The Eleven Power P's of Enduring Success

Remember these powerful 'P' words whenever life has you feeling down.

Patience - Are you being patient?  Things come in perfect unison to God's time and design, not ours.  Do not let your impatience frustrate you or move you from your path.

Persistence - More important to success than skill, talent or education.  Those who persist are the ones who are ready to jump when opportunity presents itself.  The rest are not only not ready, they usually don't even recgonize opportunity for what it is.

Positivity - A optomistic attitude is a choice and a habit.  Those that can find the good, no matter how small, in every situation, are the ones who get ahead.   Every adversity, every setback, every heartache provides the seed for an equal or greater opportunity.  A seed not planted is wasted potential.  Always find the positive.  Everything in life is there to serve you.

Prayer -  Sometimes we must rely on God to give us strength, wisdom and grace greater than our own.  Let Go and Let God.  Don't wait for crisis to arise to turn to God, make it a habit, and grace will follow you everywhere.

Perspective - Often the only real problem, is how we are viewing the situation.  We get so caught up worrying about the old, great tree dying, we forget we're in the midst of a forest.  As the old tree passes, the smaller trees finally come out of it's shade and are able to grow.

Promise - Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt... ...you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. - Matthew 21:21.  Whatever righteous thing you ask for, is given to you - in God's time and by God's design.  Hold on to your Promise and never let it go.  The enemy will always cloud your vision and try to steal it.

Progress - Do not stop.  Keep on, keeping on.  Learn from each of life's lessons and put it into immediate practise.  There is no standing still in life.  You are either progressing or regressing.  If you stop, you'll only have further to go when you start again.

Passion - Your passion is like a fire, it must be given fuel to burn and fanned to become bright.  When passion is turned into a bonfire, it will keep you warm through the coldest nights.  Neglect it and it will burn out quickly.   Purpose is fuel, Promise fans.

Purpose - Why?  What is your driving motivation?  What pleasure will success bring?  What pain will failure result in?  If you do not know, specifically, why you want what you want, how can you hope to substane? There is no wrong answer.  Follow your bliss. 

Price - Anything worth having is worth paying for.  There's always a price to pay but often in difficult times we lose sight that the challenges we are experiencing, are the price for what we want.  The price of growth, the price of wisdom, the price of freedom. 

Plan - Do you have a plan?  If so, is it working?  If not, goto plan B.  Then C.  Then D.   Don't worry if it's the best plan, any plan is better than no plan, even if it takes you the wrong way.  Movement is always better than procrastination. Things rarely happen the way we plan them, but plans keep us focused and give us comfort in structure.  Keep your plans flexible but the Purpose resolute.

Preston Squire is an author providing free positive thinking, inspirational, motivational and success materials. You can find more articles by Preston Squire at http://www.thecuphalffull.com/

©Preston Squire 2010

The Ninth Power 'P' of Enduring Success

By Preston Squire

By now you're probably wondering when this series is going to end.   To be honest, so am I.  Originally I had three, which become four, then five.   Last Sunday that exploded into nine in a burst of revelation.   This is the last of those, the Ninth Power P. 

However, the revelations keep on coming.   There are now eleven in this series and I feel strongly that there will be one more, that the Lord will reveal to me in due course.   It does concern me somewhat that this series or list of P's may be too long but I have not gone out looking for them, and as each is revealed they add unique value and integrate so beautifully with the others that I have not seen a need to purge.

The entire Purpose of this series was to give you a 'restart' when you feel defeated in life.   To recharge your batteries, give you a renewed sense of confidence and hope, so you can continue on, continuing on.

So far we have covered; Patience, Persistence, Positivity, Prayer, Perspective, Promise, Progress, and Passion

Today we cover perhaps the most profound Power P of them all.

Purpose

WHY?   Why are you doing what you're doing? What is your driving motivation?  What do you hope to accomplish?  What do you hope to gain?   What pleasures will you derive should you accomplish it?   What pains will you suffer should you not?

The answers to those questions will lead you to your true Purpose.   In short: What is your Purpose in life?  What meaning have you given it?

In the end, we all basically want the same thing out of life.   Joy, security / comfort, love, contribution and to leave a lasting legacy.  But how we arrive at those ends will be different for each one of us.  What works for one person may not work for you.   You must define your own path.

I know a lot of people are waiting for God to tell them what to do.   For God to reveal their 'God given destiny'.  In my mind that is backwards.   That is like you telling your children what they must do in their lives.  You MUST be a doctor.  You MUST be a lawyer.  Then directing their every action in life, through school, university and beyond until they reach that point.     I know this sounds good to a lot of people.  We want our children to succeed and doctors and lawyers are very respectable and important positions in life.   But when we impose our will on them what happens?  Generally they either break away, realizing that they have their own dreams to pursue or they crush their own dreams and do as they're told.   While there's nothing wrong with becoming a doctor or a lawyer, wouldn't it be better for them to follow their own dreams?

