Introduction
Are you living your life by default or by design? Unlike 99.99% of the population, when you began your IIGL studies, you made the decision to live your life by design. By doing so you have joined a small but elite group of people who are living with intention. The following exercises are designed to provide you with the tools to hone your skills in designing the life you want.
Levels One & Two are devoted to personal empowerment since we believe that understanding oneself is the foundation of true leadership. For this reason, each of the books in Levels One and Two are about some aspect of personal development.
It is very important to take your time in completing these exercises. A great deal of thought should go into them. It is suggested that you complete a writing exercise, set it aside for a week or so, and then come back to it and edit it as necessary. A valuable part of the exercise is the thought that goes into it.
With Level Three you are entering a realm of personal instruction. This means that it is very important to write to the program director for clarification about anything that you do not fully understand. It also means that you may be asked to expand on some of the answers you give. If your initial writings are not immediately accepted ‘as is,’ do not consider this as any kind of failure, but rather the give and take of instruction. If something you write is returned and you are asked to expand on it, this simply means that the program director feels that you have a much greater ability than you have expressed.
Unlike Levels One & Two, where assessments were accepted with minimum comment. Level Three Instruction will be interactive between the student and the director. It is also important to be completely candid in what you share. With the exception of the first assignment (what you have learned in Levels One & Two), none of your writings in Level Three will be posted on the website or shared with anyone without your specific permission. These exercises are for your own benefit.
At the bottom of the list of assignments there is an addendum with information about goals and goal setting. It is important to read this carefully. It would be ideal to print out all of this and have readily available to look over frequently.
You have a maximum of three months to complete Level Three. This will give you plenty of time to carefully consider all of the implications inherent in each exercise and to fine tune your responses.
And once again, don’t hesitate to ask any questions for clarification or share any comments you may have.
The Purpose Of Level Three Assignments
The overall purpose of Level Three is to help you understand where you are at this point in your life; the decisions and actions that brought you to this point; where you want to go in life and what you need to do to get there. The idea is to learn how to move forward consciously from this point in creating the kind of future you desire for yourself. This is done in four stages.
#1. To help you clarify where you are at this point in your life and the decisions and actions you have taken in the past that have created your situation and circumstances today. By becoming aware of this you will be able to more consciously make those decisions and take those actions in the present which will help you create the future that you want.
#2. To help you clarify your goals in life. This is done through a process of ‘pivoting.’ First you identify what you are dissatisfied with in life and then you ‘pivot’ these around to identify and determine what you do want. These become your goals.
#3. Action plan. Once you determine what your goals are, then it is a matter of prioritizing them and creating a framework for attaining them. This includes setting a time frame and understanding the resources you will need and the action steps you must take to accomplish these goals.
#4. Implementation. The last step provides you with the technique that taps the power of your creative mind & spirit. One of the things that you will have read over and over again in the books for Level One and Two is the importance of visualization and imagination; the fact that it is vitally important to see you goals – not as something to accomplish in the future – but as if you have already reached them. Assignment #5 is designed to do just this.
Study Plan
Before you begin a journey, it is good to have a map; to know where you are going, how to get there and when you expect to arrive. Read over each of the assignments below and then decide – within a 90 day framework – when you plan to complete each assignment. Make a list of the assignments followed by the targeted completion date. Send this in before you begin. This study plan will help you stay on course and give you a set goals to keep you on track.
Study Plan
Assignment #1 (Target date for completion)
Assignment #2 (Target date for completion)
Assignment #3 (Target date for completion)
Assignment #4 (Target date for completion)
Assignment #5 (Target date for completion)
Assignment #6 (Target date for completion)
Assignment #7 (Target date for completion)
Assignment #1
What Have You Learned?
Objective: The object of this assignment is to help the student evaluate the changes and growth he or she is experiencing through the Institute studies and to help us to see if and how the Institute studies are serving the student.
Exercise #1
How Have You Changed?
Please write an essay on what you have learned or how you have changed as a result of your IIGL studies thus far. You should discuss if and how your ideas and beliefs have changed and how you may be dealing differently with situations in your life as a result of what you have learned. Please offer real-life personal examples. This assessment should be a minimum of 1,500 words. You can view samples from other students at this link: http://www.global-leadership.com/testimonials/index.htm
Assignment #2
Where Are You Now?
Exercise #1
Levels Of Satisfaction
It is important to understand where you currently are as a starting point for knowing where you want to go and how to get there. This begins with an assessment of what you are satisfied and dissatisfied with in your life. Below are seven categories indicating levels of satisfaction. Below that are 17 ‘life areas’. Please take each one of these ‘life areas’ and put in one of the satisfaction columns. Feel free to add other life areas that are important to you but are not included.
Completely Dissatisfied
A little dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Neutral
A little satisfied
Satisfied
Completely satisfied
Life Areas
· Family · Health / fitness · Physical appearance
· Career · Personal growth · Educational / Mental
· Travel · Social / Cultural · Service & Charitable
· Romance · Personality traits · Recreational / Leisure
· Financial · Spiritual / Ethical · Material possession
· Relationships · Habits or behavior
(houses, cars, etc.)
Exercise #2
What’s Working; What’s Not
From the list above, choose at least seven areas that are currently important to you and write a paragraph on what’s working and what’s not working – or what you are happy and unhappy with in that area of your life. Feel free to share any other reflections you may have about any of these areas. You may choose more than seven areas if you wish, as long as they are important areas in which you wish to see improvement.
Exercise #3
What’s Really Important?
The following questions will help you to delve deep into your own life to discover and clarify what you really value and what you want to accomplish in life at this moment. Take the time you need to answer each of these questions fully. At the end of the exercise you should have a clear map of where you really want to go and life. It is recommended that you read over all of the questions and sit with them for a while before answering.
What Brings You The Greatest Joy?
* What do you really love to do; What activity really makes your heart sing?
* What are the activities give you your greatest sense of meaning and purpose in life?
* What gives you the greatest feeling of value, importance and satisfaction?
What Are Your Greatest Concerns or Frustrations?
* What are your three most pressing problems or worries right now?
* What is the ideal solution to each of these challenges?
* How could you eliminate these problems or worries immediately?
* What is the fastest and most direct way to solve each of these problems?
What Do You Really Value?
* If you were granted three wishes, what would they be?
* If you won 100 million dollars cash, what would you do with it?
* What would you do if you had only six months to live?
* How would you define “Success” for you personally?
* What is your main goal in life at this moment?
* What is your main purpose in life at this moment?
Exercise #4
Four Questions
Think through each question carefully before you answer it. This should be done in an essay discussion format with a minimum of 500 words for each question.
A. What are my greatest strengths?
B. What are my greatest weaknesses?
C. What has been my greatest disappointment?
D. What has been my greatest accomplishment in life so far?
Assignment #3
How Did You Get Here?
