Have YOU ever felt at the mercy of circumstances?

Have YOU ever asked yourself:

“How am I leading my life?”

Have YOU ever felt miserable at the end of your day?

That’s how I used to feel before realizing that I was not driven by any goals.

I was surviving without knowing what I was doing and, above all, WHY I was doing it.

I am a great believer that AWARENESS is the first step that opens up opportunities for a life change.

As soon as YOU become aware of how YOU are leading your life, where YOU are, and where YOU want to go, YOU can plan the steps of your journey and start living a purposeful life.

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail". - Benjamin Franklin

Having a GOAL is crucial, it gives YOU a map, a destination to head for.

It will keep YOU motivated throughout the journey towards its accomplishment.

Without a real goal, your life will be like a boat in the middle of the ocean without a captain steering it.

What's going to happen to the boat?

At the mercy of the waves, it will be adrift.

The same will happen to your life unless YOU become the captain of your destiny and YOU set your destination.

What SECRET dwells in GOALS?

Why can they be so powerful?

Only with goals can YOU design your future in advance!

It’s by setting GOALS that YOU shape your life and create your destiny.

Setting what YOU want to achieve creates the power to make YOU grow.

When YOU set a GOAL it MUST be compelling enough to draw YOU out of the bed excited to keep working forward towards the transformation of your life.

If YOU set a lousy GOAL, guess what, your motivation will fade away and YOU won’t breakthrough.

What YOU have to make sure about is, that YOU MUST not only set GOALS but also be clear and honest with yourself about WHY YOU want them.

The majority of people set their objectives without having a strong WHY.

What’s wrong with that attitude is that YOU will not be motivated enough to keep pushing through the challenges that YOU are going to face.

On the track to realize your GOALS YOU will always find obstacles.

If YOU have a strong reason to get where YOU want to go, nothing will stop YOU from achieving your GOALS.

Remember that REASONS come first, RESULTS follow!

Let’s have a look at a simple example to clarify what I mean.

I guess YOU have already heard people say: 

“I want to earn more money by the beginning of the New Year”.

And I guess YOU have also heard or read a completely different statement: 

“I want to earn more money by the beginning of the New Year so I can support my family in this time of uncertainty”.

Let’s be honest, which declaration is more compelling?

Without a doubt the second one!

If YOU don’t have a strong REASON, a WHY, it is like having a car in fuel reserve.

How far will it take YOU?

There’s a high chance YOU will never get to your destination. 

Your WHY is the bridge between having a GOAL and achieving it!

Another big mistake most people make when trying to set GOALS is that they are NOT CONSISTENT.

How often have YOU found yourself making your New Year’s resolutions?

How often have YOU failed to make them come true? 

This is very common with people.

They set a GOAL, they don’t look at it anymore and then they forget about it.

There are two main reasons why people give up their objectives:

1. they are not driven by a strong desire to achieve it, they don’t know their WHY,
2. they don’t work on their GOAL daily,

CONSISTENCY and REPETITION is the mother of MASTERY!

To succeed in something YOU MUST put in the work any single day.

YOU cannot get results overnight.

Only by being consistent will YOU step closer to your destination, to your development, and will YOU become a better version of yourself.

Only by being persistent will YOU maintain the enthusiasm and motivation YOU feel at the onset of your journey.

If YOU are not consistent YOU will not see any improvements, which will make YOU feel discouraged.

YOU will consider your destination too far to reach, YOU will sabotage yourself and YOU will give up.

Trust me, I experienced many times firsthand that giving up your GOALS doesn’t take long, it is a very quick process.

Achieving a GOAL does not merely imply getting what YOU want, it entails much more.

It is a journey within yourself where:

• YOU will learn your strengths and weaknesses,
• YOU will learn to master your mind,
• YOU will learn to overcome obstacles,
• YOU will learn to maintain a “laser focus” attitude towards your daily tasks,
• YOU will discover parts of yourself that YOU were not aware of,
• YOU will become a NEW YOU,
• YOU will feel fulfilled and alive,
• YOU will be ready to set your NEW target.

“The joy is in the journey, the struggle is part of the joy and the final destination is not an end but another beginning of another journey”. - Kathy Boyd Fellure

Now, after examining the importance of setting targets, we are going to dig deeper into which features a SMART GOAL MUST have.

It MUST match the following criteria:

1) BE SPECIFIC

• define and declare with accuracy what your GOAL is about.
• put it on a PAPER (YOU cannot say to have set a target if YOU haven’t written it down!),
• make sure YOU word your objective in a PERSONAL way, all your GOALS MUST start with the word I.
• make sure YOU write it in the PRESENT tense as if your GOAL had already been achieved,
• make sure YOU state it POSITIVELY and avoid the word STOP. If a smoker states:

“I want to stop smoking cigarettes”.

he will picture in his mind a cigarette and so he will be tempted to find one. That will end up in his failure.

