Category — Goal Setting

I held our annual family goal setting session last week at the ranch.  One of the topics we discussed is how sometimes it’s hard to figure out where to start when you set goals.  Sometimes that blank piece of paper just stares back at you and you can’t think of what to write down.

To help circumvent that, this year I came up with some questions that helped us all to plan this next year. If you’re having trouble writing your goals for 2012, it’s not too late to write them.  Perhaps the questions we used will also help you.

1.  What are 3 things I will stop doing this year?
Too often we concentrate on the things we should do or should accomplish, but we rarely think about what we should give up.  If you want to be successful, you may have to give things up in order to take on new things. Take some time and come up with a few things that would make you more productive if you stopped doing them.

2. What 3 things will you no longer tolerate?
Those of you who have purchased my Living Every Minute program know what this means, but it’s good to refresh.  What things are you no longer willing to put up with over this next year?  These can be your own personality traits, work things, or anything else that its time to give up.

3. What 3 things would you like to try?
Keep life fun.  What things could you try this year that you have never done before?

4. What 3 adventures would you like to go on?
Part of Living Every Minute is finding new adventures to embark on.  Adventures can be big like climbing a mountain or skydiving, or they may be simple, like trying a new restaurant or joining a new group.

5. Which 3 people would you love to see in person?
Who would you love to hear speak or see in concert?  When my mentor Jim Rohn died I was so disappointed. I had never taken the time to go see him in person. I started thinking about who I would like to see speak in person.  That decision lead me to go to Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within – which then led me to a great year of Platinum Partnership and a friendship with Tony Robbins, and his wife Sage.

6. What 3 people you would love to meet?
This is a similar question to the last one, but it’s more about meeting a person and getting to know them – not just seeing them live.

7.  What 3 habits would you like to acquire?
Habits make us who we are.  The quality of our lives is directly proportional to our habits.  What habits would make you happier and more successful?

8.  What 3 things if accomplished would make 2012 a success for you?
This is a tuff one because you have to think about what is really important to you.  It may be making more money.  It may be accomplishing one of the things you have listed in the first seven questions.  It may be improving a relationship.  Take some time to really think about this question.

9.  What is really important to you this year?
At first glance this may look like the previous question, but it is not.  This question is about both goal setting and also about identifying what the really important things in your life are.

If you have never taken the time to plan out your life, you are spinning your wheels.  One of my favorite sayings is, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there.”  I encourage you to check-out my Living Every Minute: Design the Life You Deserve program.  It has helped a lot of people set and reach their goals.  Don’t you deserve to live into the life of your dreams?  Click here to purchase it today.

Many years ago I was inspired by American adventurer John Goddard to create a dream list. At the age of 15, Goddard sat down at his kitchen table and wrote what he called, “My Life List”. The list consisted of 127 goals he wished to achieve throughout his life, and since 1940, he has achieved 109 of the things on his list.

Goddard truly has lived an amazing life. His life list is not full of easy things to achieve. I encourage you to check it out on his website.

After learning about Goddard, I decided to take on the same challenge and wrote a similar list. The list included:
1. All of the things I wanted to have,
2. The type of person I wanted to become,
3. The places I wanted to go, and
4. The people I wanted to meet.

That list changed my life. I’ve yet to accomplish all of the dreams I originally set. In fact, as time has gone on, I have added more dreams to the list and deleted some dreams I no longer deemed important. The list is a work in progress that evolves as I grow as a person. Through the years, one thing has always reminded the same. The list has given me things to look forward to and opportunities to take advantage of. It is amazing when you have something on your dream list how you attract people and situations into your life that allow you to accomplish your dreams while simultaneously helping them to accomplish theirs.

Some of the dreams on my list which have come true include:
1. Having an amazing marriage and amazing children,
2. Traveling the world – not just as a tourist but as an adventurer – visiting 50 countries on 7 continents,
3. Owning my own successful business,
4. Being a published author,
5. Being a speaker/teacher,
6. Helping the less fortunate,
7. Living a life of passion,
8. Reading hundreds of books,
9. Meeting amazing people,
10. Owning cash flowing real estate,
11. Owning and flying my own airplane, and the list truly just goes on.