Now that you are clear about what is and isn’t working in your life; what you are happy and unhappy with and what is really important to you, let’s take a look at how you got here. If you can understand how your decisions and actions in the past have created your current circumstances in life, then you will be able to more consciously make those decisions and take those actions now which will create the kind of future you desire.
Exercise #1
Past decisions
Review the categories in your ‘dissatisfied’ lists above and think about the decisions you made that may have led to this dissatisfaction. Now imagine you are being given an opportunity to live your life over again and write a long letter, as if to a trusted fried, describing how you would have proceeded differently in various situations in making certain important decisions and choices in a different manner. Consider the several aspects of your life such as your family, career, relationships, education, personal development, etc. Be absolutely frank and consider that it is being written in strict confidence. Please remember, this is about decisions that you made, not about the circumstances of your family, childhood or youth that you had no control over.
Minimum 1,500 words
Assignment #4
Where Do You Want To Go?
The most successful people in life are those who are able to visualize the future as if it has already happened. We call this ‘back from the future thinking.” These exercises help you to get specific as to what you want and begin to create a mental picture of your goals as if they were already accomplished.
Exercise #1
Your Ideal Self
The following includes four primary areas of life that most people want to change. If any area is not a priority for you, feel free to skip it. Likewise feel free to add an area that is important and ask the same questions.
Project forward five or ten years from now and imagine that your life is perfect in every respect? Now look back to where you are today and ask yourself this question: What would have to have happened for me to have created my perfect future? Write one or more paragraphs for each category, incorporating the questions below as a guide. This should be an essay format, not simply answering the questions.
Business or Career
Imagine yourself five or ten years from now. Your business or career life is perfect.
* What does it look like?
* What are you doing on an average day?
* Where is it taking place?
* Who are the kind of people you are working with?
* What level of responsibility do you have?
* What kinds of skills and abilities have you acquired in the past five years?
* How do you feel about your work? How would you describe your level of satisfaction?
Financial
Now idealize your perfect financial life. Choose either five or ten years in the future.
* How much are you earning?
* What kind of lifestyle do you have?
* Describe the house you are living in?
* What kind of car are you driving?
* What kind of material luxuries have you provided for yourself and your family?
* How much money do you have in the bank?
* How much are you saving and/or investing each month or year?
Relationships
Idealize your perfect relationships five years from now. These might include any or all of the following: family, a significant other, business partner, coworkers, friends, etc. What would these relationships looke like if they were perfect in every respect.
* What does your perfect relationship with your significant other look like?
* What does your perfect relationship with your children look like?
* What does your perfect relationship with your parents look like?
* What does your perfect relationship with your siblings look like?
* What does your perfect relationship with former friends or lovers look like?
* What does your perfect relationship look like with other important people in your life?
Health and Fitness
Idealize your perfect health and leve of fitness. What does it look like five years from now?
* You are in perfect physical health. Describe how you look and feel.
* How are you different now as compared to five years ago when you set your goal?
* What is your weight now that you have achieved your ideal?
* How much do you exercise each week in this ideal state and what form does it take?
Other Important Areas Of Life?
Here are some other important areas of life. Feel free to apply this exercise to any of these areas that are equally important to you.
* Habits or behavior
* Spiritual / Ethical
* Educational / Mental
* Social / Cultural
* Travel
* Service & Charitable
* Recreational / Leisure
* Personal growth
* Material (houses, cars, etc.)
Exercise #2
Setting Goals
What Is A Goal?
A goal is an end toward which you direct specific effort. This definition shows that there’s an accomplishment to be achieved. The outcome is measurable, and there’s a date and time of accomplishment. Before you begin you may find it helpful go back and review the Level Two books on goal setting. These will give you additional ideas that will help you with these exercises.
Why Are Goals Important?
A person without goals is a boat without a rudder or sail. It has no direction. A person who has goals but hasn’t written them down is like a boat with a rudder and a sail that has not been unfurled. A person with written goals is like a ship with the sails unfurled and speeding forward.
Goals Are Important Because:
* They give us direction
* They serve as a yardstick of progress
* They crystallize thought and clear thought motivates action
* They serve as a reminder; as a “kick in the pants.”
* They help us to always know where we are, where we are going, and what to do next.
* They give us clear pictures in our mind and help us to stimulate visualization
* They focus our attention on what we want, and what we focus on we attract to ourselves.
The PPM Formula
In writing your goals, it is important to remember the ‘PPPM’ formula. Your goals should be positive, present, personal and measurable.
* Positive
It is very important to state you goal in a positive manner. For example, you would say, “I am weighing 140 lbs by April 1st” rather than “I want to lose 20 lbs.” In other words, focus on what you want and not on what you don’t want.
* Present
State you goal in the present tense, as if it is already accomplished. For example, you would say, “I am totally free of tobacco on April 1st” rather than “I want to stop smoking.”
* Personal
Your goal must be your own and not something that someone else wants you to be, do or have. Personalize your goal by always starting it with “I” followed by a verb. For example “I am losing weight at the rate of 3 lbs per week toward my goal of 140lbs on April 1st.”
* Measurable
Your goal must be measurable for you to determine whether you have reached it or not. The goals in the three P’s above are all specific and measurable. A non-specific and non-measurable goal would be something like “I want to lose weight.” This can be challenging with “Being” goals (see below) but even with these you can create criteria to help you measure your progress.
•
The difference between a wish and a goal is having a target date when you intend to reach your goal. This requires a commitment to yourself. You may or may not reach it but you can guarantee that you won’t reach it if you don’t have it. Would never begin a journey to another destination without having decided when you intend to arrive. So putting down a target date is critical to the goal setting process.
Three Kinds Of Goals
As you think about choosing your goals it would also be good to realize that they fall into three basic categories: Being, Doing & Having.
* ‘Being’ Goals
These are goals related to your personality or personal characteristics. This might include being more loving, honest, enthusiastic, caring, relaxed, responsible, open, courageous, spiritual, etc. For purposes of measurement you might translate these in to specific actions or ‘doing’ goals.
* ‘Doing’ Goals
These are related to what you want to do and require action. This might include such things as starting a new business or service project, improving your education, getting married, changing a particular habit, changing your physical appearance, financial, etc.
* ‘Having’ Goals
These generally relate to possessions such as having a home, a specific income, a degree, etc. They are generally the end result of meeting your doing goals.
Some Additional Things to Consider
One of the most difficult challenges most people have with goals is being specific. This is because some goals are more tangible than others. Here is an example.
Tangible
Goal: To complete my BA degree by the year 2012
Goal: To be earning (amount) a month by January 1st 2012
Goal: To own my own G4 Apple Macintosh laptop computer by November 20, 2012
Goal: To visit England, France & Germany in the summer of 2012
Intangible
Goal: To become more loving with my family and friends
Goal: To be more firm in setting personal boundaries
Goal: To become more frugal in handling my financial resources
From Intangible to Tangible
It is possible to translate intangible goals into tangible actions. Take for example the third sample. Your goal might be to become more frugal. A specific measurable action/goal might be “To create a monthly budget and adhere it to it.”
