Setting Your Goals – Easier Said, Easily Done

The basics of setting a goal is an open secret known by top-caliber athletes, successful businessmen and businesswomen and all types of achievers in all the different fields. The basics of setting goals give you short-term and long-term motivation and focus. They help you set focus on the acquisition of required knowledge and help you to plan and organize your resources and your time so that you can get the best out of your life.

Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals. Charting your progress will also enable you to actually see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve as you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your goals.

The basics of goal settings will involve deciding what you really want to do with your personal life and what short term and long term goals you need to achieve it. Then you have to break down goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete in your way to achieving your lifetime targets. Once you have your list waste no time in tackling your goals.

A good way to have a manageable list is to have a daily and weekly set of goals. By doing this you will be always in the position of going towards you life plan goals. Everyday will give you the opportunity to fulfill a certain goal giving you the feeling of accomplishment.

Here are some pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting goals and achieving them.

Attitude plays a very big role in setting and achieving your goals. You must ask yourself  if any part of you or your mind holding you back towards completing your simplest goals? If there are any part of your behavior that is being a hindrance or puts your plans into disarray? If you do have problems in these areas then the immediate thing to do is to address this problem. Solutions may include a visit to a doctor or psychiatrist to control your emotions.

Careers are made by good time management practice. Failing in a career is often attributed to bad time management. Careers require a lot from an individual which often makes the career the life of the individual. Plan how far do you want to go into your career.

Education is key in achieving your goals. If your goals require you to have a certain kind of degree or require a certain specialization or demand a certain skill to be developed, make plans in getting the appropriate education.

Your family should never be left out of your plans. If you are just starting out then you have to decide if you want to be a parent or when you want to be a parent. You also have to know if you really would be a good parent and how well would you relate to extended family members

Personal financial situations also play a major role in achieving your goals. Have a realistic goal on how much you really want to earn. You also must be able to create plans or stages by which you will be able to reach your earning potential.

Physically gifted individuals may be able to achieve sports related goals like being in the National Basketball association or National Football League. Determining your physical capabilities should be one of your priorities. Physical limitations could however be conquered with proper planning.

As the saying goes -’All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’, or something to that effect, is by all means true down to the last the letter. Giving yourself a little pleasure: should be included into your plans.

To start achieving your lifetime goals, set a quarter of a century plan, then break it down to 5 year plans then break it down again to 1 year plans, then 6 month plans then monthly plans, then weekly, then daily.

Then create a things-to-do list for the day.

Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies.

The basics of goal settings should not be so difficult once you get to be familiar with them.

Instructions for life.

1.

Give people more than they expect, and do it cheerfully.

2.

Memorize your favorite poem.

3.

Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.

4.

Say “I love you” or “Aloha” only if you mean it.

5.

When you say “I’m sorry,” look the person in the eye.

6.

Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

7.

Believe in love at first sight.

8.

Never laugh at anyone’s dreams.

9.

Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it’s the only way to live life completely.

10.

In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

11.

Don’t judge people by their relatives.

12.

Talk slowly but think quickly.

13.

When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer,
smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”

14.

Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

15.

Call home.

16.

Say “Bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.

17.

When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

18.

Remember the three R’s:
Respect for self;
Respect for others;
Responsibility for all your actions.

19.

Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

20.

When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

21.

Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

22.

Marry a person you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any others.

23.

Spend some time alone.

24.

Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

25.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

26.

Read more books and watch less TV.

27.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll get to enjoy it a second time.

28.

Trust in God but lock your car.

29.

Do all you can to create a tranquil, harmonious home.

30.

In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

31.

Read between the lines.

32.

Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

33.

Be gentle with the Earth.

34.

Pray. There’s immeasurable power in it.

35.

Never interrupt when you are being flattered.

36.

Mind your own business.

37.

Don’t trust a man/woman who doesn’t close his/her eyes when you kiss.

38.

Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

39.

If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth’s greatest satisfaction.

