Tag Archives: Goals

22

The Best Version of You

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Once you choose START WALKING

All people find themselves at a point of decision in life. The way you decide to walk will determine much about your journey.  We are all on a trip from birth to death, and, in between, we make the choices defining us. What do you do? How do you choose the direction?

The answer I hope to find in this writing. Our minds are valuable tools; they provide information, ideas, and thoughts. Unfortunately, these things are often not very accurate because of the faulty programming of our pasts.  But we can overcome all of this, use our minds to accomplish great things, and become the best versions of ourselves. It just takes a little work, and the path will become apparent to you.

Programming Problems

Human beings are exceptional. From the moment we are born, we take in information and attempt to understand how to fit into the world, survive and thrive.  We look at how people treat us, other people, and situations to glean valuable bits of information about how to play this game.  We choose the things which work for us and stick to them, adopting them as the beliefs behind our lives. If you tried something new, failed, and were ridiculed for it, you were conditioned not to try anything out of your comfort zone again.

Random comments, nicknames, attitudes, and thoughts of others can make a lifelong impression, and if the tone is negative, these are a part of our self-image.  The source can be a parent, role model, peer, or even something seen in the media. These are lasting impressions and, once accepted, are a part of our paradigm of life, the rules we apply to the world.  These beliefs can be about our talents, worth, money, relationships, and all aspects of what makes us, us.  If left unchecked or unchallenged, a negative belief will be a part of our subconscious programming until the day we die.  We are in control of this, though.

Changing our Negative Beliefs

It is not a complicated process to change a belief. But it isn’t easy. Change is hard in any circumstance; it is frightening when you look inside yourself and honestly see an area needing a replacement.  Our ego is a part of our mind designed to keep us safe. The voice in your head tells you to be afraid of new things and attacks new ideas.  Doubt arises because of the fear of being harmed by trying something new. Even though a new career is the best option, the ego will fill your head full of doubt. A head full of uncertainty will have a difficult time making a choice.

Clearing the voice of doubt can be done by consistently presenting contrary facts.  It seems people will resist the truths in front of them until it becomes overwhelming. Life forces a change through circumstances. Usually, change comes when there is no other real choice. But if you plan a little, you can control the difference and even dictate how it moves in your life.  Realistic goal setting is one way.  What will make you happy? What career interests you? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Ten years? These might be an excellent place to start. Honestly, answering them for yourself about what resonates with your soul will show you which direction you should start to walk.

Goals Are Guides

Setting goals are one of the mainstays of achievement. However, there is little formal education on goal setting and completing these goals.  There is a direct relationship between setting goals and the progress which results. A plan will provide a target to shoot for and dictate the actions you take daily to reach your ideal result.  You may be the best archer globally, but without a clear target to shoot at, all of your arrows will go astray. Give yourself the goal and put your focus on that.  Allow your actions to follow the intention.

Setting a goal is not difficult, but having the courage and consistency to accomplish them is.  It can be tricky because of the programming mentioned above and what we believe about ourselves, our talents, the world, and the nature of life.  If it were easy, there would be no accomplishment. The great thing is that all people can do it. Learning to focus your thoughts on what you truly want in life, walk that path, and stick to it will result.  Life is not a passive play. If you approach it like that, nothing will happen.  Life is an activity, and you will never finish until it is over.

Taking the First Steps

If you are standing at a crossroads in your life, wondering which direction to walk, look inward and make the big decision of what you want. Then create your goal.  There will be many doubts, but you have to learn to put them aside or continue standing still, doing nothing.  If you set a goal, achieve it, and realize you want something else, then good for you! You will have another journey ahead, and you will always have another adventure to walk, which is a good thing in life.

Sit down, choose your direction, be proactive, and write your goal down in bright letters.  Spend time imagining what the accomplished goal will look like and feel like to accomplish.  Keep your focus until your dream enters reality, letting your daily actions be steps toward this desired end.  Consistent massive action will provide you with the information you need. The energy of life responds to your actions.  Taking action makes things happen; standing still makes nothing happen.  You are in control of this. You alone decide the energy and movement of your life. You are the only one responsible, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about your accomplishments except for yourself.