When working with goals, it is very helpful to be clear in your own mind as to whether you are working with a tangible or intangible goal, since this will determine the kind of action plan you will build.
Another way to look at goals is whether they are performance or outcome based. You will obviously have more control over performance goals than outcome goals though outcome goals will give you a better framework for getting to where you want to go. Often you can see the outcome as the true goal and the performance goals as the action steps leading to the fulfillment of the goal. Here are some examples:
Outcome
Goal: To complete IIGL Level One studies by (date)
Goal; To obtain a bachelors degree by (date)
Goal: To obtain a scholarship for my education by (date)
Performance
Goal: To spend 5 hours a week on my IIGL studies
Goal: To research at least 10 potential universities to attend
Goal: To complete 7 educational scholarship applications by (date)
In stating goals, there are several common traps that students fall into. These include:
* Not being specific
* Not being concise
* Not being clear
Be Specific
If it is a tangible goal, then it should be specific enough to be measurable. It should include numbers, dates, or anything else by which success can be measured. State you goal beginning with the word ‘to’ followed by the action you will take (to obtain, to buy, to earn, etc.). Your goal or action should be stated in such a way that it will be clear to you once you have reached it.
Be Clear & Concise
Long sentences or explanations are not necessary. A simple statement such as the ones below are sufficient.
Here are examples of correct and incorrect goal statements. As you can see, the correct ones are very specific and concise. Also, they include strong action verbs such as obtain, earn, visit, submit. The incorrect set is more vague and include vague or week verbs such as want, like, need, find, decide.
Incorrect:
Goal: I want to improve my education
Goal: I would like to find some way to increase my income
Goal: I need to decide on ways to pay for my education
Goal: I plan to find a means to be able to travel more
Goal: I will decide on five schools to make application to.
Correct:
Goal: To obtain a masters degree in (subject) by (date)
Goal: To be earning (amount) each month by (date)
Goal: To obtain a scholarship by (date)
Goal: To visit Europe in the summer of (date)
Goal: To submit applications to five universities by (date)
Here are some vital questions you should ask yourself about each of your goals and actions before you turn your assignment in:
1. Is this goal tangible or intangible?
2. Is this a performance or an outcome goal?
3. Is it a short term (days, weeks, months) or a long term (years) goal?
4. Is it realistic enough to inspire me or so big as to discourage me?
5. Is the goal stated in a specific, clear and concise manner?
6. If it is tangible is it specific enough to be measurable?
7. Does it include specific criteria by which success can be measured?
8. Is the target date I stated realistic, given my current circumstances?
9. Can I picture in my mind what the accomplishment of this goal looks like?
Action Steps are specific actions you will take to fulfill your goal. These are things you will DO. They are usually specific actions with measurable results. Lets take this example.
“I will be more loving with family and friends.”
This is a goal, not an action step. Action steps to fulfill this goal might be:
* I will spend 1 hour a week just doing helpful things for my (spouse, parents, etc.)
* I will spend at least 3 hours a week with my children doing what they want to do.
* I will make a list of at least 10 things I most like about my spouse, parent, etc., and tell them how I feel. These are specific action steps which you can do by specific target dates.
Now, based on your answers in assignment #4 and using the list below as a category guide, choose your top seven goals at this moment in your life and list them according to priority. Do not list the categories below. They are only a category guide from which you can choose specific measurable goals with target dates for accomplishment.
Goal #1 I Intend to Accomplish this By (Date)
*
Initial Actions Steps To Reach This Goal (Target Date to Complete)
1.
2.
3.
Goal #2 I Intend to Accomplish this By (Date)
*
Initial Actions Steps To Reach This Goal (Target Date to Complete)
1.
2.
3.
Goal #3 I Intend to Accomplish this By (Date)
*
Initial Actions Steps To Reach This Goal (Target Date to Complete)
1.
2.
3.
Goal #4 I Intend to Accomplish this By (Date)
*
Initial Actions Steps To Reach This Goal (Target Date to Complete)
1.
2.
3.
Goal #5 I Intend to Accomplish this By (Date)
*
Initial Actions Steps To Reach This Goal (Target Date to Complete)
1.
2.
3.
Goal #6 I Intend to Accomplish this By (Date)
*
Initial Actions Steps To Reach This Goal (Target Date to Complete)
1.
2.
3.
Goal #7 I Intend to Accomplish this By (Date)
*
Initial Actions Steps To Reach This Goal (Target Date to Complete)
1.
2.
3.
Categories
· Family · Health / fitness · Physical appearance
· Career · Personal growth · Educational / Mental
· Travel · Social / Cultural · Service & Charitable
· Romance · Personality traits · Recreational / Leisure
· Financial · Spiritual / Ethical · Material possession
· Relationships · Habits or behavior
(houses, cars, etc.)
Now review each of your seven primary goals. Are they positive, present, personal and measurable? And remember, these goals will change over time as some are reached and others become more or less of a priority. This is simply a starting point to familiarize you with the process. Once you have learned it, you can overhaul your goals on a regular basis, based on the priorities in your life at the time..
Assignment #5
How Do You Get there?
Now that you know exactly where you want to go, let’s take a look at how to get there.
Exercise #1
Setting The Frequency
There are a lot of things that can block our progress in meeting our goals. Several of these are discussed below. It’s important to confront and deal with these. However, your success in reaching your goals or mastering the law of attraction is a matter of your ‘frequency’ based on the law of ‘like attracts like.’ This is the reason we constantly emphasize focusing on what you want rather than what you don’t want. The most powerful way to shift your frequency to attract what you want in life is Gratitude. So often we only focus on what we don’twant. i.e. what we don’t have or what we lack. Setting goals and intentions on what we want is important but our success in manifestation is ultimately dependent on the frequency we carry. We attract to ourselves those things that are consistent with our frequency and the best way to shift our frequency and lay a solid foundation for positive attraction is Gratitude. In this exercise you are invited to consider each of following areas of your life and write at least one paragraph about what you are truly grateful for. It doesn’t have to be profound. It can be the simple things that you take for granted. The goal here is to create a frequency of gratitude that will attract even more and better things into your life. Once completed it would be good to review this on a regular basis (weekly, monthly) until you really feel you are living a frequency of Gratitude for all of the blessings you have in life. Some people have become so enthusiastic with this that they maintain a Gratitude Journal and make regular entries of new items.
Gratitude Categories
· Family · Health / fitness · Physical appearance
· Career · Personal growth · Educational / Mental
· Travel · Social / Cultural · Service & Charitable
· Romance · Personality traits · Recreational / Leisure
· Financial · Spiritual / Ethical · Material possession
· Relationships · Habits or behavior
(houses, cars, etc.)
