Setting Goals in 4 Easy Steps

Setting a goal and achieving those goals could almost be two entirely different things. Achieving a goal means to take action while setting a goal means you know what it is you want. Well, in my experience I went from being scatterbrained about what I wanted to being quite strategic. Let's just say the latter helped bring my goals to the foreground and that's when my life took a serious change for the better.

When I closed my clothing company several years ago, I was left with 11 maxed out credit cards-- yes 11. I know that sounds scary and to be honest it scared the heck out of me! I didn't have a clue how I was going to be able to pay off such an enormous amount of debt and the worst part is I didn't even have a job! Since I had closed my business, I literally start all over again only this time I had the dangling credit card debt hanging over my head. It was enough to throw anyone into a state of panic.
Once I got past the fear, the guilt, and the shame of my poor business decision-making skills from the past, I did a few specific things that helped turn my credit card debt into business I could be proud of. Here's what I did in 4 easy steps.

Setting Goals in 4 Easy Steps

1. Know what it is you want and be perfectly clear about it.
What does this mean? Think of it this way, if you say you want a new car (or in my case to get out of extravagant debt) then I want you to change how you think about that new car. For instance, I wanted to be out of debt, but what I really wanted was to feel safe and secure. The difference between feeling safe and secure vs. getting out of debt is how the "thing is you desire" makes you "feel." It is actually the feeling you want, not necessarily the thing.

2. You have a vision in your head or a dream board that represents your goal.
I personally love to make dream boards (like this one I made from an old frame, cork board, some fabric and spray paint). Looking at the pictures of the things you want, or even window shopping, tells your subconscious mind that these things are attainable. If you think you can never get that new car, then you're right. "Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you're right." That's why window shopping or test driving a car even when you are not ready to purchase is so intoxicating. When you can truly believe that your goal is attainable, you think about it every day and it makes you overjoyed, you are very close to achieving it.

3. You know what your talents are.
Now the fun part comes into play. After you've set a goal ask yourself: What are my talents? Your talents are going to make it possible for you to earn the amount of money you want. Your talents are your pot of gold; they are your road to success and the transportation to achieving goals. Next to the goals you've written on paper (or put up on your dream board) I want you to write a list of your talents and put it right next to your goal. (You'll see on my vision board I have my certification in nutrition next to all the things I desire). Those talents are going to energize your goals and help bring them to you faster.

4. You are ready to share your talents with the world.
After you've written down all your talents read them aloud. Which one(s) really resonate with you? Which ones get you excited to think about, talk about, and get your creative juices flowing? The final step to setting a goal is to believe in your talents. It doesn't matter if your talent is making others laugh or taking photos of nature. When you can narrow down which talents bring you the most joy, you start playing with magic. It is when you start sharing your talents with the world that the seed gets planted. Doors will fly open and your ability to make money and fulfill those "feelings" you actually longed will be presented to you.

Setting goals is such an amazing feeling because it means you are finding out who you are, what makes you tick, and embracing your talents. All the money in the world wouldn't be worth it if you didn't love what you did for a living or if you didn't have a family/friends who supported you on your life journey. If there is still some fear that is holding you back, address it and move forward. What is fear anyway-- merely a distorted perspective. There is no better time than right now to start making a list of your goals, building a vision board, writing out your talents, and then sharing your talents with the world. Don't wait. Start today.

Do You Really Want To Succeed?

What brings people to the pinnacles of their lives, to their peaks? In Asia they'd say: "Hard Work. Discipline. Positive Thinking."
I've worked with teenagers in education, sports and counselling. Without goals, ambition and drive it would be hard to put in the footwork. Even talent could falter. But the diligent few who put in the hours, the toil and hard work and then more hours are the ones at the head of the pack.
Here then are four basics that should serve as a compass:

Follow Your Dream
Set simple goals, like winning a bicycle race or a chess competition. Then devote your energies. Do some homework as to the best methods or ways to achieve that goal. Also surround yourself with relatives or biographies who have done things not those who just whisper wishes over dinners.

Make Time
Winning isn't something that comes round the bend. Working on your goals must be regular, rigorous, persistent and never giving up.

Take Small Steps
You are on a mission now. Take steps. Keep in mind where you want to be going. Sit down and ask yourself: What have I accomplished? Where am I on the road to be a footballer of force?What needs more work?What Should I prepare for tomorrow?

Cheer Yourself On
If you think what lies ahead as punishing, you'll not get there. Working on your dream has its own difficult, painful moments. Many a time you may want to quit, give up and join the league of dropouts. But staying on, pushing on is the way to the end of the rainbow. The true measure of a man or woman is what he or she does when they have relentlessly had the life or the gas kicked out of them. Do they wilt, wither or go up in smoke? Or do they rise up?
One of the things almost all of us neglect in our lives is:freedom. Financial freedom is one of them. Rainmaking neglected can lead to financial famine. Especially so in today's hyena economics. Money or the making, earning and production of it in tandem with the growing demands of family makes room for almost all of the other freedoms that families yearn for as age dawns on each one of them. Always work to stack the deck in your favour. It's one of those things that're learnt by people on a mission, who listen in to the original voices of their dreams.
To your future.

Leaders Are Problem Solver

In over three decades of training over a thousand leaders, it continuously concerns me that so many individuals in leadership positions continue to view situations either as going according to plan, or problematic. Individuals who succumb to the problem or okay mindset generally back themselves into a corner, beginning the solution process from a negative perspective or attitude. Instead of becoming concerned about problems or potential problems and then getting bogged down in them, great leaders approach each circumstance from the point of view of having a solution that will overcome and conquer every obstacle, rather than deteriorating into a problem. Brendan Francis wrote, "The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it."

1. Although it may see, like I am contradicting myself by first saying things should not be looked upon as problems, and then entitling this article about leaders being problem solvers, I most assuredly am not. Although it is best to view obstacles as challenges instead of problems, some of the greatest leaders have inherited problematic circumstances from their predecessors. One of the greatest obstacles to effective leadership is often procrastination, yet it is also the most frequently followed course of action (or inaction) by a large percentage of those in leadership. Either because of ineffective or insufficient planning, fear, lack of judgment, not enough expertise, etc., obstacles left unattended to have a tendency to escalate to the problem stage. The great leader still does not view this as a problem, although most others do. The great leader, instead of hiding from or avoiding the situation, instead takes the issue on, head on, and plans courses of actions, and alternative approaches to solve any dilemma.

2. It is incumbent on a true leader to fully evaluate circumstances as they have been, are presently, and might end up if no actions are taken. These great leaders understand fully that there are always ramifications of any action taken, and procrastination or avoiding taking action, is, in and of itself, an action. True leadership must never be ego driven, or about developing a legacy. It must never prioritize worrying that an action taken might go wrong and fearing being blamed, but rather emphasize taking action and being prepared with contingency plans and back up plans, to be ready and prepared for any eventuality. A true leader views what others view as problems, and rather than letting it rule him, takes charge. He dedicates himself to solutions that address the present with an understanding of the past, and plans for the present, the near future, and the long term.

Only when a leader commits to this solution oriented approach will he be fully effective. Leadership always comes with a certain degree of adversity, and only with a knowledge and comfort level of planning, action, and decision making, can someone truly be considered a real leader.