Now someone is going 'Oh you don't know my kid(s), they want to be a bum rock star', or 'go do charity work in Africa', or 'some crazy, fool thing.'   Sure, kids make a lot of poor decisions.  But where do you think the Bon Jovi's, Mother Theresa's and Picasso's of the world came from?   Obviously, they are people who followed their own hearts and dreams.   I'm sure their parents were very proud of them in the end, even if they worried about how it might all turn out.   It's right and proper to give our children direction, but we must allow them the freedom to find their own path.  In the same way God allows us to follow our own path and supports and guides us along the way.

Some will say, 'But I want God to tell me what to do.  He knows better than I.'   To this I agree.   If you want to know His will for you, you need look no further than your own heart.  The Father / Infinite Intelligence is IN you.  Whatever passion you have already (probably deeply buried, try to remember), whatever skills you have natively, THAT is what God wants you to do.   If you have a talent for writing, then write!  If you have a passion for the ocean's creatures, then go study and preserve them.  If you feel compelled to help the less fortunate, then DO that.   Maybe you're a gifted programmer, or cook, or singer.   Perhaps that doesn't seem special to you.  Probably because you can't see how that talent would benefit anyone.  Your talents are what you make them to be.   Open your mind, listen to the still, small voice inside, it will direct you and show you how your talent, can make a real difference.

"Follow your bliss."  ~ Joseph Campbell

I could write a whole chapter of a book on how to find your Purpose but let's move on here...

Even when we know our Purpose, we need to be constantly reminded.   In the face of current events, we tend to forget what we are all about.   We get so busy putting out little bush fires, we forget why we are even there in the first place.  Not for that!  We need to constantly remind ourselves.

Many workplaces nowadays like to post their mission statement.  Employees and management see it regularly and (hopefully) are reminded what the overall, overarching mandate of the business or program is.  While those go mostly unnoticed and forgotten in workplaces, it's a great idea to do that at home.   Write out your own mission statement and post it somewhere you will see it prominately, every day.

Get into the habit of actually reading it.  At least once a week, until you can recite it off the top of your head.  Then when you're struggling it'll quickly and easily come to mind.   You will know what you are about, and with that knowledge, you will know instintively where you need to head.

"Every decision you make—every decision—is not a decision about what to do. It’s a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do." ~ Neale Donald Walsch

Knowing our Purpose fuels our Passion which keeps us Positive, helps us to remain Patient and to Persist when things do not appear to be going our way.   Holding onto Purpose with one hand and our Promise in the other helps us to always have the right Perspective, and to continue to Progress through even the most difficult of times.

Do you know what your Purpose is?  If not, then is it any surprise you aren't seeing your life progress as you'd like?  Find your Purpose and with it, your destiny.

The Seventh Power 'P' of Enduring Success

By Preston Squire

Progress

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and THAT AINT YOU. You're better than that!" - Rocky's speech to son Robert from the movie Rocky Balboa


I've talked countless time on this site about how life is no bed of roses. There's a reason that only a select few truly live the life of their dreams while everyone else lives the lives they'll settle for. Life is designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. But the difference between those who shape life and those that allow themselves to be shaped by life isn't intelligence or willpower or money. The difference is about who has enough burning passion, a strong enough purpose, and a patient persistence covered in prayer, always keeping things in a positive perspective, knowing that they are promised success as long as they are willing to bear the price.

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.


In order to break through you need to understand, accept and EMBRACE this one simple concept. It's a concept most of you will not like. Some will reject it entirely.  A few may be so turned off they'll never return to this site again. Fine, go. In time though, you will have to accept this fundamental truth.

Failure IS Progress

Not only is failure a part of life, it's an essential part. Knowledge, wisdom and maturity are the end results of failure. You don't learn anything playing it safe. If you take a risk and it pays off, great, you've learned what works. But if you take a risk and it doesn't work, if you're smart and maintain proper perspective, you've learned what doesn't work - and that puts you one step closer to discovering what does.


"I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work." ~ Thomas Alva Edison in response to a question about his failure to produce a (cost efficient) light bulb.

Reasonable people do not take many chances. They stick to what they can see and what they know. They follow what society deems as acceptable and expectable. But the masses very rarely ever affect any change in the world. Virtually all progress is made by a few people who are considered unreasonable when they begin. People who do not follow the beaten path but strike out on their own, cutting their way through the bush for others to follow. You must become unreasonable.

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man." ~ George Bernard Shaw

Unreasonable people keep on, keeping on long after 'reasonable' people would have said it was time to throw in the towel. Why? Because they are not in the slightest intimidated by failure. In their minds, there is no such thing. There are only positive results and results that didn't produce the desired outcome. They learn from the results they get, either way, and progress.