Exercise #2
From Goals To Intentions
Having goals is an important part of our life. Goals however, are based on some future outcome and require planning and discipline to achieve them. When you begin setting goals you start out on a journey of prioritizing and organizing the direction of your life so as to create a road map for your life. This is an important step in becoming a master of the situations and circumstances of life. However, too often your goals become contaminated with doubts and fears as to whether they can be achieved or really lead to happiness.
Intentions, on the other hand, are not so much focused on the future but more connected to the present and how we are ‘being’ in any given moment. Goals are a destination and intentions are like the vehicle or perhaps the fuel. They create the momentum to move us forward toward our goals. They are based on what matters most to us bringing our actions in line with our values. Intentions flow from the heart and create your vision, while goals are created in the mind.
Goals help you with direction and taking action. Intentions are supported by your integrity and provide cohesiveness in your life. By mindfully creating your intention, you discover how to use goals that move you into action without becoming attached to the outcome. So, if you do not attain the goal that you set out to do, you can re-connect with your intentions which have no bearing on the attainment of your goals, but exist rather as the main fuel to living your life. By practicing this you become more effective in reaching your goals
Setting Intentions
The very first step in the manifestation process is being very clear as to what you want and then setting your intention. An intention is different than a wish, dream, desire or even a goal. None of these indicate the depth of commitment that an intention does, and it is our personal clarity and commitment that activates universal energies on our behalf. So first and foremost you must be clear about what you want and turn that into an intention.
You have already done this with the seven priority goals you selected in Assignment #4, Exercise #2. Using this list, create a clear and concise intention, followed by a gratitude statement, a list of action steps you need to take toward manifesting this intention and a visual representation of the intention that can really excite you.
Here is an example related to health.
Radiant Health (Intention)
I intend to take especially good care of my physical body without being obsessed with it. Through a good program of physical exercise, good nutrition, low stress levels, new technologies & youthful attitude – and yes, some pampering – I will maintain radiant health, a high degree of energy, a sense of well being and continual rejuvenation.
Once you have set your intentions, you are ready to take the next step; expressing Gratitude to Source or Divine Presence for it having already been accomplished. Here is an example, also related to health:
Radiant Health (Gratitude)
I am so incredibly grateful for the vibrant health and sense of well being that I enjoy. Each day I am grateful for waking up to a new day of life and opportunity; Each day I am grateful for my body; the ability to see, hear, walk, feel, think clearly and to be free of any pain whatsoever – all the wondrous physical gifts that so many do not enjoy. I am so grateful for this physical vehicle and how it serves me day in and day out in so many different ways.
Once you have set your intention and stated your gratitude for it having already been accomplished, you may realize that you will need to take specific actions that you can actually put on your “to do” list. Here is an example
Radiant Health (Action)
• This week I will resume my daily exercise each morning.
• This week I will resume my daily yoga practice
• This week I will resume my daily walks (run, etc.)
• This week I will do quite well without (caffeine drinks, tobacco, alcohol, etc).
• Other actions you can begin will improve your health?
Radiant Health (Visual)
OK, this is the fun part. Go to google.com, key in your intention, click ‘images’ and scroll through until you find an image that represents this intention to you – one that can really excite you. Here are two of my favorites for ‘radiant health.’
Once you have done this for each of your primary intentions you will have created your own personal ‘manifestation-mobile.’
Remember, this is a holistic process that requires your mental (intention), physical (actions) and emotional (gratitude and visuals) resources. Your emotions are a good measuring rod for how well you are doing. If reading your intention & gratitude statement along with seeing your visual gives you a feeling of happiness, excitement and joy then you will know that you have succeeded. These positive emotions are very high frequency energies that will empower your dreams. The act of gratitude and the high frequency feelings that go with it are like stepping on the gas pedal of your manifestation mobile. It will cause you to zoom forward! And the visuals should give you the excited feeling of having already reached your goal.
On the other hand, If you allow fear, doubt, worry, jealously, anger or any other negative emotion creep into your process, it’s like taking your foot off the gas and slamming on the brakes. It stops the process. The same is true if you become unclear about what you want, feel you don’t deserve it, feel that you are asking for too much or have conflicting desires such as a relationship verses freedom, for example. If and when these arise, simply say to yourself “CANCEL” and immediately shift your attention back to the gratitude for the intention already having been fulfilled. If you do this, you will eventually manifest your heart’s desire.
Once completed, this will be your manifestation document – one that you should review often. This will be the foundation of making your dreams come true. It is also something that will evolve and change with time. Feel free to edit and rewrite it periodically – monthly, quarterly, annually, according to your needs.
Once you have completed your first intention, feel free to send it in for review, comments or suggestions before you complete the whole assignment
A Helpful Hint
Want to really put the manifestation of your intentions on the fast track? Then try this. Write your gratitude statements on index cards and for one month at least, dedicate one day to each gratitude statement. Read it when you wake up in the morning, Experience the pure joy of fulfillment of this intention throughout the day, and either in meditation time, driving in the car or for a few minutes before you fall asleep, visualize it’s fulfillment as clearly as possible and ‘bath’ in the feeling of pure joy and excitement that this brings. Do this and the Universe will conspire with your own higher self to bring your dreams and intentions into reality.
Exercise #3
Back From The Future
The most effective way to manifest anything is to act as if your desire has already been fulfilled or accomplished. And the best way to do this is to be in a state of profound gratitude. This is much more powerful than asking for or saying that you need or want something, Since those words indicate you lack it and you are only reinforcing the fact that you don’t have it.
You have already begun this process in the previous exercises. There are many ways to ‘act as if.’ One of the most powerful ways is to write a ‘back to the future’ letter. Here’s how it works: You choose a date two to five years in the future. You have finally manifested the major intentions you set back in (current date).
You are writing a letter from this future date, beginning with a specific date two years prior to the current date. The first letter is to an old friend. The second letter is to the Source of your Being. Here’s how it works:
Your letters should be dated two to five years in the future and your description of what has happened should begin approximately two years in the past from the current date. I personally use December 31st in both cases since it is the end of the year.
Letter To An Old Friend
There is an old and dear friend living very far away whom you have not seen for many, many years. You decide to write this friend a long letter to bring him/her up to date on your life, how you have changed and what you have accomplished in certain important areas of your life such as your finances, relationships, health, possessions, personal growth, etc., – whatever you are working to manifest.
You will want to share your feelings about your new life. Describe what you are doing theses days; something about your work, business, or something perhaps about your family or your love life, how you are serving others; don’t forget to describe yourself physically, how you look, your health, etc. You may particularly want to describe some of the materials benefits which have resulted from your new financial situation’ things such as your home, automobiles, leisure time activities, travel, etc.
You may also find it desirable to share with this trusted friend some of the internal growth which you have experienced both mentally, emotionally and spiritually as you have gained greater self-understanding through your personal journey to success. In other words you will want to write this letter in such as way as to give your friend a completed well-rounded and in-depth picture of yourself now that you have fulfilled your most cherished dreams.
