Achieving your goals - part 2

If you've never made goals in your life, it's not too late? If you find that you can never stick to long-term planning, start training yourself in short term planning. It could be as simple as assigning yourself one or two tasks that you have to do everyday and jot it down in your diary. Make sure you achieve it! Jot down little details like the steps you took and the time taken to accomplish the tasks. Little accomplishments like these will be strong incentives for you to go to other things.

Perhaps you can plan for two weeks in advance and then gradually increase it until you've become quite an expert at planning for a whole year! Review your goals constantly. If you've been unsuccessful in some, it doesn't mean you're a failure. it could be because the goals were too ambitious and the time set was too short.

Redefine your goals and start all over again. Write you goals in a small card and carry it with you so that you'll be sure to see it everyday. Being constantly reminded of them will spur you to work harder to achieve the goals. Also remember that once you've decide, start working towards them from today and don't wait for tomorrow!

Be inspired by others

In related to my previous post on setting goals and taking charge of your life so that you can be a winner with the right frame of mind. Well, you can also be motivated through the inspiration of others.

Take the braille system for example. There was a blind boy in France named Louis Braille who dreamed of inventing a system that would enable blind people like him to read and write. he invented the braille system which is used by million of blind pole all over the world. Great ideas and inventions always stared with people who had visions and worked hard to make them come true.

Once you've got your goals sorted out, try visualizing them. They become a reality in the mind and you are psyched up to attain it. Reading biographies of successful people can be inspirational. Abraham Lincoln endured many failures before he finally became the President of the United States. when you read his so try, you do not remember the failures. You only remember his spirit which never gave up.

Motivational books like Stephen Covey's Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, M.Scott Peck's The Road Less Travelled and napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich give insight on how to plan strategies to achieve your ambition.

Some people believe that destiny is in our hands while others believe that fate decides everything. There is something to think about in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "The fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings "Where do you stand?

Achieving your goals - part 1

Here's an expert advise. Once you've gone through your goals, set a timetable. How long will you take to achieve those goals - one year, five years or maybe more. Let's assume you have five goals. Ask yourself whether you can achieve all those goals in one year or will it take several years? Can one of the goals be reached earlier than others? Have a short-term and long-term goals. The short-term goals could be for one year and long-term goals could cover a period of five years and more. The most difficult stage is planning your actions to achieve that goal. You have to pay attention to details.

Take this for example, your goal is to go overseas to further your education but your parents aren't rich. Plan where you are going to find the money. Can you rely on some financial help from relatives? Do you have enough saving of your own or do you have to work for several years? Will you be too old by then? Can you get a bank loan?

Finally, ask yourself, with the dire financial straits that you are in, does this goal seem too unrealistic at this moment. Are there any alternatives, like an external degree perhaps?

Positive thinking

While affirmation is self-talk to make you feel good, positive thinking is as process where you train yourself to look at things in a positive way. if our thoughts are positive, they will be a precursor to positive feelings and actions. But there are times when our feelings are down because we have not maintained positive actions and as such, no matter how much we chant to our selves,"think positive', it will not necessarily help bring positive feelings.

Make it a habit to accomplish or participate in at least one activity which you really enjoy and want to do. It could be anything, whether a telephone conversation with a girlfriend or gardening. such an activity triggers off good feelings which become a catalyst to telling yourself in your thoughts that 'I feel wonderful" and as such, a chain reaction is created.

Once you start feeling positive and doing positive actions, you will be able to look at the good points of others. Instead of complaining that your boss is fussy, you could perhaps look at it another way and say that he is a perfectionist and working under him has taught you to aim for high standards. Once you start looking at the good in others, you become a positive power point.
People usually like to be around those who emit a lot of positive feelings. It makes them feel good. But if you act as though you are the prophet of doom, people will start avoiding you.

If you are the type who finds it hard to see the good in others, try this simple exercise. Start a 'good rumor campaign' where you make it a point to say something nice about the people around you at least twice a week. Once you start this, you will find that it becomes easier to see the good in others.

