MULTIPLY YOUR CHANCES
YOUR ABILITY TO DISCIPLINE YOURSELF TO SET CLEAR GOALS FOR YOURSEFL AND THEN TO WORK TOWARD THEM EVERY DAY WILL DO MORE TO GUARANTEE YOUR SUCCESS THAN ANY OTHER SINGLE FACTOR. YOU NEED TO HAVE GOALS TO ACCOMPLISH WORTHWHILE THINGS IN LIFE. YOU HAVE PROBABLY HEARD IT SAID THAT "YOU CAN'T HIT A TARGET THAT YOU CAN'T SEE".
"IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING, ANY ROAD WILL GET YOU THERE ".
AND AS WAYNE GRETSKY SAID, "YOU MISS EVERY SHOT YOU DON'T TAKE".
THE VERY ACT OF TAKING THE TIME TO DECIDE WHAT YOU REALLY WANT IN EACH AREA OF YOUR LIFE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE COMPLETELY.
THE 3 PERCENT FACTOR
IT SEEMS THAT ONLY 3 PERCENT OF ADULTS HAVE WRITTEN GOALS AND PLANS, AND THIS 3 PERCENT EARN MORE THAN ALL OF THE OTHER 97 PERCENT PUT TOGETHER.
WHAT IS THIS? THIS SIMPEST ANSWER IS THAT IF YOU HAVE CLEAR GOAL AND A PLANTO ACHIEVE IT, YOU THEREFORE HAVE A TRACK BY DISTRACTIONS AND DIVERSIONS, GETTING LOST OR GOING ASTRAY, MORE AND MORE OF YOUR TIME IS FOCUSED IN A STRAIGHT LINE - FROM WHERE YOU ARE TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. THIS IS WHY PEOPLE WITH GOALS ACCOMPLISH SO MUCH MORE THAN PEOPLE WITHOUT THEM.
THE TRAGEDY IS THAT MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE GOALS. BUT WHAT THEY REALLY HAVE ARE HOPES AND WISHES. HOWEVER, HOPE IS NOT A STRAGEGY FOR SUCCESS, AND A WISH HAS BEEN DEFINED AS A "GOAL WITH NO ENERGY BEHIND IT".
GOALS THAT ARE NOT WRITTEN DOWN AND DEVELOPED INTO PLAN ARE LIKE BULLETS WITHOUT POWDER IN THE CARTRIDGE. PEOPLE WITH UNWRITTEN GOALS GO THROUGH LIFE SHOOTING BLANKS. BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY ALREADY HAVE GOALS, THEY NEVER ENGAGE IN THE HARD, DISCIPLINED EFFORT OF GOAL-SETTING-AND THIS IS THE MASTER SKILL OF SUCCESS.
MULTIPLY YOUR CHANES OF SUCCESS
IN 2006, USA TODAY REPORTED A STUDY IN WHICH RESEARCHERS SELECTED A LARGE NUMBER PEOPLE WHO HAD MADE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS. THEY THEN DIVIDED THESE PEOPLE INTO TWO CATEGORIES, THOSE WHO HAD SET NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS AND WRITTEN THEM DOWN AND THOSE WHO HAD SET NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS BUT HAD NOT WRITTEN THEM DOWN.
TWELVE MONTHS LATER, THEY FOLLOWED UP ON THE RESPONDENTS IN THIS STUDY, AND WHAT THEY FOUND WAS ASTONISHING. OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD SET NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS BUT HAD NOT WRITTEN THEM DOWN, ONLY 4 PERCENT HAD ACTUALLY FOLLOWED THROUGH ON THEIR RESOLUTIONS. BUT AMONG THE GROUP WHO HAD WRITTEN DOWN THEIR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS (AN EXERCISE REDQUIRING ONLY A COUPLE OF MINUTES), 44 PERCENT HAD FOLLOWED THROUGH ON THEM. THIS IS A DIFFERENCE OF MORE THAN 1100 PERCENT IN SUCCESS, AND IT WAS ACHIEVED BY THE SIMPLE ACT OF CRYSTALLIZING THE RESOLUTIONS OR GOALS ON PAPER.