40.

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.

41.

Learn the rules, then break some.

42.

Remember that the best relationship is one where your love
for each other is greater than your need for each other.

43.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

44.

Remember that your character is your destiny.

45.

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

46.

Many people will walk in and out of your life,
but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

47.

To handle yourself, use your head;
To handle others, use your heart.

48.

Anger is only one letter short of danger.

49.

If someone betrays you once, it’s his fault;
if he betrays you twice, it’s your fault.

50.

Great minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.

51.

God gives every bird its food,
But He does not throw it into its nest.

52.

He who loses money, loses much;
He who loses a friend, loses more;
He who loses faith, loses all.

53.

Beautiful young people are acts of nature,
But beautiful old people are works of art.

54.

Learn from the mistakes of others.You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.

55.

The tongue weighs practically nothing,But so few people can hold it.

56.

The real test of class is how you treat people who cannot possibly do you any good.

57.

The road to success and the road to happiness are two lanes of the same highway. The toll paid is, “To Thine Ownself, Be True.”

58.

Everyone can use a prayer.

59.

Family, caring and love have no ethnic, age, socio-economic, geographic, religious, cultural, or ethnic boundaries.

60.

No matter how hard and heart-wrenching the consequences:
“It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”

61.

Making a living is not the same thing as making a life.

62.

If you pursue happiness, it will elude you. If you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

63.

Believe in miracles.

64.

Synchronicity happens when one tunes in and listens to the soft, almost imperceptible whisperings.

65.

If something unkind is said about you, bless the person, knowing that untoward comments are merely self-projections. Continue to live your life, so that no one will believe them.

66.

Children and grandparents are natural allies.

66.

A heart filled with gratitude attracts serenity and contentment.

67.

Even when you have pains, you don’t have to be one.

68.

Silent company is often more healing than words of advice.

69.

When one door closes, another opens. Keep from looking so regretfully at the closed door, and look for the other that is swinging wide open.

70.

The greater a person’s sense of guilt, the greater his/her need to cast blame on others.

71.

Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)! Yet, while opportunity may not knock twice, Grace often gives you a second chance.

72.

Going through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands doesn’t work; you need to be able to throw something back.

73.

Singing Amazing Grace, Kanaka Wai Wai and Kawaipunahele can lift my spirits for hours.

74.

Someone’s day, month, or year is made by simply sending a card or an e-mail.

75.

Less is more.

76.

Living in the tradition of Lloyd C. Douglas’ The Magnificent Obsession, giving without telling anyone, is true giving.

77.

To cheer yourself up, cheer someone else up.

78.

When you wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back.

79.

You can tell a lot about a person by the way three things are handled: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

80.

Whenever a decision is based on love, it is the right decision.

81.

Among the best gifts given to children are not material. They include: values, loving your loved ones and nurturing your relationships, being there for them, and expressing your affection and Aloha with thought, word, and deed.

82.

There are people who love you dearly and just don’t know how to say it. Their eloquence is to be found in their loving actions.

83.

Reach out and hold hands, initiate a warm hug, or give a friendly pat on the back. Human touch is healthful for body and soul.

84.

Regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die.

85.

Thy Will is infinitely wiser than my will. There are no accidents.

86.

There’s always something new to learn.

87.

Love is our reason for living.

An incredibly inspiring video

We are born for greatness, but programmed for mediocrity.

Self-Improvement: Break Free From Your Past

It is an accepted fact that even those that appear whiter-than-white have one or two skeletons lurking in the closet. Films and television tends to teach us that these secrets are explosive – murder, abuse and so on – but for the average person, they’re far more mundane than that.

Have a think about your past – are there any issues that you remember immediately, and recoil at the memory in the same instance? These are the experiences you need to focus on. To truly move on in life, you need to learn and accept your past – be it an embarrassing moment or something far more sinister.