Setting goals

Every time you open any book on self-improvement, everyone emphasizes, everyone emphasizes the importance of having goals. A survey done in the United States showed that the top three percent of successful businessmen and corporate executives had their goals written down.

Five to 10 per cent had a rough idea of what they wanted, whereas the rest never had any goals and just went along with the tide. We have at one time or other set goals for ourselves too. When we were young, many of us probably wanted to be a doctor or lawyer or live in a big house with 10 servants. I remember that I wanted to be a famous actor when I was young. So what happened to us now? We set our goals but never did anything to make them come true.

According to expert, setting goals is not just a matter of thinking what we want to become or do. It is about planning and working towards making those goals come true. Write down your goals on a piece of paper and examine them. Bear two things in mind when you write your goals; are they really necessary? (Do you really need 10 servants) Once you start putting them on paper you'll be surprised how many of them aren't important.

Affirmations

In wanting to improve yourself you must believe in three things: "I can change", "I am going to do so today" and "I'm going to do it step by step."

This where affirmation comes in. Remember the story of the little train which managed to pull several coaches up the hill despite its small size? The little train kept say to itself, "I think I can, I think I can..." and finally it did. This story teaches you that by constantly tellign yourself that you ca succeed, you will!

Affirmations are positive sayings and thoughts which make one feel good. According to a psychologist, affirmations are important part of our self-talk and belief system. "If we do not believe that we can do something or achieve something in terms of our minds, then what others say will not have any consequences." How do affirmations work towards boosting your self-image?

According to scientist, the brain can be programmed to think according to th messages that are constantly planted in the mind. By constantly saying affirmations, you help your mind to break the pattern of thinking negative thoughts. This of course, does not happen overnight. It will take some time before you begin to feel the a effect of affirmations in your mind and through your actions.

Business idea

A basic idea for a business could come from a hobby or special interest. Or, it could be a spin-off from your present occupation. Many successful businesses also come from the question, "why isn't there a...?" or "Why must this be so expensive? Couldn't it be made more affordable?"

A classic case is that of the Memory Land cards. Many were whining that cards with nice wordings were so expensive because most of them were imported. Then someone went and id something about it and of course, became a successful entrepreneur. An idea of an enterprise could also come when one sees a new way of deign ordinary thins or observes a need for a certain service. Technological advances or changes in society also open up avenues.

Importance of self-esteem

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. It will be the year of the Rat. For Chinese that believe in Feng Shui, they will try their best to follow the Feng Shui method of ushering the Chinese New Year so as to enhance the best sector for prosperity and wealth. Others make New year resolutions. I am tired of making New Year resolutions which I don't really keep. Some believe that their life is controlled by forces that are beyond them. Are you?

Many of us go through life without any proper planning and leave everything to chance and good fortune. Don't sit around and wait for things to happen instead, make things happened for you! The beginning of the year is a good time to re-examine your life, review past mistakes and plan for the future. You can start making the difference by staring with yourself. According to Richard Ritchie,a lecturer at the Silva Method of Mind Control, "You have to learn how to change your self-image. If you can't love yourself, how can you be expected to see good things in others?" So how do you see yourself?

A good self-image is the corner-stone of a person's success. You may have the talent and intelligence to succeed but if you see yourself as a loser, then no matter what you do, you'll always be one. As clinical psychologist Ms Kana Kanagasingam explained, "Our thoughts are very much associated with our feelings." Low self-esteem can be destructive. It increases feelings of insecurity, paranoia and unhappiness. In extreme cases it can lead to aggression and other negative behaviors like alcoholism.

Other people's negative perception of yourself can also hurt your self-esteem. Don't believe in people's assumption of yourself especially the negative ones which you know are not true. There are ways to increase your self-esteem. First, you have to be honest with yourself. What do you think are your good and bad points? Only if you are consciously aware that there are hang-ups and issues, can you confront them and start thinking of ways to solve the problems.