• make sure when YOU set your GOAL, YOU can EXPERIENCE and FEEL it by using all your SENSES,   

 2) BE MEASURABLE

YOU need to have benchmarks to measure your progress and keep YOU posted about it.

If YOU don’t have any criteria for measuring your progress YOU cannot know if YOU are on the right track to achieve your GOAL.

3) BE ACHIEVABLE and REALISTIC

Your TARGET MUST be attainable.

It’s fine if it’s challenging and ambitious because it gives YOU the right amount of pressure and commitment to move forward.

Bear in mind that it MUST be possible to accomplish, considering where YOU are and the resources available to YOU.

4) BE TIME BOUND

Your GOAL MUST have a START and FINISH date.

YOU need that sense of urgency that a timeframe gives YOU, otherwise, the likelihood of putting off the date to start moving towards your goal will increase.

If YOU don’t have a deadline your destination will only be a mirage!

There’s nothing wrong with DREAMS, but remember what Walt Disney used to say:

“The only difference between a DREAM and a GOAL is in the date”. - Walt Disney

5) BE SHARED

Don’t keep your GOAL to yourself, make it known to somebody YOU are close to and keep them posted weekly about your progress.

By doing so YOU will become accountable to them and find an extra reason to keep going.

LAST CONSIDERATION

The more your GOAL meets the above 5 features, the more likely YOU are to be successful.

This is confirmed by the research carried out by Dr. Gail Matthews

The more details YOU provide your mind with, the more easily it will guide YOU towards your destination.

YOU will get the answer YOU are looking for, even if at the begging YOU might have no clue on HOW to achieve your objective.

YOU will find out how to get where YOU want to go, what YOU want to have, how to become that person YOU are aiming to be. 

Below YOU will find my 6 TIPS that are going to ease your journey.

6 TIPS TO HIT YOUR TARGETS

1)Plan In Advance!

Prepare your work list for the following day the night before.

When YOU plan your day the night before, your subconscious works on your goals and plans while YOU sleep.

That allows YOU to wake up with new ideas and insights.

Another benefit in preparing your daily list the night before is that YOU sleep better.

The two main reasons are:

• YOU are not worried to forget to do something,
• YOU are perfectly aware of what YOU MUST do to get closer to your GOAL.

2) Celebrate Your Achievements No Matter How Small They Are.

Giving YOU REWARDS any time YOU take a step closer to your GOAL enhances your willingness to carry on and reinforces your self-confidence.

Soon YOU begin to associate the pleasure of the reward with your commitment to working towards your target daily.

3) Surround yourself with like-minded people.

A community YOU share the same VISION, VALUES, BELIEFS and GOALS with will support YOU during hard times when your determination may falter.

4) Enjoy the journey: one step at a time

Don't be in a HURRY!

Don't FOCUS on the TOP, otherwise, YOU will be discouraged in pursuing what YOU are aiming to.

The majority of people are tempted to gain their GOAL ASAP, but by adopting this approach YOU will end up hurting yourself because YOU are obsessed with the final destination.

There are still many steps between where YOU are and where YOU want to go, and success requires devotion and persistence.

Being FOCUS on the next step allows YOU to enjoy the journey YOU have started.

It gives YOU trust, it enhances your self-esteem, and allows YOU to get MOMENTUM and become UNSTOPPABLE.

5) Remind yourself about where YOU WERE and where YOU are NOW.

Every day spend some time thinking about all the STEPS that YOU have already taken, all the SUCCESS YOU have already achieved.

Think about all the obstacles YOU have overcome, and about how those struggles have FORGED the person YOU are TODAY.

This technique is always useful especially when YOU are a bit overwhelmed and YOU may be thinking of giving up your GOAL.

YOU have walked a long way to be where YOU are today and YOU will make whatever it takes to keep pursuing your destination.

6) Make sure YOU never give up fighting for your goals.

Don’t let external conditioning and your own fears hold YOU back from pursuing a fulfilling life, otherwise, YOU will end up regretting the opportunities YOU missed.

YOU MUST always be AWARE of what's going in your mind, YOU MUST be the WARDEN of it every single day.

Your mind will try to trick YOU, but remember that YOU can be in control of it!  

Believe in YOU, if YOU keep moving forward sooner or later YOU will hit your target!

YOU never know how close YOU are to achieve your GOAL, maybe it's closer than YOU think.

Keep pushing!

TIME TO IMPLEMENT

It's NOW time to start designing your future. 

Set your SMART GOAL!

Follow the 6 above mentioned TIPS!

Take the FIRST STEP and enjoy your NEW, EXCITING journey.

I am looking forward to hearing from YOU.

I am more than willing to be the person YOU share your GOALS with and keep updated about your progress.