It goes without saying that without progress you simply cannot get to where you are going. Once you have set your goal and made a definite commitment to it, you need to maintain your progress. It doesn't matter how fast you go. It might be cautious baby steps or the weary steps of the exhausted marathon runner, it might be bold leaps or a sure and steady pace but only by continuing to ever move towards your goal will it ever be reached.



The problem is, most people when faced with failure; stop. Heck, most stop even before they face failure. They are halted in their tracks by the mere sight of failure. They refuse to take the risk, instead the stay within their comfort zone.



I hate to tell you this folks but there are only two states of being in the universe, creation or decay. Everything, every tree, blade of grass, rock, drop of water, comet, molecule or galactic cluster is currently in a state of growth or decay. Scientist carbon date fossils based on the amount of molecular decay in the base material and can tell the age of trees by the growth lines (rings) in the trunk. The same goes for your soul. If it is not in a state of growth, if you are not progressing forward, then your life is in a state of slow decay.


Embrace the challenges that life gives you. They are not there to stop you. They are there to help you grow so that you will be ready, willing and able to achieve your God given destiny. There are times when life will beat you down, which is why it's so important to have that fire in your belly, that burning desire that simply will not be quieted. Your Purpose drives your Passion, which in turn fuels your Persistence. Purpose and Promise also allows for the graceful Patience to wait out the difficult times knowing you will and must succeed. But you will not succeed unless you maintain your Progress.


When life knocks you down, take note of why, how and what happened. Then get back up.


"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache, carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit." Napoleon Hill


Maintain your Positive Perspective and always find the good in every situation. Learn the lessons - THEN IMMEDIATELY PUT THEM INTO PRACTISE!

One of the great failings of the Canadian school system is our French Language programs. Kids learn the words they are being taught long enough to pass the test and then immediately forget them. They do not retain the French they are being taught because most children, outside of Quebec or other francophone communities, never have the opportunity to put their new found skills into practice. Without speaking French regularly they simply cannot retain it.

The best way to learn French, is to go into a French Immersion program, where the teachers only speak to you in French, or even better, take a French Immersion course in Quebec. Then the instant you learn a new word or phrase it is being put into immediate and regular use.


In the same way, if we do not take the lessons learned in life and put them into immediate and regular use, you will lose them and have to repeat the same mistakes. Which is why progress is so important. If you hit a roadblock and stop, wait ten years before you decide to give it another go, then you will have lost many of the key distinctions that could have helped your progress in the first place.

Progress also builds momentum. If you've ever decided to go to the gym, you know that hardest part is getting yourself into a set routine. If you don't get yourself into a habit of going, you probably won't last a month. Gyms know this and always give amazing discounts in January to capture all those people making New Year's resolutions to lose weight. The gyms know that ninety percent of those new customers will not be disciplined enough to make the gym a regular part of their routine and will be gone in a couple weeks to a month even though they have paid for an entire year.

If you stick to it though long enough for the gym to become a regular part of the life, it's easy. You start to see results and that motivates you to continue. People start to notice and compliment you and that really boosts your determination to stick with it. The longer you continue your progress the more momentum you build and the easier the journey becomes. That is until something, like a three week vacation or a long business trip comes around to derail it. If you're smart you'll stay at a hotel with a gym and keep going to maintain progress, otherwise you have to go through a period of forcing yourself back into the routine.

The same goes with life. Once you get going, and the best time to start is always this instant, and maintain steady progress it will become easier and easier to continue but life will always through curve balls at you. Expect it. Embrace it. Eventually you'll be able to hit them out of the park. In the meantime, as difficult as it may seem at times, just keep moving forward. Remember the Power 'P's. I think one reason God has been giving me these lessons' in the form of 'P' words is because it make them easy to remember. So when you're feeling like you're about to quit you can start going through the 'P's in your head. You may not remember them all off hand but with some thought, they'll all come back to you. Some may not help much at that time but I'm certain one or more of these Power 'P's will reinvigorate you and help you to maintain your progress.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." ~ Barack Obama

The Sixth Power 'P' of Enduring Success

By Preston Squire

Promise

At this point I wouldn't blame you if you thought I was beginning to look through a dictionary and stick more 'P' words into the premise of 'Enduring Success' but I assure you nothing could be further from the truth.

When I got up this morning I was feeling inspired to write but before I did I went through my normal Sunday morning routine (for the sake of not overwhelming readers this is being released Monday).  I watched Joel Osteen who touched on and inspired the subject for today's blog.

Next I watched my video of the day (and yesterday) from the 100 Day Start Fast / Finish Strong Challenge by Gary Ryan Blair.  That inspired two more blogs in this series.    Finally while I was marveling at how God had drop these into my lap and how intricately they all fit into each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, I glanced over to my calendar, which as you might suspect, has those inspirational sayings and images.   It's the end of the month so I've seen this particular  saying for a full 28 days.   However today as my head was on fire with the revelations God had already shown me, it suddenly clicked in a whole new way.

