Let me ask you three questions. How many times have you told yourself that you are going to improve your life and end up doing nothing? How many times have you been dissatisfied with some aspects of your life and vowed to change them, only to find you have not followed through with you decisions? What is holding you back, preventing you from improving your life?

Let me give you the answer, it is lack of enthusiasm, motivation, desire, determination, willpower and discipline.

Often, especially at the beginning of a new year, you will make all kinds of promises to start making changes in your life. This also happens after reading a book or an article about someone who has attained success or transformed his or her life, the desire to improve does not last for long, and the enthusiasm quickly wanes away.

Here is another question for you, is it possible to make positive changes to your life? Yes, it is possible. However, you have to plan and follow certain strategies and act in a certain way.

START PLANNING NOW

1. Decide what it is you want to improve. Be specific. Sit down where you can be alone and undisturbed, and make a list of what you want to improve. Next, analyze what you have written, to find out whether you really want to achieve the items on your list. You will most probably discover that you do not really want to achieve some of the goals on your list.

2. Now write down on another piece of paper the items left on your list, which you really want to achieve, write them down in the order of their importance to you.

3. Now you need to come up with a plan on how you can make them come true. Be as practical as possible and use your common sense, intuition, imagination and creativity.

4. Read inspiring books and articles about people who have attained success in the areas where you want to improve your life. This helps with your enthusiasm and gets you motivated.

5. Visualize the improvements you want to bring about, make them as real and as true as you can. Make the mental pictures as vivid as possible and bring them alive.

6. Keep your desire, enthusiasm and motivation alive, by thinking often of how you would like your life to look. Also, think often about the benefits and advantages you will gain by improving your life.

7. Repeat affirmations. They will constantly remind you of your goals and program your sub-conscious mind to assist you in achieving your aims.

8. Do not let anyone or anything deter you from improving your life. Do not give in if there are obstacles, delays or difficulties. Be determined to do what you have decided to do, no matter how much time or effort it takes. This is the way successful people act and succeed.

9. Have faith in yourself and in your ability to improve your life, your financial condition, your habits and your behavior.

10. Be willing to open up to change. By saying you want to change your life is not enough. You need to take action, grasp opportunities, and be willing to change your habits and lifestyle.

You can improve your life on all levels, however, you need to follow a plan, keep up your enthusiasm, desire and motivation. You should not give in when confronting difficulties or obstacles.

Remember making resolutions is not enough; you need to do something about them. If you have made resolutions in the past, but have not followed them through, let me tell you it was because you were not serious enough and your desire was not strong enough. When you develop strong willpower and self-discipline, it will endow you with the power to overcome any obstacles and difficulty and make you persistent in your efforts.

Now come up with something quite small that you can do right now, such as buying a book with information about what you want to do, attending a lecture, listening to motivating CD`s, looking for courses or workshops to help you improve your ability to improve your life. Alternatively, you can take any other steps that will take you closer to achieving your goals.

It will take time and effort to improve your life. However, believe me; it is extremely worthwhile and rewarding.

Lynn Claridge is the author of “The Thinking inthe6th Phenomenon” and has apersonal development web site and a Spiritual Development that is dedicated to help people understand their inner self.

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What are your goals? Really, what are your goals? Do you want to lose 10 pounds, have shinier hair, land that cute guy in your Algebra class, or get an “A” in basket weaving?  Goals are important for everyone and identifying them up front helps you keep your eye on the prize.

Why set goals? Life is tremendously varied. At any given moment, there are thousands of things you could do. When you’re driving, you could turn left, turn right, speed up, slam on the brakes, stop for lunch, stop for gas, decide to drive to Alaska to see what Kodiak bears look like, and on and on. But what is it that keeps you from ending up in Alaska every time you get into your car? Why don’t you end up at random locations all the time? The answer is that you got into your car with a clear idea of where you wanted to go. You knew at the beginning.

Life is the same way. If you know at the beginning where you want to go, you’ll probably get there. Even if detours and delays arise, eventually you’ll get there. But if you don’t know where you’re going, you probably won’t get there.