To begin, write down the experience in full. If it is something embarrassing or you’re ashamed of it, don’t worry, only you will ever see it. Write down exactly what happened, why it effected you so badly and what kind of effect it still has on today. Instead of recoiling and dismissing the thought, spend a good half an hour actually thinking about it – for some, this is the first time in decades that they’ve really relived in the memory in full, and the process can be liberating. However, it can also be upsetting, so try and bear in mind that you’re doing this for the greater good.

With the entire incident written down, send it to yourself in the post. When it arrives, open it and read it again. As this is happening on a fresh day, it allows time for perspective and sense to come through and you should feel slightly differently to how you did at the time of writing.

At this point, if there’s something you can do to rectify the past, do it. It may be contacting someone you had a fight with or apologising for past behaviours, it could even be something extreme like going to the police. If you can do something, then do try and do it, for only until the issue is resolved can you really move on. Force through the awkwardness, telling yourself that at the end of the road a calmer, happier you await. After all, a short period of unpleasantness is infinitely preferable to more years of misery at a certain memory.

With this done – or if it wasn’t something you could rectify – then complete the exercise by destroying the written text. Fire, as long as it is done safely, is most people’s preference for this, as you can watch your past burn away slowly rather than a sudden and almost violent action like tearing it apart. Watch the past smoulder and try to finally release all that negative energy surrounding it.

You may need to repeat this process several times, and in fact it may even be best if you do. But by confronting an uncomfortable past, you are opening doors for a more pleasant future. Good luck.

Self Improvement: Breaking The Pattern

One of the things a human being needs above all is change. Even people that claim to be creatures of habit like a little variety from time to time. Getting stuck in a rut and living the same monotonous life every day would wind anyone down, and you can instantly improve yourself by breaking free of these self-imposed restrictions.

It is often assume that only wholesale changes apply to getting out of a rut, such as leaving a bad relationship or getting a new job. The truth is much more trivial than that, and those in jobs they like and marriages which are loving can still feel worn down by the repetitive nature of their lives.

One of the biggest causes of repetition is traditional, that one thing that tells you time and time again to repeat the same actions. And all just because you’ve done it before. Every Christmas, for example, you find yourself eating the same food, with the same people and getting bored singing the same songs. It might be ‘tradition’, but unless you enjoy that tradition, it’s utterly pointless. This applies to everything where tradition exists; unless you still actively enjoy the activity and would do it even if it weren’t tradition, stop doing it!

Changes in even smaller phases like that can rejuvenate the mind. To begin, go for those things that really seem pointless – such as watching a different genre of film from your usual, changing your IP provider or buying a different newspaper. You might not like the experiment, but even small differences can help stop you from feeling like you’re just living Groundhog Day.

For the ultimate feeling of breaking the pattern, do something that you’ve never had the courage to do before. Maybe you’re always wanted to try skydiving but have been too scared, or you’ve had a crush on someone in your office but have never had the courage to say something. In these instances, simply ask yourself “what’s the worst that can happen?”. By running through the worst case scenario, you’ll find it loses it’s fear. This type of thought processing is known as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and is widely accepted by psychologists across the world as genuinely having the power to change lives. By facing your fears and doing something completely different, you’ll unleash a feeling of new energy unlike anything you’ve ever felt before.

Self Improvement: The Body Beautiful

When asked what are of themselves they’d like to improve the most, an overwhelming majority would respond with an answer relating to their physical description. Issues people have with their bodies are wide ranging, even if the supposed problem is inconceivable to others. If it matters to you, it’s important. By improving whatever body issues you have, you’ll find your general state of being much more relaxed and happy, and you’ll probably be looking fabulous, too.

One of the biggest problems people have with their bodies is their weight. This can range from feeling too big or too thin, to just not liking their shape. By deciding to finally do something about whatever it is that bothers you, you’ll almost feel better immediately.

