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How To Find Lasting Goals
If you, just by coincidence, read my short article about pleasure and pain called "The cockroach test", you know already why exhilarating business goals are important. For the major rest of readers here is a brief summary. Pleasure and pain are the two states human life bounces in between. At the very basic level we all want to avoid pain and gain pleasure. The strategies we use to achieve this can totally unhealthy and inappropriate, like drugging ourselves with alcohol, or very smart, like taking control over our own emotions and evoking the emotion we need. However, whatever we do, at the very bottom it is something we think releases pain or increases pleasure. What is pleasurable is very individual but to strive for pleasure is not. Let me give you an example. Donald Trump finds it pleasurable to be the first in everything. Being a winner is ultimate pleasure for him. All he does is focused toward that goal. It is his way to gain ultimate pleasure. On the other hand there was Mother Theresa. She found ultimate pleasure in helping orphans to survive. Her whole life was dedicated to contribute. Both, Donald Trump and Mother Theresa, have the same final goal. Pleasure. The means to reach it, the things they find pleasure in though are very different. Finding the most powerful goal for you is as easy as finding the most pleasurable thing you can think of. Exploring what excites you most, what could totally energize you is the way to do it. Before I will give you a technique to find your personal ultimate pleasure you need to learn a bit more about how pain and pleasure work. Pain is a warning signal. It shows something is wrong. When our ancestors still lived in caves pain was the signal that made them aware of a vital threat. Being injured for example was almost always lethal. So the brain developed a way to warn them. Fear. Fear is pain as we all know. Fear triggers two possible strategies, fight or flight. And fighting is riskier than fleeing. Because the risk to be injured during a fight is higher, we tend to choose strategy two. Flight. This is not cowardice but smart. It is our basic scheme of acting. It takes strong believes to overcome this. Believes like patriotism for example. Because pain is so important it has more weight than pleasure. Getting rid of pain usually is a stronger motivator than gaining pleasure. Bottom-line: You need a very clear and passionate imagination of a pleasurable state to overcome the tendency to avoid pain. This is the reason why most goals don't work. They do not evoke the unstoppable desire to reach them. They are not pleasurable enough to motivate us in the face of every day's pain. And because they lack the power to impassionate us constantly we eventually give up to reach them. Again, a goal that is not desirable enough to energize us every single day that makes us feel vivacious only by imagining it is too weak for a business goal. Now, how to find a goal that is extraordinary enough to drag us towards it even against pain? I like to introduce you the "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" exercise. It is developed by Anthony Robbins and I like to use it for my personal goal setting as well as to develop business goal for my clients. It is a little bit like a balance sheet and a future projection. Get yourself three pieces of paper and title the first "5 years ago", the second "today" and the third "5 years from now". Please do it in hand writing. Now make 3 columns on every sheet and title the second column "Score" and the third "sentence". Leave the first column untitled. Make ten rows on every sheet and write into the rows of the first column: * Physically * Mentally * Emotionally * Attractiveness * Relationships * Living environment * Socially * Spiritually * Carrier * Financially Start with the sheet "5 years ago" and fill it out. Give each category a score between 0, 0 meaning you had absolutely nothing in this area and 10 you where absolutely living your life's desire in that category. Just do the score and leave the sentence clean for now. Once you did the score write a short sentence into the third column to describe where you where 5 years ago in that category. Something like "I was pretty fit, worked out every day but felt I still needed improvement". Take your time and try to remember what you where like in each category. Now step to the next sheet and do the same exercise only now you score and describe where you are today. You have now 2 sheets that you can compare. What has changed where? What progress have you made? Where have you reached your expectations and where have you not? Have you improved in some categories? Are there areas you have not reached what you wanted to reach? Now to the last part of the exercise. Before you fill it out, make sure you look at pleasure. The goal is not to be a 10 in every category but to find the most pleasurable state in every category and describe it. Take sheet 3 and fill it out. Where do you want to be in 5 years in every category? How do you want to score? Write down what exactly you want to reach in each category. Do you want to be physically at 10? Write down what it would take to get there. Financially 10? Write down what it means to you and what must happen to get there. If you have done this exercise you have a pretty good idea about what matters most in your life and where you want to be. You have the