The 5 Secrets of Setting Short Term Goals by Mike Brooks

When I talk to people about goal setting, I'm often surprised by their reactions. A lot of people tell me that they haven't gotten around to setting life-time goals and identifying their values and coming up with specific, measurable bench marks, etc...

They tell me that goal setting takes too much time and energy, and that it will require days and weeks of work and that once they have the goals they'll start to feel bad if they don't reach them.

Some of the time people tell me they do have goals, but when I ask them about what they are, they come up with vague wants and “Gee, I hope I get some day" items that change with each paycheck.

Sound familiar?

While life-time goal setting does require an initial investment of time and energy, the payoff is immediate and life changing. The good news, however, is that identifying and writing down even short term goals will give you the same benefits, and setting short term goals is a quick and effective way to develop momentum, build confidence and get some meaningful things accomplished.

If you want to see your life change in just 3 to 6 months, then follow these 5 quick rules for setting short term goals. As you'll see, accomplishing just one short term goal can change your life beyond your wildest dreams!

Secret #1: Grab a calendar. Pick a short term, manageable 3 to 6 month period to set your goals in. Short term goals tend to get you into action right away, are easier to visualize, and because of their short term nature they encourage you to set realistic, easy to accomplish goals.

Secret #2: Pick just 2 or 3 goals to work with. Don’t get overwhelmed by trying to change every area of your life. Just pick a couple of areas that you want to begin changing in the next few months.

Secret #3: The goals you pick don’t have to be fully accomplished in the time period you’ve identified. This is the key! Rather, what you’re looking to do in the next 3 to 6 months is to simply develop momentum, establish a pattern, and begin getting you excited about your life again.

Great areas to set short term goals in are things like:

* Beginning or resuming an exercise routine and setting a goal to be so far along in the time frame you’ve set.
* Increasing your closing percentage by a reasonable amount.
* Having read or begun listening to a couple of books.
* Joined a dating site and begun dating again.
* Taking up or resuming a favorite hobby again.

Remember at the beginning I wrote that setting even short term goals can be a life-changing event? I know of someone who had a goal of finding and developing a serious relationship, and his short term goal was simply to join a dating site and begin dating. Well, he did that, met someone in 2 weeks, and now 6 months later, they are engaged to be married! You see, even short term goals can change your life!

Secret #4: Write your goals down. You’ve heard over and over again how much more effective goal setting is when you write your goals down. It’s totally true. Once you’ve identified your 2 or 3 goals, write down in detail what it is you want to accomplish, or what stage you want to be in at the end of the time period you’ve chosen.

Once you’ve done that, get a three by five card and write out an affirmation paragraph that describes in detail how you will feel once you’ve reached that goal. Keep it in the first person as if you’ve already accomplished that goal. Not: “I can’t wait to feel…” Rather: “It feels so good now that I’m…”

Secret #5: Make a list and start identify right now, today, what actions you can take to move you closer to your goals. Can you join a gym? Buy new walking shoes? Make 10 more cold calls today? Fill out a profile on a dating site? Take your kids to the park tonight?

Make a list of actions you can take today and take them!

Do the same thing tomorrow and get in the habit of taking an action each day to move you closer to your goals.

Follow this 5-Step method of setting short term goals and I guarantee you that your life will change 3 to 6 months from now.
______________
Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance. If you’re looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: MrInsideSales.com

-Do you have any thoughts you would like to share on setting short-term goals?

Sponsor Message: WHAT IF YOU HAD THE SAME MINUTE-BY-MINUTE THOUGHTS AS THE SUPER SUCCESSFUL? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of life. Learn more about these powerful programs here.

*brought to you by GoalsSuccess.com

It Is Wonderful To Achieve A Goal! By Pegine Echevarria

I have got to tell you that it is wonderful to achieve a goal! There is nothing quite like setting a goal, planning for it, taking daily steps and them one day WHAM-OO you accomplish the task. That happened to me today.