So in one morning I was inspired to write not just the continuation of the Perspective blog (seen yesterday) but four other entries as well.   I'll endeavor to write as many as I can today but either way I'll be spreading these out over the next week.   Currently, I'm writing this as Canada plays for Olympic gold in men's hockey, so far successfully (Go Canada!), but it's rather distracting to say the least.

AND WE WON!!!!  But by now you already know that and have probably seen the clip a thousand times.   At least, if you're in Canada.   To my American fans, your team played a hell of a tournament and you should be very proud.  Congrats on being the overall medal winner in these games.    To everyone else: We own the gold medal podium!   Highest number of gold medals won by a country in the Winter Olympics - ever!

Canada went into this Olympics with a different attitude this year.   Normally we are just grateful to rank well, but this year there was a very deliberate focus on now only performing well but specifically on 'Owning the Podium'.    Those in charge of our athletes set a higher standard for themselves and for our men and women to aspire too.  Coming up to these Olympic games it became a rallying cry for the whole country.  But many wondered if it would make a difference.

Over the first week, Canada did well, we normally do, we are 'The True North' after all, but not enough to really say we were 'owning the podium'.     It became clear early on that there was no way we could win the overall medal count.  That was going to the USA and Germany was also too far ahead for us to reach.   We were amoungst a group of countries vying for third.  Then in the closing days of the games, Canada had a rush of gold medal wins, tying us with the U.S.S.R. and Norway for most ever won during a Winter Olympics.  I cannot express how momentous it is for Canadians for us to set a world record with 14 Golds won with an overtime win in Men's hockey at the very end of these games.   It's like the perfect storybook ending.

Clearly that idea of 'Owning the podium' translated into performance.   Part of the reason why is because our athletics held onto the

Promise

When we set a goal for ourselves, in faith, then it is already promised to us.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. - Matthew 21:21


God or Source Energy / Infinite Intelligence or however you chose to look at it, wants us to succeed. It is important to have the right morals for what we are doing. There is nothing inherently wrong with being rich, but there is something wrong with being obsessed with money for the sake of being rich. That is self-serving and ultimately that selfishness will come back to haunt you. However, becoming rich through service to others is not only fine, it's honourable. It glorifies God. So as soon as you make a committed decision, not some wishy washy dream or hope but an absolute commitment to achieving then the universe responds. Things are set into motion and that reality becomes real. It just hasn't arrived as yet.

"Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elemental truth - that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Our success is promised to us. However, it is not promised to us on a timeline of our choosing or in a way that we envision it. Often growth, our personal growth is required for us to achieve our goals and dreams. What good would it be to meet the man or woman of your dreams if you are not mature enough to satisfy them? What good would owning a huge company be if we have not developed the wisdom to run it successfully? What benefit is there to us being in some starving, war ravaged country to help if we are unable to cope with the reality around us? Everything happens in accordance to the Laws of the Universe in perfect accordance to God's time. We just can't see it or understand it. Nor do we need to. You probably don't understand exactly how a light bulb works, but you flick on a switch with absolute confidence that the room will immediately be filled with light. It doesn't matter to you how that electricity is being made, where it's traveling from or how a light bulb works, you have a rough idea but you trust it'll work, just like it has every other time you flicked on a switch. Now of course, there were days when you hit the switch and nothing happened. What went wrong? Do you despair that you'll live the rest of your life in the dark? No! Of course not. You try another bulb. If that doesn't work, try the fuse, or maybe call an electrician. You always remain confident an answer will soon be found. But when it comes to our hopes and dreams, one set back is often enough to derail us.

We need to constantly remind ourselves that our aspirations are already promised to us. That we need to just be patient, persistent, positive, walk in prayer and maintain the proper perspective.

If you haven't reached your goal yet, do not grieve that it is continuing to elude you, be grateful that you are one day closer to achieving it. Hold on to the Promise.

The Fourth Power 'P' of Enduring Success

By Preston Squire

Prayer

This is part four of a eleven part series. Also see;
The Power P's of Enduring Success - Patience
The Second Power P of Enduring Success - Persistence
The Third P of Enduring Success - Positivitity


Jesus explains the parable of the seeds as such;

Matthew 4:13 - 20

Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables?

The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others.

The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

As you can see from this parable even when people are taught how to better their lives, so precious few can actually hold onto it long enough to make their lives fruitful.

The first bunch (on the footpath) lack Patience. They like what they are hearing but immediately go back to looking at their unsatisfactory life. They live in the moment with no vision of a better tomorrow.

The second bunch (on rocky soil) lack Persistence. They take in the message of hope. Get all excited, run with it but when things don't go their way, they lose it again.