blueprint for your goals. Now, as a last step I want you to dream. "We are what and where we are because we have first imagined it" - Donald Curtis Imagine that there was no way you could fail. Just for a moment. Dream it. You can not fail. Whatever you want to achieve you shall achieve it. What would that be you want to achieve? See it as you have achieved it already, hear what you would hear, feel what you would feel the moment you have reached it. Dream the goals of the high score categories in your "in 5 years sheet". What feels best? Which one is the brightest most compelling? Which one drags you most? Once you have done this, you have a clear understanding what goals in your life have the highest potential to motivate you constantly. Focus your business around these highly desirable goals. Find a business idea that incorporates these goals and you have a great chance of success. This article may published freely only in its whole including all appendices. c 2005 by Norbert Haag Online Business Coach http://www.onlinebusinesscoach.com Norbert Haag is a business consultant, entrepeneur and sought after speaker for more than 20 years. His company - Online Business Coach http://www.onlinebusinesscoach.com - provides information and services for online businesses, small business owners and freelancers. You can reach Norbert at nhaag@onlinebusinesscoach.com.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Myanmar's Suu Kyi to get family letters, news mags (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to wring small concessions from the ruling generals in the form of letters from her family and some international news magazines, her lawyer said on Friday. JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (CBS News) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel 's current news flow, was picked up by a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. After a lot of buck ... JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel's current news flow, was picked up by a Google News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. Phila. mayor to announce grim budget news (The Philadelphia Inquirer) The Nutter administration is expected to announce grim budget news today, which is all but certain to lead to significant spending cuts - perhaps as high as 10 percent - in some city departments, according to three sources familiar with the budget. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. Site: news - Google News Ballmer touts Windows 7 beta, new deals - CNET News
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for goal setting GIRLS? SOCCER: Giants? goal? School record 15 (Marion Chronicle-Tribune) ANDERSON ? Marion won its first girls? soccer match Wednes-day in record-setting style. The Giants set a single-game scoring record and completely dominated host Anderson Highland, 15-0. Tamara Barrett, Jackie Roorbach and Alex Lester each had three-goal hat tricks for the Giants. Soft-spoken Syd'Quan not shy in setting big goals for Cal and himself at cornerback (Contra Costa Times) Thompson is tied for the NCAA lead in interceptions with three after two games, and three picks is his goal for each game, including Saturday at Maryland. A's setting sights on second place (Oakland A's) A's setting sights on second place Archdiocese sets fundraising record (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) The St. Louis Archdiocese said local Catholics contributed more than $13 million to its annual fundraising effort, surpassing its goal by more than $1 million and setting a record for the 59-year-old campaign. United Way sets goal at $935,000 (Great Falls Tribune) United Way of Cascade County kicked off its annual fundraising drive Tuesday, setting a goal of $935,000. United Way launches campaign for $2.2 million (The Hendersonville Times-News) The United Way of Henderson County volunteers, staff and community officials kicked off the 2008 fund raising campaign at 7:30 a.m. today at the Historic Courthouse, setting a goal of $2.2 million to meet needs of the community in health care, social services and other areas. RI residents oppose mass housing (Quad-City Times) Rock Island?s Housing Authority, or RIHA, wrapped up hours of goal setting for its next fiscal year Thursday night. But controversy is building about one of the agency?s proposals. Sallie Mae to turn on $10B private tap (Baltimore Business Journal) Sallie Mae is rushing into a market many are deserting by setting a goal of making $10 billion worth of student loans that are not backed by the federal government. (SLM) On the agenda (The Fort Collins Coloradoan) September Symposium 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Friday, Lincoln Center, 417 W. Magnolia St. Attend these free sessions on a wide variety of topics ranging from avoiding burnout, performance appraisals, conflict resolution, small business leadership, goal setting, marketing and more. Reservations are required. For more information, visit www.larimerworkforce.org Going for the goal (Bangkok Post - Thailand's English news) Goals are one of the most important elements of success at any level and in any field. Having clear goals helps us know exactly what we want to accomplish in what time frame. Goals can also inspire us and get us excited and motivated. Site: goal setting - Google News A strategic plan for goal setting - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
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