Back in September 08 I read that 'normal' people can work up to 100 push ups a day. I laughed and thought no way. There is no way that I – in the shape I was in - could work myself up to 100 push ups a day. That was reserved for skinny, exercise fanatics with rippling bodies. That was reserved for soldiers and Marines. That goal was definitely not for a middle aged, full figured, feisty female.

...”Yet” I thought “Why not?”

I tell people that if they have a goal, write a plan and work the plan then they can achieve results. You will have obstacles and you will face challenges, however, if you stay true to the plan you will achieve.

Now, I was ready to challenge myself, to practice what I preach, that was until I got down, put my palms flat on the floor and began to push up. I was pushing but nothing was going up. Evidently I needed to really start from scratch. I got on my knees and did very modified three push ups. Well, I called them push ups. I went down, a bit, and went up, a bit, sort of. Give me a break, it was day one.

On the website one hundred push ups I read and learned about push ups. I decided it didn’t matter how long it took. I was going to do 100 push ups in a day.

I went from those first 3 knee push ups to 60 military push ups pretty quickly... then the holidays took over, my arm was sore, I had several “I don’t wanna do it” days in a row and my motivation began to wane.

I truly believe that there are five areas of our lives that we can work on to reach our potential. The areas are physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and fiscal. I think of these areas as graphs in our lives. Some areas are stronger than others. It is our job to strengthen them all. Our job is to build our capacity to reach our highest levels in each area – no matter where we are today. By the way, this is an ongoing project, just when you think you have reached your highest level another level is revealed. If this is not happening to you there is a strong possibility that you are not living to your highest potential.


Physical: I admit that this is one of my weakest areas. I have a strong heart, low cholesterol, good blood pressure and now I can say I am strong. However other parts of my body....well let’s just say that some of today’s movie stars and I couldn’t share clothes. Does that mean that I stop striving to take care of me... no. It just means that I will continue to build my confidence in physical self. One push up at a time.

Emotional: I am strong here now, however if you asked family members when I was younger (and even several years ago) that was not the case. It has taken dedication, perseverance, soul searching, challenging myself and appreciating who I’ve become to be able to say that everyone can be strong, feisty, fearless, fun, focused and courageous. Follow the path and you will achieve.

Spiritual: What you think is what you get. Your faith, your belief and your actions are all interrelated. It is important to take the time during your day to just be. Are you listening to what you are creating with your thoughts? Your thoughts connect you to your Higher Power, God, Universe or energy. Taking the time to really focus on what you are thinking. It is so powerful, motivating, and inspiring that without that quiet time you lose perspective about who you are, what your life is about and why you do what you do.

Intellectual: We are lucky that we aren’t the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, we don’t have to wish for a brain...we already have one. Our brains need nourishment. If we don’t provide information, new ideas, new intellectual challenges our brains lose their potential. Read books, watch documentaries, push yourself to learn the other side of an argument and listen to counter perspective. Grow your brain so that you grow.

Fiscal: Money management, financial literacy, prosperity thinking and abundance are all key ingredients to a healthy and full life. Too often people have covered their heads in the sand because of lack of knowledge. I’ve learned that there are always people who can teach you what you don’t know. It is so liberating.

I personally found such freedom learning about profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cost analysis, cash flow analysis, tax implications and balancing a budget. There is so much I am looking forward to learning about financial success. It is freeing and so exhilarating. Take the time to learn so you can be free.

And the rest of the story....

So there I was with the “don’t wanna” swirling around me. Luckily I came out of that dizzy spell and recommitted to my goal. Today I get to shout, cheer and receive the applause because I did it... I did 100 push ups.

How about you? What’s your goal? What are you working toward? When are you going to get out of the dizzy “Don’t wanna” game? Join me and be joyous... shouting from the roof tops... I did it!

-- Pegine
_________________
Pegine Echevarria has well over 15 years of experience as a nationally recognized expert on success, leadership, and teambuilding, and 30 years of experience in the workplace, ranging from corporate America to public service. Visit her site at www.Pegine.com

-What's a goal you have achieved that you were especially proud of? What were some of the hurdles you had to get through to accomplish the goal you set for yourself? Why not share some words of encouragement with your fellow goal achievers by leaving a comment below?