If you need to lose weight, then join a healthy eating plan. Note the non-use of the word “diet”. Learn to eat well, regularly and allow yourself the occasional treat. If it helps, consult a dietician for advice. It is always best to seek someone calling themselves a “dietician” and not a “nutritionist” – dietician is a protected term (such as Doctor) whereas anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. The truth remains that simple methods are the most effective, so while the latest diet craze may be supposedly having wildly spectacular results for others, in the long term a plan of sensible eating will work the best.

Even if you’re happy with your weight, exercise is hugely beneficial and should be encouraged for all. Exercise produces endorphins, known as the feel good hormone, and many find their natural disposition is greatly improved by regular exercise. Self improvement is all about feeling better, after all.

You don’t have to go the gym to exercise; literally anything that increases heart rate is classed as aerobic exercise and is therefore encouraging the body to produce endorphins. Of all the hundreds of ways to increase your heart rate, there is going to be something you enjoy. Once you’ve found it, the benefits are two fold – you enjoy the activity, while getting the resultant buzz from the endorphins and keeping fit, too.

Very few physical problems are utterly insoluble. If you really think fixing a body issue will make you happier and improve your life, then there is no reason – nor any social stigma – that should discourage you from doing it.

Self Improvement: It’s All About Organisation

One of the main gripes that people have about the modern world is that they don’t have enough time. There’s many different sayings and colloquialisms that lead to the belief that time is just slipping away, when in reality, time just isn’t being used properly. Truly organised people are never the ones saying that there aren’t enough hours in the day – not because they’ve found the secret to reversing time, but simply because they’ve learnt to manage effectively.

Some of the things you dislike about yourself, the things that have spurred you into believing you need to improve yourself, can be solved purely through effective time management. If you dislike how short tempered you can be, or how you never see your friends and family enough and worry they feel neglected – the problems are easily solved.

One of the best ways to change the way you use your time is to document it first. There are numerous programs available, free, on the internet which run a clock on how long you spend working on a computer. They’re actually designed for freelancers who bill by the hour and need to prove the time they’ve spent working, but the function is the same for finding out where your time goes. Install it on your work computer and you’ll soon see where your time really goes, and how the six hour stint you’d thought you’d spent working in the afternoon was actually an hour of working and a lot of time spent checking Twitter, writing emails and posting on forums. It should be quite a wake up call.

Knowing where you go wrong, set yourself goals. Organise a chore you dislike – anything from cleaning to responding to letters – and set aside an hour a day in which you do nothing but that. If you have time spare in that hour, start pre-empting the next chore. By compartmentalising those chores that you hate, you’ll free yourself up the rest of the time.

Keep a diary and stick to it, don’t cancel engagements just because you’re too tired or feel like you can’t be bothered. These little non appearances add up, and if you usually just cancel, you never know what you’re missing. Use a diary you can carry in your pocket or briefcase; amazingly, so many people don’t, and then wonder why they miss appointments.

Essentially, when instigating a system which you hope will improve your life and self, you need to know exactly how your life works. Writing everything down and analysing the results will let you see where improvements can be made – and don’t worry, before you know, documenting your life will become second nature.

Feeling Charitable?

Many who embark on a course of self improvement see giving money to charity as one of the easy ways of making themselves a better, selfless person. This is infinitely true, and giving to charity wherever possible is always a wonderful thing to do, but if you don’t have much spare cash or are unsure about which charity to choose, you can still help.

Charitable giving is one of those things that everyone means to do, but never gets around to. If you are genuine about improving your sense of self, make today the day where you actually do something. If you do decide to give money, first be sure you can afford it – there is little point in rendering yourself financially troubled just because you gave to charity. The whole point may be to help those less fortunate than yourself, but not by making yourself unfortunate.

With this kept in mind, find a charity that you feel passionate about. There are major national charities which get a lot of press and airtime, which subsequently leads to a lot of donations. Occasionally, instead of giving to one of these institutions, look around the internet for a smaller charity. The more obscure an illness, usually the less funding it gets – but that doesn’t mean it does any less of a job. These people still need help, and your money will be more useful to them. Still give to the big national charities, but do mix it up a little and vary your giving.

