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What?s your perception of people who make ?To Do? lists? Are you full of admiration for such an organised approach to life? Do you sigh and wish you could be like them? Or, do you shudder at the idea of running your life in such a timetabled fashion?

What sort of people are these list makers? You might immediately conjure up a picture of a neat, conservative person, who in your estimation ought to ?get out more?. What about the non-list makers? Are they the carefree spirits, dressed casually, whose life just happens, or are they the people who turn up late for every appointment?

Some people say that they used to make lists but the lists started to ?control? them. They pushed themselves to get everything done on the list, and kept adding things as the day progressed, leaving them exhausted. Others who don?t make lists complain that although they get the essentials done, the day can often drift by with little sign of achievement at the end.

Let?s get one thing clear. Whether you?re pushing yourself to clear a list, or drifting through your day wondering why time management doesn?t work for you, you are making that choice. Yes, that?s right, you are making that choice! Just think about this for a minute. No one is making you do all the things you?ve put on your list, and no one is sabotaging your day so you can?t get much done. If they are, then maybe you have a ?boundaries? issue. So, how would it be if you took the time to create the list that suits you.

Maybe it would have important tasks on it that HAVE to be done, reminders so you don?t forget, perhaps one thing that would take you towards a goal you?ve set eg. If the goal is to clear your office clutter, maybe you could spend 30 minutes a day getting rid of out of date papers. But, don?t timetable every moment of your day otherwise you?ll panic if it doesn?t go according to plan, or feel that the list has become an albatross hanging round your neck. The idea is to still provide enough structure to get things done but with plenty of built in freedom too.

Pam Stokes is a Business & Personal Development Coach, and a Mentor for newly qualified and trainee coaches. She also delivers online courses and runs stress management workshops. Visit her website for Free business and personal development downloads http://www.pamstokesassociates.co.uk

Suppose you are driving around Denver, Colorado looking for a certain address where you are supposed to be for a meeting at 8:00 AM, but you can?t find it. You got up early. You were excited. You were motivated. You were self-disciplined. You really wanted to reach your destination, your ?goal?. You don?t understand why you can?t get there because you have this incredibly detailed map. It is very accurate, it was developed with satellite photography, and has every building on it. No important detail is left out. But you can?t find where you want to go. You finally give up in frustration and go back home. You take the map in the house with you because you want to study it and figure out where you went wrong. As you are sitting at the kitchen table looking at the map, you notice down in the lower right-hand corner, it says ?Dallas, Texas?. What was the problem? You had the wrong map.

You were excited. You were motivated. You were self-disciplined. You really wanted to reach the goal, but you couldn?t. Would it have turned out differently if you had had the right map? Of course it would. Here is the good news: There is nothing wrong with you; you are just using some bad maps.

As we were growing up, most of us were taught WHAT to think, but most of us were never taught HOW to think. Why is that a problem? Consider this:

For every 100 Americans at age 65:
1 will be wealthy
4 will be financially independent
32 will be dead (they never learned how to take care of themselves ? or ignored it)
63 will be dead broke (hoping Social Security or their family will bail them out)

In other words, 95% of the people never figure it out! As you were growing up, your parents were the first ones that taught you how the world worked. Then your teachers were telling you how the world worked. Next your bosses on the job were telling you how the world worked. What are the odds that some of what you were taught and what you believe will get you ahead in the world - is wrong? Probably about 95%! We got a lot of bad information ? some bad maps, but if we believe that information is true, and behave as though it is true ? we will probably end up like the 95%! It is almost a certainty.

You need to discover which of your maps are bad and replace them with good ones. Some of your thinking needs to change before you can begin to achieve new goals! (Perhaps even 95% of your thinking needs to change.)

I don?t ever remember when I was growing up being taught HOW to think, only WHAT to think. But until we know HOW we think, there is no way to change WHAT we think and it is WHAT we think that keeps us stuck in our lives. The quality of our future will depend upon the quality of our thinking.

For more resources on this and related topics, go to: http://www.godinyourgoals.com

Mathematician, Aerospace Engineer, Entrepreneur, Business Owner, Management Consultant, Author, Professional Speaker and creator of multiple training curriculum - A career path that uniquely qualifies Rick to understand and relate to a wide variety of both private and public organizations and the people that make them up. He has consulted most of the Fortune 100 companies.

