Goals By Zig Ziglar

K.I.S.S. When I started my sales career, one of the first things we were taught was to "Keep It Simple, Salesman." Communicate in such a way that your message is unmistakably clear. If the message is not clear, the prospect ends up confused and confused people seldom take action.

This advice can be followed in any field of endeavor. For example, in marathon running today we utilize sports psychologists, computerized training regimens, and running shoes that are "state-of-the-art." Perhaps all of that is necessary if you want to win the big race. I'm not denying that these things help, but Toshihiko Seko didn't need them to win the Boston Marathon.

I was tremendously impressed a dozen years ago when Toshihiko Seko won the Boston Marathon. His training program was simplicity itself and Toshihiko explained it with twelve words: "I run ten kilometers in the morning and twenty in the evening." At this point you probably think, "There's a catch!" But this plan enabled him to outrun the world's greatest, fastest, most gifted runners. When Seko was told that his plan seemed too simple when compared to that of other marathoners, he replied, "The plan is simple, but I do it every single day, 365 days a year."

It is my conviction that most people fail to reach their goals not because their plans are too simple or too complicated. Most people don't reach their goals because they're not committed and willing to follow their own plans.

Many of our goals do not require detailed plans, but all of them require that we must follow the plan we have. Seko's plan was effective because he followed it every day. You can't get more simple than that! Follow Seko's example, make certain your plan to reach your goal is simple, then follow it carefully. Be accountable to yourself and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
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Zig Ziglar offers a weekly newsletter filled with more of his inspiring stories as well as practical ideas to help you in the areas of sales, marketing, customer service, and related topics. You can subscribe to the Zig Ziglar Newsletter by going to www.zigziglar.com.

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-Interested in holding yourself accountable for achieving your goals? Why not share them here -- be sure to include steps you're planning to take to accomplish them.

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The Top Ten Mistakes That Rob You of Your Goals By Jill Koenig

In my experience of coaching other Entrepreneurs or anyone who hits a plateau, gets stuck or fails to generate momentum, I have found that the most common frustrations are so simple and easy to break through and redirect for positive results.

If you don't have a boss planning your day, it's easy to drift off into complacency since there is no one holding you accountable. But sooner or later, you will pay the price of inefficiency.

Find out what successful people do and then do it. Find out what failures do and don't do it.

Here are the top 10 Mistakes that Rob You of Your Goals ...

1) Waking up and then trying to figure out what you are going to do that day based on what you feel like doing. High performing men and women know days, weeks and sometimes even months or years in advance what their tasks and time lines are. At the very least until you get the hang of it, plan your next day in advance, at least the night before and once you get the hang of it, plan your entire week in advance.

2) Not having your tasks prioritized. When planning your day and mapping out your projects, figure out which activities should be done and in the precise order based upon importance. Create a written list and on the list, number which items are to be completed and in which sequence. 1 is most important, 2 is next most important, etc. Do them in the order of priority.

3) Doing it all yourself AKA Not using professionals because you think you can't afford it. It takes you at least 10 times longer to learn how to clumsily carry out a task that a specialist can do in a few minutes. You can't be outstanding at your specialty if you're trying to be everyone, and do everything yourself, ie webmaster, accountant, publicist, janitor, grass cutter, etc. (Because you try to do it all yourself is precisely the reason you can't afford it). You will never reach optimum efficiency with this approach. It's like driving a car with one foot on the break. Hire professionals and let them do what they do best.

4) Not having a mentor. A mentor is someone you can emulate. A mentor is someone you can model who will show you the ropes, saving you valuable time, energy and money. A mentor has been there and done that and can spare you from making a multitude of unnecessary mistakes.

5) Not having a Coach. A Coach is different from a mentor, as a coach can zero in on helping you advance specific Goals and stay focused on the tasks necessary to achieve them.

6) Spending time on things that are unnecessary. Spending valuable hours disinfecting your desk, reorganizing your file cabinets and dusting your keyboard with a Qtip in the middle of the workday is the ultimate procrastination. If those things must be done, do them before your workday begins or after the workday ends. You won't waste the hours when it's taking away from your fun time.

7) Not working on yourself. My mentor taught me to work harder on myself than I do on my business. I still practice reading and listening to motivational tapes first thing in the morning every morning and all throughout the day. Doing this equips me with the mindset needed to go confidently into the day with a positive mindset.

8) Spending large amounts of time and energy with others who do not work on themselves. Getting around other focused, motivated people with Goals, dreams of their own will inspire you. Their positive energy is contagious. Ask your friends, what they are reading, what they are working on, what their goals are. You become like the people you hang around. Hang around a crowd that challenges you to grow and be your best.

9) Not taking time to celebrate when you reach a goal. Give yourself the gift of reveling in your achievement. You will habitually learn to tap deeper into your own internal reservoir of motivation when you know there's a pot of Gold of your own design waiting for you.

10) Not having a long term vision to empower you. If all you are doing is racking up a bunch of meaningless tasks, you are merely killing time. Know your purpose for each activity and know how that purpose relates and contributes to the bigger picture of your life, which ultimately gives your time and life greater meaning.