It might help to divide your goals into time frames (immediate goals, short-mid-term goals, and long-range goals).  You don’t have to have firm answers to those gripping questions about what you want to be or do when you’re done at college to make this work; your goals are likely to shift and change over time anyway. All you need to do right now is think of a handful of goals to get started. Write down a list of goals now before reading further.

Take a look at your list of goals. How many of the tasks you intend to do today contribute to accomplishing the goals you have set for yourself? Are you actively working on these goals? Are you putting any of them off for a later time? What would you have to change in your life to make it possible to work on these goals?

Sub-dividing those goals into manageable pieces can help.  Once you have a set of goals, it is useful to decompose the goals into manageable steps or sub-goals. Decomposing your goals makes it possible to tackle them one small step at a time and to reduce procrastination.

Consider for instance the goal of obtaining your degree. This goal can be broken down into four sub-goals. Each sub-goal is the successful completion of one year of your program. These sub-goals can be further broken down into individual courses within each year. The courses can be broken down into tests, exams, term papers and such within the course or into the 13 weeks of classes in each term. Each week can be further subdivided into days, and each day can be thought of in terms of the hours and minutes you’ll spend in your classes and doing homework for today.

While it may seem challenging to take in the whole scope of that convergent goal, thinking of your goals in this way helps to reinforce the idea that there is a connected path linking what actions you take today and the successful completion of your goals. Seeing these connections can help you monitor your own progress and detect whether you are on track or not. Take some time now to think through the goals you’ve set and to break them down into their smaller constituent parts.

Now that you have a list of goals, pre-experience them in your mind. Visualizing the steps you will take to obtain the goal increases the probability of actually reaching it. Successful athletes pre-experience over and over in their minds how they are going to perform in a game so they can be at their peak effectiveness once the game begins.

One mistake made in seeking a goal is to focus so much on reaching the goal that we fail to enjoy the process of getting to it. We enjoy life more when we find satisfaction in our immediate efforts rather than thinking how nice it is going to be when we finally arrive at our distant goal.

For example, we enjoy a trip more if we decide to take an interest in the landmarks along the way rather than just enduring the ride until we arrive at our destination. Similarly, we enjoy a class more if we explore the content beyond what is required rather than just do the bare minimum to pass the class.

Don’t make the mistake of setting unrealistic goals or having so many that it is impossible to reach them. We frequently do this at the beginning of the semester. We soon become discouraged when we realize we have neither the time nor the energy to accomplish all of our goals. Recognizing our physical, mental and emotional limits is an important component to realistic goal setting.

goal setting guide, goal setting lesson, goal setting process, goal setting tips

Growing up as a child I was taught to never give up and plug away until you achieve what you are destined for. There are so many books out there on how to succeed in life and various ways to achieve your goals. When it comes down to it, there is no wrong answer to this question because many people have experienced success differently from one another. One answer I do know, it truly comes down to only you and believing in yourself to succeed in life.

Some of us use religion as a reminder to ourselves not to give up. In order for us to know how to succeed in life, we need to understand how God evaluates success in life. Knowledge is acquiring information and facts. We can say wisdom is knowing how to properly apply it for yourself and understand one’s life situations. People need to understand that acknowledging any type of failure leads to success because we can use that information to learn from. It isn’t the end of the world if you fail and its how you bounce back that counts at the end. When this happens, some of us become a stronger person by building your character and appreciating how you got to that point. People need to learn that failure is an acceptable consequence of trying something new, that it can be an opportunity to learn and that it is frequently a stepping stone to eventual success.

To succeed in life you have to get past the failure or the so called bad experience. You have to look at things into perspective such as what did you learn from this and how do you get back on track to achieve the success you want in life. Once you reach this stage in your life you are ready to take ACTION! Every minute that you dwell on the past is a minute you are not spending on moving forward to the success you want. What makes a successful person is not the failures or set-backs you have experienced but how you picked yourself up and moved ahead despite those failures or setbacks.