After providing this overview, then choose only one primary intention and go into some detail in describing how things look now that this has been manifested.
Be sure to write as if it is already accomplished. Be as specific as possible. For example, if it is a material object such as a home or car, describe it in enough detail that your friend can get a clear mental picture of it. If it is a relationship; not only describe the person you have manifested into your life but the kind of relationship you have created with the person and especially those things about the relationship that bring you the greatest happiness. As you write, pay close attention to the feelings you are experiencing now that you have manifested your intention; the joy, the satisfaction and the gratitude.
You are doing several things with this exercise. First, and most importantly, you are clarifying on paper exactly what you want by describing it in detail as already accomplished. Secondly you are actually creating it at the higher frequencies where all creation begins. Thirdly, you are empowering it with the emotions of joy and gratitude which fuel manifestation. Now set aside any doubts, resistance or blocks that may prevent it’s delivery. And remember, if you send mixed signals to the Universe, you will get mixed results. Writing a letter such as this helps clarify and remove such blocks.
A final reminder: Be sure to date your letter with a specific date in the future and specify in the letter the date that you are starting with in the past.
Exercise #4
Letter to Source
Emotion is the gas that runs the manifestation-mobile – for better or worse. So it is important to act as if your goal has already been accomplished and to empower this with a sense of profound joy and gratitude. Strong emotions such as fear and anger will attract the very thing you don’t want, based on the law of attraction.
Now sum it all up by writing a writing a letter of Gratitude addressed to The Universe / God Divine Presence; however you wish to imagine the Source of your being.
You begin your letter of Gratitude two years in the past, expressing your deep gratitude for all the good things that have taken place in your life and describing them individually. You can review the life areas list in exercise #1 for some ideas. Yes, you have had problems and challenges in many of those areas, but you also have so many things to be grateful for; many of which you have taken for granted.
Describe all of the things which have happened that you are grateful for – even the unpleasant things from which you have learned so much. Continue from two years until the present and continue expressing your gratitude for specific things which have taken place over the next two to five years in the future – as if they have already happened. By the time you have finished you should notice a shift in your feelings and frequency. You should really be feeling good. This is important because it is this higher frequency of gratitude which will attract greater things into your life. This is the key: writing about the positive things which have happened over the next two to five years as if they have already happened and the frequency shift which this will create.
Exercise #5
Your Vision Board
As you will learn in almost all of the books related to manifestation, the single most powerful technique you can use for empowering your dreams is visualization.
Our lives are largely ruled by our imaginations. The pictures we hold in our minds create physiological reactions in our bodies and often determine our actions in the world. Worry is a good example. Holding negative pictures in our mind and thoughts about ‘what could happen’ is a form of negative visualization. With enough intensity, the stress from worry can destroy both our physical and mental health; and all of this simply from our imagination!
That’s the bad news. The good news is that we can use that same power of imagination and visualization to consciously focus on what we want (a product of our desires) rather than unconsciously focusing on what we don’t want (a product of our fears). But it’s important to remember, either way, the Universe and your own subconscious mind will conspire to bring your visual images into reality if you hold them long enough and with enough intensity.
This process is based on the Law Of Resonance: The Law of Resonance is that part of the Law of Attraction which states that our frequency – as projected though our thoughts, beliefs, words, emotions and the pictures we hold in our mind – will attract the very thing we focus on, whether positive or negative. This is to say that the energy or frequency we project can only harmonize with energies that vibrate or resonate at a similar vibratory frequency, and it is this which determines and creates our physical experience.
The visual images we hold in our mind and the emotions around those images, along with our ‘self-talk’ are the most powerful tools we have for conscious creation.
You have already determined what you really, really, really in life and have listed these as your intentions. You have also empowered these intentions with visuals that represent each intention. Now you are ready to use these to create your vision board or treasure map.
What is a Vision Board?
A vision board (also known as a treasure map) is simply a visual representation or collage of the things that you want to have, be, or do in your life. It can be a ‘hard copy’ which you can create using poster or foam board with cut-out pictures, drawings and/or writing on it of the things that you want in your life or the things that you want to become or it can be a computer based copy based on images you have found on the internet. Either way, the purpose of a vision board is to activate the law of attraction to begin to pull things from your external environment that will enable you to realize your dream. By selecting pictures and writing that charges your emotions with feelings of passion you will begin to manifest those things into your life.
Having done your intentions, you already have a set of visuals that represent each of these. You can use these in two different ways. First, you can set them up as a screen saver so that they are constantly flashing across your screen when you computer is idle. Secondly, you can use a program like yahoo flickr and create a collage which you can also use as a screensaver, print out on an 8 ½ x 11 page or order a larger poster which you can put on your wall. I did this and it provides me with constant visuals of my major goals. a large poster of my intentions is taped to my office wall. The one drawback to a hard copy is that as your goals are reached or your priorities change, the hard copy is more difficult to change than a computer copy.
However you do it, the important thing is that the visuals should reflect what you really, really, really want and looking at them should make you feel good – ideally filled with joy just thinking about their fulfillment.
When I first learned about this idea of visualization, it was suggested that I take two or three of my top intentions and post visuals of them everywhere: on the ceiling above my bed so they would be the first thing I saw when I woke up and the last thing I saw before I went to bed; on the bathroom mirror; on the dash board of my car, etc. I never went that far. They actually ended up on the side of my refrigerator which was next to the door that went out to the driveway where the car was parked. So I saw them everything time I left or entered the house.
Space doesn’t allow the details here but I can say that it was nothing short of miraculous how this one technique served to manifest each of those visuals over a period of month or years, and often in the strangest and most unpredictable way. This Does work!!!
You can learn a lot more about vision boards from the books listed in our curriculum and from these websites below: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=vision+board&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Some Important Things To Remember
As you sharpen your skills of visualization, it’s important to remember these four steps:
1) Review your conscious intention.
2) Visualize it in detail as an accomplished fact.
3) Think, speak and act as if you already have it.
4) Express gratitude for it’s fulfillment as if it was already done.
5) Take action on the ways and means to make it “physical” as they show up.
And finally
If you meditate daily, take some of that time to visualize yourself clearly and in detail as already having manifested your goal or dream. If you don’t meditate, then take a few moments before you go to sleep or when you first wake up, to do the same thing. Be sure to bath in the positive emotions you experience with this. You might find it helpful to choose no more than seven goals and do one each day for a week and then repeat.
Assignment #6
Removing Roadblocks
Exercise #1
Confronting Your Fears
The biggest roadblock you are likely to face in reaching your goals is your fear. These may include the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of the unknown and even the fear of success.
There are two ways to deal with your fears; you can either avoid them or you can confront them. If you chose to avoid them, they will slip below your conscious mind and not only will they grow, but they will sabotage your self-esteem, self-confidence and self-respect in many ways, large and small.
