If you are bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things-you don’t have enough goals. -Lou Holtz

When you set a goal for yourself your subconscious mind will work day and night to reach it.

In the book “Think and Grow Rich” Napoleon Hill states that your goal has to be specific and have a time frame. An example would be;

“I will earn $5,000.00 per month from my business as (state your business or service) on Aug 1 200? by helping folks learn to have a more successful personal and business life by providing a service of (state here) that will help these new friends and customer’s Personal Development”.

I have changed the way Napoleon Hill suggested how to make your goals a little bit, I do not believe in limiting myself, so I would state this example as over $5,000.00 and before Aug. 1 200?

Another example would be; “I will lose at least 10 lbs. before Aug 1 200? by eating healthy and exercising for at least 1/2 hour 5 days a week.”

Your goals need to be as specific as possible (color, size, shape, ect.) so your subconscious mind will be able to achieve them. Your goals need to state how you will make them possible, otherwise your goals are just wishes.

In order to reach your goals quickly read them (out loud) and/or write them out at least twice every day, once in the morning and once at night.

Your want your goals to be large enough that they make you feel uncomfortable, your goals need to push you out of your comfort zone, if you feel uncomfortable (in a good way) your goals are large enough to make your subconscious mind work.

Write out your major goal and keep it in your wallet or purse where you can read it and see it more often. Make a goals book (I use my Day-Timer) Write out 100 goals that you want to achieve in your life. Like 30 things I want to have, 30 things I want to do or places I want to go to, 30 things I want to be in my life. These goals do not need to be specific yet, just write them down and look at them from time to time, go back to them and fill after you have your list completed and fill in the details, start moving them into 1 year, 3 year, 5 year and 10 year goals.

After you have achieved your goals, mark them with a check mark, a yahoo, I high light mine with a bright yellow marker. My daughters put their goals in a book from a store specifically designed for this purpose, you can glue in pictures, write, draw pictures what ever you like. This is like a dream board.

There are many different ways to make goals, affirmations and intentions. The main thing is to find something that has worked for someone else that feels right to you and do it, keep working on your goals every day and you will reach your goals and dreams.

Lee Stuckey is the owner of Key2Wealth.net, he writes on a variety of subjects concerning the 4 Pillars of Wealth Creation. To learn more about this topic Lee recommends you visit: Key2Wealth.net

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Before you read this article, first of all, close your eyes and LISTEN to your thoughts right now. Now tell me, what thoughts fill your head? Would you label them as positive or negative?

Now let’s say you are walking down the street with these thoughts. Do you think anyone who meet you would be able to tell you what’s on your mind?

The answer to number one is up to you. But, the answer to number two can be very generic. Although people will not be able to tell you exactly what you think, they will more or less have an idea of how you are feeling.

Here’s another question. When you enter a party filled with friends, do they all fall silent as if something terrible had happened? Or does everybody there perk up as if they’re waiting for something exciting to happen?

You know what? The answer to all these depends on your frame of mind.

Thoughts are very powerful. They affect your general attitude. The attitude you carry reflects on your appearance, too – unless, of course, you are a great actor.

And it doesn’t end there. Your attitude can also affect people around you.

The type of attitude you carry depends on you. It can be either positive or negative.

Positive thoughts have a filling effect. They are admittedly invigorating. Plus, the people around the person carrying positive thoughts are usually energized by this type of attitude.

Negative thoughts on the other hand have a sapping or weakening effect on other people. Aside from making you look gloomy and sad, negative thoughts can turn a festive gathering into a funeral wake.

A positive attitude attracts people, while a negative attitude repels them. People tend to shy away from those who carry a negative attitude.

We can also define attitude as the way of looking at the world. If you choose to focus on the negative things in the world, more or less you have a negative attitude brewing up. However, if you choose to focus on the positive things, you are more likely carry a positive attitude.

You have much to gain from a very positive attitude. For one, studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes better health. Those with this kind of attitude also have more friends. projecting a positive attitude also helps one to handle stress and problems better than those who have a negative attitude.