One thing I like to remember from time to time when in doubt with myself is that key word perseverance. For me it means to keep going even when failure seems uncertain. We need to begin the journey of life and learn the importance of not giving up when faced with a challenge. There is no easy way out in life; we may by-pass the valuable lessons learned from failure and persistence. People who have risen to the top in society are usually the ones who have learned that perseverance through failure is part of the price of success. I believe god gives us obstacles in life and its how we overcome these barriers in order to be successful. Leaving on a positive note, a quote that comes to my mind is Franklin D. Roosevelt with his words “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

Richard Chan is a Health and Fitness Life Coach, promoting good health internally and externally. For more information you can visit Richard Chan at http://www.flex-fitness.com regarding exercising, training or nutrition.

Reclaiming your power and happiness can be accomplished easily, bringing joy, excitement and energy back to your body and life. Our power is gained when we speak the truth. To really be free and happy, we are called to speak the truth. Words are more important than we realize. In Jesus’ original teachings, the word is creation itself. Just think how we create with the words we speak. What are we saying all day long, and how are these words creating in our life.

Speaking the truth can be challenging at times. Often, we are afraid of being rejected if we really let others know how we feel. Fear of hurting someone’s feelings is often what stops us from speaking the truth. We may also be afraid of starting an argument if we speak the truth.

Unfortunately, when we don’t speak the truth, we unconsciously create manipulative ways of dealing with our unexpressed emotions. We find ourselves saying or doing things that are not really our truth. In this way, we betray ourselves. Then, we will notice that depression is often the result of not speaking what we feel and think. Withholding our feelings leads to separation or distancing from others. We cannot experience the closeness and warmness that we truly desire. Often, we blame ourselves or the others for the lack of communication and guilt may be the result. We may find ourselves being angry and becoming agitated. All of this can be corrected easily when we are willing to step forward and speak the truth.

3 Steps to Regain Your Power and Happiness

First Step: Begin to notice where in your life you are holding back from expressing your feelings and thoughts. Where are you holding back from asking for what you want? Now, get a notebook and begin to write your thoughts and feelings in great detail. In your journal, ask for what you want and then write why you think you deserve to have what you want. During this process you will get to know yourself very deeply and discover why you feel scared, frustrated, powerless and unhappy. In this process you begin to untangle all the built up emotions that get us bogged down and suddenly you have lost your joy.

Second Step: The next step will open your voice and your heart up. It will empower you. Your happiness will begin to rise up the scale as well as your self worth, which is directly related to your sense of power. When you are ready, go to a very private place; maybe this is your car with the windows rolled up. In your safe, private place begin to speak your thoughts and feelings to the universe, to the person who you have been withholding your feelings from. Speak as much of your true feelings out loud. This will get you in touch with the deep self. Next, surrender any hurt, anger, fear or resentment. Once you are clear of these emotions, your communications will be filled with a new energy.

Third Step: You are now ready to speak the truth and reclaim your power. There is no blaming in this communication because you are clear and have taken responsibility for your feelings and surrendered them to your Sacred Energy. You have been purified and now you will be empowering yourself by speaking the truth about your feelings and needs in a deep and profound way. The power you gain is the power of love. Remember the truth will set your free.

For more empowering information on returning to happiness go to http://www.virginiaellen.net I look forward to share the truth of love with you.

If you’ve tried using the Law of Attraction and have failed to manifest what you want, then rest assured that you are not alone. Many thousands of people have given up far too quickly once they’ve decided that it doesn’t work for them.

But why doesn’t it work for them? And why doesn’t it work for you?

The truth of the matter is, you are using the Law of Attraction in every single moment. Are you consciously choosing thoughts in order to manipulate future events and circumstances? Or are you of the opinion that the thoughts in your mind are random and cannot be controlled?

It takes work, it takes persistence and it takes real determination to change your habitual thoughts. It is not impossible and it is something that every single person can do regardless of your education and upbringing.

In my opinion, there are three killer reasons why people tend to “fail” at using the Law of Attraction:

They used thoughts instead of emotions – It is not your thoughts that have the attraction power, it is your emotions. The universe does not hear your words nor does it see your pictures, but it does respond to your vibration. Emotions are what emit vibrations. After watching movies like “The Secret” some people misinterpreted the message and felt that if they thought about something for long enough then it would manifest.

