So what is your new years resolution?
Well it is that time of year again when many of us will bring in the new year and set some new years resolutions.
So what is your new years resolution?
To lose weight?
Give up smoking?
Cut down on alcohol?
Pay off the credit card?
The trouble with these typical new years resolutions is that by February they are usually long forgotten.
Well my advice is to forget the resolutions!
You may as well forget these weak goals because in the vast majority of cases they just don’t work.
You may have the best of intentions but as my Mother used to say “You may as well rub your bum up against the moon”.
It just isn’t going to happen!
So if you want a quick tip for keeping your new years resolutions… give them the flick forever!
But I really want to change… What do I do?
New years resolutions are really just a very weak form of goal setting.
So if you really want to change things in your life for the better, you need to make goal setting a priority.
Goal setting has helped me enormously in my life.. not only in achieving success, but also in general happiness and fulfilment.
I have personally found that growth is one of the basic human needs of life, and having something to strive for gives me a great sense of fulfilment.
I believe that a lot of people generally just drift through life and then wonder why they are really not as happy as they think that they SHOULD be.
But if you don’t know where you want to go, then HOW are you going to get there?
This is where goal setting comes in.
How do I set powerful goals?
I believe that in the end it all comes down to three main areas of life.
Our health, wealth and relationships.
So what I like to do is find a nice quiet spot where I am not going to be disturbed, grab three pieces of paper and write health at the top of one piece of paper, wealth on the next and relationships on the third.
Next draw three columns down the page and at top of each column write the words “be”,”do” and “have” (see diagram below)
Starting with “wealth”, (as this is My Road to Financial Freedom) think of all the things you want to “be” with your wealth and money.
Think of the things you want to “do” with your wealth and money, and think of the things you want to “have” with your wealth and money.
Just brainstorm for 10 minutes or so.
Think of your income goals, what net worth do you want, your business goals, investments, debt elimination, cash in the bank?
Anything related to your wealth and money.
Set your long-term goal
It is important to have a long-term vision of where you want to go, so set goals in timeframes of 5 years, 3 years and 1 year.
I once heard a multi-millionaire who has achieved financial freedom say that financial freedom is definitely achievable in a 3-5 year time frame and I totally agree… as long as you have the right mindset and determination!
So what I do is to set a long-term goal that I want to achieve in 3-5 years, then scale that back to what I want to achieve in the next 12 months.
So now go back to your list and put a little number next to each goal representing the time-frame. Either a (1), (3) or (5).
Now set your long-term goal, for example “By January 1 2019, I will have a passive income of $20,000 per Month and a net worth of 1 Million dollars”
Your goal needs to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic (from where you are at this point: Always DREAM BIG!) and timely. (S.M.A.R.T)
What is your why?
Wanting a million dollars, 10 investment properties, a multi-million dollar share portfolio or a thriving online business is one thing.
But what is more important is knowing the reason WHY you want it!
So underneath your long-term goal write a paragraph as to why you want this goal.
For myself a big “why” for wanting to achieve financial freedom, is to have the freedom from a job, to pursue my passion of being an entrepreneur, to provide for my family, and have the time freedom to travel and have amazing experiences with them.
Also to contribute to causes that I believe in and to help other people achieve these same things and do whatever it is that inspires them by gaining financial freedom as well!
The bigger the why, the easier the how!
So what is your why?
What do you want to achieve this year?
Now go back to your list and pick out 3 or 4 things that you are absolutely committed to achieving in the next 12 months.
Next you need to chunk it down even further to 90 day goals, 60 day goals and thirty day goals.
Now for the “how”!
Now I really focus on achieving these 30 day goals by coming up with the tasks of what I have to do weekly and daily to achieve this first set of thirty day targets.
What are the daily and weekly actions that will lead you to hit your targets and achieve your goals?
Once you have this worked out then you can run through the same process for your goals for your health and for your relationships.
Now take some action!
Now you have some really powerful goals that put together is actually a really powerful target statement.
I like to think of my goals as a target because it gives you something to aim at. You might miss, but then it is important to look at what has worked and what has not, readjust and fire again.
I go through this longer goal setting process yearly, but I reset my 90 day target every 30 days.
This way it is easier to track your progress.
Always measure, monitor and adjust!
You only ever fail if you give up!
Remember if you shoot for the stars you may miss, but hit the moon instead!(bum first!)
So once again, forget the new years resolution and start setting some powerful goals… then go out there and get it done!
And as Tony Robbins says “the purpose of a goal is not to get the goal, but what it makes of us as a person in the process”
If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below.
To your success,
John W. Newman
Dream It… Believe It… Then Achieve It!
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