Set Goals, And Yet Not Successful?

Many people set goals for themselves but find it hard to achieve anything. Even simple to do lists for the day don’t get ticked off as often as they would like!

It is this lack of focus that is stopping many people from achieving success.

Common problem — people know they should be doing something productive to help themselves but they don’t do it. They get distracted too easily.

So for example, people don’t want to wait and build a business online, they want to succeed within the next 36 hours– in reality this does not happen.

The question is, how can we focus more?

I think you’ve already knew the answer — by setting out specific goals and having a clear vision of the outcome that we want to accomplish, and once we know why we are doing something, we will find it easier to stick to.

For example you want to make $500,000 this year from the internet. Therefore you know that every minute you spend at the computer has to be productive. Why? Because the more productive you are, the closer you will be to getting to you goal of making $500,000 this year.

Obviously, you know what you need to do. If you do get distracted you know you have the choice of continuing with the activity that is distracting you or going back to being productive and working towards your goal.

The trick is, in order to stay focused, you need sheer determination. These two go hand in hand because focus without determination is not going to let you move forward and determination without focus means you don’t have a direction to move towards. Do you see the connection now?

You must be determined to succeed. Many people begin very determined and then start to make excuses. Hey, focus!

Remember success can take time. Overnight success is a… well, a rarity. Research shows that you need to do something for 28 days (or is it 21?) in a row before it becomes a habit. So begin to work at being successful and keep doing it.

Keep the long term goal in mind for everything that you do. It’s very easy to get distracted in the short term but this distraction — watching TV, going for a drink, can have affects that reaches the long term goal.

By focusing on the long term goal, your determination will come in.

Does this mean that you can’t watch TV, go for drinks with friends or do other non-productive things? Of course not.

But there is a time for everything. Be as productive as you can with the time you have in a day but allow yourself the down time as well to enjoy yourself and relax. Get back on the horse after that and achieve the next milestone.

But sometimes, it’s not because lack of determination — it’s limiting beliefs.

Limiting beliefs are beliefs that you can’t do it, you can’t make a change, you will fail, only other people succeed and so on. The fact is, we have so many limiting beliefs and many people have an inner critic that tells them they can’t do things.

So before a person wanted to start, he has already loses his confident.

Here are more examples of what someone might think or say to himself if he wanted to quit his job to start a business:

* I might as well stay in my job, as it’s not so bad
* If my business fails, I will lose everything
* I can’t succeed online — it’s all a scam
* What if I try something and I don’t succeed… people will laugh at me
* I don’t have time to do it

The last excuse is probably the most often use and the most preposterous — however bear in mind that we ALL only have 24 hours in a day. Believe it or not, even the most successful people in the world only have the same amount of time.  It’s just how we use those hours that’s important.

So what happens is, you listen to this critic and never take action. Many people feel if they don’t try something then they can’t fail — yup, “weird” logic but people actually think unconsciously like this.

Stop and listen to yourself and see if you can recognize your “inner critic”, hear what it is saying to you. Many of us have one and it can really stop us succeeding! Take a few minutes and complete this simple exercise.

As yourself, “What’s my excuse?”

Write down all the “excuses” you make for not doing something.

Now go back to your list and write out fully why what you wrote above is actually a limiting believe — try to really prove why it is true. Be honest.

When you really examined these thoughts that you had, you will realize that they were excuses you were making.

So the next time you stop yourself from doing something, pause and take the time to examine your thoughts. Is the reality really like that or is it just your inner critic talking?

The secret to stop your inner critic — make yourself bigger than your excuses.

Written by Patric Chan

4 Little Steps to Greater Self-Confidence

Do you worry that a lack of self-confidence is holding you back in life? Perhaps you run a small business and you know you could get new clients by going to networking events … but you feel too shy. Maybe you want to switch careers to something different … but you know that would mean taking on something really challenging, like speaking in front of big groups.

Some people are naturally self-confident, but most of us have at least some fears and doubts at times. (And a lot of people who come across as self-confident are quaking inside!) The good news is that your self-confidence level isn’t set in stone. You can deliberately become more confident and take on new adventures.

Here are four little steps to take. As you read them, decide on one or two that you could do this week.

Step #1: Consider Times When You ARE Confident

Most people lack self-confidence in some areas of their life (perhaps their career) but they’re confident in others. Think of something that you’re always confident about. You might have to spend a few minutes on this, because it may seem something that’s “no big deal” to you.

Here are a few examples:

• Cooking a nice meal for your family / friends
• Setting up a website
• Writing an essay or article
• Taking care of children
• Going to the gym and working out

All of these are things that some people find really easy and others are terrified of doing.

Write down a few things that you’re confident about (you can pick any that apply from the list above, or come up with your own). What do they have in common? There’s a good chance that you’ve been doing them for a while – perhaps you were scared of doing something wrong when you first had kids, for instance, but now parenting is second nature.

Step #2: Remember That the First Few Times are Just Practice

When you were a kid, did you ever play group games where the first round or two were “practice”? That gave you and the others a chance to get used to the rules and the way the game worked, without worrying about being “out”.

Life is just the same! It’s really very rare that you can screw something up so badly that you cause serious damage to your career or life prospects. So next time you have to do something scary, tell yourself it’s a practice round.

Let’s say you’ve started a new business and you want to get the word out in your local area. You decide to write a press release, and it’s the first time you’ve done that. You don’t have any media contacts. You may well not feel very confident at all … but if you tell yourself this is “just practice” for when you’ve got something even bigger to announce to the world, that helps take the pressure off.