This would be the case if they mixed their thoughts with emotion and become emotionally involved with their desire.

Time for an example: When I was younger, I was terrified of spiders – every time I saw one my heart would beat faster and I would feel the feelings of being scared and afraid. Looking back at the situation now, I can clearly see how I kept on attracting spiders into my life! I was putting great amounts of emotion into something that I didn’t want causing them to come into my life experience very frequently. Since switching my thoughts and not giving them any attention, I very rarely see them.

They don’t want their desire enough – There are those people who do understand what they have to do, but they are unable to focus enough time and attention onto their desires. Why? Because they don’t care about it enough! You may hear someone say “I want a million dollars” but when you ask that person why they want a million dollars they can only give you a few answers… “So I won’t ever have to worry again,” or “So I can buy a big home”. These reasons are perfectly fine, but they haven’t given the whole scenario enough thought – what exactly are they going to spend the money on? By working out the details you become more emotionally attached and invoke more emotional energy.

Took score too soon – Every time you say “Where’s my stuff?” what message do you think you’re putting out to the universe? Not one of having or expectation that’s for sure! Do whatever you need to do to prevent yourself from taking score and seeing all of your “stuff”. You need to be so confident that you will achieve your desire that you expect it to come to you. There is no taking score required ever! From this day forward make the firm decision that you will never take score of your current situation… that type of thinking is simply living in the past and it does not serve you.

So what can you do immediately to start brining your desires home?

Find a private area that you can spend 20-30 minutes alone every day without being disturbed and use that time to simply relax. Do not play any music, or watch any television, focus solely on yourself and quiet your mind. Make sure you close your eyes and start to visualize your desires as if they’re already here.

Imagine that it has happened right now, and feel what you would feel had it happened. The more excited and worked up you can get, the better.

I find it best to focus on a maximum of 3 desires at a time. Spend the first 10 minutes focusing entirely on that first desire. Don’t drift away from the thoughts, stay with it. Keep living it, and milk the feelings out of every thought you can conjure! What you will find is that the longer you focus your attention on your desire, the more ideas and emotions you will invoke.

The Law of Attraction works with your thoughts as well you know! In as little as 17 seconds, a like minded thought is being hurled into your mind. So focusing just a little bit of time can yield you some fantastic thoughts and ideas.

Once you’ve completed this daily routine, go on with your normal life and do not give anything negative any of your attention, the more positive you remain the quicker your manifestations will occur. But remember … DO NOT TAKE SCORE.

And that is it, now you must “know” that you’ve done all the work that is required. Everything else will fall into place for you, you’ll be inspired to do something or you’ll meet someone at the perfect time that can help bring about your desires.

Your work is done for that day, now rinse and repeat. Before long, you won’t even remember the days when you weren’t in control of your life!

Manifesting Reality Isn’t Hard Work After All.

Get your free report on manifesting miracles right now by visiting: http://www.ManifestMiracle.com/free/

The importance of the word named “motivation” conveys lot more than it seems to have. Anything and everything that have to be done won’t be materialized unless and until it is supplemented by the crucial entity named “motivation”. Motivation is not something that could be manufactured, instead it has to come from within, rather, has to be cultivated.

It won’t ever be an animated reality if I mention that it is because of this motivation that world progresses even a fraction of a second. So, in a micro sense, each human needs to be motivated for every deed of his to be done. If you understand that the greatest or the ever discussed topic in psychological arena is motivation related aspects, its importance is conveyed and taken for granted.

Though we state that motivation is more or less a mental concern, it should not be stated that the physical well being and fitness have hardly any role to play. Moreover it could be stated that, motivation related problems are cancerously growing among the youth. This is so severe a scenario that they have to have a serious look at the mental status, physical well being and attitude. People, who are addicted to habits like smoking, alcohol consumption etc, should treat motivation as a pivotal entity in recovering themselves from those habits.

People who find it difficult to change their habits or people who continuously fails in motivating themselves to move forward to achieve their desired goal would find hypnosis as an effective solution. Hypnosis could very well be stated as a process of changing the well settled habitual mental status of people which help them in uprooting the so called status, to lead a better living. In whatever one does, motivation holds the key. The situations could be as diverse as it can be like meeting the deadline when given a job, stopping a bad habit like smoking or consumption of alcohol, reducing the weight drastically etc..

