Many people experience confusion regarding the difference between setting goals and letting go of their attachment to outcomes. A recent question from a client addresses this issue regarding some online advice to be in the moment and not worry about the future. "If that's so, how can you set goals for yourself? Everyone sets goals based on the outcome. Why else would you even set goals or try to accomplish anything?" she asked me.
The brain is a goal-seeking organism. Experts on the science of success know that whatever goal you give to your subconscious mind, it will work night and day to achieve.
But all goals are not created equal. Some goals will give you specific results, while others will give you vague goals with minimal results.
If you are bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals. –Lou Holtz
I’ve studied the science of success for over four decades now – and if there’s one thing I know for sure to be true, it’s this:
The only way to attain a high level of success in life is to set personal goals for yourself and refuse to let anything stop you from achieving them.
… Sounds simple, right?
Yet so few people seem to be able to pull it off.
Most people in life don’t bother to set personal goals for themselves. They’re too busy reacting to daily chaos and won’t open their eyes toward the horizon to plan for a future.
Even if they do look ahead and set future goals for themselves, they lack the focus and motivation required to achieve their aspirations in life and give up when the first challenging obstacle appears on their path.
Or they set personal goals that don’t take them in the direction of the life they want to live. Their personal goals list reflects what they think they should want to achieve in life, rather than what they actually want to experience.
I don’t want that to happen to you. That’s why today I’m going to teach you how to set personal goals that are guaranteed to lead you in the direction of your dreams.
You’ll also learn how to identify future goals for different areas of your life so that you’re able to experience more balance, harmony, and greater fulfillment in everything you do!
Ask any highly successful person how they maintain their motivation and focus to achieve their ambitious goals, and chances are their answer will be, “daily affirmations!”
I have met countless successful business people, Olympic and professional athletes, NY Times bestselling authors, and visionary changemakers who all use daily positive affirmations to stay energized and focused on their goals, no matter what’s happening in the world around them. They have all told me that their daily affirmations practice has had a game-changing impact on their lives.
Today I’d like to teach you how daily affirmations for success actually work and show you how to write affirmations that will make it so much easier for you to achieve your life goals.
I’ll also answer common questions such as:
“What is a daily affirmation?”
“Are morning affirmations better than evening affirmations?”
“How to write affirmations that work?”
… and so much more!
When you encounter a setback in life, how do you react?
Do you complain about it or succumb to frustration and anger and allow it to derail your progress?
Do you see it as a sign from the universe to quit or use it as an excuse to give up on your goals?
Or do you treat it like the valuable learning opportunity it is?
Today I’d like to teach you how to “fail forward” in life and transform every failure you experience into a powerful launchpad that catapults you even closer to your dreams.
See, this is the thing about failures.
All our lives, we’ve been told that they’re bad and something to avoid or be ashamed of.
The idea of failure has been built up to be so catastrophically terrible that most people choose not to take any risks at all, rather than risk even a small chance of failure.
And that is a huge problem — because if you don’t take risks, you can’t grow as a person.
You see, growth only happens when you leave your comfort zone. It requires you to venture into unknown territory and try something different. That’s how we learn the new skills and knowledge we need to become the kind of person who is capable of taking our lives to the next level.
Growth requires risk. And if you’re so scared of failure that you refuse to take risks, then you’ll always remain right where you are.
Often at this time of year, people spend some time reflecting and feeling into the direction they’d like their lives to go, and efforts they’d like to take to get there.
Some people set goals to accomplish things or experience something on their bucket list, while others set goals to change habits that aren’t serving them.
Often people focus their goals on things they think will make them happier or healthier, like losing the quarantine fifteen and eating healthy, or exercising to stay, or become, physically fit.
We all have goals and we all have dreams. We all have things we want to get done. Even if they’re just little goals, like I want to get the kitchen cleaned up, or, I want to clean up my closet or I want to build a business, or I want to have the happiest relationship I can, or I want to, I want to raise my children to be just kind loving, being whatever our goals are. We all have them, right?
We all have goals, but a lot of times we sacrifice our goals for something else, something that is seemingly in the way or necessary to focus on right now.
And we do not honor the promises that we have made to ourselves. And so, I thought we would talk a little bit about how to get shit done.
That is what I called it, how to get shit done and how to do it in a place that honors you and the promises you are making to yourselves and can still support others. It just means that you do not sacrifice your dreams and your goals and your wants, for everybody else to be happy.
People are often confused when I suggest that they let go of attachment to goals. “Shouldn’t I have goals? Isn’t having goals important?” they ask.
“This knowledge commands us to stay in the present moment, which brings awareness to all that we do… It teaches us to stay focused on the process and use our goals as stars to guide our course. When we make staying focused on the process our real goal, we experience a sense of success in every moment.” ~”The Practicing Mind” by Thomas M. Sterner
Yes! It’s vital to have goals! How will you know where you want to go if you don’t have goals? However, there is a huge difference between having your worth and happiness attached to the goal, and using your goal to guide your actions.
Did you truly choose this path?
The Practice:
Find your own way.
Why?
The human body has about 100 trillion cells (plus another ten quadrillion microscopic critters hitching a ride, most of them beneficial or harmless). Each one of your cells has aims – goals, in a sense – controlled by its DNA: cells conduct processes aimed at particular functions, like building bones or gobbling up harmful invaders. Cells also work together in larger and larger assemblies in pursuit of broader goals, such as the 100 billion neurons in your brain that run the nervous system, which as a whole is itself the master regulator of the body.