While the things listed here are general, many of the dreams on my list are much more specific, like climbing Kilimanjaro or scuba diving the Galapagos Islands.

This is why I designed my Living Every Minute: Design the Life You Deserve Program. It takes you step-by-step through writing your own life’s dream list. One of the things I teach in the program is when you are making your list, you should not be realistic. Instead you should dream big dreams. It doesn’t matter how old you are, your new life begins today. All you have to do is make the list and then start making it happen. Not sure where to start? I encourage you to check out my program. Much like Goddard helped change my life, my program has helped many people to change their lives.

When you write your dream list, don’t keep it secret and don’t do it alone. I encourage your family to do it with you and to create their own dream lists too. Remember as you write your list it’s important to allow your free thinking to flow. Don’t stop your brain by thinking about how unrealistic something is. Who cares? Remember, your dream list is not a goal list. It is simply a list of all your dreams.

If you don’t believe this works, let me tell you how I accomplished my dream of owning a plane. Several years ago I wrote “own a plane” on my dream list. Then I created a dream board with my wife. We found a photo of the plane we wanted, and we kept the dream board out. Over the years, the dream board got put away, but my dream list never got hidden. Last year we purchased a Cirrus SR22 Turbo plane. We have flown it all over the country. A few months ago, we found our dream board. Not only was the picture of the plane still there, it was the exact same type of plane we had purchased, including in color. That is the power of dreams.

I challenge you to make your life’s dream list today. Remember, if you need help getting started, I have an entire program designed to help you not only make your dream list, but also designed to help you create the goals and action plans needed to actually fulfill your dreams. Because I truly want to help you, I’m offering you 30% off if you purchase the Living Every Minute Design the Life You Deserve Program today.

I’m not sure how long ago it happened. I cannot tell you exactly what it was that prompted it. It may have been something that happened to me, or it may have been something I read or heard. This much I do know: It dramatically changed my life forever. Since discovering this secret, nothing in my life has ever been the same. I am not the same. The way I view the world is not the same. It has made decisions easier for me to make. So what is it?

Life is Up to You
When I came to the realization deep in my heart that whatever was going to happen to me in this lifetime was up to me, my life changed. Once you realize your entire life is completely up to you, your life will change too.

Many people sit around and give the responsibility of their lives to someone else. The day I finally realized there was a good chance no one would take responsibility for my life, I woke up and took control of my life. Until that moment, I had been living in a fantasy believing someone else would be there to take care of me. Many people fall into the trap. They think it is the responsibility of their spouse, their parents, their boss, or even their government, to take care of them throughout their lives.

Wake Up to Reality
Here is the hard cold reality. No one is responsible for the person you become and the life you will lead, except you. Sure, there will be people in your life who inspire and help you become the person you want to come. But it is not THEIR responsibility to shape your future. Only you can do that. Ironically, once you realize that, you will start to attract other people who want to help you reach your goals.

When you realize this, your choices get easier. It will probably scare the crap out of you at first because it’s new. But when you realize it is the one thing you can control, you will find freedom. You can’t control the economy, the government, your parents, or your boss. You do however have complete control over your thoughts, what you read, and your attitude. You cannot always control everything that happens in your life, but you can be in complete control of your responses to the things that happen.

Start Today
If you have not yet taken charge of your life, written your goals, and mapped out a plan to reach them, I want to help you. My book, Living Every Minute: Design the Life You Deserve, will take you step by step through the processes I took the day I decided to take control of my life.

Start today. Realize you are in charge of your future. Don’t wait for someone else to take charge for you. Only you can determine where you are going, and the good news is, your past does not equate the success you can achieve in your future. Remember, you can’t accomplish all your dreams in one day, but you can start in one day. You can make a decision that you are going to do everything you’ve always wanted to do. You can make that decision in an instant and change the direction of your life forever. Go ahead, I dare you!