-fulfilling prophecy.

Beliefs -- positive or negative -- are literally etched into our brain in comfortable grooves or neural pathways. Incoming data from our senses travel on these neural pathways on the way to interpretation in the brain. Therefore, if you desire to change an unresourceful/limiting belief into an empowering belief, you must rewire the negative neural track created in the brain.

This can be accomplished in precisely the same way the tracks were created: by using self-talk or, more specifically affirmations. An affirmation is a statement of fact or belief -- positive or negative -- that will lead toward the end result you expect. Anything that follows the phrase "I am," such as "I am a peak performance athlete" or "I am quick and agile," is an affirmation. The simplicity of affirmations often causes them to be overlooked. Nonetheless, affirmations are regularly used by professional athletes and successful business people.

The process for changing a limiting belief to a resourceful belief using affirmations is a simple one. First, identify the areas of your life which are not working to your satisfaction.

Next, write out the affirmations that represent things the way you desire them to be, they will be the vehicle for creating new resourceful/positive pathways.

Basic to formulating a new self-suggestion is that your affirmation is short and to the point -- simple enough that a five year old child will understand it -- and is always stated in the positive. Further, your affirmation should be stated in the present tense -- as if it has already happened, for example, "I am a strong athlete."

Now you are ready to begin your daily (minimum) reprogramming process:

• Sit upright in a comfortable chair.
• Close your eyes and take a couple of minutes to progressively relax.
• Release your body's tight sharp focus on the physical world by taking yourself to an even deeper level of relaxation.
• Speak your affirmation aloud from five to twenty times (depending on the time you have and the number of beliefs you are reprogramming).

By speaking your affirmation aloud you are down-stepping your thoughts to the brains electrical network to speech, and you are involving more of your brain by including two more of your senses: auditory and kinesthetic. It is important that you trust this process and give your affirmation(s) time to achieve their desired outcome. Worry or self-doubt as to whether your affirmations are working only conveys to your subconscious worry and the belief that your desire may not come to pass or the affirmation may not succeed. Be patient, success is on the way.

In conclusion, remember that your beliefs are what produce your life's experience and can lead you to performance enhancement, not the other way around. Orchestrate your beliefs using affirmations to create a life filled with successful experiences that reinforce the beliefs that created them.

Till next time

The Power Of Perseverance

Perseverance Is Holding Your Chin High, Remaining Steadfast And Continually Advancing Toward Whatever Your Individual Desires Might Be

"At times the climb can seem strenuous, challenging, and sometimes
even impossible. The Power Of Perseverance combined with determination is the
power that will take you to the top." - Chuck Danes

The Power of Perseverance

"Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road."
- Dag Hammarskjold

There's no denying that perseverance is often required to realize the hopes, dreams, desires and visions we hold for ourselves.

What exactly is perseverance and how can you utilize it to bring about the desired results in your life?

What does perseverance have to do with attracting Abundance and Happiness and how can it be utilized in the most effective way? That is what we will cover here.

First of all let’s look at what perseverance is according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary. It states……..

per·se·ver·ance Pronunciation: "p&r-s&-'vir-&n(t)s Function: noun : the action or condition or an instance of persevering : STEADFASTNESS

As we can see perseverance is an action that we must take...to remain steadfast in that action until the desired outcome is achieved.

By remaining steadfast and determined in whatever it may be that you are desiring to see manifest in your life is of crucial importance if you are to bring about those results that you truly do desire.

It's often perceived that the Power of Perseverance is strictly of a physical nature.

My personal perspective is that the greatest power that you hold is using The Power of Perseverance to shift the quality of consciousness...the underlying beliefs that can make the physical journey difficult.

Developing the perseverance to hold fast and shift the quality of consciousness which is ALWAYS at cause, provides the greatest assistance in fulfilling whatever it might be that you desire to accomplish. It makes the physical journey more enjoyable and less strenuous.

In using the Power of Perseverance in this way, you are in essence reprogramming and removing the subconscious blocks that are keeping you from immediately and effortlessly attracting and receiving those things that you desire to see manifest which have already been promised to you.

In the case of bringing about desired results into your life, the formula looks like this.