Step #3: Build Up Your Successes

The best way to grow your self-confidence is with a string of victories. That means that it’s not a great idea to fling yourself headlong into the biggest challenge you can think of. Sure, it might go fantastically well … but even if it does, you might find the whole process horribly stressful. And if it goes badly, you may feel even less confident.

Public speaking always ranks highly in people’s fears, but it’s a great skill to have. If you want to get good at public speaking, you obviously don’t need to begin by aiming to present in front of an audience of hundreds (even if that’s your eventual goal).

Your first few steps could look like this:

• Attend a Toastmaster meeting and listen to some speeches (without participating)
• Take on a small speaking task at work (e.g. presenting to a small group of colleagues in a meeting)
• Speak in front of a larger group in a voluntary context (e.g. in a local community group)

…and so on.

Each step will feel a little scary… but each time you successfully take a new step, you’ll feel more confident. You’ll know that you can do it.

Step #4: Keep Track of What You Achieve

To keep your motivation up, and to continue to grow your confidence, keep track of your achievements. That might mean listing the different steps you took, and even recording how you felt (e.g. “really nervous beforehand but great once I’d done it”).

Over time, you can see your abilities growing and your comfort zone expanding. If you write down your achievements on a monthly basis, you might find that something which terrified you in January was OK by March and actually enjoyable by June.

When you see this pattern repeating in different areas of your life – little steps gradually leading you to greater self-confidence, and greater achievements – it helps you to face new situations. Over the years, I’ve learned that I always feel timid and anxious when faced with something new, but once I get going, it becomes much easier and I feel far more confident.

 What step could you take today? Choose one idea from the list above, and tell us what you’re going to do in the comments.

Post written by Ali Luke

Here's How To Jump Start Your Monday!

Today’s Productivity Tip: How to Get Started When You’re Feeling Stuck

Today’s tip: Do the Next Thing

Starting a busy week can leave you almost paralyzed and not knowing where to begin. There’s only one surefire way to get yourself moving forward and conquer that mountain of tasks:

Try This:

Whenever those overwhelming feelings take hold, here’s your answer: Just do the next thing. Yes it sounds incredibly simple, but when your mind is cluttered with a multitude of tasks and concerns you need a narrow focus of energy.

Here’s how:

1) Close your eyes and visualize the most important task in front of you

2) Write this task down in your daily planner or a notebook

3) List the first physical step you must take to get started, make it an achievable activity

Some examples:

• Clean off the top of your desk
• Sort your inbox
• Review yesterday’s notes
• Return an email or phone call

 4) Do it!

5) Do the next thing — carry the momentum into the next logical step

Here’s Why:

Crossing that first item off your list gives you a tremendous sense of achievement. It’s a real motivational push that sets in motion the process of getting stuff done. Remember: You can’t get anything accomplished until you accomplish that first task. Get it done. Then, move on and conquer things one-by-one. You’ll be amazed how quickly your stress level will dissipate. Go have a productive week by narrowing your focus to one task at a time!

Written by Jeff Doubek at Daytimer.com

The 3 People That Stand In Your Way Of Business Success (and How To Push Them Aside)

For every person that can help you on your way to business (and personal) success, there are many more that can do just the opposite – serve as big barriers that make the task that much more challenging.

There are three people in particular that you need to be wary of, because you WILL encounter them along the way.  One you will see EVERY DAY.

How can we move these barriers aside, and reach strongly towards our dreams?

Let’s start with Person #1.

The Naysayer

“You can’t do that!”  “Are you out of your mind!”  “No way”   The Naysayer lives in a bizarro world where nothing gets done, every idea is silly or stupid, and resentment and jealousy are written on their sleeves.    I discovered the secret to marginalizing these folks about 25 years ago – at the urging of my first boss, Ieliminated the word “CAN’T” from my vocabulary.  Banished it. Cast it off.   Once that’s done, an amazing thing happens – you can’t HEAR it on the outside either.  It no longer registers – it’s just there.   So when I encounter the Naysayer now, it’s like the “wah wah wahs” you hear on a Peanuts cartoon.

Then, there’s Person #2, a less obvious (but just as dangerous) threat.

The “Frenenvy”

“Oh, that’s interesting…”   “Good luck with that.”   “Geez, I’d like to help, but…..”   The Frenenvy, not to be confused with the “Frenemy”, is someone you know pretty well who is content to let your dreams and ambition essentially “lie there”.   Not a Naysayer, but yet, a person that could “infect” you with the same inertia that they are exhibiting.    It’s one of those 7 deadly sins at work – envy.   You are going places, and talking about it. Putting it out there.  And that can make people you know pretty nervous – not about you, but about themselves.  (I know, because earlier in my life I’ve been a Frenenvy).    Envy is powerful.  So yes, they stand in your way, but in this case, these persons are your friends, so “the push aside” isn’t necessarily casting them away, or ignoring them.    It’s just that they have issues to work through, so when it comes to your dreams, they just can’t be in that particular glide path.

Which leads us to Person #3, the one you’ll deal with every day (whether you want to or not):

YOU

“I’m scared” “I’m not trusting my instinct” “What if I fail?”    That voice inside your head  -it’s dangerous.   It never forgets anything, all the way back to when you messed up in Kindergarten and got called out by the teacher in front of everybody.  All those embarrassments and insecurities, buried beneath your dreams.  That’s the YOU you need to always be aware of, and the awareness itself it what will save you.   Because your instincts ARE good, and as a dreamer, you’ve already taken some of the hardest steps.    For us, it’s “coming to terms” with our fear that will keep it at arms length.  I wrote a letter to fear that really helped me, and I would encourage you to do the same thing, as crazy as it sounds.  Trust yourself,  and all of those internal barriers will fall away.

Here’s to success!!

Written by Terry Starbucker