It should be reiterated that motivation finds its root in beliefs. If you have a strong faith in yourself, or if you have strong belief that some particular thing could be done within the stipulated time, you starts working hard on it. You are motivated to toil hard since you have the faith or belief that, it could be done. But at any point of time, if your belief or faith got hurt by any means, you are letting yourself down and where is your motivating factor? You find it difficult to dictate the terms for yourself. Here, hypnosis is so relevant. Statistical analysis shows that over 90% of people can be hypnotized. To motivate yourself, hypnosis can very well help you for sure. In this technologically advanced world, you only need to be choosy in selecting the media you need to get hypnotized. Compact disks, MP3 s etc are available in the market which essentially deals with hypnosis related to motivation issues.

It is so amazing to study that, which attribute of human mind caused him to be under motivated; the same attribute helps him to prepare himself for hypnosis, and come out successfully. That attribute, being the delicacy of human mind forms the leanest of all the bridges between an under motivated and a motivated mind set.

For more information on Motivation and Hypnosis motivation check the links.

Writing your intentions down is critical to your success. Writing has a magic ability to crystallize your intention and also provides a great method to place great amounts of focus and attention upon your desires.

Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich believed that writing your intentions down was one of the most critical stages in the manifestation process. Without it, one would fail to achieve the desire.

At first glance, identifying your desires sounds like a very easy task. Most would say, “I want more money,” or “I want a bigger home.” These are perfect desires to have, yet they lack any substantial detail. For example, let’s say for a moment that you do manifest a bigger home, but this new home you manifest does not have a kitchen. A very basic necessity to any home, yet because you didn’t define it, you weren’t given it. Or perhaps the home you manifest is bigger, but it requires more work to be done and isn’t what you want.

As soon as you give birth to a new desire, the Law of Attraction immediately begins working in your favour. As you begin to define the details of your desire, the Law of Attraction responds accordingly to incorporate your new asking.

The best way to get involved with the specifics of your desires and to determine exactly what you really want is by making an intention list. An intention list is as it sounds, a list of everything you want, dream of or desire.

You’ll probably want to make many intention lists, but for now focus on one desire per list. Grab a sheet of paper and title the page with your desire. Next, draw a line down the middle making two sections. On the right hand side, start listing everything that you do not want. We are conditioned to focus upon the negative aspects of a situation instead of the positives, so identifying what you don’t want should be a breeze!

Let’s say your desire is a new relationship. You begin to list everything that you do not want, such as:

* Spending night’s home by myself

* Doing all of the cooking and cleaning on my own

* Someone who watches the football all of the time

* A poor listener

* Not very romantic

On the left hand side of the page, you then write the polar opposite to what you said you didn’t want.

Not very romantic >> becomes >> Romantic & loving

A poor listener >> becomes >> Listens to my suggestions

By focusing on what you do want, instead of what you don’t want you are able to tell the Law of Attraction in detail how you want your desire to be.

Now that you’ve got your list, make good use out of it. Grab a new sheet of paper and write out all of those positive things that you want. We no longer need those old negatives dislikes in our life, so it’s best you throw that old piece of paper in the trash.

With your new list of positive aspects around your desire, place the list somewhere that you will look often. Maybe you could put it in your bathroom, bedroom, toilet, office or kitchen? Or perhaps you will check your handbag or wallet more often? Put the list where you will see it frequently. At least twice a day read your intentions list to yourself.

What you want to do now is to really get into the feeling as if you’ve already got your desire with all of the details you’ve specified. This can be as long or as short a process as you make it to be – as long as you’re feeling the feelings as already having it then your work is complete.

You will quickly discover that an intention list will be something you always want to keep around. They are great fun to write, fun to read, and most importantly, all of that fun will eventually transmute into manifestation!

Manifesting Reality Isn’t Hard Work After All. Get your free report on manifesting miracles right now by visiting: http://www.ManifestMiracle.com/free/