In effect, there are layers, hierarchies, of goals in the body – and a similar architecture of aims in the mind. For example, operating right now is the goal of moving your eyes over these words, which serves the goal of understanding them, which serves larger goals such as desires to learn new things, new skills, and to be truly happy.
In short, whether in the body or the mind, there is no life without goals. Trying to “transcend” goals is itself a goal. The only question is: Are your goals good ones? In other words, do they lead to happiness and benefits for you and others rather than suffering and harms?
When you stay focused on your goals, productivity comes naturally.
Of course, then those pesky distractions come in to mess up your workflow and throw off your schedule.
If your day is anything like mine, you’re probably constantly being thrown distractions that limit the amount of work you are able to get done.
After all, you only have 24 hours in a day and no matter how you try to stretch them, they always add up to the same amount of time.
Learning how to tackle your problem head-on by limiting your distractions, can help you focus on what’s important—your goals.
Start with these six ways to stay focused on your goals and streamline your attention right this minute.
In the past, I’ve talked about the power of persistence and what it takes to follow through on your goals. If you have the willpower and drive to pursue your goals NO MATTER WHAT, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
I’d like to take that one step further by teaching you how to develop the kind of relentless persistence — so you’re able to follow through on any goal you desire.
The good news about willpower is, it’s not some inherent skill you’re born with — it’s something you learn and develop. It’s like a muscle — exercise it regularly and it grows stronger and stronger.
So how do you flex that muscle in a way that gets results and helps you achieve your goals?
Smart goal setting is an absolute must for people who want to succeed. Without clear goals, you will not have a solid direction on where you’re heading in your life.
For running a business, goals can help take your business to the next level, but there are different things you have to factor in.
The following are 3 tips for goal-setting for modern entrepreneurs.
Set specific and measurable goals so you’re more likely to achieve them. One of the best methods of goal-setting is setting SMART goals.
Ensure that your goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bounded.
You have a better chance of achieving SMART goals than those that are vague, too broad, or don’t have a specific target date for completion.
If you not sure exactly how to start creating your own SMART goals, check out this complete guide to powerful goal-setting that is full of tips and real-life examples.
Some people, when they hear the word, “visualization,” think it means sitting around daydreaming.
But that’s not at all what it is…
Visualization is the practice of intentionally creating detailed pictures in your mind – both still pictures and movies – of the outcomes you want to achieve.
Visualization is a powerful tool that can help motivate you to achieve any goal – such as writing a book, getting a promotion, making more money, paying off your debts, becoming financially independent, taking that dream vacation you want, losing weight, or improving your golf game.
Visualization helps you achieve your goals for several reasons.
With the New Year comes a time to reflect on the goals you achieved in the previous twelve months – as well how to overcome failure of not achieving some goals in 2018 – because your failures are just as important for your growth as your successes are.
Failures teach you extremely valuable lessons you need to learn in order to be better able to create the life you want in the future.
But you have to be willing to acknowledge your failures and then analyze them in order to extract new awarenesses and wisdom from them.
Here are 5 tips to overcome failure and achieve your missed 2018 goals in 2019.
An individual’s goals are very personal. In fact, a well thought out goal hints at the person’s vulnerability and deepest desires. Not only do goals reflect a person’s desires, goals also have the incredible power to change a person’s life – if executed well of course.
However, due to the nature of such goals, people have a tendency to keep their goals and visions to themselves. But, there is great power in goal sharing.
Sharing your goals in life with others is an important success principle.
Have you ever wondered why weight loss apps encourage individuals to connect with other users, to post their weight loss goals, and their successes?
Regardless of how you ring in the New Year (with lively parties and fireworks or cozy celebrations at home), there is a recurring theme at every New Year’s celebration: to the make this year the best year ever.
“If you get clear on the what, the how will be taken care of.” - Jack Canfield
Here are a few things you can do to make 2018 your best year yet.
First, take inventory of last year. By reviewing last year and all the ups and downs of 2017, we are provided with the map to moving forward into 2018. Reflecting deeply on last year can highlight your successes and – more importantly – the areas most in need of improvement.
Find a quiet room in your house and carve out a bit of meditation time. Don’t be afraid to ask yourself the hard questions; the answers to the hardest of questions will only help you grow. Use a journal to collect your thoughts so that you can refer back to your answers.
By taking the time to review the events of the previous year, you not only have the opportunity to be grateful for all the good moments, but you also gain the knowledge of where and what to improve.
It is only when you know which areas truly need improving (and why), that you can work towards creating the best year ever.
Make 2018 Your Best Year Ever By Creating Your Extraordinary Life Plan.
As you set your new year goals for 2018, it's a good idea to take stock of the progress you've made toward your goals this year. For many people, this review is unpleasant and can even lead to a downward spiral.
If you didn't achieve all of the goals you set at the beginning of the year, you may feel like you have failed. Our self-esteem can take a hit, we can become disheartened and discouraged, and our motivation drops. Some people actually become depressed.
If this sounds familiar, it's time to reframe how you look at success. Zeroing in on accomplishments that didn't happen puts your focus on what you lack, rather than on what you have (the things you did experience and accomplish). This subtle mental trap leads to a host of negative consequences, which usually leads to attracting more lack.
When things don’t go according to plan or work out how you intended, it can be a huge disappointment and let down, especially when you have invested so much time, energy, and money.
It’s easy to judge yourself as a failure and beat yourself up harshly. But this serves nothing.
When you try so hard and your dreams don’t happen, it’s easy to question yourself and even want to give up on the dream itself.
But what if there was no such thing as “failure”?
