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10 Ways To Hold Your Focus and Get Your Goals
Hocus, Pocus, it's all about focus. That's the real magic of goals! 'Once set, the final thing to do is to make our goals visible. Put our written down goals where we will see them everyday. Look at them often and surely success will follow, as day follows night.' The above success principle has been praised by just about all those who have applied it. Those who do not apply it usually get left in the dust, goal-less. There are some who are able to bypass this principle and still enjoy great succcess, but they are few and far in between. In my experience with goal setting, past and present, I find that in addition to writing them out, pictures of my goals and associated items, help me to visualize actually having them, just as if they are in a layaway catalogue, all I have to do is pay the price to pick them up. This allows me to think that it is just a matter of time until they arrive! This really helps to allay any negative vibes that may crop up during the adventure. At the time, I was rarely successful at staying consistent and focusing steady on anything important. I mostly just played at life. I knew all the rules of success but was haphazard at applying them, no consistency. This does plague me from time to time. That is until I got serious . . . 1987. That year I quit smoking, quit drinking, and quit being lazy! I dropped 60 lbs. in 3 months, and worked up to running 5 miles a day. I experienced the power of Focus! I wrote an article about how I made that happen. I called it, Set Your Mind To Win and you can read it at: http://www.realgoalgetter.com/articles/smith/set-your-mind.html . In it I explained some of what I did to achieve those goals. This article actually follows up on that one, with a little more detail, and in a different way. That next year, 1988, I made a decision to take my wife to Hawaii. I remember it was a vacation trip though that I really wanted for my wife and I. It was her dream trip to Hawaii, she had never been there. So we planned two weeks in October that year. It all seems so long ago, actually it was. At the time of this writing it is 2004. Back then, I didn't have any of the the resources that I needed to take this trip, and I didn't know how I was going to do it. I was flat broke. But I did know that I wanted it for my wife and I. This was a tremendous amount of cash for me to come up with in so short a time. For me this was nigh impossible! There were no past references in me to even think this was possible. I didn't even have a savings account at the time. Being in Sales and Supervision at the time, one of the procedures to make it easy for people to buy was to break down the necessary actions, payments etc. to the ridiculously simple, so they would believe it was not only possible but absolutely doable! I brainstormed all the things we wanted to have and do on our trip, all that it would cost, and totalled it up. I would need at least $8,000.00 in order to make it happen. I needed to break this down into timelines. I pushed the negative self talk aside every time it came up. (And it came up often, believe me) I came up with ideas I needed to act on and I started to break them down into 5 smaller actions, and then into 5 smaller actions until I came up with a ridulously simple thing, that I could believe I could do and that I could do right there and then, and just waded into them one at a time. I booked the trip in May, without having all my ducks in a row, heh, heh. I booked the time off at work and having told all my colleagues what I had planned, I couldn't back out. Talk about a public commitment, and a commitment to my wife is not easily broken, so I pulled out all the stops to make this trip happen. I tightened my belt on a lot of things that I didn't need and also worked my tail off to earn extra income so I could save some for the trip. I lived and breathed that trip every day. I surrounded myself in my car, house, and office, with post cards, pictures, magazine articles, travel books, videos, sun tan lotion, even a fake grass skirt that I picked up in a yard sale and hung around my bathroom mirror. I made an audio recording and listened to my own voice on tape of how I was making things happen, and I visualized (imagined) how successful I was at taking each of the actions necessary. I set out my intention. (Positive Self Talk in my car) This was weird stuff, believe me I felt weird at the beginning. I talked about it all the time. It served it's purpose though and kept my focus strong, and concentrated my power! I never let myself forget for a moment that I wanted this Hawaii trip badly, and that I was on the hook for this. I kept reminding myself in every way possible that this trip was important, I mean, almost life or death important. Well, I made that trip happen just the way I wanted it, and my wife was ecstatic. One week on Oahu, and one week on Maui. We took 33 rolls of film in two weeks, a visual reminder of the fun and good times we had. My wife had her dream trip, and I had a real life reference that would change how I went after my goals forever. Making this trip happen really made it clear to me that goal setting really works big time, as long as you keep your eye on the ball. Since then, I work on my goals regularly, always keeping them in mind. I have a dream collage of pictures framed on my wall, and I have a long list of 'wishes' that I have yet to take action on. I just have to pump up the volume from time to time. I am not perfect by any stretch but I keep at it. After I met this challenge, I sure haven't got any excuse for not having or doing something.The best reward I got from that experience was the feeling that I could achieve basically anything providing I stoked my desire high enough, and managed my thoughts and focus. When you have one gargantuan goal, that by going after it, you automatically achieve all of your others, this helps to keep your focus concentrated, and your energy does not get dissipated by going in a lot of different directions. Just like Napoleon Hill writes about how powerful a 'Magnificent Obsession' can be. Please do not take this as 'bragging' as my intention is only to demonstrate that anyone can do, have, or be whatever they want as long as you pay the price asked. Who in their right mind would brag about a small amount like $8,000.00 anyway in this day and age? Let's see some of the focus activities I used in doing this: 1. Write down my goal and review it frequently. Immerse myself in it. 2. Surround myself with associate items, pictures, smells, feels, and/or tastes. 3. Think as if it's on layaway, it's in the bank, and confidently pay the price. 4. Create future references by visualizing you have received them already. 5. Talk about them all the time, and record my own enthusiastic voice to listen to. 6. Control my focus by crowding out the negative, overwhelming it with positive. 7. Break down my actions to the ridiculously simple, be specific. 8. Commited to myself, my wife, and everyone I cared about. (built up importance) 9. Set my mind to 'win', there is no other option to consider. 10. Have faith that this will happen, use the peak to peek principle. One focus to success. Build momentum in all things instead of distraction. It is all about focus. You can make this work for you too. The real question to ask yourself is this: How can I take these 10 'focus' strategies, use them as a ckecklist of sorts, apply them to my most important goal, make them work for me, and enjoy the process? Well, how can you? And will you? You Can Do It! Go for it! Copyright 2004 Al Smith, All Rights Reserved Al Smith writes for and publishes The Realgoalgetter Ezine. His articles deal mostly with goal setting, self improvement, motivation, and overall health and fitness. Stop by The Realgoalgetter Website and subscribe to The Realgoalgetter Ezine at http://www.realgoalgetter.com/ezines/index.html . ------------------------------- This article is available for reprint in your publication free as long as it is kept intact and the resource box is included with the live links back to our web site.
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 New Voices in Congress Will Change the Tone of the Democratic Majority - New York Times
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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