Work Yourself Up!

Goal Setting System for Online Entrepreneurs

If you're looking to get more done, you're going to love my new book.

"How To Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be" is a goal planning system especially designed for entrepreneurs.  You simply define the goal and then go after it, step-by-step.  Easy.

If you're looking to get the most from your day and accomplish more than you've imagined possible, this book is for you.

Everything is in the distribution channels now, so this should be available everywhere, both online and offline, by the end of the month.  I will certainly keep you posted.

This is the second book in the WorkYourselfUp.com series and I have more on the way.  To keep updated, please subscribe to the feed and/or bookmark this site.

7 Goal Setting Tips

Did a call with Wendy Wallace of DesireToGrow.com last night.  We talked about setting goals, resolutions for the new year, and how to keep everything on track.

We go into detail about seven tips you can use to make sure this year is better than the last.  I'm sure these are tips you're heard before, but we go into detail on each and also give specific examples how we and our clients use these on a daily basis.

1. Look at where you are now and reflect on the previous year.

2. Start with the end in mind.  Write in bullet points where you want to be in one year from now.

3. Under each bullet point in step 2, write what you're willing to do in order to make it happen.

4. Set deadlines.  Break everything up into smaller goals.

5. Commit to daily habits which will allow you to reach your goals.

6. Set yourself up for success.

7. Remain flexible.

Again, these are just the basic points.  More detail is included in the audio below.  Hope you enjoy!

If you like what Wendy has to say, check out her site at DesireToGrow.com. This is normally a closed site, not open to the public, but right now, Wendy is allowing people inside to participate in a 12-week "Build Your Business" program.  The cost is only $97, which is a huge bargain.  I've seen similar courses for $2000 or so.

Women and Marketing?

I want to talk to you for a minute about two things I love...women and marketing.  But to really talk about this stuff, I have to separate this post into two sections-- one for men, and the other for women.

MEN - READ THIS SECTION (Women, read the section below...)

I know this from personal experience (and from the hundreds of men that I've talked with about it)... 

A lot of guys in this business  have a problem in that the women in our lives don't understand what we do for a living.  And if you're in a situation like this, you know how stressful it can be on your relationship when you need to some work, yet it seems like you're "just goofing off on the computer again."

And other guys I know, they want a way to get the women of their lives involved in their businesses.  Or to show their mothers, sisters, or daughters the freedom that comes with having a career like this.

Well, I've got a solution for you.  My friend Wendy Wallace is doing a 12-week "Build Your Business" course just for women. 

So if you want to do something nice, which will empower the woman in your life, take a look...

This link has details.

This would make a great New Year's gift.  And it's cheap!!  :)   And by cheap, I mean $97...with a 100% guarantee.

WOMEN - READ THIS SECTION

Let's be honest...  This "business" is run by men.  They're good people, but they don't understand your issues-- the delicate balance of work and family, dealing with kids who need a mother, etc.

And relating to the gurus?  Heck, I'm a guy and even I can't relate to them.

You need somebody who can help you to grow your business, who truly understands you and your life.  Somebody who has walked a mile in your shoes.

Take a look at this 12-week "grow your business" course, run by a woman, made just for women.

This is the ONLY place you'll get this kind of training.  I know you'll like it and I know you'll get results.  If not, she'll refund all your tuition.

EVERYBODY

Hope you have a great weekend!  And I hope you have an even better 2008!

Committing to Your Goals

Have you ever set a goal and not achieved it?  Most people have.  In fact, it's quite common for people to get stuck in an endless cycle of setting goals and then quitting them shortly afterwards ñ and accomplishing nothing at all.

Why do people do this?  One of the biggest reasons is a lack of commitment to their goal.  Without commitment a goal will gradually shrink in importance, and the temptation to quit will seem much more attractive, especially when obstacles cause setbacks and delays.

On the other hand, if you make a serious commitment and then continually remind yourself of it, you'll be much more likely to persevere and achieve the goal.

Here's how to commit to your goals:

1)    First and foremost, you have to make sure that every goal you set is of VITAL importance to you.

This can be tricky because we so often fool ourselves into thinking we want one thing when we want something entirely different.  Take some time with this part of the process, and be sure that you get to the heart of what you really want.  Why do you want it?  What will it do for you?  What positive things will it bring to your life?  How will it help you?  How will it make you feel when it's accomplished?

Write all of this down and keep it handy so you can refer to it as often as necessary if you feel your commitment beginning to slip. 