A positive attitude begins with a healthy self-image. If you will love the way you are and are satisfied, confident, and self-assured, you also make others to feel the same way.

A negative attitude, on the other hand, has an opposite effect. So, carrying a negative attitude has a twofold drawback. You feel bad about yourself, and you make others feel the same way.

If you want to have a positive attitude, you have to feature healthy thoughts. This is probably very hard to do nowadays since most of the scenes we see feed us nothing but negative thoughts. A study shows that for every 14 things a parent says to his or her child, only one is positive. This is truly a saddening thought.

If you want a healthier outlook in life, you need to think happy thoughts, and you have to hear positive things as well. So, what can you do? Well, for starters, you could go and see a funny movie, you could play with children, spend some time telling jokes with friends. All these activities fill you with positive stimuli, which in turn promotes positive attitude.

Although it is impossible to keep ourselves from the negative things around us, you can still carry a positive attitude by focusing on the good things, the positive things in life.

And this positive attitude you now carry can be of benefit to other people. Sometimes when other people feel down, the thing people mostly do is try to give them advice. But sometimes, all they need is to have someone pay attention and listen to them. If you have a positive attitude you may be able to cheer them up without even having to say anything.

If positive attitude is really great, why do people choose to adopt a negative attitude instead? One who carries a negative attitude may be actually sending a signal for attention. Before you get me wrong, feeling sad, angry, or gloomy is not wrong itself. But dwelling on these thoughts for far too long is not healthy either. There is a time to mourn and there is a time to move on with life.

If you are beset by troubles, even in your darkest hour, focus on the good things in life and always fill your thoughts with hope. If you’ve this attitude, your problems will become something that you can overcome.

You do not have much to lose by adopting a healthy and positive attitude. Studies show that such an attitude actually retards aging, makes you healthier, helps you develop a better stress management mechanism, and has a very positive effect on all the people around you. So, what’s not to like about a positive attitude? Adopt and cultivate one today!

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Are you completely or partially organized, in all aspects of your life? Would being organized make your life easier? Here are a few questions to help you see how organized (or not!) you are.

- Is your life structured in any way?

- Have you stopped to think how you life has changed and evolved over the past few years?

- When was the last time you identified what needs to be organized in your life?

- What time do you allocate to planning and implementing disciplines, good habits and systems?

Naturally you have to start off by identifying the problem areas where you aren’t organized. You do this by reviewing different sectors of your life. Once you have identified the problems it is a good idea to record this information on a Tracking Chart to help you implement the steps to reaching your goals.

Here are some ways to help you make better use of your invaluable time, and achieve more quickly and easily the things that you want to do, or have in your life.

1. Identify areas in your life that are not well organized

Physical well-being - Massage, chiropractor, dentist, doctor, exercise.

Clothes - Buying, laundering, dry cleaning, ironing, mending, storage - casual & work clothes.

Financial- paying bills on time, checking the efficiency of your expenditure.

Home - Keeping inside clean and tidy. Smoke alarm & fire extinguishers in working order. Maintaining roof, and outside of building.

Car - Regular maintenance and safety checks, MOT, car insurance & licence kept up-to-date.

Work - Organized filing system, portfolio, product samples, printed advertising material, business cards.

2. Look at what you procrastinate about doing - To get started, I suggest making a list of all the things you have been avoiding or procrastinating over, that need to be done in your life.

3. Create lists of things to do - Whenever you need to remember something you want to get or do, jot it down. This includes home, clothes, car, business, health and recreation.

4. Prioritize - decide what needs to be done first - Prioritizing is a problem for most people. List your responsibilities and commitments and review them. Then record the date and how you will implement the actions you need to take. Write down how and when each goal will be achieved.

5. Keep a Calendar & Day Planner - Diaries, planners and calendars are great tools for keeping you organized. Discover which works best for you to help you keep track of important things from day to day.

6. Create an Organization Tracking Chart - Once you have identified problem areas that need organizing you can set up an Organizing Tracking Chart. You need to ensure that you have organized yourself and that you have a proper place for all your belongings and other pertinent information. Note the problem area, followed by what you will do to improve in that area.