Any one of these habits may seem like a tiny matter, but when accumulated and repeated over a span of days, weeks, months or years, they will prevent you from realizing your dreams.
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Jill Koenig, the "Goal Guru" is America's Top Goal Strategist. A best selling Author, Coach and Motivational Speaker, she is an expert on the subjects of Goal Setting, Time Management and Business Success. Her Goal in life is to help you UNLEASH your untapped potential. Get your FREE Goal Setting CD at www.GoalGuru.com.

Recommended: Are you looking for a success coach to help keep you accountable as you pursue your goals? Contact Josh Hinds -- your host here at GoalsSuccess.com about having him work with you as you move towards making your goals and dreams a reality.

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Goal Setting: Four Easy Steps for Tracking Your Goals By Jill Koenig

You've defined your Goal, identified your key strategies, created an action plan and have started to put it into action.

What's next?

As you proceed, it is important to measure your results and track your progress (or lack of it). This is the least exciting part of the journey of any Goal, but I assure you it is one of the most important. This is where it gets a little tricky due to the fact that every Goal is different. Each Goal has it's own unique targets, time lines, and action plans, therefore it will require it's own unique system and schedules for measuring.

Not every Goal needs to be measured, just your most critical ones. For example, if on the weekends you take guitar lessons to explore your interest in learning how to play, you don't necessarily need a plan for measuring your progress. But for your highest priority Goals, you absolutely do. If you are building a business or trading in the stock market, your very financial existence relies upon your systems for tracking.

People often seek my coaching and assistance because they are stuck in some way. They say, "I am stuck! I have tried everything and nothing works!" The first thing I do is ask for their gauges, measurements and stats for the related area. Often they reply with blame or excuses about the economy or some outside circumstance for why they are off track and never is that the real reason for a decline.

The reason for almost all struggle, stagnation and lack of growth is due to a lack of attention, measurement or action in the critical areas. It is usually a matter of neglect and fortunately there is a quick and easy solution to create a major turnaround.

The fastest way to create a breakthrough is to measure and examine the critical areas of your Goal.

You cannot change what you don't measure. You cannot improve what you don't measure. Where focus goes, energy flows so begin focusing on your major key areas that are critical to your success.

Tracking reveals the true reality of a situation. Many Goals can be measured with numbers. For example, Health Goals provide many numbers to monitor your progress; pounds, inches, blood sugar, triglycerides, blood pressure, as do a multitude of other precise diagnostic measurements.

Tracking builds confidence. When you have a great plan, are following it and producing phenomenal results, you automatically raise your own self-esteem and that optimism carries over into every other life area. Knowing that you are on track and having the validation of facts as proof gives you an enormous boost.

Tracking provides valuable feedback and indications of areas that may need to be addressed or adjusted. If your Goal is to lose weight and the numbers on the scale are going up, up, up each week, it could be an indication that you may need to re evaluate your plan or if you have a great plan and have not been following it, simply renew your dedication to it.

For every Goal that does not succeed, there are always numerous indicators along the way that would have provided a snapshot or a warning ahead of time and all throughout the journey, if the critical components would have been measured and appropriate action taken, the Goal could have been salvaged.

Your Action Plan:

1. Examine your highest and most important Goal and the key areas that will ensure it's success. What are the aspects you will need to measure so that you will know on any given day, at any given time, whether or not you are progressing on track?

2. List at least ten precise critical components you can begin measuring and tracking. (if you come up with more than ten, that's even better).

3. Create targets for each of the chosen areas. This can be done by looking at the end result and tracking backwards. What are the ideals you will need to achieve in order to successfully realize your Goal?

4. Create the most appropriate schedule for tracking and checking your gauges and schedule it into your planner. How often should you measure your metrics, stats and gauges and examine your progress? If the Goal has no end, as such with an ongoing business, you can certainly break it down via yearly, quarterly, monthly, daily and even weekly measurements.

Since each Goal is unique, your Goal will require unique systems and schedules for tracking it. By implementing this for all of your highest priority Goals, you will instantly begin to produce better results.

Goal Achieving abides by the Universal Law of Cause and Effect. If you don't like the results you are creating, change your approach, increase your efforts, modify your plan, but don't stick your head in the sand and neglect to see the truth of the situation.

The fastest way to improve your results is to measure your progress. So re examine your most cherished Goals and see where you stand. Your mind will instantly begin to search for ways to make improvements in those key areas.

Numbers don't lie. Welcome whatever data you receive and take the appropriate actions to ensure your success!

Live Your Dreams
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Jill Koenig, the "Goal Guru" is America's Top Goal Strategist. A best selling Author, Coach and Motivational Speaker, she is an expert on the subjects of Goal Setting, Time Management and Business Success. Her Goal in life is to help you UNLEASH your untapped potential. Get your FREE Goal Setting CD at www.GoalGuru.com.

-What are your thoughts? Any ideas you would like to share as they relate to tracking goals?