THE DISCIPLINE OF WRITING
IN MY EXPERIENCE OF WORKING WITH SEVERAL MILLION PEOPLE OVER THE PAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, THE DISCIPLINED ACT OF WRITING OUR GOALS, MAKING PLAN FOR ACCOMPLISHING THEM, AND THEN WORKING ON THOSE GOALS DAILY INCREASE THE LIKEHOOD OF ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS BY TEN TIMES, OR 1000 PERCENT.
THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT WRITING OUT YOUR GOALS GUARANTEE SUCCESS, BUT RATHER THAN IT INCREASES THE PROBABALITY OF SUCCESS BY TEN TIMES. THERE ARE VERY GOOD ODDS TO HAVE WORKING IN YOUR FAVOR, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS NO COST OR RISK INVOLVED IN PUTTING PEN TO PAPER - JUST A LITTLE TIME.
WRITING IS CALLED "PSYCHO-NEURO-MOTOR ACTIVITY". THE ART OF WRITING FORCES YOU TO THINK AND CONCENTRATE. IT FORCES YOU TO CHOOSE WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU AND YOUR FUTURE. AS A RESULT, WHEN YOU WRITE DOWN A GOAL, YOU IMPRESS INTO YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND, WHICH THEN GOAS TO WORK TWENTY-FOUR HOURS DAY TO BRING YOUR GOAL TO REALITY.
SOMETIMES I TELL MY SEMINAR AUDIENCES, "ONLY 3 PERCENT OF ADULTS HAVE WRITTEN GOALS, AND EVERYONE ELSE WORKS FOR THOSE PEOPLE". IN LIFE, YOU EITHER WORK TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN GOALS OR YOU WORK TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS OF SOMEONE ELSE. WHAT IS IT GOING TO BE?
SUCCEESS VERSUS FAILURE MECHANISMS
YOUR BRAIN HAS BOTH A SUCCESS MECHANISM AND A FAILURE MECHANISM. THE FAILURE MECHANISM IS THE TEMPTATION TO FOLLOW THE UNDISCIPLINED PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE, TO DO WHAT IS FUN AND EASY RATHER THAN WHAT IS HARD AND NECESSARY. YOUR FAILURE MECHANISM OPERATES AUTOMATICALLY THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE, WHICH IS THE MAJOR REASON WHY MOST THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE, WHICH IS THE MAJOR REASON WHY MOST PEOPLE FAIL TO FULLFILL THEIR INDIVIDUAL POTENTIALS.
WHILE YOUR FAILURE MECHANISM FUNCTIONS AUTOMATICALLY, YOUR SUCCESS MECHANISM IS TRIGGERED BY A GOAL. WHEN YOU DECIDE ON A GOAL, YOU OVERRIDE YOUR FAILURE MECHANISM, AND CAN YOU CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF YOUR LIFE. YOU GO FROM BEING A SHIP WITHOUT A RUDDER, DRIFTING WITH THE TIDE, TO BEING A SHIP WITHOUT A RUDDER, DRIFTING WITH THE TIDE, TO BEING A SHIP WITH A RUDDER, A COMPASS, AND A CLEAR DESTINATION, SAILING IN A STRAIGHT DIRECTION TOWARD YOUR GOALS.
THE POWER OF GOALS
A CLIENT OF MINE RECENTLY TOLE ME IN INTERESTING STORY. HE SAID HE HAD ATTENTED ONE OF MY SEMINARS IN 1994, WHERE I SPOKE ABOUT THE IMPORTANT OF WRITING DOWN GOALS AND MAKING PLANS FOR ACCOMPLISHING THEM. AT THAT TIME, HE WAS THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OLD, SELLING CARS OF A DEALERSHIP IN NASHVILLE, AND EARNING ABOUT $50000 A YEAR.
HE TOLD ME THAT DAY CHANGED HIS LIFE. HE BEGAN WRITING OUT HIS GOALS AND PLANS AND WORKING ON THEM DAILY. TWELVE YEARS LATER, HE WAS EARNING MORE THAN $1 MILLION A YEAR AND WAS THE PRESIDENT OF A FAST-GROWING COMPANY THAT SELLS SERVICES TO SOME OF THE BIGGEST COMPANIES IN THE COUNTRY. HE TOLD ME HE COULD NOT IMAGINE WHAT HIS LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE IF HE HAD NOT TAKEN OUT A PIECE OF PAPER AND WRITTEN DOWN THE GOALS HE WANTED TO ACHIEVE IN THE YEARS AHEAD.
No comments:
Post a Comment