Choose your path and start to walk it. Once you set an intention through goal setting and set out to accomplish it with a positive outlook, you will see things fall into place for you. Help will come; things will work out for the best. What path are you choosing to walk?

Goal Setting Quotes:

“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” —Orison Swett Marden

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” —Andrew Carnegie.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” —Pablo Picasso.

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” —Earl Nightingale.

“By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands—your own.” —Mark Victor Hansen.

You have the chance to be great, take it!!

Chances lost are hope’s torn out pages.
Maybe this time…………….

21

Determined

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Determination-firmness of purpose; resoluteness.

People set out on many journeys in life. Our determination dictates how far the trip is going to take us. All start with calm confidence. All are going to face challenges that will help decide the direction a journey is going to take. Sometimes things get tough, and you can’t continue. The bottom line is that when it comes to your goals and dreams, the determination you carry in your heart is the number one factor in reaching a successful conclusion or not. Resolution is a quality in each of us, and it needs to be used to be effective. It all starts with looking at our thoughts, words, and actions when it comes to completing our goals and seeing the determination we have inside.

Becoming Determined

It takes courage to live a different life that is defined by your personality. Other people will want to push you in different directions that benefit them. You are determined to achieve or become something that will keep you focused on your road ahead and what you need to do to reach your goals. The spring of determination comes from courage. Being brave enough to say no to the things that deter our progress, and yes to the experiences that propel us forward.

Determination is the wake-up call to our humanity. There are experiences we want to have. Usually, these are things we want to accomplish, and we will never accomplish anything until we start in some way, small or big. We are determined to reach a goal or create a dream that pushes us down the road toward the result we seek. Our human soul celebrates and thrives when it has a purpose, a drive, to follow. We can decide which mountains we want to conquer and experience. Without determination, we will never reach the top.

Beliefs Build Determination

When you are trying to accomplish anything to keep your determination moving you in the right direction, you have to feel that you can achieve whatever you are setting out to do. You may think you want to be the best singer in the world, but if deep down you don’t believe that you can, it isn’t going to happen. If you have a belief inside of you that you can become a great singer, then you will have a much stronger determination to accomplish this goal. Whatever you dream of doing, check your beliefs first and see if it resonates with you. Believe you can or change that belief into one that supports your effort.

Beliefs give us the resolve to take action toward making something a reality. They will allow you to establish a neural pattern toward your goals. It will keep you taking steps to let your determination lead to success. You will stay resolute in continuing to practice, work out, learn, or grow in whatever way you need to, to do what you want to do. “If you think you can do a thing or think you can‘t do a thing, you‘re right.” A quote by Henry Ford says it better than I ever could. Believing in yourself and your abilities allows determination in action.

Just Keep Going

When you feel like you have to stop, don’t. When it gets hard, keep going. That is easy to say and hard to do, but that is what determination allows you to do. Find the strength inside of you to keep ongoing. It is through faith in yourself and the promised reward of what your goal is. The determination can be cultivated in anyone, beginning with a focus on the thoughts you entertain, which lead to your beliefs, the words you speak to others, and the actions you will take to get where you want to go. The great thing is that you can become whatever you want if you keep your determination to become whatever you wish.

“Never go backward. Attempt, and do it with all your might. Determination is power” – Charles Simmons

“Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man” – Iain Duncan Smith

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. “

 

 

 

21

Attraction

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Your Thoughts are Dictating What you are attracting in your life.

One of the more popular Universal Laws is the Law of Attraction. Due to the movie The Secret, this Law has become recognized as an almost magical force that will bring all of your wildest dreams into reality if you do it right. But I don’t think it works quite like that. There is nothing natural or straightforward about this because we are human beings and have many flaws.

You don’t get what you wish for in life; you get what you believe you deserve. At least that is my experience. Like attracts like so what is happening underneath the surface of your life, in your heart and mind, where nobody else but you can see is the most significant force regarding what types of experiences you have in life. To me, the Law of Attraction is no different than any other goal-setting program. Let go of the mystical, unbelievable parts of this. Believe that you can achieve anything through action.