Rick has been called the velvet hammer. He has a way teaching and relating powerful ideas and concepts in such a way that people readily accept their need to change and grow. Rick believes that If behavior doesn’t change - it isn’t training!?

Rick?s Training Expertise: ?Self-Motivation and Goal Setting ?Wellness and Sports Nutrition ?High-Integrity Sales / Permission Marketing ?Communication & People Skills for ?Techies? ?Effective Team Building / How To Lead A Team ?Succeeding As A First-Time Manager ?Professional Supervisory Skills

For additional resources go to: http://www.godinyourgoals.com

For a live seminar, contact Rick at arasent@aol.com

I am a ?Loser?. You?re gonna learn from this writing today the reason why you too must be a ?Loser?. In all seriousness, let me share with you why I am writing this. Over twenty million Americans watched the evolution of a winner in a reality show called ?The Biggest Loser?. This particular show involved severely overweight and obese contestants that had simply lost all control of their weight. The winner that ultimately lost the most body weight and decreased his overall body fat was awarded $250,000.

I want to correlate this show to business, life and to personal success. You need to be the Biggest Loser when it comes to changing your associations with others. One of the contestants on the show was severely obese to the point that others would look at him and say to themselves, ?He will never be healthy?he?s past the point of no return?he?s really disgusting.? But that person made the decision to change his life and become the ultimate winner?The Biggest Loser. I want to share with you 5 secrets on how you to can become The Biggest Loser.

Secret #1 ? Realization
You must realize where you are today. The winner of the Biggest Loser realized that he was overweight and would ultimately die from his decisions to allow himself to become so unhealthy. He realized that enough is enough, and he made a change. I challenge you today to take a look at where you are in your business and/or your life. Have you had enough? If so, then you need to ?lose? all your negative habits and associations.

Secret #2 ? Accountability
As soon as the contestants realized where they were in their lives, they became accountable to their teammates (aka Mastermind Team) in order to become the Biggest Loser and drop massive amounts of weight. These individuals look like completely different people. This is similar to your progression towards your ultimate Why in life. People start saying that you are changing?you act different, you sound different, you listen to different CDs, you read different books and you even look different. You are on a success journey and accountable to Champions on your Mastermind Team. Where are you in your life? Are others noticing these differences about you? If not, it?s time to drop the negative associations and habits just like those contestants dropped that weight.

Secret #3 ? Extra Step
The contestants pushed themselves to go the extra mile by participating in extra workouts, taking advantage of the extra associations with others that have goals and dreams like them and pushing themselves that extra step not to take part in indulgences that would ruin their overall goal of losing weight and becoming The Biggest Loser. Have you taken that extra step by attending extra events/seminars, making extra calls, investing in extra CDs and associating with extraordinary people? This extra step will push you to the next level and give you that edge that others don?t have.

Secret #4 ? Rewards
Reward yourself as you begin to change and go to the next level. When you go to an extra event/seminar, save the ticket, your name tag, etc. and put them in your dream journal. This is a way of saying ?I did it! I went that extra step and now this is my reward!? Be excited about that extra step and reward yourself with praise and self-acknowledgment.

Secret #5 ? Personal Coach
Every single person on that show had a Personal Coach. Are you happy where you are in your life? Do you need to lose weight, lose debt, gain health, gain wealth, lose negative associations, gain a Mastermind Team, gain prosperity, lose failure and/or gain success? A major secret to achieve your ultimate why is the importance a Personal Coach. The first thing that The Biggest Loser did when he won the $250,000 was hug his Personal Coach. Why? Because his Personal Coach was there each and every step of the way. I know when I personally coach Champions and receive their emails/calls saying that they have gone to the next level in their lives, I experience great excitement in their accomplishments. That?s what happens when you become a Champion?that?s what life is all about! You can?t do it alone!

In order to become a Winner in life, you must first become a ?Loser?. I suggest that you read this article another 5 times. Analyze where you are right now, where you want to go, who you must associate with to get there and the habits that you must lose to do it. For those of you who want to go to the next level, I would love to be your Personal Coach and I only coach Champions who truly believe that they are worthy to receive success and go to the next level in life!