Sponsor Message: WHAT IF YOU HAD THE SAME MINUTE-BY-MINUTE THOUGHTS AS THE SUPER SUCCESSFUL? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of life. Learn more about these powerful programs here.

*brought to you by GoalsSuccess.com

Your “Super-Sized” Goal for This Year! by Michael Masterson

Last year at this time, I told you about one New Year’s resolution I had made: to write a poem a day for 365 days. I got the idea from a playwright who had done something similar. She wrote a play every day for a year.

I liked the boldness of that ambition. It seemed to me that it was the kind of goal that could change a life. It did for that playwright. One of the plays she wrote made her famous.

I have written poetry on and off my whole life, but never seriously. Maybe, I thought, I could improve my skills and even write some good poems this way. There were no guarantees, but I was optimistic that something good would come of it.

When I revealed my personal goal to AWAI members last year, I recommended that they set an equally ambitious goal for themselves related to copywriting. Read a new promotion every day, I suggested. Or write one.

Many people who read that article in The Golden Thread probably thought I was dreaming. “What’s the point of making a resolution you can’t possibly keep,” one person wrote me.

I was concerned – maybe even a little afraid – that the objective was too grandiose. And that I wouldn’t follow through.

But I was also hopeful. The cleverness of the idea was the sheer size of it. By setting a super-sized career goal, I thought one could break through a lifetime of failed smaller objectives. An Extra-Extra-Extra-Large New Year’s resolution might be big enough to crash through whatever psychological barriers were holding one back.

That was the idea. And guess what? It worked for me. I did write 365 poems in 365 days. I skipped a few days when I was busy traveling, but I made up for them when I had spare time. Many of the poems I wrote were only a few lines. And many weren’t very good. But at the end of the year, I had more than 100 poems that were – according to a few editors I sent them to – good enough to publish.

So that’s what I’m working on now: publishing them in literary journals and collecting them for my first book of poetry. It feels good to have accomplished this goal. It feels great to have improved my skills as a poet.

This brings us back to you. Did you read that article last year? Did you set any similar goals related to your career as a copywriter?

If so, we would really like to hear about it. We’d like to know, in particular, how tough it was, how you coped with whatever setbacks you encountered, and what you gained from the experience.
If you didn’t make a gargantuan resolution last year, consider doing it now for next year. You know how quickly time flies. And with every passing year, it will move more quickly. Seize the day, as they say. Capture the moment. Make this your year for taking a quantum leap forward.

To remind you, here is what I suggested last year:

Set some unthinkably big task for yourself that, when completed at the end of the year, will have made you a much stronger and more highly compensated writer.

And my specific suggestion:

Write one effective mini-advertisement per day. If you’d like to take on that goal, here’s how you can do it in a way that might also dramatically increase your income:

1. Get on the mailing lists (snail mail and Internet) of six or eight direct-marketing businesses you’d like to work for. (Long-term AWAI members should have already done this.)

2. Build a “swipe file” (that is, a borrower’s library) of ads that these companies are currently using.

3. Every day, before you do any other work, take out one of the ads from your swipe file and study it.

Spend 15 to 30 minutes figuring out what the copywriter is attempting to do, evaluating how well he’s doing it, and identifying other approaches that might work equally well or even better.

4. Pick one of those alternate approaches and make that your daily assignment.

5. Spend the next 30 to 45 minutes writing and editing a little ad based on the theme you’ve chosen.

6. When you are done, file the completed mini-ad in a large envelope addressed to the CEO or marketing director of the company it applies to.

7. Once a month, send out all those envelopes (each of which will contain one or several samples of your work). Include a letter that briefly explains who you are and why you are sending them this free copy. The letter should be some version of: “I admire your business and hoped that, if you saw what I could do, you might have a spot for me on your freelance rotation.”

Don’t spend any more than 60 minutes a day completing this task.

In the beginning, you will find that you will be able to write only a limited number of words. But as the weeks pass, you will see your speed improve dramatically.