If you want to move forward on the fast tract of manifestation, you will want to confront your fears. How do you do this? First and foremost, you need to acknowledge them. Shining the light of logic on them is a good start.
Exercise
Take a clean sheet of paper or several index cards and at the top write “What am I afraid of?” Now make a list of everything, major or minor, that you have any anxiety about. Consider the many areas of your life. Once done, prioritize your list with the biggest fear first. Now answer these three questions about your first fear:
1) How does this fear hold me back in life?
2) How does this fear help me or how has it helped me in the past?
3) What would be my payoff for eliminating this fear?
4) What action can I take today or this week, to confront or undermine this fear?
If you will doe this with each of your major fears, you are on the way to eliminating them. It’s especially valuable to review these weekly and at least once a week, answer question #4. What can I do this week to confront or undermine this fear?
Exercise #2
Resistance
Perhaps you have heard the saying: “whatever you resist, persists.” Jesus was well aware of this universal law when he said “resist not evil” (Matt 5:39). This is based on the idea that what we resist, we actually empower or give energy to because we are focusing on what we don’t want rather than what we do want. This is why the ‘war on drugs’ or the ‘war or terror’ or the war on anything else are ultimately doomed to failure. We are devoting all of our energy to what we don’t want instead of what we do want.
Once you let go of the resistance, the judgment, and need to the control the situation or results, and let it be exactly as it is or isn’t, then you will notice a difference in the way you feel. You will be releasing all of the negative feelings and despair around this situation which have been energetic blocks to the positive energy which can flow once again when you let go. It is this positive energy which will attract more positive results into your life.
It is also important to watch your words. How often have you said “I’m fighting a cold” or “I’m fighting the flu” or “I hate….” Our words are powerful beyond our imagination. Each statement we make, either to ourselves or others, is a command to our own subconscious mind and the Universe. What we focus on, we attract. So it’s really important to watch the statements you make to yourself; things such as “she is driving me crazy” “he is a pain in the neck” etc. etc. You get the picture. When you stop fighting against what you don’t want and use that resistance energy to focus on what you do want, you will be putting your manifestation efforts on fast track.
Exercise #2
Releasing The Past
This is a big one. It’s also an optional exercise, depending on whether or not you are ready for it. As you have learned, the Law of Attraction simply means ‘like attracts like.” It’s a matter of vibration or frequency. Focusing on what you want (and the positive feeling or frequency that goes with that) will attract that in to your life. Focusing on what you don’t want (and the negative feelings of fear, resentment, anger, etc.) will attract those things in to your life.
The low frequency feelings that we hold from the past create serious bocks to the conscious manifestation process. It’s a frequency thing.
You may be well justified in your anger or resentment with a parent, past lover, ex-spouse, family member, friend or business partner who betrayed or in some way or abused you. However justified you may feel or be, the emotions from that experience is like a ton of baggage that you are dragging through life. The only person it is hurting is yourself. As one author said, “it is like drinking rat poison yourself and expecting the rat to die!”
That’s why forgiveness is a major feature of all of the spiritual and wisdom traditions. They understood that forgiveness frees up and puts to better use the energy that is often consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments and nursing unhealed wounds. Contrary to popular belief, forgiveness isn’t about the other person. It’s about freeing yourself – freeing up your own energy to move forward.
So you are at a choice point. You can choose to hang on to the resentment & anger, both of which will make your manifestation work that much more challenging; or you can choose to release them for the purpose of freeing up yourself.
If you choose to consciously and honestly forgive those in your past, here are some exercises that may help.
There is a system of belief that says that we are responsible for everything we experience in life; both pleasant and unpleasant. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we created the situation or circumstance in life but that the meaning we give to it causes us to be happy, unhappy or neutral. In other words, we have free will. We have the freedom to assign whatever meaning we wish to any event in our life. If you spouse or lover walks out on you there are two ways you can look at it: “Oh my God, what am I going to do now that he/she is gone?” or…. As Martin Luther King said “Free at last, Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.” Or perhaps you can see it as the way being cleared for something much better to come into your life.
Ok, it’s not always that clear or simple but it makes the point that you do have a choice as to how you view each situation in your life and what meaning you give it.
Exercise – Shifting Perspective
Chose a negative event in your past; a betrayal, abuse, rejection; anything that carries a strong emotional charge.
* Describe just the facts of what happened. No interpretation, no comment, no judgment. Simply the facts.
* Now write your interpretation of the situation, including your feelings about it.
* Now, in retrospect, look for the hidden blessings in the situation or event. Has anything positive resulted from it? Write a positive interpretation of the experience so as to change the energy of it. Have you learned anything from this experience or situation that you can truly be grateful for?
* Can you honestly now be in a place of gratitude for the event, while still recognizing that it was very painful? If so, then write a brief letter to the other person or persons involve and thank them for that experience and what you gained from it; what you have learned and how you have grown. When you have completed this – if you can honestly feel it – state plainly “I forgive you and I forgive myself for what happened.” Make this a letter of release; releasing you first from the chains of the past, but also releasing the other person. If you are successful, you should feel complete with that person and any feelings of resentment, anger or hatred will be replaced with simply a neutral feeling. The experience (s) of the past simply lose their emotional charge. You can choose to either send the letter to the other person(s) or simply burn it as an act of release. You will know whether or not you have been successful by what you feel when you think of the person. Is it resentment, gratitude or simply nothing?
* If you aren’t able to do the release as describe above, then here is a prior step that might help. Sometimes a situation or event was so very painful that we simply can’t release it before we ‘exorcise’ it from our being. The best way to do this is to write a long and detailed letter to the object of your anger. Explain exactly how you feel about what happened and why. Pour out your anger and your pain in an effort to cause the other person to understand what you are feeling. It doesn’t matter if they are already dead. This isn’t about them. It’s about exorcising your own demons. Once you have done this (take several days if you need to), then create a small ceremony in which you burn it – releasing it into the ethers – with a small prayer for your own release. Then give yourself a few days or weeks to heal. By then you should be ready to reframe those past experiences and find such blessings as there may be.
Assignment #7
Your Legacy
Exercise #1
Your Obituary
Write your own obituary or eulogy to be read to your friends and family at your funeral, exactly as you would like to be remembered.
Exercise #2
Your Personal Mission Statement
A personal mission statement is your way of defining to the world who you are, why you are here and what your life is about. The following resources will guide you.
http://www.missionstatements.com/personal_mission_statements.html
Addendum – All About Goals
Contents
* The Benefits of Goal Setting
* Principles of Goal Setting
* Types of Goals
* The Goals Process
* Deciding On Goals
* The Goals Process
* Tools for Success
* Writing Goals Down
* Resistance to Goal Setting
* Obstacles & Roadblocks
* Solutions
* Target Dates
* Rewards
* Visualization
The Benefits of Goal Setting
1. Goal setting improves your self image. It improves you today and make you better for tomorrow.
2. It makes you aware of your strengths which can be used to overcome obstacles and provide solutions to problems.
3. It makes you aware of our weaknesses. Thus you can begin setting new goals to improve in those areas and make them strengths. Goals give a person confidence. Your frustration level is immediately lowered when vagueness and doubt are replaced by structure and direction.