7. Create a Division of Time Chart - Good time management isn’t just about arriving on time; it’s how you divide your time. If you are always late, there is a reason for this. You consistently make decisions and re-adjustments on how much time is spent on each activity as you assess your daily priorities. Using a chart will greatly facilitate this.

8. Create a Responsibilities & Commitments Chart - Use this to keep track of ongoing or new responsibilities.

9. Use visual reminders - Write important things down - on colored post it notes or similar - and place them where you will regularly see them.

10. Set up data bases - Select either electronic or printed version for your needs. Take time to record everything of importance correctly, and update often.

Genevieve Dawid is a published author and highly successful consultant, mentor and lecturer for dyslexics, individuals and corporations. Her book “The Achievers Journey” is a partial biography and explains how she mastered her dyslexia and dyspraxia. For free templates of the charts, visit the website.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” ~ Lao Tzu

Indeed, it does.

It also begins with knowing where you want to go. After all, you can take as many steps as you want and walk your entire life without arriving anywhere because you don’t have a destination. Once we choose a destination, not only can we begin to head in the right direction, we are also able to map out our precise path accordingly.

When set properly, goals act as markers. They allow us to establish where we are on our journey at any given point. They also help us steer our direction in life so that we can constantly be heading towards the destination we choose for ourselves.

Goals are extremely important because they serve as a focal point for our ventures. They allow us to choose what we believe to be most important for us and go after it with all of our will and might.

The first step in achieving a goal is to know what your goal is.

As simple as this may sound, the truth of the matter is a target cannot be hit if it is not known. Now that we can all see on the importance of setting goals, let’s go one layer deeper; setting goals is simply not enough, the whole goal setting process must be done in a certain way.

My greatest mentor, Timothy Krupa, once shared with me, “Success is not doing certain things, it is doing things a certain way.”

Nothing could be closer to the truth with it comes to setting goals. Just setting goals will not make you achieve them and in turn cause you to become a success. It is the process through which you go about setting and achieving goals which will over time guarantee your success.

There are many aspects to setting and attaining goals. In my opinion, S.M.A.R.T. goal setting captures the essence of those aspects which are most important to successfully going about setting and attaining goals.

When goals are set in accordance with the S.M.A.R.T. model, the results can be phenomenal. S.M.A.R.T. goals consist of the following five aspects:

S – Specific

T – Timely

Please allow me to elaborate further on each of these crucial aspects of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting.

Specific

“When you get specific, things happen.” Art Sobczak

Vagueness will not get you anywhere when it comes to knowing where you want to go in life. The most important aspect in setting and achieving goals is being specific. Simply said, the more specific your goals are, the clearer your direction for the future.

When a goal is clear-cut and definitive, it allows a person to focus on tasks at hand in a much more efficient manner. It also helps one clearly define the course of action they will need to take. Over time, this definite-ness is certain to translate into results.

For example; a goal such as, “I want to earn more money,” would translate into “I am going to earn more money by becoming an expert in Internet Marketing” in accordance with being specific.

Measurable

“You cannot manage what you cannot measure.” Anonymous

When something is measurable, it is manageable. By knowing exactly what is to be accomplished, you can go about the entire process in an efficient and systematic manner. By specifically knowing what you are after, you can also be certain to know when it is finally accomplished.

Measurable goals allow one to track progress and determine where one stands at any given point. This accountability enables a person to alter their approach until any given goal is attained. Following our example from above, we would add the following to our goal of wanting to earn more money; “I am going to earn $10,000 a month by becoming an expert in Internet Marketing.”

Act As If

Acting as if simply means that you must think, feel, and act AS IF the goal you want to achieve is already attained. Now you may say, “But how? I know it is not!”

Acting as if will be challenging at first because the intellect will constantly try to point out that you have not yet achieved your goal, however over time it will become easier and easier.

When you act as if, your subconscious mind accepts your new thoughts, feelings, and actions as the normal state of mind for you. This will allow you to take actions which you would not otherwise perform.