You’ll almost certainly double the speed at which you write. You may quadruple or quintuple it. And you’ll also see that the quality of your writing will improve – which may surprise you, considering how much faster you are getting. You will have sharper, more tangible ideas. Your language will be crisper and cleaner.

The trick is to focus on quality, not quantity. So your daily objective will be to come up with just one good marketing idea – and then, when you have it, to write it as simply and powerfully as possible.

If you don’t want to do this every single day of the year, make it a workday goal … which would mean you’d be writing about 250 little ads this year and sending them out to potential clients. That goal is plenty big. And it allows you two days a week to do something else first thing in the morning.

In addition to this “write one ad a day this year” idea, here are some other “unthinkably” big goals to consider:

• Learn a marketing secret a day.
• Scan an educational book a day.
• Contact a potential client a day.
• Call/write a friend a day.
• Practice a self-promotional speech a day.

Identifying your goal is the first step. As soon as you do that … and I hope you do it today … write it down. Then tomorrow … get started!
__________
Live the Life You Want
How would you like a lifestyle that allows you to pick your own hours, live anywhere in the world, and take as many vacations as you care to? One that lets you work from your home – from anywhere in the world for that matter – doing work that is interesting and prestigious, work that you can be proud of? Now you can …

-Keep in mind that the advice above is fitting no matter what your particular goal centers around. Do something today that will move you closer towards making your dream a reality!... And remember, it's your life, LIVE BIG! Josh Hinds

*brought to you by GoalsSuccess.com

Goal Setting : Success Quote and Commentary - By Chris Widener

"Your goal should be out of reach but not out of sight." -- Anita DeFrantz

Chris Widener's Commentary:

Goals are funny things. They have to be set just right in order to be most effective. If they are set too close - close enough for us to touch them - then they aren't goals but reality. If they are set so far away that we can't see them, then we forget that they exist and we live only in our current reality.

So what are your goals? Have you reviewed them lately? Are they far enough away to make you work, stretch and strive for them, yet close enough for them to be firmly in your sights?

Action Point: Sit down today and restate your primary 6-month goal in the following categories: Physical, emotional, financial, career, family, and spiritual. Then write them down on a small card and put it somewhere where you will see it regularly.
_________________
Chris Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, and succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams. Visit his web site and take advantage of the many resources available -- while you're there be sure to take advantage of his newsletters.

*brought to you by GoalsSuccess.com

Here’s How to Set and Accomplish Any Goal, even when you Hit a Dead End! By Ted Charles

Nothing is more unfortunate than the saddening fact that most people will never ever make it in life. What a bitter pill to swallow? Most people have no focus, no direction and no course of action! Simply speaking, we barely know what we want. Add to this, most of us don’t have a clue where we are going?

Think of an aimless wanderer venturing into the unknown. Borne out by research, the statistics are out and the results are nothing short of disheartening. The experts are telling us that an estimated 5-10% of all humanity seldom think of their goals. Out of this, only a paltry 1-3% have clear written goals. It pains the heart when you think what happens to the remaining 90%! With an estimated global population of six billion souls and counting, you do the math.

People with clear goals always succeed because they know where they are going. Goal setting isn’t exactly rocket science. The sooner you get started, the better. Avoid the temptation to go hog wild with a mere wish list instead of practical goals. Why not give these few pointers a spin, and set of your life kicking into high gear.

First and Foremost, write your goals on paper! This simple task is so priceless yet it hardly crosses our minds. Charting a clear road map to your success makes the difference between living the high life and languishing from hand to mouth. Whatever you want to achieve, just grab a pen and paper or switch to your computer and write down those goals. It doesn’t matter. Even your New Year’s resolutions. Just list them down.

Start Small. You never climb from the top. Goals don’t always have to be big. Begin with something realistic. Most important of all, they should be challenging but achievable. When you set the bar too high, you are already laying down the path for setbacks, failure and heartbreak.

By now, you should differentiate between goals, wishes and dreams. When you ask people what their goals are, they give vague statements like “I want to be rich”, “I want to be successful”, “I want a good job”, “I want to be healthy”, “I want this and that” and so forth. For crying out loud, be specific! Remember the rule of SMART goals? Set your goals complete with date and time. Break them down into small, manageable units.

