Q. What do Oprah Winfrey, Zig Ziglar, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Seth Godin have in common?
A. All set very clear, directed intentions for their lives and then found the courage and capacity to make their visions, goals and dreams a reality.
Now, if you’re like most people these days there’s a good chance that you already have a list of goals and dreams for your life tucked away in a journal, computer or even in your wallet or purse. However, the real challenge these days is not ‘the goal setting’, but finding ways to stay committed, focused and on track once we have set an intention and goal in our lives.
So in this blog post I’d like to share with you 5 key principles to help you embrace ‘Next Level Goal Setting’ in your own life that will help you take your life, goals and dreams to the next level.
Why Distraction is the New Enemy of Goal Success
Let’s face it. In today’s world it’s not that we lack the knowledge or information to create and realise our dreams. A simple search on Google or YouTube is often enough to help us find the answer’s to our most poignant questions.
It’s not even lack time that is the issue. Rather the key challenge that I find amongst most of my clients, colleagues and students is the realisation that we are living in a hyper- distracted world.
With emails, 24/7 connectivity, social media updates, a plethora of information at our fingertips, increasing demands of business, work and family… is it any wonder that we often find it so difficult to keep our focus and intention on the goals and dreams that are most important to us?
“The primary reason most people don’t get what they want,
is that they don’t know what they want.”T. Harv Ecker
5 Key Insights to Take Your Goals and Dreams to the Next Level
Greatness Key #1 – Create Some Focus
In this hyper-information overloaded and distracted world it’s important that you find ways to keep your focus and attention on what’s most important to you. While life may challenge you to multi-task and take more activities on in your life, we are all being quietly requested by our own hearts and souls to create ‘sacred space’ and ‘freedom’ in our lives.
“Clarity of vision, creates clarity of priorities”
John Maxwell
So instead of trying to focus on too many competing outcomes, ask yourself “What are the 4 most important outcomes for me to realise my highest ideal life?”. Make sure to write these down in your journal as they come to your awareness.
Greatness Key #2 – Is it Really Important to Me?
Have you heard people complaining that there just doesn’t seem to be enough time anymore? That time as we know it is disappearing? Well, I hate to be the bearer bad news, but if you look back 10, 20 or even 50 years ago you would find that the same 168 hours a week that existed then, also exists today!
So if we all have access to the same amount time, why is it that some people seem to effortless produce results with grace, ease and fulfilment, while others struggle to even realise their smallest dreams? The answer exists in what you believe is most important to you.
So go through your 4 outcomes from step #1 and check into see:
- Is this goal or outcome really mine? Or is it driven or influenced by someone else?
- What will realising this goal give me? Others?
- Am I willing to dedicate my life and soul energy towards the realisation of this goal?
- Will I be following my joy on the path to this goal, outcome or dream?
There is a great deal of difference between goals that are important versus those that appear urgent, or that are driven by the needs or desires of others. So make sure to put yourself first, and focus only on what is most important to you.
Greatness Key #3 – Apply the Discipline of Daily Reflection
As simple as it may sound, checking in with your key goals and dreams once a day can make an incredible difference to your fulfilment and personal performance. Human beings are attention seeking vessels, what we reflect on and give our attention too grows. So why not ..
- Write your goals on an index card and keep them with you at all times.
- Put them on a post-it notes and keep them in your car
- Create little waterproof laminated versions and place them in your shower
Even the simple act of reading your goals first thing in the morning, or just before going to sleep will begin to program your subconscious GPS to guide you to your destination.
Greatness Key #4 – What’s the Next Step?
Sometimes life is not about doing lots of planning. It’s about living and embracing the moment with spontaneous directed action. So instead of waiting for things to be perfect, instead of waiting for there to be little or no risk, why not just trust and ask your intuition to guide you towards the next best step?
Asking this single question each day, and then being willing to take action on your own soul’s response and answer has the power to move you closer to your dreams each day.
Greatness Key #5 – Take a Swing Each Day
You’ve probably heard the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Well, neither were the Great Pyramids of Giza, The Great Wall of China or even the chair you’re sitting on right now! All great achievements begin with a vision in mind, and the focus, inspiration and intention to see the result come to fruition.
Just as the act of taking one swing with an axe each day against a tree will eventually bring it down, so to you amplify your life-force energy by simply turning up each day and writing the next page of that book, swimming the first 5 laps of the pool, penning the first verse of that song, learning the first words of that new language.
Finally – Remember You Don’t Need to Struggle!
And finally reminder… especially for all the ‘A-Type’ personalities out there … ‘life is only difficult when we make it so, therefore it’s ok to create your dreams and outcomes with ease’. In the words of best selling author Janet Attwood remember:
Intention + Attention + No Tension = Results
Happy Goal Getting!