Reaching Your Goals Begins Here

Most people perform better when they are heading toward a goal. But it is important to understand that the goals must motivate. If your goals leave you feeling inadequate, stressed out, or over-worked, then you will lack the motivation to complete them.

Goals that motivate have specific characteristics:

* Clarity. Clear goals are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART). When a goal is clear and specific, people know what needs to be done and what is expected.

* Challenge. We are often motivated by achievement, so we'll judge a goal by how difficult we perceive it to be. If it is too easy, we won't give it as much attention and energy. However, if it demands us to stretch ourselves in order to achieve the recognition of a job well done, we are more likely to be motivated to excel.

* Commitment. For goal setting to be effective, the goals need to be agreed upon and understood. While this doesn't mean you negotiate every goal with every employee, there is value in engaging the people working towards the goal in crafting it. When we help to create the stretch goal, we are more connected to the challenge and more willing to commit. The harder the goal, the more commitment is needed.

* Task Complexity. For goals that are highly complex, we have to not only give people sufficient time to meet the goal, but actually provide the time to practice or learn skills that are necessary for success. The purpose of goal setting is successful achievement, so you have to be careful that the conditions around the goal support that success rather than stifle it.

* Feedback. Incorporating feedback into the goal setting process allows for expectations to be clarified, difficulty to be adjusted, and recognition given. In particular, when a goal is long-term in nature, it's important to set benchmarks that help people gauge their success and see their achievement.

Once the goals are defined, each goal should be "drilled down" with specific objectives and measures. Objects can be thought of as the yardstick; measures can be thought of as the exact location on the yardstick of each goal area; and both short-term and long-term objectives and measures should be defined.

When determining your objectives and measures it can be helpful to ask, "How will we know when this goal is achieved?" "What, exactly, will be different around here when the goal is attained?"

I appreciate this simple statement from Sir Edmund Hillary:

"You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals."

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Dream - Motivational Video

The 3 P`s for Success

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success" –Napoleon Hill.

While a Marketing student about a decade ago, we were taught the 4 P’s in our first year and later taught the 7 P’s. This categorization made it much easier to remember the variables of what in Marketing parlance is termed the Marketing mix. Akin to the 4 P’s of the marketing mix is what the world renowned Best-selling motivational author, Napoleon Hill considers "an unbeatable combination for success" and which I prefer to term "the 3 P’s for success." These include patience, persistence and perspiration as itemized by Napoleon Hill in the quote above. It is my candid opinion that the 3 P’s for success are non-negotiable and are an absolute necessity on the route to success. In as much as these traits are certainly not the only requirements for success, they are irreplaceable.
Success may mean different things to different people. However, for the purpose of clarity and in the context of this write-up, I wish to define success as completing an objective or reaching a goal. A young person who aims at becoming a millionaire at age forty and who eventually achieves it within the specified period of time may be considered to have succeeded. Another who dreams of graduating from the university with a degree in Law and who in time graduates with a degree in Law has in essence succeeded in reaching his or her goal. Success simply has to do with accomplishing one’s dreams, goals and aspirations.

Patience

It was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Genevan philosopher, writer and composer who once rightly noted: "Patience is bitter, but its fruits are sweet." This is exemplified in vivid terms in the occupation of farming. Farmers plant their crops with expectation of a harvest but also with the understanding that they will have to wait for weeks, months or even years, depending on the kind of crops planted. They thus plant their crops and provide the necessary care while they wait patiently for harvest time. It will be mission aborted and certainly a misnomer should a cultivator of Chinese bamboo trees destroy what he or she has planted (while still below the earth surface) with the pretext that the trees he or she planted are not growing or that they are taking too long to grow. It is common knowledge that the Chinese bamboo takes a couple of years to as much as shot out of the ground, let alone grow into maturity. The point of this illustration is to drum home the fact that in life, any accomplishment of significance takes time; sometimes longer than one may expect. This makes patience a necessity, less great dreams are aborted. Thomas Alva Edison once noted: "Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." If only they had been a little more patient. Arnold H. Glasow made an insightful and brilliant observation when he stated: "The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it."

Persistence

The value of persistence on the route to success cannot be overemphasized. It simply is a must have if one is to go far in life. Thomas Alva Edison, the prolific inventor and entrepreneur once stated: "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Similarly, Elbert Hubbard, American writer, publisher, artist and philosopher stated thus: "A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. "Samuel Johnson, English poet, essayist, editor and lexicographer caps it up when he observed thus: "Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."
The struggles of Abraham Lincoln, the famed and revered former United States president epitomizes the virtue of persistence in the pursuit of one’s dreams and aspirations. In 1831, Abraham Lincoln failed in business. In 1832, he was defeated for State legislator. In 1833, Abraham Lincoln tried a new business, and failed. In 1835, his fiancée died. In 1836, Abraham Lincoln had a nervous breakdown. In 1843, Abraham Lincoln ran for Congress and was defeated. In 1848, Lincoln ran again, and was defeated. In 1855, Lincoln run for the Senate, and lost. In 1856, he ran for vice president and lost. In 1859, Lincoln ran again for the Senate. He was defeated. In spite of such a long streak of humiliating failures, he incessantly chose the path of persistence. It eventually paid off when in 1860; Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. A perceptive mind wisely noted: "What matters most is not how many times you fail, but that you never stop trying."