The third bunch (in thorns) lack Positivity and Perspective. They absorb the lessons and utilize them effectively but then allow circumstances to discourage them or otherwise lose focus on what's really important.

Only the last bunch (on good soil) absorb the lessons of life and utilize them effectively, for the right reasons, consistantly despite adversity, until they bear fruit. What allows this group to succeed when all the others have faded? Certainly patience, persistence, positivity and a proper perspective (hmmm... another P, maybe I should make it 5 Ps?) are all critical to lasting when things are tough. But in order to really endure, when everything seems to be set against you, when everyone around you is telling you otherwise, when there is no physical evidence that you will ever accomplish your goals and dreams, you need to be able to draw on a strength greater than yourself.

PRAYER

Now it is not my intent to preach Christianity, nor do I believe it is the only way. I have seen many miracles happen to people of many difference religions and beliefs. Jesus works for me. It is my understanding of God/Source energy and I draw strength from it but if you do not believe in Jesus then believe in something. Find a religion or definition that works for you.

Prayer is important for a number of reasons.

It helps you to focus your energy. Try to relax, and always ask for what you do want. Be specific as possible. Visualize it. Thank God for it as if it is already yours. Because it is. God loves you. He has set a full table before you with every concievable dish. He wants you to be happy and satisfied. But unless you boldly go forward and claim it, it will remain there.

Given such an array of dishes most people just go forth and take what they are familiar with. It's easy and safe. They look at the other dishes and wonder what they are like but are afraid to try it, in case they don't like it. Maybe it'll be too hot. Or not to their taste. So they stick to what they know.

Many look at some of the richest, most luxurious dishes and desire to sample from them, but ask themselves who are they to be entitled to such as that? That's for people better than they. Like the poem The Wage, these people are asking life for a penny and a penny they shall have. God does not impose such value judgement against us. We impose them against ourselves. Those dishes are there for you to sample. Go boldly forth and do so.

Through prayer we put ourselves in alignment to recieve our desires.

Prayer provides answers to our questions. No, you're not going to hear some booming voice from the heavens (and if you do, let me know your secret) but if you are still, clear of emotional and mental garbage, you may gain clarity. This comes in many forms. A gut feeling. A knowing. A sense of 'rightness'. Your conscience. Timely advice. Meeting someone at a critical time who can help move you in the direction you need.

Most importantly prayer allows us to draw on a source of strength greater than ourselves. When we feel totally tapped out, we can hold onto our faith, and let go and let God.

By being able to hold onto our faith we can envision a way even when no way is evident. All things are possible for God. This keeps us in alignment with our goal, instead of despairing which moves us out of alignment.

Law of Attraction states that whatever we continually focus on we attract. Especially when we focus on it with intense emotion. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad. By holding onto our faith we continue to believe that we will achieve, continue to live in a state of optomistic joy and remain a vibrational match for that which we desire. Without faith, we despair, we get caught up in the here and now, and start to push against it. Pushing against it only serves to attract it. If that's what you've focused on, that's what you're attracting.

But isn't that sort of contradicting myself bouncing from Christianty to Law of Attraction, you ask? If God can do anything and he loves you and you're praying to him shouldn't he provide for you despite the fact that you may be looking at that which you don't want? No. Because if you're focusing on that which you don't want, if that's consuming your mind and energy you are not walking in faith. You are praying on one hand but then disbelieving on the other. If you are truly walking in faith then you can only be focused on that which the Lord is providing and not what the world is showing. You can only be in a state of bliss, because you know, deep down, that God has you covered. You stop looking at the here and now and relax, content that somehow, God will show you a way. And that is Law of Attraction in action.

Once we turn to prayer, once we let go and let God, we are relax and stop feeling like we need to fight the world. And in doing so, we allow our blessings to flow.

Step 1: Clearly Define Your Goals

By Preston Squire

This is an extrapolation of the first step in the 5 Key Steps To Achieving Goals

Step 1

Clearly Define Your Goals

As we approach the end of the year many of you will be reflecting back on the year that was and asking yourself how it went.   Are you better off than you were a year ago?  The same?  Worse?  Regardless of the answer, you probably want 2010 to be even more productive.   The very first step in ensuring it will be, is to decide how you want it to be different than 2009. 

5 Key Steps to Achieving Goals

By Preston Squire


Step #1: Be Clear on What You Want

Be clear on want you want and why.  If you're not sure, ask yourself what you don't want.   Whatever is the polar opposite of that is what you ought to be shooting for.

Be clear on why it's important to you.   Make a list of all the benefits that achieving that goal will deliver and a list of all the adversity not achieving it will bring.

Set definite goals.  Be specific.  If you want money, for example, you could state that you want to earn an additional $250,000.00 by the end of next year. 

Make the goal something you believe you can reach even though you can't see how it's possible.

Do You Have a Strong Enough 'WHY?'