Awareness + Desire + Belief + Action + Perseverance = Phenomenal and seemingly magical outcomes in your life.

So why is it that perseverance is sometimes necessary and at other times it seems that things just come into our lives with almost magical ease?

The answer to that is based on what you have previously established to be truth for you.

It's truly just a matter of perspective. Do you believe that your goal is going to be hard, difficult to achieve, and it's attainment requires great sacrifice? It will.

Do you "perceive" the actions necessary to achieve the end result must be unpleasant? They will be.

Do you see the outcome in your minds eye and hold the picture of seeing it's completion as fulfilling, rewarding and enjoyable as you work your way towards it? That's precisely how it will unfold.

It's due to falsely established beliefs that many have established and continue to hold on to are the very reason that the events, conditions, and circumstances that you desire to see manifest can at times seem impossible to reach.

It is times like these where the Power of Perseverance is necessary to initiate, and is the force that will allow you to continue to take action until you develop the awareness of the correct action that will allow you to quit going against and begin going with the "flow." The kind of action that enables you to begin attracting the means to fulfill those things that you most desire, whatever they might be.

Put another way...

The Power of Perseverance is best and most effectively utilized when you hold fast and shift the underlying, unseen cause that is creating the "physical reality." It's what allows you to hang on to the dream or desire long enough to establish correct beliefs that enable and empower you to begin attracting the people, resources and circumstances for bringing your desire into physical form. It enables you to hold fast long enough to begin taking the correct action which cannot and will not fail to bring into the physical realm those things that you most desire to bring about.

It is perseverance that is responsible for and is the fuel that empowers and keeps you traveling down the road of higher self awareness and deeper understanding.

Although the Power of Perseverance is and can be utilized in a physical sense, it is the underlying cause...the beliefs and perceptions held that can make the physical activity less than it has the potential to be. The belief held is what is responsible for producing less than the desired outcome or far greater than many perceive to be attainable.

It's all a choice...your choice. There is none right or wrong. Each choice only leads to an experience that enables you to learn and grow and take another step forward in fulfilling whatever it is that you came to fulfill.

Utilizing The Power of Perseverance to advance in your understanding, to build upon the truth of who and what you "truly" are can and will dramatically reduce the need for "physical" perseverance.

Falsely established beliefs + a lack of perseverance equates to a life of mediocrity, struggle, discord and perhaps even hopelessness.

Developing enlivening and empowering beliefs combined with perseverance create what are often perceived to be miracles.

Regardless of the outcome, it's all a miracle. A creation that you choose. If you find that what you are choosing isn't bringing about the desired result, initiate The Power of Perseverance. Persevere in heart, mind, spirit and physical activity until the underlying cause shifts, no longer requiring struggle and excessive effort.

It's all about flow. It's all about what you choose. It's all about the beliefs that you allow to determine your outcomes.

For me, The Power of Perseverance is best utilized and most powerful by choosing to become more aware...to remember who and what I "truly" am which empowers me to become more.

How you choose to utilize the Power of Perseverance is an individual choice. Using it to advance your understanding, to elevate your beliefs and enhance your awareness is, what I believe to be the "best way."

Regardless of your individual choice the following quote holds great wisdom and will serve you...

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not quite, the not yet, the not at all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."- Ayn Rand

Till next time...keep moving closer towards your worthy ideal....

Little things matter

I was thinking about how I have been weary over the last few weeks and thought about all the little thoughts matter. Just like a rain drop alone does not make much difference, but if I add lots of thoughts with it, then it can become an issue. Theat reminded me of how the universe only mirrors what I give out.

Life is Really Very Simple. What We Give Out, We Get Back

What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us. I believe that everyone, myself included, is responsible for everything in our lives, the best and the worst. Every thought we think is creating our future. Each one of us creates our experiences by our thoughts and our feelings. The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences.

We create the situations, and then we give our power away by blaming the other person for our frustration. No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for "we" are the only thinkers in it. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.

Which of these statements sounds like you?

"People are out to get me."
"Everyone is always helpful."

Each one of these beliefs will create quite different experiences. What we believe about ourselves and about life becomes true for us.

