"How to Successfully Establish a New Year's Goal"

It’s the first week of January in a brand new year. Tradition says it's time to set some goals. You sigh deeply, ho hum, put your chin in your hands and grind the brain into action to think of something you want but won't be too difficult to get, or something you ought to do, but don't want to, or you get very pie in the sky and impulsively reach for a goal in another galaxy. Sound familiar?

What’s wrong with this? Well, several things.

Consciously establishing goals is not a once a year activity. That's like going to the gym once a year and expecting to be fit.
Trying to cheat the system by aiming for the floor instead of the ceiling only makes you feel cheated.
One thing that will never work in your favor is 'should-ing' on yourself. Don't listen to what other people say you ‘should’ do either, this is your life and your target.
Aiming for the stars is wonderful! But start with ones within sight, not those hiding behind Pluto (the ‘former’ planet, not the dog).
Notice I've been saying 'a' goal, not a list of goals. How do you feel when you are faced with the dreaded 'list'? Uh­-huh. Me too. "How am I ever going to get all this done?" "Rats, I have so much to do." "Oh brother, where do I start?" are just some of the phrases that come to mind. This is the solution:

Determine just one goal. Whew, are you relieved?

How do you do that? There are a couple of ways.

First, have you ever thought of letting the goal come to you? Now that's novel. If you practice meditation or are able to just sit quietly and find yourself easily daydreaming you can set the intention of a goal coming to you, then put that thought aside and meditate or daydream. I find staring at a candle flame helps me. If a thought comes zinging in and tap dances on your cerebrum, it is meant to be your goal even if your first reaction is, 'No way!' Let it perk for a few days and you may feel quite differently.

If all that happens is you have a lovely quiet time, but no tap dancing, try this. Have a pen and paper ready; set a timer for ten minutes. You must write for the entire ten minutes without stopping and not lifting the pen off the paper. The subject you are writing about is, "My ideal life looks like..."The reason you can't stop or lift the pen is because you will start thinking. Your writing needs to come straight out of your subconscious mind and thus the uninterrupted flow is necessary. Guaranteed, there will be several fertile goal seeds in what you have written, things you have secretly been longing for.

You can also hire a coach, all successful entrepreneurs, business climbers and companies use coaches. They are not just for sports anymore. A coach can coach your goals out of you. Things you never even knew were in there! Even just one session with a coach can turn your life around. Invest In Yourself

Now that you have your target firmly in place, you say to yourself, "If I am to make this happen, what is the first thing I need to do?" You do know what that is, don't kid yourself. Now do it. Those three little words are the most important of all the words on this page. If all you do is think about it, nothing happens. And this is where most people fail in accomplishing goals. They don't act. You're going to be different, you will go into action.

When that is done, you ask yourself, "What is the next thing I need to do?" And you do it. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat until you hit the bull's eye in your target.

If you get stuck with a 'how' or a brain traffic jam, its back to hiring that coach. It's no shame to ask for help, you don't have to do this all alone.

So you can see the reasoning behind just one goal. You are going to be much more successful if you focus entirely on one target. An archer doesn't aim at more than one. I'd hate to think of the result of William Tell aiming at more than one apple on his son’s head. Ouch!

With practice you will find yourself following one successful achievement after another, and don’t wait for another year to pass before you do!

Make it a goal!