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A Warning about Goals By Jim Stovall

We have all heard the admonition, “Be careful what you ask for.” The dilemma in setting a goal is that you may not achieve it, so you fail to get what you want; or you may achieve it, and you still can fail to get what you want.

I was just visiting with a fellow entrepreneur and business owner. He is in the consulting and personal development field and has a true passion for helping people and businesses. My friend got into this business because he liked the process of working directly with people.

Several years ago, he set a goal to grow and increase his business. His goal related to how many employees he had, and he measured his progress by the size of his staff and the number of consultants and presenters he employed.

In our most recent discussion, there was good news and bad news. The good news was that he had reached his goal and had the number of employees he had set out to get. The bad news is that now he spends all of his time managing employees that are good people but do not equal the power and passion he brought to his speaking and consulting.

He set a goal because he loved his work, and as his business grew, he -- by necessity -- shifted from someone who pursued his passion on a daily basis to someone who manages people and projects.

There is certainly nothing wrong with people who can manage others. It is a valuable and important skill; however, if you want to work directly with audiences and people you mentor as a consultant, being a manager may be very frustrating.

One of my favorite books that I have read multiple times is entitled Seven Summits by Dick Bass. Dick Bass and his friend Frank Wells were top level corporate CEOs. After reaching middle age, they both determined they would climb the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents.

Even though neither of them had climbing experience, Dick Bass actually reached his goal and, in doing so, became the oldest person at the time to climb Mt. Everest.

At one point in their yearlong odyssey, they were climbing the tallest peak in Antarctica. This is a tremendous challenge due to the hostile climate and remote region of the earth. At one point in the middle of the climb up the mountain, they received a radio communication from their base camp to stop climbing. When Dick Bass inquired why they should stop climbing toward the summit, one of their guides told them that the area was so isolated they were waiting on satellite confirmation that they were climbing the right mountain.

Before you start climbing a mountain, make sure it’s the right one. And before you set a goal, make sure it is something you really want.

As you go through your day today, make sure your goals fit your passion, and then make sure your activities fit your goal.

Today’s the day!
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Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network, as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK 74145-9082, or by e-mail at JimStovall@aol.com. Visit www.JimStovall.com

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Goal Setting - If They Can Do It, You Can Do It By Jim Meisenheimer

Goal setting -- it's so easy and yet it's so hard. It has to be hard because so few people do it.

Some people did it and don't do it now. Even people who have set goals in the past and have achieved them no longer set goals for themselves. I find it mind-boggling.

There is an old Gaelic Proverb that says, "Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder what has happened."

Which kind of person are you?

Do you know the secret to getting things done? I mean getting the really important things in your life done.

I'm sure you've heard this before, so this is just a simple reminder, it's plain old-fashioned goal setting.

I was reading Inc. Magazine over the weekend and read an article about Joe Cirulli. When he was 21 and broke he made a written list of 10 things he wanted to accomplish in life. He achieved them one at a time.

What was he thinking? The audacity of a man to test the limits of goal setting without having two nickels to rub together.

Joe's goals were to:

1. Earn $100,000 by the age of 25.
2. Own a health club in Gainesville Florida.
3. Own a home in the mountains and one by the ocean.
4. Build a home for his parents by the ocean.
5. Travel all over the United States.
6. Travel all over the world.
7. Own a Mercedes-Benz like the one driven by the $6 Million Man.
8. Become a black belt.
9. Become a pilot and own a plane.
10. Save $1 million.

Joe is a piece of work. I mean really! The article went on to say that Joe was tremendously influenced by two classic self help books - The Power Of Positive Thinking, by Norman Vincent Peale and Think And Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.

So he reads two books and writes 10 goals and his life is changed forever - imagine that.

He unraveled the secret to success which is knowing exactly what you want and putting it all on paper.

Now then, if you're a football fan, you probably know the name Lou Holtz, who was the former head coach at Notre Dame.

In 1966 Lou was 28 years old when he was hired as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina. His wife Beth emptied the bank account for a down payment on a house. Just one month later the head coach suddenly resigned and Lou Holtz was unemployed.

To help boost his morale his wife gave him the book titled "The Magic Of Thinking Big," by David Schwartz. The author suggested you write down all the things you want to achieve during your lifetime.

So Lou Holtz sat down and wrote 107 goals. Thinking big - one of these goals was to become the head coach of Notre Dame.

Let's see, did I get this right? Two guys in their 20s read inspirational books and prepare a list of goals they want to achieve.

Like magic, and of course not without a lot of hard work, these guys go out and achieve their goals.

So if you want to make the most of your life as Joe and Lou have done - do the following:

1. Read "The Power Of Positive Thinking," and "Think And Grow Rich" and "The Magic Of Thinking Big."
2. Using a blue pen and a yellow legal pad write a list of goals you want to achieve personally and professionally during your lifetime.

And why should you do this?

"Some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wonder what has happened."

You should do this because your Goals will make things happen for you.

If Joe and Lou can do it, you can do it too!
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Jim Meisenheimer shows salespeople how to increase sales using no-brainer selling skills. Receive a copy of Jim's free Selling Report that reveals 25 Ways To Get Motivated.

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