The Universe Totally Supports Us in Every Thought We Choose to Think and Believe

Put another way, our subconscious mind accepts whatever we choose to believe. They both mean that what I believe about myself and about life becomes true for me. What you choose to think about yourself and about life becomes true for you. And we have unlimited choices about what we can think.

When we know this, then it makes sense to choose "Everyone is always helpful," rather than "People are out to get me."

The Universal Power Never Judges or Criticizes Us

It only accepts us at our own value. Then it reflects our beliefs in our lives. If I want to believe that life is lonely and that nobody loves me, then that is what I will find in my world.

Till next time

Fraser

Stop Start or maintaining progress?

As we head into the holiday period it is easy to relax and say make excuses for not making progress towards our worthy ideal.

Therefore this week I decided to explore ways to maintain momentum.

STEPS TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM

1. Keep the vision and goals out front.

You need to have a burning vision, a reason why you are going to work your business, a reason why you are going to make the next approach and a reason why you will place that next ad for your web site or product. Take this vision and keep it out front. Keep it where you will see it every day, where it will always beyond your mind. Write it down, visualize it and gather photos that remind you of your vision.

2. Remind team members about the vision.

Don’t just keep the vision in front of yourself, keep the vision out front of your whole team, so that everyone knows where they are going, and every knows WHY they are going in that direction. Continually recasting the vision for your team will be an important part of your maintaining momentum.

3. Develop consistency in your efforts.

You need to be continuously moving. Don’t get some momentum going and then think you can stop and your business will grow on its own. You’ve clearly been doing something right to create momentum – so don’t stop doing those things. Set your self a pace that you can keep consistently. Determine what activities you need to do to reach your goals and commit to daily action on those activities.

If you are calling potential customers, determine a number of approach calls that you can make each day and determine a number of follow up calls you can make each day. Then follow through on that commitment. How often will you post to your blog? How often will you work out? Whatever area you have momentum in, determine the activities you need to do on a daily basis; Then don’t stop. You won’t need to work as hard as you did when you were creating the momentum, but you will have to work much more consistently.

4. Beware of the sprint/stop syndrome.

One problem people often face when they create momentum is that they fall into the sprint/stop syndrome. This is when people go break neck speed towards their goals for short time and then stop. This is acting like the hare from the “Tortoise and the Hare fable”. In that fable the Tortoise wins the race by continually moving forward, beating out the Hare who does a sprint/stop style of race.

There are many motivations for this sort of attitude. People may stop because they want to reward themselves, so they take a week off or go on a vacation; they may stop because they get stressed out and need a break; they may collapse from exhaustion; or they may get so many sales they have to spend a week catching up on paperwork that got behind. All of these are equally dangerous. In each case you have broken the consistency of action and put your momentum in jeopardy. Sure it may seem like you are still acting, that paperwork needed to be done after all, right? Even in this case you are moving away from action that moves your business forward and are focusing on action that only maintains the current position.

5. Creating balance in your life.

Working hard and consistent at your business, but don’t burn yourself out. Creating balance will allow you to maintain your energy. Allow time for personal development; allow time for spiritual growth, and make sure you stay physically active. Develop a pace to life, one that is aggressive and forward moving, but one that you can maintain for long periods of time without needing to collapse or take a significant rest. It is good to rest, but take short rests, take a little time here and there, at most a day here and a day there, but you shouldn’t need to be taking days off to recover from you pace – if you do, you’ve been working too hard.

Momentum can be your best friend as you work towards personal or business goals. There are deliberate steps you can take towards building momentum and maintaining it. Now get started!

Inner Drive

"The answers to the question of values will come only when you're willing to take a journey through your inner territory -- a journey that'll require opening doors that are shut, walking in dark spaces that are frightening, and touching the flame that burns. But at the end is truth."

How can values be scary?

For some, getting clear about personal values is a frightening journey towards the truth. And once you figure out what you truly care about, what drives you, or what really gets you out of bed every day, there is no going back! You simply cannot ignore it!

The trouble is, many people do not dig deep enough to intimately articulate what is important to them. They do not build that conscience to guide them through life. Do you want your conscience nattering at you all the time? Probably not!