4. It gives you a sense of past victories which provides the stimulus for present success.
5. Written goals help you visualize, actionize and then actualize.
6. Goal setting gives you a track to run on.
7. Goal setting forces you to set priorities and thus establishes the proper direction of your pursuits. It forces you to be specific. It is the first positive, overt step to success.
8. Goal setting defines reality and separates it from wishful thinking. It is not daydreaming. It properly separates and defines the various roles you must play.
9. Goals setting makes you responsible for your own life. It forces yo to define and establish in concrete form you system of values.
10. Goals serve as criteria to sharpen decision making. Decisions are always made in the light of some criteria of standards. If the standards have not been defined, decisions will often be made in terms of immediate pressures.
Principles of Goal Setting
1. They must be your own personal goals; personal and internal. If not, they won’t satisfy your real achievement needs. You are not motivated by someone else’s goals.
2. They must be stated positively. You must focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. An important part of goal setting is developing mental pictures of what you want to accomplish. Since you mind cannot focus on a negative image, you can see the importance of stating your goals positively.
3. They must be realistic & attainable. They must represent objectives toward which you are both able and willing to work. They must require effort, but they have to be within your grasp to sustain motivation for their achievement.
4. They must include personal changes. Before you can accomplish a goal, you must have the internal qualities necessary for it’s attainment. You must be prepared to make personal changes necessary for achievement. These must include developing whatever personality characteristics you lack and creating new habits if necessary.
5. Your goals must be written. Written goals add a degree of commitment and they help you get specific with your goals. Writing crystallizes thought and it’s crystallized thought that motivates action.
6. Your goals must be specific. Definite goals produce definite results. Vague goals produce, at best, vague results. They usually produce no results. Specific goals help you to visualize accomplishment and thus they are easier to reach. Each goal should describe a specific end result; i.e., what observable condition will exist when the goal is achieved.
7. A good goal should inspire and require you to do more of something or to do it better or differently.
Types of Goals
A. Tangible Goals
These are goals which we can perceive through the senses. They are the easiest to measure and we can generally tell when we are losing or winning. Tangible goals relate to any material item than enhances our ability to reach other goals. Tangible wants are those things which represent your fondest dreams. Simply writing these wants down will cause you to begin gravitating toward them; to develop the talents, the abilities and the financial capacity to reach them.
B. Intangible Goals
Intangible goals are related to our ‘becoming.’ These include personality characteristics we want to development or strengthen, new habit we want to create, etc. These goals for internal changes are often necessary to reach in order to reach the more tangible goals.
C. Long-range Goals
These are goals which usually require several months or even years to accomplish. A long-range goal is not a forecast of what you think will happen. It is a projects of what you can make happen.
D. Short-range Goals
These are goals that generally lead you toward your long-range goals or goals that give you quick satisfaction. Accomplishing short-range goals builds a success consciousness. Successful short-range goals are the best reassurance that goal setting works.
The Goals Process
The most important step in getting started is defining your goals and writing it clearly. The two major drawbacks to achieving goals are setting too many intangible goals and setting goals that are too general.
We tend to set intangible and general goals because they are difficult to measure. Sometimes we do this so that people cannot hold us accountable for those goals. The irony is that we cannot even hold ourselves accountable until we can define our goals specifically and determine how we can measure it. Goals such as “better person” more friendly, etc., are meaningless unless we can measure the change. Remember, if we want to do something better, we must do something different ant that requires change.
Deciding on Goals
Deciding on a goal can be the most crucial decision of your life. It is more damaging not to have a goal than it is not to reach a goal. It is generally agreed that the major cause of failure is the lack of a well defined purpose. A successful life doe not result from chance, but from a succession of successful days. The place to start is a personal program of goals.
The first step is to identify your goals. One exercise to help you identify your goals is to ‘brainstorm’ a dream list. Write down everything you have ever wanted to have, to see, to do, to be, etc., in all the major areas of your life. Write down EVERYTHING and add to the list continually. Get a minimum of 100 items. This exercise will give you insights into your wants.
An important thing to remember is that a real program of goal setting implies the existence of a system of values. To reduce conflict in goal setting it is important to have a priority system. You should rank the areas of your life in order of their importance to you today: Social, Spiritual, Mental, Physical, Emotional, Family, Financial. Reflect on your value system on a regular basis. It is natural for your priorities to change as you develop and as your circumstances change.
Once you have done this you are ready to translate your needs and wants into goals.
Defining the Goal
The first step is writing the goal on a piece of paper. Getting a statement on a piece of paper is like planting a seed. The next step is to determine an immediate action that you can take — today!
Example: Suppose you have stated your goal as being ‘to be a good public speaker.’ How can you measure this goal? How can you get it more specific? One way of measuring this goal is to establish criteria such as audience size, number of speeches, return engagements, acquiring a speaking fee, etc.
Here is a method to help you get any goal more specific and determine what action you can take today toward accomplishing your goal:
First – State your goal clearly and in writing.
Second – List three obstacles to this goal.
Third – Take each obstacle and list three possible solutions.
Fourth – Take the first solution and list three action steps you can take.
Fifth – Take each action step and set a target date or deadline for accomplishing it.
Sixth – Write a promise to yourself that you will take this action by the target date.
Seventh – List the rewards or benefits for reaching your goal or accomplishing each action step.
Many people stop at the sixth step, thinking the have completed the goals process. However, they have just begun! Listing the personal rewards or benefits to be gained from achieving your goal is essential. You should unleash your creative mind to list as many personal benefits as possible. The secret is to get the personal benefits to outweigh the obstacles and roadblocks. If they don’t, you wont be motivated to achieve your goals.
Writing Goals Down
Surveys have been done with people who share the same educational backgrounds and the difference between the levels of financial success and how they dealt with goals was startling.
3% wrote their goals down………………………. Highly successful
10% had a clear idea of their goals………… moderately successful
60% had thought about goals …………………… modest financial means
27% no thought give to goals ………………….. barely getting by
A person without goals is a boat without a rudder or sail. It has no direction. A person who has goals but hasn’t written them down is like a boat with a rudder and a sail that has not been unfurled. A person with written goals is like a sail boat with the sail open and the boat moving forward.
Why the big difference?
* Goals give us direction
* Goals serve as a yardstick of progress
* Goals crystallize thought and clear thought motivates action
* Goals serve as a reminder; as a “kick in the pants.”
* Goals help us to always know where we are, where we are going, and what to do next.
* Goals clearly stated help to assure computability of objectives in all areas of our life.