Also ask yourself if your goal is worth the effort and sacrifice that will be needed to achieve it.  If you can honestly answer yes, you are on the way!

2)    Think about what will happen if you don't follow through. 

Would nothing much happen if you don't achieve your goal?  If not, then you need to raise the stakes!  You have to make your goal the most important thing in the world, and if you don't do it, you'll deal with negative consequences.  Even if you have to indulge in a bit of 'make believe" in order to do this, do it.  For example, play up the fact that you'll lose respect for yourself if you don't follow through; or you might agree to give up something you love if you don't make it happen.

3)    Then, each and every day, renew your commitment. 

It's easy to be committed you're your goal is new and your motivation is high, but you need to be able to STAY committed - no matter what!  Each day when you awaken, read through the goal you wrote down on the first day, and stress again how vitally important it is to you.  Promise yourself that you're going to do as much as you can to work on your goal that day, and every day until you achieve it.

When it comes right down to it, no one can achieve your goals for you.  If you want to achieve them, you'll have to find the determination necessary to keep going.  Inactivity and procrastination are usually nothing more than bad habits.  Turning those habits into something more positive and productive is as simple as taking it a day at a time and working your hardest to change your life.  The more committed and determined you are to making your goal happen, the more likely you'll do just that.

The Habits of the Highly Successful

Success is a habit for some.  Why?  Because many have mastered the habits of the highly successful.  These habits are commonsense and easy to implement into one’s life.  Want to learn about the habits of the highly successful?  Read on…

Success is intricately bound up with behavior.  We each and every one reap the benefits (or the contrary) of our behaviors.  Certain behaviors will take us far in life and others will hold us back—simple law of the universe.  With this in mind, one desirous of success should seek to make habitual in his or her life those behaviors which are most conducive to and prerequisite for success.

The Habit of Organization.  A life free from clutter is a life more conducive to success.  Organize all around you (your home, your office, your car, etc.) and you will find yourself calmer, less agitated, and more prone to take action.  Clutter interferes with productivity and takes focus, energy, as well as time from us that we could otherwise be utilizing for progress toward our goals.

The Habit of Prioritization.  Face it; we are all seemingly busier today than we ever have been in the past.  We have countless things competing for our attention.  There is our family, our friends, our jobs, and so on.  One must separate out that which we wish to accomplish and need to accomplish in each arena and prioritize in order of importance.  Otherwise, the mundane and secondary things will divert us off path and perhaps place us even further behind than we were to start with.

The Habit of Taking Action.  Once you have organized your life and environment and have subsequently prioritized your goals, you are then in a position to take action (though not prior to this).  If there is one habit that highly successful people share it is that of action taking.  Procrastination itself is an action that one chooses to take…why not use your choice more wisely and put your energy and efforts into a more positive course of action?  Taking action is like taking steps.  You do so one at a time but before you know it you’ve walked a hundred miles!

The Habit of Pursuing Victory.  The successful pay no mind to failure, victory is always the goal and they will do anything to attain it.  One must want to win to in fact win.  Develop the habit of pursuing victory and seeing failure as it really is—a speed bump or detour on the path to success perhaps, but not itself a dead end.

Success is not an elusive, ethereal entity that some simply luck up upon by serendipity.  On the contrary, it is something concrete and there for the taking of all who pursue it.  It will most readily be found when the above habits are in place.  Implement them today in your life and achieve the success that you so desire. 

8 Tips for Achieving Your Goals

We all have goals and aspirations.  Much to our chagrin though, our goals and aspirations require effort and often lots of it.  As well, one typically does not achieve his or her goals over night.  This takes time…often much time.  In the following, we will discuss eight different ways to obtain and retain motivation so that you can start on the path to achieving your goals today.

1. Set only one goal at a time.  Oftentimes we sabotage our success because we spread ourselves too thin and broaden our focus instead of narrowing it, honing it in on one particular task at a time.  Start with one goal and simplify this goal down to its bare essence such that the goal can be stated concretely in about 10 words or less.  E.g., “I want to lose 10 lbs. in six weeks.”
   
2. Evaluate your desire and motivation.  Do you truly desire that which you seek or do you merely want it for superficial reasons?  If the object of your desire is not deeply rooted, then the likelihood of obtaining it falls dramatically.  Make sure that you are pursuing your goal for the right reasons.
   