Creating Millionaires Daily,

As a young child, John Di Lemme was clinically diagnosed as a stutterer and told that he would never speak fluently. Today, John has achieved great success as an international motivational speaker,accomplished author and multi-million dollar entrepreneur. John shocks millions globally by exposing the truth about how to achieve monumental life success despite the labels that society has placed on you. Through his award winning live seminars, power-packed training programs, live tele-classes, and weekly ezine, John Di Lemme has made success a reality for thousands worldwide. Visit http://www.FindYourWhy.com and discover how you can finally create monumental success in your life today and achieve all your goals, dreams and desires.

Ever notice when you start a new hobby or fall in love with a new shrub or flower you start to see it everywhere? This isn’t necessarily because everyone else has the same new hobby it?s because you have the flower or shrub or hobby at the top of your mind.

You are focused on it, thinking about how much you enjoy it and you end up noticing it when you never did before. It’s not merely a coincidence it’s your Reticular Activating System located at the junction of the base of the brain and the spinal cord that is responsible for stimulating this top of the mind response.

Every minute our body receives thousands of stimuli; sounds, smells, sensations, tastes, and changes in environment. All these stimuli are filtered through the Reticular Activating System and the most important ones are passed onto the largest portion of our brain, the cerebrum; the central portion, which is responsible for cognition and then, translated into thoughts and emotions.

Understanding how this system functions allows us to better filter the distractions in our world. You can focus on the work or play at hand and only process the things that are most important to you at the moment. It’s a great way to filter out all the distracting thoughts while you are fishing or gardening. Or to come up with the best ideas for the new brochure you’ve been working on.

Use the Reticular Activating System to help you reach your goals or solve a problem. Keep it on the top of your mind by thinking about it, writing about it, even doing affirmations. Talking about the things you want to achieve as if you already have achieved them.

Another good tool is to create and image book. Clip pictures that reflect the idea or desired outcome and keep adding to the book. Look it over every day and keep your goals foremost in your mind. You can use the same system to keep you from being overwhelmed. Don’t look at everything that needs to be done. Pick out three of the most important things and break each one down into two or three steps and work in a methodical fashion to complete each step. Then list the next three things that need to be taken care of and continue to focus on the most important things first.

Do some spring-cleaning of the clutter in your brain and make your year more productive. Write down the five most important goals you would like to achieve in the next 6- 9 months. Then list three or four steps under each that will let you reach each goal.

Put the paper some place clearly visible so you will look at it several times a day. By keeping it on top of your mind your Reticular Activating System will help increase your focus, creativity, and resolve to reach your goals this year.

About The Author

?BZ Riger-Hull. Author of The Soul of Success http://www.in-spiros.com For valuable free articles, mailto:A1@smartautoresponder.com Certified as a Success Coach, ?Four Agreements? Facilitator, & Tele-Course leader We help you communicate powerfully, reduce stress, Strategically Attract success, & increase your financial well-being. Our coaching programs and Tele-Courses give you the Tools you need to Succeed.

bz@in-spiros.com

Saying no isn?t easy, but it?s a required skill if you wish to have any degree of focus in your life. If you say yes too often, you?ll likely fall into the common trap of saying yes to the good while simultaneously saying no to the best.

There is no unconditional yes. Whenever you say yes, you?re also uttering a background no. Whenever you allocate time to one pursuit, you say no to everything else you could have done with that time.

Not too long ago, Blockbuster Video initiated a ?no late fees? policy. In a way they?re saying yes to their customers who complained about having to pay late fees when returning a movie after the due date. But this policy has a side effect. Because there are no late fees, customers keep movies they?ve rented for a longer period of time before bothering to return them. So now when you go to Blockbuster to rent the latest releases, which used to be stocked abundantly, they?re more likely to be all picked out. The videos are in people?s houses instead of on the store shelves. I?ve heard Blockbuster employees apologizing for this policy on numerous occasions, usually in response to customer complaints that the new releases can?t be rented. The value of knowing you could go to Blockbuster Video and rent whatever you wanted is no longer there.

By saying yes to one group of customers (those who had problems with late fees), Blockbuster is simultaneously saying no to another group (those who value availability first and never had a problem returning a movie on time). Now if I were the VP of Marketing for one of Blockbuster?s competitors, I?d charge ahead with some sort of ?guaranteed in stock? campaign to begin saying yes to those customers Blockbuster just bailed on.