By Preston Squire

Whenever you set a goal in your life, you need to be sure to have a strong enough 'Why' attached to that goal.

The 'Why' is what drives you.   The motivating factor that makes the difference between just wanting something in your life and absolutely needing it.  Between it being a 'wouldn't it be nice' and it being an insatiable itch that you cannot continuously ignore but must tend to, causing you to always be moving towards accomplishing that goal.

Invest in Yourself

I've heard this nugget of wisdom twice in the last week, once from one of the founders of modern success thinking: Earl Nightingale and again in different form from billionaire Bill Bartmann. It's solid advice and I thought I'd share it with you.

Earl eloquently but drolly expounded on the power of the human brain and correctly concludes that it, moreso than anything else in your life it will affect the level of success and enjoyment you achieve. However it is terribly underutilized but the vast majority of people.

Now I'm sure you are using your brain all the time. You use it at work, use it to figure out problems around the house, deal with family issues, romance issues, maybe exercise it with puzzles and problems. But how often do you sit down and proactively use it to plan out your life? Once in a while I'm sure. Once in a very long while.

What Earl proposes is that you use it a little more often than that. He suggests an hour a day. Yes, I agree, it'd be very difficult for most anyone to squeeze an hour out of every day but consider this. You might be spending time daily working out, or beautifying yourself, watching tv, browsing the internet, talking to friends and family, sleeping in, playing video games or even doing work around the house. Is any of that getting you closer to your goals and desires? No, it is not.

However through the consistant application of your mental facilities on the matter of how to achieve your goals, followed by action, surely you would see marked improvement.

Earl suggests that once you have a clearly defined goal (Bill calls them promises, which I like better) you spend that hour daily brainstorming for up to 20 ways to achieve that goal. You may not come up with 20 ideas and that's okay. In fact every idea you come up with for a week or two may be crap. You're not a certified genius after all but you don't need to be. All you need is one genius idea. Anyone who consistantly applies their abilities to solving the problem of how to achieve their goals will eventually come up with some gems. Keep refining those gems of ideas and eventually you'll come up with something truly compelling that no one else is doing. Why is no one else doing it? Because vertually no one else is applying their brains in this manner!! If they are, they likely have different goals than you anyway.

It is famously stated the Edison had over ten thousand failed attempts to create a lightbulb. No one says he was a moron or a failure becuase he had ten thousand ideas that didn't work. He's considered a genius because he continually applied his mind to finding the one idea that did. You can too.

If you met your future self, and they told you that you became amazingly successful by taking an hour a day to apply themselves to how to better achieve their goals, you would immediately rearrange your life to make room for that hour. You are not going to meet your future self obviously but you can meet the future of your desires in the same way.

Bill Bartmann's take was a little different. First off, not only does he state that you need a clearly defined goal or promise, he suggests that you create a business plan on how you are going to achieve that promise. In the same manner that a business lays out a course of action, budget and timetable to achieve the company goals you can do the same with your goals. Once you have your business plan Bill recommends you review it daily for twenty minutes. What are you doing that's working? What's not working? How can you do it better? Is the currently set goal serving you? Is it even your goal? Too many people are trying to achieve that which other people have told them they should be doing. Parents most notably.

By taking twenty minutes (much more digestible than an hour) daily to review your progress and brainstorming new ideas you will fastforward your progress.

If you were requested by your workplace to find ways of improving workplace efficiency you might find it a frustrating exercise but you would still do it because that's what you're getting paid to do. By finding ways to improve your own life inefficiencies and coming up with ideas on how to reach your promise you will be, in effect, paying yourself, as you will be consistantly making improvements in your life and increasing your earning potential.

You invest time in everything else around you - work, family, friends, responsibilities. Certainly you can take 20-60 minutes to invest in yourself.

20 Years - Don't Let Life Pass You By

On Saturday I was contributing my time to a Christian Concert event (http://www.musicinthesquare.com/). A friend and I decided to take lunch at the Wendy's across the street. We arrived at an ideal time as there was also no line ahead of us but one quickly formed behind us. As we were being served the manager opened another cash to help out. Upon seeing the manager my friend remarked she thought that the manager (a woman) looked familiar. So she went over to talk to her and sure enough, they did.

My friend had worked with this woman at Wendy's 20 years ago (and I had worked next door at Culture's) and here this woman was was still working at Wendy's 20 years later.

20 years of Wendy's?? No offense to the fine establishment that Wendy's is but we had a hard time grasping that reality. In those twenty years we had each held half a dozen different jobs and had our own businesses, gaining unique experience from each position along the way. What experiences has she had in 20 years of working at Wendy's? A whole lot of the same old, same old.

Now to be fair, it's possible she left Wendy's pursued other things and for whatever reason returned, although I doubt it. I doubt anyone would return to Wendy's once they had expanded themselves in their careers. Regardless, if someone told her 20 years ago this is what she would be doing now, without question, she would have venomously called them a liar and assured them she would not. So what happened?