3. Find inspiration for accomplishing your goal.  We humans often have more power at our disposal than we think.  We have within ourselves the ability to accomplish great things.  Many of us have accomplished things that were once deemed impossible even, overcoming great odds and adversity.  Find someone who has overcome the problems that you yourself seek to overcome or who has met the goal that you are pursuing such that you can learn from them.
   
4. Make a public commitment to accomplishing your goal.  It is a fact that once someone states their goal publicly they are in fact more likely to accomplish it.  Tell a family member, friend, co-worker, someone—anyone, about your goal and how you intend to accomplish it.  You can even post your goal online for the world to see.
   
5. Seek out support.  People often share common desires and goals.  Seek out a support group related to that which you seek to accomplish.  This will give you the opportunity to learn from others as well as to help others just like yourself along the way to achieving a common goal.  There are plenty of online support forums today.
   
6. Think thoughts conducive to success.  Change is difficult, especially when one is attempting to achieve things foreign to their present situation.  Difficulty can be a breeding ground for negative thinking and negative thoughts can undermine the attainment of one’s goal.  It is imperative that you constantly monitor your thought processes and think positive thoughts of success and never for an instance allow for even the possibility of failure.  Our minds structure our reality.
   
7. Keep a journal.  Write down your goal and how you intend to accomplish it—exactly how you intend to accomplish it.  Refer to it daily, reading over your goal and checking off that which you have already accomplished.  It is also helpful to chronicle your struggles alongside your successes.  Putting these things on paper service one twofold: by reinforcing the pursuit of the goal and by providing feedback on one’s progress.
   
   
8. Keep before you, at all times, the benefits of attaining your goal.  You are pursuing your goal for a reason or a set of reasons…keep these in front of you at all times for motivation.  Motivation will wax and wane and you need a focal point to fall back on in times of struggle.

What To Do With A List Of Goals

So you’ve made that list of goals – again. Once more you’ve written down your wants and resolutions. So what? You’ve done it a hundred times before, and what good did it do you? Now what?

Setting goals is like placing your order at a restaurant. Not achieving those goals means you’re still sitting there waiting (whether patiently or otherwise) or you’ve gotten up and walked out of the restaurant before your order could be delivered.

The restaurant analogy ends here, however, because there are conscious, proactive steps you can take to speed up the delivery of those things you ordered; you have the power to postpone it and refuse it. You likewise have the power to aid in its attainment.

Here are several methods:

1. Take any one of your goals and ask yourself why you want it? Write down the answer. Then ask yourself why you want that? Continue this way until you feel you’ve come to a fundamental desire that you simply cannot break down further. A desire for a new car may be backed by a desire for status which may be backed by a desire to be loved which can be attained in a slew of other ways than just a car. Desire, in this instance, to be loved.
   
   
2. Then, in a creative reversal of this nonconstructive method, ask yourself what it would look like if you were loved (or put better – what it will look like when you are loved). What will you have, feel, and experience when you have that love you want? Do you have any of those things already? If so, you’re already there, receiving your order, and all that’s left is to continue receiving. If not, no matter, it’s now on its way.
3. Each day, pick one of your goals and take one simple action towards its attainment. Too often we become paralyzed into inaction by the apparent “size” of our goals, really a resistance to the stark contrast between our goals and our current condition. So break it down into bite-sized chunks, one bite at a time. You need only emanate the energy of alignment with the attainment of your desires to receive it. By wanting it, you already called it to you. You don’t have to work your tail off to get it. You just have to give it conscious daily attention concentrated through the performance of a simple and realizable act.
   
   
4. Enroll other people in your goals. It can be frightening at first to be so vulnerable as to share your desires with another person, but it’s equally potent in its effects. People who love you will always love to put their energy towards your happiness and fulfillment, even if that energy comes in no other form than as “moral support”. In many cases, your goals align perfectly with another’s goals and suddenly you both have found a partner in fulfillment. In extreme cases (more frequent than you may think) a circumstance you couldn’t possibly have imagined will “coincidentally” touch another person’s life that they could put towards your goal’s attainment if they had only known they could have helped. People love to help each other. Give them a chance. Share you goals. Tell other people what you want and let them help you have it.

The other thing to make sure to do regularly is to revisit your list of goals, review them, update them. You may find some goals of your past you no longer desire today. You may replace old goals with new ones and refine persistent goals. You may even find that some goals you achieved since the last time you glanced at your list, and you hadn’t even know it!