There?s always a trade off when you say yes.

The word no often gets a bad rap, but realize that every yes includes a no, and every no includes a yes.

When you say yes, are you saying yes to your own best goals and plans while saying no to what?s less important?

Other people may pressure you to say yes, but before you do so, take a look at the no you?ll have to bear. Do you say no to your family in order to further your career? Do you say no to good health habits in order to fit in with your peers? Do you say no to setting your own goals in order to say yes to the reactive bait others lay before you?

If you want to say yes to what?s really important to you, you can expect to hear yourself saying the word no a lot more often.

When you say no, usually the person who hears it will react negatively, sometimes mildly, sometimes strongly. Don?t let that bother you ? their reaction has a lot more to do with them than it does with you. If they push you too much, I suggest you simply turn it around on them by emphasizing the no that would accompany the yes. For example, ?Why are you asking me to say no to my family, my health, my goals, and so on, just so I can say yes to your request??

If it?s not what you truly want, say no.

Copyright ? Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
http://www.stevepavlina.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.

This is the eighth article in our True Power series. If you haven’t been following the series, visit TheARTrepreneur.com to read the foundational material on beliefs before continuing.

?Realism? is Often Severely Unrealistic

Often times when you?re out there, trying to express your own individual vision, you?ll be told that you?re not being realistic, that you need to be more realistic. Being realistic, however, is the biggest con ever perpetrated on the unsuspecting public. What it really means is expect the worst. Being realistic teaches you to look outside yourself for goals and aspirations, defined by who knows who. It teaches you to ignore your impulses. It teaches you, in other words, to create problems. What?s more, it makes you a coward, whispering, Don?t get your hopes up, or you?ll be disappointed.

Let?s take a look at what happens when people are realistic. Meet Steve. Steve has made it. He has a super-successful job as creative director for a popular television series. He has a big house, a new car, a pretty wife and two healthy children. But Steve has a dirty little secret. Steve wants to be a barber. He keeps the desire to himself because he?s afraid his family and friends will think he?s a failure for even contemplating the idea of giving up his high paying job. Instead, Steve takes his misery out on his co-workers, he drinks too much, and he tries, through constant distraction, to drown out his true desire.

Then there?s Sandra. Sandra is a high school dropout, working retail in a less-than-desirable neighborhood. Sandra loves music but, as her family will tell you, Sandra can?t hold a tune: A howling dog could do a better job. Sandra wants to be a singer more than anything, but she keeps the desire hidden, stuffing it down where it festers. Instead of pursuing her true love, she barks at customers who don?t have correct change.

Steve and Sandra believe their desires are unrealistic. Now, many people have given up white collar jobs to work with their hands, and more than a few pop stars can?t sing. In truth, Steve and Sandra?s desires are not at all unrealistic. In fact, the very impulses are supposed to lead them to fulfilling futures. By following those impulses, Steve and Sandra will feel enriched, vital, and radiate enthusiasm even if it leads them to activities other than those of the original impulse. By hiding their desires, they spread their unhappiness around.

The real question is who is defining realism in these situations? There is no one-size-fits-all career or lifestyle. If you can call anything sacred, it would be individuality. No two anything are exactly alike, and this is meant to tell you something. Therefore, no-one but you can know what?s right for you, and the best thing you can do for yourself is to pursue your desires even if it means you?re the most unrealistic person in the world.

Becoming Unrealistic Exercise (1/2 hour)

In this exercise pretend there are no outside opinions from any source whatsoever ? parents, siblings, spouse, friends, T.V., magazines, newspapers, radio, movies, books, internet, etc. It?s amazing how many people create careers out of showing someone they could do it. It?s nice that you proved your sixth grade classmate was wrong when he said you were too stupid to become a doctor, but maybe you never wanted to be a doctor. Thus, for this exercise, turn those voices off.

What do you want to do now? Let your mind gravitate to the ideal lifestyle, the rhythm and pursuits that would make life interesting and energetic. Most people will find that their true desires do not come packaged in glamorous wrappings. They will be quite ordinary pursuits. Just make sure here, whatever you do, that you?re not being realistic.