Acting as if is all about faith and belief. It is about your belief in the unseen and faith in yourself that you will be able to accomplish your goal no matter what it takes.

After all, why should acting as if be so challenging if you are certain that you will achieve your goal anyways?

When it comes to our example of earning $10,000 a month by becoming an expert in Internet Marketing, acting as if would consist of getting in the feeling of asking and answering questions such as; how will I manage my finances when I am earning $10,000 a month? How much of it would I spend and what would I spend it on? How much of it would I save? How much of it would I invest back into my business? Would I buy a new car? If so, what color, year, make, and model?

It would also include considering and researching which seminars would I go to for Internet Marketing? How will I continually educate myself to stay atop the latest information in my chosen field? What would my day to day schedule be like?

How would I contribute to others? And the list can go on and on… The more you contemplate on your future as if it is already here, the faster you will be able to attain it.

Realistic

Your goals must be realistic enough for you to believe that you will be able to achieve them. You are much more likely to commit to achieving a goal when it is believable for you in your mind. Realistic does not necessarily mean easy, instead the goal should certainly make you take action which puts you out of your comfort zone.

You see, if you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting. When you set a goal that stretches what you consider the norm for you, you grow by doing what you would not normally do.

If you set a goal of losing 30 lbs in one week, you will only be disappointed when the week is over. It would be much more realistic if you were to give yourself three months to accomplish the same goal.

Following our example of earning $10,000 a month by becoming an expert in Internet Marketing, you would want to research if it is possible to earn such an amount and what would you need to learn to pull this off. You will also want to ask yourself; can I picture myself making this happen? If the answer is no, adjust your goal to what is believable for you.

If the answer is yes, then it is time to move on to the final step of S.M.A.R.T goal setting.

Timely

It is extremely crucial that you give your goal a time or date element. Without a time or date aspect, it is not possible to have a specific enough goal to get you to take action towards its fulfillment.

Humans are creatures of habit. Almost always, we will continue to do what we have always been doing. By setting a time frame or date on our goal, we are much more likely to take action. You are also able to break your goal down into smaller chunks by having an end date in mind.

Following our example of earning $10,000 a month by becoming an expert in Internet Marketing, you would want to add a time frame by rephrasing the goal as following:

“I am earning $10,000 a month by becoming an expert in Internet Marketing exactly one year from today.”

So, if your goal is to read more, its’ S.M.A.R.T. version would be; “I will read books and articles on health and financial prosperity one hour a day, four days a week.”

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, having goals is simply not enough. We must take a systematic approach to achieving our goals.

As we achieve smaller goals, it gets easier and easier to set and go after bigger goals. It is also essential that you write your goal down and post it somewhere such that you will see it at least twice, three times a day. An excellent idea, which I use myself, is to print your goals out and post it your shower after laminating the page. This will certainly make you look at them consistently everyday.

I would like to finish this article with an absolutely brilliant quote found in Stephen Covey’s best selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; show a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Imran Rahman is a young entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, and author living in Tampa, FL. His deepest passion in life is to share the exact science of creating results and achieving dreams. He currently writes for Dream Manifesto weekly on success, health, finances, and relationships.

Habitual activity is yet another item on the long list of constants among all people. This, of course, includes good habits as well as bad habits – such as smoking, drinking, overeating, nail biting, procrastination. It’s often difficult to understand why we create habits for activities that are bad for us either physically, emotionally, or socially, especially when we consider the consequences, but somehow we do. Luckily, many hours of research have been put into finding out the basic causes of bad habits.

Certainly a lot of progress has been made in that area, but that doesn’t mean much to the masses of us who have bad habits and want to get rid of them. Basically, what we want is an answer. Preferably a quick answer. Something in the way of a miracle cure, if possible.

Unfortunately, there are no miracle cures when it comes to breaking a bad habit. It’s true what they say, that it takes some work and commitment. But it can be done. There’s at least enough anecdotal evidence to give us hope. For example, most of us know someone who’s been able to quit smoking for good, or stop overeating and lose weight. But how did they do it?