However, as scary as this journey can be there are certain benefits to personal values clarity:

Values Clarity is Empowering
Personal values clarity is empowering. When we are clear about our personal values, we are much more in control of our own lives. For instance, when we are acutely aware of our personal values and live them, suddenly the smallest actions or gestures can have a huge impact.

Further, with greater awareness of what matters we tend to make decisions based on integrity for longer-term positive results -- not to mention peace of mind. We feel good and empowered when we can honestly say we made choices in life based on what we truly value.

Values Motivate
Values motivate us in that they keep us focused on why we do what we do and on the ends toward which we are striving. Life can get busy and it can get tough. Have you ever needed to remind yourself why you embarked a new difficult endeavor?

Reminding ourselves of our values can pull us through difficult times and keep us motivated to reach our goals or to take us through life transitions.

Values Rejuvenate
Similarly, we refer to our values when we need to replenish our energy. As Kouzes and Posner put it, "values are the banners that fly as we persist, as we struggle, as we toil." When you are feeling off balance and in need of rejuvenation we are drawn to spending time doing the things we value most. It might be watching a football game or spending time with family. Whatever that value may be, refocusing on what matters can be a powerful way to get energized so that we can take on our next challenge.

Values Resolve Conflicts
Values can keep you and your colleagues, friends, family, community on course, especially when you become engaged in conflicts or controversies. Getting caught up in conflict can keep individuals preoccupied with petty differences. Instead, adopting a broader, bigger picture focus through values clarity can assist individuals with moving past the pettiness of the conflict.

Ultimately, when you know what matters to you, letting go of the small things that do not matter can be quite freeing. It allows you to let go of getting what you think you need, instead of what you really need.

Values Provide Focus
Values can also help us move forward with focus. Just reminding yourself of the principles that are most important often can refocus your attention on the things that really matter.

Understanding our core values can raise us up to see the bigger picture, removing unimportant activities and actions from your busy schedule. Using values as our guidepost for action encourages us to do more of the "right stuff" while kicking the "wrong stuff" to the curb.

So, although the journey toward realizing what we truly value in life can be a bit daunting the benefits are many. Get clear about what you believe in! Take the time to self-reflect, to soul search or to re-assess your values. Doing the work to get there is well worth it!

Being Real

Most people live their entire lives never finding their authentic self. They never find the person they were meant to be, nor do they develop themselves to their greatest potential. Unfortunately this is much easier said than done, for it takes time and effort to undo programmed habits and ways of living.

It is time for us to claim our authentic self and live life to our fullest potential. To be authentic means to find the key to happiness and success within ones self, not within society that they live in. Society usually means the external system of authority that consciously and unconsciously dictates the direction and behaviour of our lives. Do you ever wonder why it is so important to live a certain way, with a certain car, house, school degree, etc.! It is because society dictates it to be so. To live and be your authentic self, you must free yourself from that cultural prison. You must think for yourself and create your own thoughts, needs and desires. Then, and only then, you are being authentic.

When you live an authentic life, you are living the life that resonates with your inner being. You will not bind yourself with destructive habits , relationships or lifestyles. You will gain inner strength and let go of manipulation, power plays, cruelty and hatred. You will find that your life is being elevated to a higher spiritual level. You will be thinking of humankind, rather than self. You won't be afraid of truth, and will deal with fear in a better way.

Teilhard de Chardin said, " We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience”... This truth has been expressed since the beginning of time. We are just now beginning to understand it. We need to embrace it, live it and share it with others. If we do this, our world will have less fear and destruction, and more love, happiness and abundance.

When we ask people why they continue to live an unhappy and unfulfilled existence, they often respond, "they don't know why". For example, if they are unhappy with their job, we ask them, "Why do you continue to stay and be unfulfilled at your job, day after day?” Or why do you continue to behave in a way that isn't necessarily healthy, like smoking or drinking too much? What we observe is that they don't know why they do certain things. They just continue to do it out of habit. What we have determined is that their behaviour doesn't match with their values, thus they are not living authentically.

I encourage you to lead yourself into a life of authenticity. You may need to spend some time and ponder exactly what it is you want from your life, and who exactly you are. It is a journey that will lead you to incredible things, mostly YOURSELF!