Next: True Power Part 9: Choose Your Emotions, Choose Life

S.C. Giles is a contributing author of the ARTrepreneur E-Zine showcasing the full True Power Series that focuses on proven techniques to accomplish any goal.

The ARTrepreneur offers articles helping artists focus on proven techniques to accomplish any goal. Read More: http://www.theartrepreneur.com

Copyright ? 2005 Arctic Mouse, Inc. All rights reserved.

I am not talking here about how fast you drive or eat. I am referring to your general life pace. First of all lets define pace: rate of movement, rate of activity, temp or velocity, speed, rate and swiftness. Now that we have that out of the way let?s discuss this rather simple concept as it relates to your life as it moves forward one moment at a time and one day at a time.

Each of us gets a certain amount of life hours (if you live to be 75 you will have had just shy of 750,000 hours of life) Let?s say you average eight hours of sleep a day that leaves you with just shy of 500,000 hours of waking time during your life.

Here?s a thought ? no matter how fast you do things you can?t get more hours. Sure you might live to be 100 and if that?s the case you will have around 600,000 hours of waking hours. It?s hard to think about life in hours, especially when we are dealing in numbers like 600,000. I am confident that most people don?t sit around each night and subtract that days hours to see how many you have left.

What most people do however is rush through everything from the family vacation to their leisurely Saturday afternoon. I have experienced hundreds of people who pass me on the highway at 80 mph only to be waiting at the same light when I arrive there. I have watched people rush through lunch so they can get back to their boring career or job sooner.

The passage of time is insensitive to our goals, needs, problems, challenges, desires and dreams. It just clicks on one second at a time one decade after another at the same rate for each of us. The passage of time doesn?t care whether you broke or wealthy, gorgeous or ugly, nice or rude, a genius or an idiot, male or female or 17 or 71. The real question is not be what is your pace of life, but what are you getting out of it, or giving back to it?

People in their teens can?t wait until they get to their twenties and many people in their forties or fifties yearn for the freedom and adventure of being a teen once again.

Neither you nor I know how many hours we are going to get before we check out of here. But each of us can spend more time focusing on the quality of life?s outcomes, adventures, relationships and consequences than worrying about whether we cram as much into every second as possible.

Don?t get me wrong. I believe in a busy and productive life. I believe in pouring it on from time to time. However, I also believe in the value of slowing down and solitude. An interesting sidebar ? what you learn while in solitude or when operating at a slower pace may help you become even more productive in less time (actually giving you more time for the things you love, are important to you or fun) during your active hours.)

There are those who might be reading this who are thinking, ?Look Tim, I have three kids, a full time job, sick parents, a spouse who is lazy, demanding friends yada, yada, yada. If I don?t rush everything noting will get done. As it is everything I do is half done or could have been done better, but there just isn?t enough time.?

Believe me I empathize with people who have a lot on their plate either by chance or choice. But, this doesn?t change the fact that your life is passing by at 24 hour clips day in and day out. Be careful that you don?t sacrifice things that are important for things that really don?t matter.

Why not rate your general pace of life on a scale. Trust me this is not very scientific and I just made it up. So take it for what it is worth, a device or tool just to trigger your thinking, introspection about how you are living your life.

Here?s the scale.

1 - Your life is moving like a caterpillar on a hot July afternoon.
2 - Your life is moving like a couple of turtles in an uphill race.
3 - Your life is like a new born learning to walk.
4 - Your life is like a relaxing vacation.
5 - Your life is like a ship at sea cruising ahead at twenty knots on a calm day.
6 ? Your life is non-stop activity from sunrise to sunset.
7 - Your life is like a bobsled downhill run.
8 - Your life is like a marathon runner training for the big race.
9 - Your life is moving like a out of control freight train.
10 ? Your life is moving like the shuttle re-entering the earths atmosphere. Now you know why this scale won?t make it into the scientific journals.

Slowing down is not a sign of weakness. Speeding up is no guarantee that you will get more done.

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management, leadership and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That?s Life, Peace Of Mind, 91 Challenges Managers Face Today and Your First Year In Sales. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at www.timconnor.com.