Perspiration

Perspiration essentially connotes hard work as against slothfulness. It was Thomas Alva Edison who retorted thus: "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." He further noted: "There is no substitute for hard work." This observation ought not be taken lightly especially when it comes from one credited with numerous inventions, the first industrial research laboratory, and one who held over 1,093 patents in his name across the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany. His phenomenal accomplishments are well documented and speak for themselves. Hard work obviously pays. If you doubt this, ask the ant. Even when people speak of working smart, it still boils down to hard work; thinking is hard work and thinking is a necessary route to working smart.
One of my all-time favourite inspirational quotes comes from the pen of the renowned poet, scholar and novelist, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He creatively underscored the value of hard work when he once stated: "The heights that great men reached were not by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." A similar train of thought can be inferred from a statement attributed to Ray Bradbury, an American novelist, essayist, playwright, screen writer and poet when he sought to give some encouragement to persons who aspired to be writers. He noted: "Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer but if he applies the old-fashioned virtue of hard, constant labour, he’ll eventually make some kind of a career for himself."
For as many as desire to succeed in one area or the other, the ball is in your court. Go ahead, play it and play it well fully armed with the 3 P’s of success and you have it made. Patience, persistence and perspiration most certainly make an indefatigable and indomitable mishmash for success.

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After This You'll Change How You Do Everything! - Tony Robbins

Dreams Do Not Work Unless You Do

In life, it is a fact that dreams do not work unless you do. Yet, as if by some miracle, a lot of people wait for things to happen to them. While the law of attraction states that you have to picture and focus on what you want, you must also take the necessary actions to make your dreams a reality.

But how can you stay focused on your dreams? What are the significant principles for success? Is there a code of conduct to follow?

At first, I do agree that you should begin by having big dreams, daily picturing and focusing on the things you want. But then, you cannot sit on your couch in the belief that things will fall into your laps. You have to take action, work daily, and take steps to move forward, no matter their size.

While you are doing that, you must also have the highest belief in yourself which will help you to transform your goals into reality. This code must be followed by every person who desires to be successful and pursue his dreams. You have to work hard and never give up. Otherwise, you will fail. That is the harsh reality!

Let Your Dreams Be Inspired 

Do not be envious of other's success, be inspired! Too many people are jealous instead of being inspired by success stories. And in turn, feeling in such way brings them into a negative spiral that adds more negativity to their lives.

So, you have to realize that your dreams can come true and will come true if you just continue to stay focused and take action toward them. In theory, it sounds simple. Yet, this simplicity at times is complicated to follow when you are distracted by others who gave up or try to shatter your vision.

In my life, I have met a good share of successful, self-made people. Just as I did, most worked in different activities, had diverse backgrounds and came from all walks of life. But there is one thing they all have in common, and that is they all work hard and a lot to achieve their ideas of success.

Dreams Require Work 

To make your dreams a reality, you do not have to copy successful people but model them. In my opinion, success has always been about doing hard work and pushing beyond boundaries. In the past, my problem has never been to know how to reach my dreams but always about how to maintain the success that followed.

And I never understood the answer, until not so long ago. You have to keep moving forward, even after reaching your dreams. Successful people have a vision, and when they get it, they create another one. It may be by helping others achieve their goals, give back, or anything else.

Envious and jealous people always come up with words like "right place, right time, luck, overnight success" when they see someone's dreams being realized. But the fact is when an opportunity comes, or they create it, successful people are ready and then, work harder than before to ensure and maintain success.

The Code to Reach Your Dreams 

 
But despite some belief in the latest 'quick money' schemes, there is simply no substitute for hard work if you want to make your dreams come true. There is a code that is followed by all successful entrepreneurs to accomplish their vision.

Dreams Take Work 

 
First, it is undeniable that successful people work hard. Such individuals are committed to working to dominate their market consistently. They do ten times more of everything. But how do they do it?

To succeed as well as them, you have to make work fun. If you can do it, then it stops to feel like work. You are in the process of realizing your dreams. So you should feel fulfilled and satisfied doing it. If you are not, then you need to reflect on your vision as you may not be on the right track.

To fulfill your dreams, you must enjoy the work necessary for them to be accomplished. But be careful also to enjoy life. And like anything in life takes time, practice and patience, you must commit to something you love doing. Otherwise, you will be bored, and success will never come.

Love What You Do 

 
Next, for your dreams to become a reality, you have to model what successful people do but follow that code by creating your proper style. And the only way you can stay focused and motivated is by doing something you love.

You should not care about what other people are doing, saying or even thinking of your ideas. Other people are not the ones building your dreams and creating your success, you are. After all, it is your life, not theirs.

However, reflect on the fact that if the work needed feels like a chore, you are not going to do it as well as you could. So, while you have dreams, you have to find the work that is right for you, then work hard, push beyond the limits required and enjoy it all.

Know Your Dreams' End Goal 

 
Finally, you have to know what your end goal is. You have to measure and define success based on your dreams; on whatever it is you truly want. While you desire to be successful, you always have to understand your own definition of success.

Measuring goals and dreams is a good indicator of whether or not you are moving towards what you want. Successful people do a lot of work, but they do it with their end goal in mind. In evaluating the direction in which you are heading, the steps and actions you take, you can see whether or not you are progressing and if you need to adjust your path.

Of course, there are many more codes and ideas we could add to this article, as well as having big dreams and be proud of any victory you may have along the way, but for the most part, these other values come after the three above.

So,dreams do not work unless you put in the hard work. And yes, it is the principal ingredient to any success. All successful people will tell you that.But again, it is what you need, in whatever you are trying to accomplish in life. Therefore, work ten times harder!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9846478