That said, only choose three charities at most to donate to. While you may just be giving for the sake of giving, it is important to think about what can be done with your money. If you have $100 to give, and split that between five different charities, each organisation only gets $20. Instead, select just two institutions and suddenly your money goes a lot further. Just remember that next time you donate, you can give to two completely different charities. Over time, your giving should even itself out.

But what charities need, perhaps even more than small donations, is your time. For true self improvement that is more than just a neat lifestyle choice, instead of giving cash, give yourself. This can include fund-raising, helping to promote awareness or just general administration work. If you have a particular skill – such as web designing or arts and crafts – offer to your chosen charity for free.

By doing this, you really will be improving your character. Giving just cash, all the time, can be a little too easy – but by actually helping a charity to function, you’re doing much more for the greater good. Experiences like these can teach you things that will change your life as a whole and make you a better, happier person – which is exactly what self improvement is all about, after all.

If Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

Self improvement can seem like a daunting concept, often requiring you to change behaviours and habits that you’ve been indulging in for years, sometimes decades. While you may feel you want to change things in your life, actually doing it is something very different. For this reason, many people just talk about improving their sense of self but never do anything about it. But how does one turn those words into action?

Some of the most drastic self improvement measures anyone can take involve changing their mind, rather than any kind of physical situation. One of the main things that fans of self improvement advocate is trying to remove, or at least depress, your negative impulses. This can have a big effect on you, making your life seem better and also making you a more attractive person to spend time with. A new attitude can be the beginning of a new you.

At this junction, an old phrase becomes apposite: “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Other adages along the same lines exist – such as “every cloud has a silver lining” – but for most the former is the most astute. It is all about taking the bitter, unpleasant things in life and making them more palatable.

It is natural human instinct to react negatively when something bad happens to us, but very rarely does that negativity ever produce any results. Sitting around talking about how annoyed or disappointed you are achieves nothing but perhaps making you feel a touch better. One of the biggest parts of self improvement is to take that bad situation and try and see the good in it. This takes work and practice, but eventually can lead to a more positive, less cynical – and therefore more pleasant – you. There is a positive to everything – you just might have to look hard to find it.

Understanding What Is Possible

In a dream world, every little boy who dreams of being a fighter pilot eventually becomes one, and every little girl gets to take her turn centre stage as the prima Ballerina. Yet the key word here is ‘dream’; unfortunately, save for a lucky few of extremely talented individuals who give their lives to achieving their goal, this never happens. As children, it’s okay to dream, there’s no need for realism and we can sit back and dream of the super-cool sky fights or bouquet of flowers on opening night. Dreaming of the impossible is all what childhood is about.

It isn’t, however, what adulthood is about. Adulthood is about realising that some things aren’t possible. This might sound like a ridiculously simple sentiment, but it’s something a worrying amount of people fail to grasp.

In truth, it’s easy to see why, and the blame does not lay solely at the feet of the individual. In modern society, we’re foisted the idea of the ‘can do!’ attitude. If you want something, you’re encouraged to get it – and worry about the consequences later. When we can turn back time’s effect on the body and spend money without actually having it, a lot of people fail to see why they can’t have it all. These are the people that quit their jobs to form a band and six months later, with no money and no home, still say it was worth it, because they lived their dream. It wasn’t worth it, and a full five years on, those people have seen the light and just refer to their band period as ‘The Embarrassing Incident’.

The biggest key to self improvement is to understand, and accept, your limits. You may still dream of being a fighter pilot, but to achieve true contentment you need to see that it isn’t going to happen. Instead, when embarking on a course of self improvement, see what you realistically can change. Maybe pay off your mortgage early or give more to charity – obtainable goals are the key, and through them and not their flight-of-fancy counterparts, you will see your life improve.

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