We?ve just gone from ?the Holiday Season? to the ?Goal Setting Season.? Each year, about the time we turn our calendars to a New Year, we hear a lot about goal setting (even though it is sometimes disguised as information about making your New Year?s Resolutions). While the research and polls show that most people don?t set goals, most everyone thinks about it at this time of the year.

It is a funny thing. People will say, ?You really need goals.? But when you ask them what theirs are, they sheepishly reply, ?I don?t have them, but everyone really should.?

There are many reasons why people don?t set goals. Some of the biggest reasons are:

?People don?t know how

?People have set them in the past but didn?t reach them

?People are afraid of failure

Of course setting goals is just an exercise that we know helps us achieve goals. So, while we all want to achieve goals, many of us don?t even set them.

The Real Objective

Think about it. Is goal setting really the objective? No. What we really want is goal achievement. Goal setting is a part of the recipe, so while we need to learn this skill, it is just part of your solution. The biggest missing ingredient in most people?s goal achievement recipe is faith, conviction, and lack of doubt. In other words, a deep seated, in the gut belief.

The fact is that most of us don?t achieve our goals (however clearly or vaguely they are set) because we don?t ultimately believe that we can reach the goal. That is why I believe the first step to successful goal achievement, regardless of your process or the steps you follow in setting your goals, is to absolutely believe that you can (will) accomplish it.

Driving a Ferrari doesn?t make you a race car driver. Having the best paints, canvas, brushes and easel doesn?t mean you will paint masterpieces. And having the best goal setting process won?t guarantee goal achievement either.

But belief will.

The Size of the Goal

Much is written about how big goals should be. They should always be big enough to stretch us ? how much we should stretch depends in large part on what we can believe. If I have a total conviction that I am capable of and will reach the larger goal, then it is fine. Because without belief, you won?t hit the goal, regardless of what it is.

David Schwartz wrote in The Magic of Thinking Big, ?Believe Big. The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief. Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success. Remember this, too! Big ideas and big plans are often easier — certainly no more difficult — than small ideas and small plans.?

It is a known fact that our beliefs become our reality. Most of us accept this as truth, but haven?t applied it to goal setting. Beliefs lead to actions which lead to results. If you believe, you will act in accordance. If you feel your belief wavering, act as if your belief was strong and your belief will become stronger.

So rather than starting with a goal setting process; start from a state of belief. Begin by thinking about things you want to achieve, and believe you can and will achieve. Then write them down, and follow the process or format of your choice.

Start with belief ? be it for your personal, family, financial, professional or business goals ? and you will have taken the most important step towards achieving your goals.

Kevin is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. Kevin publishes Unleash Your Potential, a free weekly ezine designed to provide ideas, tools, techniques and inspiration to enhance your professional skills. Go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/index.asp to learn more and subscribe.

For centuries Protestant Christians have argued that you can reach heaven through faith (belief) alone while Roman Catholics have argued that both faith and works are necessary for salvation. However, both groups agree that faith and works are essential in the life of the true Christian.

This truth applies not only to religion but to all of life. Whether you want to be a true believer or just to succeed in achieving your dreams, you need both faith and works or, in more modern language, belief and action.

Believing that you are a writer is not enough. You have to do some works i.e. take action. You have to actually write something and it helps if you write every day.

I am writing this article at 5 a.m. on a Monday morning. I will finish it today and then write another one. I have been doing this since December 1st 2004 and have now written well over a hundred articles. Daily action or work (whatever you like to call it) has achieved this. I also believed that I could write an article a day.

A necessary part of any action is to keep going until you have finished whatever you are doing. What isn’t finished is as useful as a two legged chair. Robert Louis Stevenson failed to finish 9 novels before he completed Treasure Island. The action has to be persistent as well as daily.

Big dreams about being a top guitarist won’t cut it. Hourly, daily practice is essential. This practice has to be focused. Trying to be a classical guitarist and a rock guitarist does not usually work unless you are just playing for your own pleasure.

I learned this lesson the hard way by trying to learn flamenco guitar, blues guitar, bottle neck guitar and rock guitar not to mention banjo, blues harp, drums and bagpipes all at the same time. Not surprisingly I never achieved a high standard at any of them though I was paid to play some of them!

Who loses weight? Is it the person who longs to lose weight or the one who walks a few miles every day and eats at least one apple or orange a day?

