Reach Your Goals

The greatest people from time to time avoid the company of others. Without exception all outstanding people spend a good deal of time in uninterrupted thought. They get right away, either in a room of their own and lock the door or walk up a hill where they can sit and quietly meditate. It is important that you spend a considerable amount of time alone every day contemplating, meditating, and listening to your inner voice. The problem is there are too many distractions in everyday life and it is very easy to come up with many excuses why we can’t take time to think.  To solve this problem, make yourself a study "away from it all" even though it is only an attic or shed. Go to this "retreat" regularly. If you cannot do this, go high up some hill where you can sit alone. Try and dwell with yourself for a short time every day. Take with you that "listening" attitude, as though you were expecting to hear something.  “Follow effective action with quiet...

For every obstacle there is a solution. One of the most essential principles for success is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come. The key to victory is continuing to do the right thing with the right attitude and refusing to quit. However, too many people limit their possibilities by giving up easily when they meet obstacles. Let me ask you a question: If you could so order your life so as to avoid all types of adversity, how could you develop character? Everyone must cut his or her teeth on some form of experience. It is not the crisis or the adversity that is the problem it is how you react to it which is the problem. And so often, instead of using the time to learn, regroup and move again, or using our energy to be creative in raising a phoenix out of the ashes of our crisis, we waste time and energy blaming why we are in a situation and how “we don’t deserve this”. The truth is char...

Without written goals and a clear plan of action you'll never do what you are potentially capable of. The problem is many people do not know what goals are, or their vital importance as an ingredient toward achieving what they want. It is worth noting that you have to plan and prepare so that when you recognize the opportunity that is consistent with what you want, you are ready for it. With no goal how will you recognize it?  Here are 5 reasons why you should develop the habit of putting ALL your goals down on paper in a way that is clear, easy to follow, and provides all the information you need at a glance: 1. Writing your goals down on paper crystallizes thought and thought motivates action. You’ll realize that the moment you start to take time to think about the reasons why you want to achieve your goal, the obstacles you’ll have to surmount, how to surmount them, and to develop a plan of action, you’ll begin to build the necessary momentum for the attainment of your goals....

Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be. There's no doubt about it; happiness is a way of living, a choice, and you have the power within you to choose how you think, feel, and act at any given moment. The problem is that too many people live under the misconception that they have to earn it, or that their happiness depends on external circumstances, or that others are responsible for making them happy or unhappy. Realize that an unhappy person programs his/her mind to "make me unhappy" and you know what? Your mind will obey any command you give it. The subconscious mind has no sense of humor, whatever you sow you shall reap! In addition, many people believe that happiness is dependent on things and people external to themselves, yet when we look for happiness outside of ourselves we make an unhappy mistake. We feel powerless to attain happiness and devote our lives to the pursuit of things that we know won't necessarily bring happiness. To solve ...

Aristotle once said that fear is pain arising from anticipation. Fear breeds lack of experience, lack of experience breeds ignorance and ignorance breeds more fear. It is a vicious circle summed up so well in the acronym: False Evidence Appearing Real. The problem is that we seldom do the thing we fear that we never discover if our anticipation was accurate. Responsibility and courage go hand in hand. To take charge of your life involves accepting self-responsibility. This means accepting that everything that you are or ever will be is completely up to you and you alone.  However, it is not until something drastic happens that we are forced out if our comfort zones or safe harbors and made to look at our lives in a different way. Strangely enough the greater the crisis, the greater seems to be the opportunity. Everyone must cut his or her teeth on some form of experience. It is not the crisis or adversity that is the problem; it is the way you react to it that is the problem. Wha...

You have the power of choice and you can choose to do only one thing at a time. The key is to learn how to tackle one problem and concentrate all your efforts on what you are doing at the moment. Too often, however, we allow ourselves to be easily distracted by other things which are not necessarily important. As a result, we fail to perform better at what we do, and get poor results. “The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through. — Harry A. Overstreet Furthermore, it becomes very easy to shift the blame to circumstances whereas the reason why we didn’t perform better lies within and it is simply because we cannot concentrate on one thing at a time. There is no doubt that doing less than we know we can do causes all kinds of guilt feelings manifesting themselves in certain ways. When people feel they have not done their best they feel they have cheated themselves— and they start to rationalize why they didn't perform as they kno...