You can’t bite more than you can chew. As the adage goes, “By the yard it’s hard, but inch by inch it’s a cinch!”.

It’s no secret, the path to realizing your goals is filled with all kinds of challenges and endless distractions. What sets you apart from the rest is your commitment to concentrate and focus your time, energy and resources on one single objective. This is no time to get excited chasing trivial pursuits or getting carried away by aimless distractions. Everybody is desperately trying to accomplish so much, in such short time. And when everything comes a cropper, they call it quits. To get to the promised land, you need to set careful targets and avoid losing sight of your destination.

Nothing comes on a silver platter. Not even for the super achievers. No major accomplishment was realized without wading through a myriad of obstacles and failures! How do you keep the faith when your patience and fighting spirit takes a serious beating? A story is told of Thomas Edison when he was working on the world’s first light bulb. After countless hours of failure after failure, it took him over three thousand attempts before discovering how to make the light bulb work. Without unwavering faith, your goals are doomed to fail.

So how does one cultivate motivation and persistence? The answer lies in asking yourself the big “WHY?”. Get this and you got everything wrapped up in no time flat. We are not sure what Edison had in mind. Only Edison himself knew exactly “WHY” he so desperately wanted to make that light bulb work.

Ask yourself WHY? You will be surprised at the hurdles you can overcome. Why do I want to build a dream house? Why do I want better education? Why do I want to buy a car? Why do I want to lose weight? Why or why do I want to take my family to Disneyland next summer? With a whole bunch of big enough “Whys”, the target remains within your reach no matter what resistance comes your way.

Feelings of self-doubt will start to creep in and probably grind you to a halt. How do you know whether you will succeed or ruin everything? In addition to this is the fear of friends, co-workers and even family laughing at if you fail. Never mind. These nay sayers might come in handy if only to stretch you to the max. Don’t let them put you down.

Truth is, many of these fears are absolutely unfounded. In spite of the difficulties, learning not to let mere words bring you down is a must. Reason with your fears and more often than not, you will realize there’s no reason to be fearful in the first place. Don’t under-estimate yourself. Avoid the urge to slack off. When faced with these kinds of criticisms, just laugh them off. Take it from me, it truly helps.

Lastly, Procrastination is the thief of time. Time wastage and putting off things to a “later” date can go down in the annals of history as one of mankind’s greatest cardinal sins. What do you think would have happened had the Wright brothers put off tinkering with their ground-breaking invention for another time? Some lucky soul would have jumped at the opportunity, perfected the flying machine and gone down in history as the pioneer of Aviation industry. It’s about time to get out of your comfort zones and flush this procrastination bug down the toilet. So how do you rid this monster? Start by setting a strict schedule and stick to it to the very end. Time and tide surely waits for no man.

The road map to success is no bed of roses. Everybody gets spanked along the way. It doesn’t matter a lick if you get beaten. What counts is how you handle defeat and whether you have the nerve to keep fighting. Think of goal setting as muscle building. The more muscle you use, the stronger it gets.

Without a shadow of doubt, having rock-hard abs and that six-pack or sporting an attractive figure is the stuff of dreams. You don’t just rush to bench press hefty weights the first time you hit the gym. Building muscle is a gradual process. With time, the muscles acquire strength and the ability to withstand pain. And so is goal setting. Once you are ready to handle resistance, you can take on bigger pursuits. Get started with a few “warm-up” goals. Sooner than later, you will be schmoozing to mighty high success of epic proportions.
_________________
Ted Charles has created a power-packed guide which can help you accomplishing almost any Goal, with minimum effort. Sign up to download his free report at PlanetWealthSuccess.com.

-What were the biggest take-away ideas you got from the article above? And how can you go about putting those ideas to work to better ensure you achieve your goals?

Sponsor Message: WHAT IF YOU HAD THE SAME MINUTE-BY-MINUTE THOUGHTS AS THE SUPER SUCCESSFUL? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of life. Learn more about these powerful programs here.

*brought to you by GoalsSuccess.com