Knowing what you want

To get to a destination or accomplish something, you have to have an end goal in mind. If, right now, you had no ties, no limitations, what would you do? Where would you go? What things would you accomplish? In theory, it is easy to answer, but when we face the reality of doing anything we want, often we have no idea what would make us happy. This is because we have been brainwashed about what we should do. We spend little time thinking about what we want to do.

Understanding what will make you happy is the first step in any goal setting. Then ask for it. We pray by creating a goal around this thing we want and start to imagine what it will be like. Building robust, concrete plans to accomplish always gets the process of accomplishment in motion. There is no other way to do it. Set your destination and start the journey. Knowing what you want out of life is vital to the Law of attraction. Remember that knowing what you want is not magically making it appear; it is the first step.

Believe You Deserve Success

Believing that you can do something is more comfortable than thinking that you deserve to do something. That statement is sad but true. Our beliefs about our abilities and characteristics all determine how many of our goals we can accomplish. Your ideas about yourself develop throughout your life. Opinions and thoughts of parents, relatives, peers, teachers, Culture, and the media. Many of our beliefs are limiting and hold us back, yet we cling to them still. Changing that mindset is the most significant step to accomplishment a person can have.

The steps that you need to take to reach your goals will require you to do things, try things, fail at something, learn from things and do it all over again to find the path to reach whatever goal you set for yourself. Developing positive beliefs about yourself is vital to becoming the best you can be. Understand that if you follow the process out, the result will be a joy. There is a joy in all journeys, a feeling of learning and mastering the unknown. Changing limiting beliefs takes a little work, but all that you want to accomplish is on the other side of that process.

You Deserve It

In the Law of Attraction, you have to receive whatever it is that you want. That means to me that you know you deserve and are worthy of whatever goal you have set. This action sounds simple, but people often think good things are for others and not for them. Either because of limiting beliefs or because of a lack of confidence in themselves. I believe that everybody deserves to achieve goals.

The action steps you take toward a goal prove that you are deserving of any goal you set out to achieve. The process is not simple or easy; there are many learning moments along the way. I have often felt that it is the journey that has more value than the destination. The challenges you overcame, the setbacks you didn’t let stop you, and the growth that had to occur are all part of the journey. Paying this price does not have to be painful; it can be enjoyable. It is a matter of your perspective and how you view it. Knowing that you deserve good things in life, we all do.

Finally

When you hear about the Law of Attraction in the future, try not to think of mystical, metaphysical forces, but rather a simple law that supports goal setting and achieving. To me, that is what it means. When you set a clear goal, believe in yourself, and consistently accomplish it, you can achieve it. All people can move their lives in whatever direction they choose towards desperation and fear or love and accomplishment. It is totally up to you how your own story unfolds, but know that the process is always there for you to use.

Set a goal, get excited about it, visualize its success, then start taking steps to get yourself moving in that direction. Believe in yourself and your ability to accomplish whatever it is and have the self-worth to accept the final result, and there you have it.

“Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.”- Maya Angelou

“What you think you create. What you feel you attract. What you imagine you become.”-Anonymous

“The universe changes; our life is what our thoughts make it.”-Marcus Aurelius

 

21

Red Balloon

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How many times in your life have you thought you had it all figured out? The secret to wealth, fame, and fortune was all yours, and all you had to do was accept it. Yet somewhere, we stop short of taking action on our dream, as we allow our potepersonal developmentntial to float away like a solitary red balloon floating away on a summer breeze. It fades slowly into the sky and leaves behind nothing but the smokey emptiness of what might have been. It is time that you took responsibility for your own life and what becomes of your dreams because without your choice to apply yourself and dedicate your complete being to making your future the place that you want to live in, it most likely won’t happen. Personal development is all about taking concentrated, motivated actions toward your goals.

Why It Can Be Difficult to Develop Ourselves

It is a simple concept on the surface to apply yourself fully to what you already know you want, but we are people. Each of us possesses our own unique load of difficulties, differences, and fears that can prevent us from applying ourselves and our efforts toward finding our dream.  Fear is the biggest of these. It can make the strongest of people pause their endeavors.

personal developmentThere are two types of fear that lead to people never applying themselves toward their goals, and the first is the fear of failure. This is the fear that tells you not even to try because you are going to fail anyway. All of us have attempted to do something in our lives and experienced failure. It hurts! Our ego remembers that, and when we are put in another risky position, we fear failure that stops us from even trying.