Without interviewing her on the matter we can only speculate but some of the answers are clear.

Comfort - Staying at Wendy's was more comfortable than trying to do something new. Possibly she has limited education or just doesn't believe she's all that bright. Either way she has vastly underestimated her own potential and allowed herself to settle for what was easy and safe.

Fear - There's always some fear in changing careers. Fear you may not be successful in your new job. Fear you will be rejected and never find another job. Fear you may not like your new job. Fear can conjure all sorts of ridiculous notions into your head.

Doubt - Clearly she doubts she could do better. Ties closely into fear.

Lack of Vision - Does not have any dreams or vision for her life. So she's just cruising down the river of life, caught in the current, seeing where it goes, better or worse.

Lack of goals - As above. She's not setting goals for herself. Even if she doesn't have any dreams or aspirations, she should still have been goal setting to get ahead in her life. After 20 years she should, at least, be regional manager, not still working front line manager.

Not before we pass judgement on this lady let's look at ourselves first. While very few of us, nowadays are in the same career for 20 years, many of us are stuck in some area of our lives where we haven't really moved on. Most likely, we aren't even aware of it or if we are, we choose not to think of it. Reflect for a minute on all areas of your life. Is there some area where you've allowed yourself to sit for 5, 10, 20 years? Looking back 20 years, are you now where you would have envisioned yourself being at this point in your life? If not, why not? Most likely for these same reasons.

Do not allow any more time to go by, you've been idle long enough. Decide, right now to change. Define what you want that change to look like and then take immediate action.

Don't allow the next 20 years to slip through your fingers.

Purpose

While struggling with some feelings of loneliness I decided to utilize my spare time productively by listening to the next tape in Bob Proctor's Freedom Series - which is part of the free bonus material you receive when you sign up for the Six Minutes to Success program.

The message was very profound for me today. Very profound. In a nutshell, one of the core distinctions between successful people and everyone else, is that people who have achieved outstanding results have all habituated the act of doing those things which they don't want to do but moves them towards their goals.

Most people are not so much driven by their goals as they are by the ease and comfort of their methods used. People tend to accept the easiest path that leads to sufficient results. They would rather accept a lower standard of living than consistently do those things with which they are uncomfortable.

So how do successful people become comfortable with doing those same things? They don't. But they are driven more by end results because they have associated a powerful driving purpose with those results. So they do those things they don't like anyway and they do it as part of their regular routine.

Now, I'm not speaking of anything illegal or unethical here just simple daily things like trying to convince people, who do not want to be convinced, that they would be better off with what you're offering. Or obligating yourself to produce results that you haven't previously achieved.

Now the driving purpose needs to be practical and not visionary.

And that is the statement that gave me great pause. It seemed to run contrary to everything else I had learned as far as creating a compelling future goes. However, it immediate sense.

I had always defined my purpose as:

To be a world famous author who's work touch the lives of millions of people from all over the world, spreading the seeds of profound truth and hope while entertaining people through a variety of mediums including books, movies, tvs, video games, plays, cartoons, MMORPGs, etc. Some of my works will be past down generations, touching billions of people and being immortalized like the works of Shakespeare, Shaw, Dickens and Twain.

Which is all well and good but hasn't been driving me still and that's probably because it's too visionary and not practical enough. Not immediate or real enough.

While practical, purpose doesn't need to be logical. It should be based on wants and desires that have emotional pull for you. If based solely on need that will drive you for a while, but only until your needs are met. Whereas a purpose based on wants and desires will keep on pulling you along even if there's no logical reason for wanting that as long as there's emotional desire for it.

So my new purpose looks more like this:

I want to easily earn enough that my wife never needs to work and can merrily spend on whatever suits her without ever considering costs. I want to be able to put my children through university and help set them up in life. I want to earn all that money by writing inspirational stories for children that meets them where they are at, provides a great distraction from the real world while providing profound knowledge to help them improve their lives and using stories with compelling, morally upstanding characters.

Prioritize

This week I cleared my schedule of all social functions so that I could address the backlog of work and projects that I have. However on any given day I found I was at a bit of a loss as to where to start and often felt demotivated to even start since it seemed overwhelming.

It's not that they aren't important, they problem is they are all important. And that is the fundimental problem right there. I had neglected to prioritize all my various goals and tasks. So everything is more or less of equal importance and the list is truly overwhelming because no matter how much I could possibly do, it would barely make a dent in the list. It hardly seemed to matter.

Once the time is taken to prioritize, things suddenly become a lot clearer. Even if you can only get to one or two items on your list, you know that those are the items that will have the greatest positive impact on your life. Therefore your feeling of accomplishment is much greater and you're not concerning yourself with not having gotten to more trival tasks.