The truth is that most people break their bad habit through the use of a mentor, or expert in their field. So some people hire or read books by nutrition experts to help them improve their diet. Some people watch exercise videos or get a physical trainer to lose weight. Some people join Alcoholics Anonymous. And so on.

It’s the exceptionally rare person who is able to quit a habit without outside help and through sheer force of will. I know a lot of us like to think that we have strong enough will power to stop whenever we want, but the fact of the matter is that few of us do. Which is why few of us ever break our bad habits.

You see, simply forcing yourself to stop a habit leaves you with a void, one that you used to fill with that habit. So if you are the type of person who snacks on chocolate while you watch TV, and you want to stop snacking and lose weight, then if you simply stop snacking, every time you watch TV, you’ll continue to have a strong urge to snack some more because that’s what you’ve always done. It’s more the habit that you’re addicted to than the chocolate. And eventually, you’ll go back to it.

So the trick, simplistically put, is to replace your snacking habit with a different, positive habit - even if it’s simply snacking on something healthy, like fruits and nuts. So rather than participating in your negative habit, you’re now participating in a positive habit that is good for you and helps you feel better about yourself.

Look at it this way: what are the positives of breaking your bad habit? Will you feel better physically? Will you save money by not spending it on your habit? Will you lose weight? Will your chewed up fingernails look better? Will you get your work done earlier?

Then think about the rewards that come from these positives: If I don’t spend money on cigarettes for a few months, I’ll have enough money for a weekend getaway. If I get my work done earlier, I won’t have to stay late, and I’ll have more time with my family. If I lose weight, I’ll have enough energy to go back to playing football on the weekends with my friends. What will the rewards be for you?

Of course, it isn’t just that easy to do. It will take some time and effort, and the right coaching. I do believe that an expert coach is a must for most of us when it comes to breaking bad habits. And it has to be the type of coach who approaches your habit from a positive point of view. One who encourages you, makes you feel good about yourself, and makes you want to participate in your positive habits.

So my suggestion to you is to find an expert in the right field, who has the right credentials, and who wants you to succeed more than they want to make a quick buck off of your pain. The right coach is out there. You can find one.

Good luck with your habit breaking efforts.

Mark Yarrobino is the president of Maroon Enterprises. One of their websites, BreakYourBadHabits.com offers a 3 1/2 hour audio course and a 5-day email course that can help their visitors break bad habits for good.

Procrastination is a bad habit that can turn into a rapidly downward spiralling journey. It starts of innocently as an avoidance of tasks and responsibilities that need to be fulfilled, but if allowed to develop can turn into a nasty habit. There are many negative and harmful effects of procrastination, and it is vital that you learn to recognize the signs and take action to stop procrastinating.

If you have acknowledged that you have a problem, its time you sat up and did something about it. Don’t let procrastination ruin your life, relationships and job. Here are some suggestions that we have to encourage you to stop procrastinating.

Tip #1: Positive thinking

There is no such vocabulary as “cannot be done”. Your responsibilities can be done, no matter how daunting and challenging they may seem initially. Tell yourself that you can do it, and that you choose to do so. Recognize the fact that procrastinating is bad for you, and that you choose to overcome it, either by speaking to someone you trust to guide you, or by other self help means. The key here is that you want to overcome your habit of procrastinating, and that you choose to take positive action to do so.

Tip #2: Be Well Equipped

Part of getting any task done is having the right tools to do it. Make sure that you are well equipped mentally as well as physically. If it is an assignment that is due, make sure that you have done your research, or spoken to the tutors or superiors that you should have spoken to. Draw up a schedule to help you plan out what needs to be done, and what you have to do to accomplish your task.

Tip #3: Be Realistic

It is impossible to suddenly quite being procrastinating. Understand that it is as much a bad habit similar to smoking or drugs, and you need time to overcome this problem. Set yourself realistic goals, and draw up a chart to show yourself improving. Give yourself rewards for finishing tasks on time and before deadlines. With regards to your responsibilities, make realistic plans on how to go about doing them. Do not expect yourself to finish a 10,000 word assignment in a day, but space out your preparation and actual work over a reasonable amount of time.