“There's always free cheese in the mouse traps, but the mice there ain't happy.”   – Anonymous The world is so full of people who have tremendous desires which they whey wish to obtain by wishful thinking, or by having someone else make it easier for them. Such people who desire to become great can become great characters by making the necessary effort. That is the only way someone can become great. Desire alone is not sufficient. “Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill Every man who has ever become great becomes so only because he desired to, plan to, and made the necessary effort to become so. There are no accidentally great men. All great men build themselves in their own image. That which they become they first desire to become; they thought out, and planned every step upward to their own high mountain top. The great difference between all people lies not in their abilities but in the dif...

"Nothing great will ever be achieved without enthusiasm." — Ralph Waldo Emerson Enthusiasm is a feeling of enthusiastic interest in a particular subject or activity and an eagerness to be involved in it. Every morning start your day with enthusiastic anticipation and expectation. As you open your eyes say to yourself: "I believe that this brand new day will bring me nearer toward my goal" or something similar. Let your first words start your day with enthusiasm.  The problem is that many people don't clearly and specifically define their goals and as a result they cannot burn with a strong desire to see it become a reality. The enthusiasm which will ignite will burn brightly when you clearly define what your goals are and focus on them. Moreover, it is worth noting that sometimes we can cause our enthusiasm to achieve ambitions and goals to diminish. This usually occurs during the planning stage when it is easier to cultivate a negative attitude, or when we b...

The more we operate in trust, the more relaxed we are and the more enjoyable our lives will be. The question is what are we placing our faith in? The truth is if we trust ourselves, we'll probably spend a lot of time reasoning and worrying. If we place our faith in people, we'll probably spend a lot of time being disappointed.  The key to trusting God is to use the measure of faith He's given to each and every one of us, affirm daily out loud that we put our trust in Him, saying things like "I have faith in God that what He's promised to fulfill in my life will be done at it's appointed time," and learn to take steps of faith over time and through life's experiences to cause our faith to grow. The more we use our faith, the more it develops—it is like a spiritual muscle. And like all muscles, whenever they are not used for a very long time they atrophy. Taking steps of faith Faith operates in a realm that is beyond human reasoning. It is the subst...

The price you have to pay for your success has to be paid in full and has to be paid in advance, so it is important to identify and pay the price. The problem is many people do not take time to identify the price they have to pay to achieve the goals they set for themselves. As a result they end up not getting what they want.  To solve this problem, first ensure that all your goals are written down on paper. By doing this it makes it easier for you to crystallize your thinking on paper. Then, take one goal at a time and identify the price you have to pay to get it. I’ve found that different goals have different prices we have to pay but generally we have to make sacrifices whether it is in the form of pleasure time, or learning new skills.  Sometimes the price we have to pay to reach our goals is to change— our thoughts, the negative voices in our minds, bad habits, and negative attitudes. Most people are unwilling to pay the immediate price of change; therefore, they...

Do you know that the reason you may be feeling unmotivated is simply because you are constantly being distracted by unimportant things? If you are having scattered thoughts it is easy to become confused or make silly mistakes. One way to solve this problem is to work in a secluded spot. Get in a room and close the door, or wear earplugs to shut out excessive noise. Once these distractions are eliminated, you may regain your motivation and focus. In addition, take time to identify all the daily irritants that make it difficult for you to concentrate on what you are doing. One of the best things you can do to move further and faster along your success path is to fix, replace, mend, or get rid of those daily irritants that annoy you and stay on you’re mind. This drains your creative energy and prevents you from taking steps toward the completion of the tasks you’re currently working on. If you are constantly being distracted from doing what you want to do, take time think of a way to ...

“First thing every morning before you get out of bed say out loud, I believe.”                                                                                                              -Norman Vincent Peale Believing in yourself is an attitude you develop, and the attitude you develop is a result of your thought habits. A thought becomes a belief when you work on it repeatedly and it is already a well-known fact that whatever one repeats to oneself, either true o...