The second is a fear of success. There are several reasons that people fear success. It could be a fear of finding out what they dreamed of wasn’t all it was believed to be in the first place. As long as you never try to make your dream a reality, it will always be perfect in your mind. Was that what we truly wanted? What if you achieve your goal and it isn’t what you wanted?  If I could be wrong about that, what else am I wrong about? The fear of success paralyzes and stops a real effort from being taken toward accomplishing our dreams.  Personal development is about overcoming fear and acting toward your goals.

To-Do Is All There Is To Do

Fear is a big hurdle, but you can jump by using the power we have to defeat all fear and take action. It is through action that all results are found and measured. personal developmentDoubt is removed, and we gain absolute knowledge about what it is we are trying to accomplish. In the end, that is what all journeys are about, finding out what it is we are looking for. Effort and action will bring this information into your life, and there is a power in that knowledge. It is real and tangible and does not disappear in a breeze. Action destroys fear and replaces it with confidence that will enable you to accomplish more dreams and goals. It is all located on the other side of your fear.

Knowing is not enough. We must APPLY. Willing is not enough. We must do. ~Bruce Lee

In the end, all of our dreams lie just over the rainbows of our minds, and it takes an application of our talents and the action of doing for our goals and dreams to be realized. We all have the talent to do this. We all have the capacity to practice the personal development we are looking for.

 

Life Lessons

Did The Grinch Have It Right?

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GrinchBookSS01I think that the Grinch might have had it right. If we took away the ribbons, tags, packages, boxes or bags, I don’t think that Christmas would actually come at all.

We would not find people singing in a circle being positive and loving. There would be chaos.   People would be in fear for the economy, (by the way, holiday buying should not be an indicator of the health of the economy), angry about their loss of new gadgets, and I think it might lead to a national emergency. The media would have a field day, proclaiming the end of the world or blaming it all on a terrorist plot to end the United States as we know it.

When I was a kid I always felt bad for the Who’s down in Whoville, but now I am not so sure that I was rooting for the wrong side. The Grinch might have had the right idea all the time.

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

It is my observation that this simply isn’t true in our society. I would love to believe that we ,as a people, are more capable of love than we are of being greedy and judgmental, but the facts do not favor this.

angry chrixtmansPeople get depressed, angry and upset far more than they give, love and understand others. If you want to be brave and spend some time in any retail store this year you will find far more faces of worry, anger and crying. There are a lot of reasons people feel badly.  If people can’t buy all of the things that they feel they want to, they feel bad. If they don’t get enough useless stuff, they feel bad. Here is what we should be happy about this time of year.

  1. You are healthy
  2. You are loved
  3. You are able to grow and work toward goals
  4. Your loved ones are  healthy and happy
  5. We are relatively free to live our lives
  6. Each new day is filled with possibility and promise, that it is up to you to fulfill.

None of these things costs a cent  and all people can be happy about them. Wrap that up and put it under a tree this year. I think that if we removed the stores from Christmas, people would protest in the street.

Christmas Doesn’t Come From A Store

In the end, the feeling surrounding Christmas can not be bought, and it is simply valuing people over material things. If that were popular more people would have a merrier Christmas.

No matter how much money we spend, or material things we receive, it will

Magic in your Heart
Magic in your Heart

not make you a better person in any way. Giving should be our motto, accepting the love from others, and being grateful for all that we have in our lives will make the Christmas Season special.  Give the gift of your time, your humor, your intellect or your kindness to someone and that will build a cheer that will last all year long.

So even if I decide to root for the Grinch and take away Christmas, I know that should not really happen because somewhere, there is a child who feels the magic that this season can bring. Christmas is for children and I wish there was a way to keep the magic and get rid of the commercialism. That would truly be a Christmas miracle.  Neither the Grinch or myself could be upset about that.