Tip #4: Prioritize

You have a dozen tasks to complete, but you need to pick one. And that’s where you first started procrastinating, by choosing the easiest and least consequential task. Draw up a to-do list, and mark each item as urgent, important and unimportant. Do the tasks that are urgent and important first. Plan your time wisely and allow for breaks, which are just as important for you to unwind and relax your mind so that you don’t get too stressed.

Tip #5: Take Small Steps

It is no point to set yourself the task of scaling Mount Everest, when you have trouble climbing up two flights of stairs. You are overcoming the bad habit of procrastinating, do not expect miracles to happen just because you have decided to act and stop procrastinating. For each task that may seem Herculean, break it down into small components and parts that can be accomplished separately. Set about completing these small parts, instead of attempting to conquer the entire project in one go. You will find it more manageable and less daunting, and succeeding at each step will motivate you to give yourself a pat on the back.

It is possible to overcome procrastination, you just need to put your back into it and persevere. Use these 5 tips to stop procrastination and take action today.

Greg Frost adopts a can-do attitude to everything in life and is the founder of http://www.Stop-Procrastination.org which provides alot of information on how you can increase your productivity and stop procrastination. Allowing you to achieve the dreams and goals that you always wanted.

When setting goals it is important not to sell yourself short. Always set a goal that will have meaning when you reach it. Setting achievable goals does not mean giving up ambitious dreams, instead it means setting intermediate achievable goals long the way. For example, if your goal is to lose, say, 30 pounds, then break this down into achievable steps of losing 5 pounds per month. More emphasis needs to be placed on setting smaller achievable goals and developing skills to achieve goals is an important step.

So, sit down and set yourself a realistically achievable goal. We’ve already talked about setting realistic weight loss goals so let’s use the example of returning to the workforce. Perhaps starting back part-time would be one way of easing back into it. On the other hand, it may not be realistic to say, “I want to generate this amount of income within the next three months”. It may be more worthwhile to say, “I want to be working three days per week at the end of two months”. If the goal is too large it will seem unachievable and you will become frustrated and give up.

That’s why realistic goals are so important. Decide on realistic changes you need to make to your life. The key in setting goals is making sure that you are not making it too hard – and therefore setting yourself up for failure – or too easy for yourself.

In order for your resolutions to be effective, they need to be specific to you and realistic. Try running your goal by a friend or family member. They should be able to tell you if your goal is realistic for you or not. Goal setting, however, is not simply about wanting to do something; it is also about being able to articulate what the goal is about, and understanding what parameters you can measure your progress against. When applied to your personal and professional life, goal setting is about taking control of the way your life evolves.

All you objectives should have a clear time frame, be measurable, and realistically reflect your capabilities. A time line will help you visualize how you should be progressing towards your goal and where you need to concentrate your efforts. If your become dispirited in it is often because your expectations are unrealistic. Goals can be set that are impossible to achieve causing the person to repeatedly fail and becomes frustrated and give up.

All kinds of people – family, friends, work colleagues and society – can put unwarranted pressure on you which can almost guarantee failure. These people often do this in ignorance of your true goals and aspirations. So make sure that you are alert to outside influences that could restrict your ability to achieve your dreams.

Set yourself achievable goals and reward yourself as each milestone is reached and longer term goals are set. Aim to actively pursue your goal for a set time each day. Of course, to reach your end goal you will need to set yourself intermediate goals to get there.

Let your daily actions be a reward, not just an end result. Allow yourself to enjoy the journey and don’t obsess about the future. Achieving your goals shouldn’t be an ordeal; it can and should be pleasurable as you develop more skills. A final word about achieving your goals is to continue to focus on the outcome and never give up.

Alison Stevens is an online author and maintains The Goal Achiever Website to assist anyone who wants to discover how to set and achieve goals. Find out more about Developing Skills To Achieve Goals here.