* Goals give us clear pictures in our mind and help us to stimulate visualization
* Goals focus our attention on what we want, and what we focus on we tend to draw to ourselves.
In writing your goals down, remember to take a balanced approach. Include physical, social, mental, financial, spiritual and any other important part of your life.
Tools For Success
Once you have the goals process written out into an action plan, you need some additional tools to keep you on course. Two methods used by the top goal achievers are Affirmations and Visualization.
Affirmations are positive statements of belief and commitment. They are not necessarily statements of fact, but rather statements of conditions you want to exist in the future. Stating affirmations daily will build the kind of confidence necessary to reach your goal. To be successful, affirmations should be person, present tense and positive. Simply stated, the use of affirmations is a form of verbal “act as if…”
Visualization is a form of mental “act as if…” It is the use of pictures, drawings and other visual aids to help you visualize the accomplishment of your goals. Examples could be: 1) Cutting out a picture of something that represents to you the achievement of your goal, 2) Drawing a sample check or currency bill which represents the amount you wish to earn & 3) Mentally picturing yourself having already accomplished your goal and — most importantly — experiencing the feeling it brings.
Remember, even the simplest goal must be mentally accomplished before it can be physically accomplished. In your mind is a collection of mental pictures. Your success can be determined by your ability to change these mental images.
The final step in keeping the process alive is charting your progress. Keeping track of your progress and goals accomplished builds confidence and success consciousness. It also make it easier to make adjustments in your goals. You should keep a record of the goals you do not accomplish and list the reason why. This will help you set future goals.
The goals process is a continuing activity. You should continue to set new goals and to spend at least a few minutes every week reviewing your goals. This will project your goals onto your ‘mind screen’ and help you achieve them.
Resistance
Although most people intellectually accept goal setting as an important element for success, they internally fight goal setting for the following reasons.
1. Predictability – Many people feel threatened by change. They resist goal setting because it may be temporarily uncomfortable while moving from the ‘rut’ to a higher plateau.
2. Conditioning – We are a conditioned people. After we have done something a certain way, it becomes a habit. A habit is automatic or reflexive. Therefore the biggest threat to habit change is the current habit.
3. Miracles – Many people are caught in the “Waiting for Santa Claus’ trap. They sit back and wait for miracles instead of taking action steps o set and accomplish goals.
4. Fear of losing – Many people do not set goals because they are afraid they will be criticized by others or by themselves for not reaching their goals. Others fear disappointment if they do not reach their goals.
5. Fear of winning – Ironically, many people do not set goals because they cannont visualize themselves being capable of handling the new behavior or the products of success.
6. Over-expectations – Many people inadvertently fight goals setting by continuously setting their goals too high This enables them to say “I know I can’t reach that goal, so I won’t even try.”
Goal setting should not be considered hard work or even boring. It should be fun and exciting. While you are working on your goal, it is also working on you. The more we use goals setting, the more we use our potential. Statistics show that we only use a small percentage of our God-given talents and abilities on a daily basis. Goals setting helps us stretch our capabilities and use more of our talents and abilities.
Goals setting is a feeling of success. It should make each day easier to live. The person who sets a high goal and strives for its attainment inspires everyone who knows him/her. The feeling of success and satisfaction comes from achieving it. Life becomes exciting when we are pursuing goals.
Insurance statistics in the USA show that the average man has a life expectancy of less than three years after retirement if he doesn’t have goals beyond retirement. The man who has a purpose of a goal can expect to live up to nine years after retirement. So, to triple life expectancy, we must retire ‘to’ something instead of ‘from’ something.
Obstacles & Roadblocks
As you begin, it is important to identify those things which may be blocking your progress toward goal attainment. The easiest way to identify these is to ask yourself the question.”
“If this goal is really important to me, why have I not already fulfilled it?” Your answer to this question will identify the obstacles and blocks. It is important to identify two different categories; tangible and intangible. Tangible blocks are outward circumstances. Intangible are inner challenges such as habits, attitudes, etc.
Solutions
What are the solutions? Answer the question for each obstacle or block: “What will it take to overcome these.” Your answers are the solutions.
Target Dates
Having a map to your destination won’t get you there. You also need to have some target dates as to when you will leave, how long it will take and when you will arrive. So it is with goals. Having target dates or deadlines creates a challenge within you. It is a motivating mechanism which alerts your body/mind to get moving! They also help you maintain a positive mental attitude. It is important, however, to remember that they are your servants, not your master. You set them so you can adjust them.
Rewards
Rewards are the mechanism for creating a burning desire to meet your goal. In creating your
action plan, it is valuable to list a reward opposite each goal, both the advantages to be gained and the losses to be avoided by reaching this goal. Remember, rewards may be either tangible or intangible.
Is It Really Worth It?
This is the final question which will really test the level of both your desire and determination. Once you answer yes, you begin to develop the determination and dedication to make your plan succeed.
Remember: Whatever you ardently desire, vividly imagine, sincerely believe & enthusiastically act upon must eventually come to pass.
Visualization
“What you see is what you get.” “As A. Man Thinketh, So Is He.” “Seeing is Believing.” There are scores of sayings that point to the idea that all goal attainment must include the ability to visualize or imagine the positive results you desire. Worry is an example of negative visualization in which ‘see’ the things which we do not want.
Visualization is the ability to strongly imagine what we desire, whether it is a personal change or a material object. The more clearly we can imagine it, the more likely we are to obtain it. We should practice a certain amount of time each day visualizing our goals as already attained. How does it look, sound, feel, smell, taste?? We should imagine our minds being like a camera which can capture a clearly defined mental image of our goal already attained. When we clearly visualize, our goals become more defined and concrete in our mind, and the more concrete we are able to be, the more likely we will reach our goal.
Visualization helps us develop an almost miraculous belief in ourselves and in our ability to achieve our goals. Determination and will-power do not fosterbelieff. Unless we can see the end results through visualizationn, we are forging ahead into the unknown and our confidence and belief will not sustain us.
Habits and attitudes are changed by displacement. This can best be done by visualizing ourselves as already having the new behavior. Daydreams are an escape from the pressures of reality. The daydreamer does not really believe in what s/he dreams. It is only a whim, a wish, a fantasy. The person of vision, the visualizer, is one who purposefully projects reality and then works toward it.
For additional information about goals and to hone your internet research skills, explore the following websites:
MIND TOOLS
http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
Essential skills for an excellent career
About Goal Setting
http://www.about-goal-setting.com
Free Tutorials and Top resources for goal setting
Top Achievement
http://www.topachievement.com/
Powerful Written Goals in 7 Easy Steps
Goals Setting Made Easy
http://www.mygoals.com/index.html?1003
Award-winning goal management site with proven methods which help you create better plans to keep you on track.
My Goal Manager
http://www.mygoalmanager.com/goals/default.asp
Free online Goal Setting tools.