Now this might seem obvious, and it is but have you taken the time to prioritize your goals? Stop for a minute and think about it. If you could only accomplish one life goal which would it be? If the answer isn't immediately clear then you need to clarify that. Rank them in order from more to least important. Sometimes it may be a real toss-up between two competing interests. In this case it might be helpful to write out all the pros for each and weigh them. If your still stuck, just go with your initial gut instinct - Then stick to it. You won't do yourself any favours if you're flip-floping on priorities. If circumstances change you can reevaluate at that point.

Once your have your goals prioritized then act accordingly. Send the majority of the time and effort on your top priority, some time on your secondary priority and occasionally work on lower priorities - probably when your stuck waiting for something to happen in your higher priorities.

The Keys to Success

My daughter has aspirations of being a model and actress. I have no doubt that she can and will succeed in those goals - as long as she continues to apply the 'Keys to Success' I've outlined below.

In taking to her I asked her what she thought would be the two things that were required for success.

Talent - she confidently replied.

No, I answered. How many mediocore actresses and pop stars have you seen succeed when many, many more talented people go undiscovered. Paris Hilton is perhaps the eptimy of this - she lacks any real acting skills and yet has starred in multiple movies, she lacks any kind of singing voice but still has had a hit single. Talent is helpful but not required.

Looks - she offered instead, since obviously Paris and others banked on their looks for success.

Looks certainly do help, especially in beauty crazed North America (Hollywood) but there are a lot of actors and singers - both careers where beauty is coveted - that are not exactly pin-up poster material. Hollywood does a great job of dolling them up but without make-up you would not look twice at them. In other careers, beauty matters far, far less.

Intelligence? - She ventured.

Is Paris Hilton a poster child for Intelligence? Is George W Bush? Neither exactly wows the public their their intellectual prose and yet somehow they have achieved outstanding success.

Wealth?

Her own heartthrob is proof that wealth is not required for Shia LeBeouf came from an extremely poor family to become a headline movie star.

Luck? Contacts?

Again, helpful but no.

In the end, while all of those factors do contribute to success, none of them, in and of themselves, nor any combination of them will ensure success. At least not long lasting meaningful success. People sometimes do stumble into success through the back door and almost without exception soon stumble right back out.

With or without talent, looks, wealth, intelligence, luck or important contacts you will require the following two attributes if you wish to become successful - really truly successful - in any or all areas of your life.

Goals

You must have clearly defined goals that you are passionate - to the point of obsession - about.

Anyone and everyone you meet on the street will tell you they wish for 'more money', and most would like a 'better job', they might also long for 'better health' or perhaps they are a very simple person and all they desire in life is 'peace'.

The problem with all of those is threefold.

First - they are only 'wishing'. A wish is meaningless and powerless. It prompts people to spend money on lottery tickets and slot machines in some desperate hope that they'll get lucky. It makes people fall for scams that promise great wealth or health without any hassle. You cannot wish for success and expect it to just appear. You must first decide to have it. And then not settle for less.

Second - It's totally undefined. You want more money? Here's a penny. Not enough? Here's ten dollars. Still not happy? How about a million dollars? Oh, now your happy... but it won't last. Statiscally, the majority of people who win big in the lottery are back to being just as broke, if not moreso, than before within 4 years. The reason for that is because they have no defination of what they truly want out of life or gameplan on how to get it. If they just 'win' it, that lack of understanding and planning prevents them from being able to maintain it.

If you want a better job then what type of career do you really want? How can you possibly make the necessary steps to achieve that without first knowing what position in life you are truly aiming for?

Third - They are not passionate about it. Therefore they are far more content to 'settle' for what they have. It's easier.

The second key to success is:


Faith

You must develop the type of faith that keeps you going even when everything seems lost.

Now if you want to have faith in Jesus, or God or Allah or whatever religion you prescribe too, then that's fine. It works! IF you have enough faith to remain at peace throughout troubling times and if, and ONLY IF you actually walk in faith. Far too many people merely pray for something but then do nothing to achieve that which they've asked for or worse pray for it and then actually complain about not having it. As a Pastor friend once so eloquaintly put it - if you're going to ask for rain, start walking with an umbrella. Start to walk towards your goal as if it was already guaranteed.

If your agnostic or an atheist you're not doomed as long as you can cultivate a strong belief that the every essence of the universe can and will work on your behalf. Quantum mechanics proves that energy is constantly flowing into form, through form and out of form. The entire universe is energy in one form or another. Energy that is constantly moving in and out of form, including your form. If you can consistantly focus your energy, your mental energy, passionately, consistantly it will leave an imprint in the fabric of the universe and the universe will move to bring that imprint into reality.

Now you may think that's a load of bunk but if you study any of the greats throughout history, you will find they have this firm conviction. They all had firm faith that the way to success would be revealed to them - in time - and acted accordingly.

"We will either find a way or make one" - Hannibal.