Again, specific daily actions rule. This cannot be stressed enough.

Who achieves their black belt? Is it the one who watches all the Bruce Lee movies and sees himself in the hero’s role or the one who turns up at the training hall in cold and wet weather and trains hard on a daily basis?

Chris Widener, whose article inspired this one, gives some cogent examples of the contrasts between the dreamer and the doer:

Who retires early? The one who dreams of a house on the beach, or the one who invests $300 a month?

Who has the best marital relationship? The one who knows how much spending time with their spouse can improve their relationship, or the one who sits down and talks with their spouse every night?

Of course, belief is also very important. Unless you believe you can achieve your goals, you are not likely to take the necessary daily actions to achieve them. However the quickest way to increase your belief is to take action and see the progress you have made.

If you do not believe you can rid your desk of the mountain of paper work start by filing at least one piece of paper a day. Before you know it your desk will be clear. As you may guess, I am staring at a cluttered desk right now!

Believe and take daily action and you may surprise yourself with your own achievements.

About the author

John Watson is an award winning teacher and martial arts instructor. He has recently written two books about achieving your goals and dreams. They can both be found on his website http://www.motivationtoday.com along with a daily motivational message.

The title of the first book is 36 Laws To Ignite Your Inner Power And Realize Your Dreams Now! - Acronyms, Stories, And Pictures…Easy To Remember And Use Everyday To Grab Your Life And Soar With The Eagles

The book can be found at this URL http://www.motivationtoday.com/36laws.php

The book uses acronyms, stories and pictures to help readers remember 36 laws that can gradually transform your life if you apply them.

You are welcome to publish the article above in your ezine or on your website so long as you do not alter it and keep in the words about the author and the 36 Laws.

You?re enjoying a perfectly shallow conversation with a good friend over coffee, discussing your oldest child?s latest broken bone fiasco and how long it takes you to drive across town with the traffic these days, when out of nowhere he asks, ?Do you ever wonder where all this day to day will lead? What are your goals in life??

Right now stop and answer this one question: Do you have an overall blueprint for your life? In detail with a complete list of goals including the action steps necessary to achieve them? Chances are you are not completely able to answer me yes. You may have a decent idea of what your life is about and might be able to name off some wants and desires, but most likely you do not have a blueprint for your life.

So sit down with a blank piece of paper and a pencil and write down your goals, all your greatest desires and how you will achieve them. It took me about an hour?s time to realize that it is nearly impossible to pull goals out of thin air, but if you begin with a few prompting questions they seem to come faster than your little pencil can write.

All you really need is to be asked specifically where you want to go and how do you plan to get there. Here are some questions to get you started. We are going to start at the beginning of the road to success by learning how to identify our goals.

Family
Do you want to be a life partner and parent? If so, how are you going to do this well? What kind of relationship do you want with your partner, your children and other family members?

Financial
How much money do you want to earn at various stages of you life? What planning is required in order to accumulate wealth, use it wisely and share the benefits with those you choose?

Career
What is your chosen vocation? What level do you want to reach in your career, and by when?

Community Service
Do you want to help make the world a better place? If so, how?

Creative
Do you want to achieve any creative goals? If so, in what artistic pursuit?

Education
Is there any knowledge you want to acquire in particular? What information and skills will you need to achieve your other goals?

Physical
Are there any fitness and sporting goals you want to achieve? What steps are you going to take to achieve this?

Recreation
How do you want to enjoy yourself? Are there any interests, hobbies, pastimes or social activities in which you want to be involved?

All of us are experts on something. Is there a goal that you have listed that you do not know the steps to take to achieve? Please send me an email and I will ask our readers for some advice.

Ask Your Fellow Readers.

Having trouble coming up with a plan to reach one of your goals? Click Here to send us your goal and I?ll ask my readers to help you get started.

Frank F. Lunn is an expert in leadership, marketing, and small business entrepreneurship. In his book, Stack the Logs! - Building a Success Framework to Reach Your Dreams, Frank outlines a simple 5-step strategy that will lead you to success in all areas. Find more useful article by Frank at http://www.stackthelogs.com

Note: This article may be reprinted as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the about the author information), and a copy of your reprint is sent to tim@stackthelogs.com.