Archives for May 2010

‘How To Achieve Your Goals’ was written by Vincent, author of Health Money Success.

So you have some goals, but you just can’t seem to achieve them.  You’re frustrated, right?  Well, why is it so hard?  Do only a few lucky people get to achieve their goals?  No…

It’s all about creating a logical plan and executing it.

There are three big reasons why people fail to achieve their goals:

1. They never set achievable goals to begin with.
2. They have no plan.
3. They never take any sort of logical action.

Do you think Steve Jobs and Bill gates were just lucky, or did they have a plan?  You better believe they had a plan – a long, long-term vision.  And then they worked hard and took a series of logical, actionable steps to achieve them.  They didn’t just ‘think it.’  They ‘did it.’

You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t set out and say, “I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that has ever been built.” You say, “I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.”
You do this every single day, and soon you have a wall.
-Will Smith

How To Achieve Your Goals

Over the years I have achieved many of my personal goals.  And in all cases this is the methodology I used.  It’s tried and true, and I assure you, it can help you achieve your goals as well.  There are four basic steps:

• Set achievable goals.
• Strategize and plan.
• Take action.
• Review your progress regularly.

Let’s go through them one at a time.

Set Achievable Goals

When you are climbing the ladder, ensure that
you are leaning against the right wall.

You can climb the ladder as fast as you want, but it’s going to be a giant waste of your time if you get to the top and realize you’re leaning against the wrong wall.  You will need to get this step right to ensure that you are not wasting your efforts on goals that you do not truly want to achieve.  We as humans have a tendency to try to bite off more than we can chew, and this usually causes us to feel frustrated and annoyed.

Because we only have a finite amount of time, it’s foolish to attempt to conquer the world in a day.  Yeah, you could set goals to be the best guitar player, basketball player, football player, lose weight, be financially savvy, earn $10,000 and join the public speaking club all at the same time.  But does that sound logical or achievable?  Not to me it doesn’t.  How can you excel at anything when you are juggling everything?

So the first key is to figure out a few (1 to 3) things that you truly want.  And make sure you truly understand why you want these things.  Otherwise you’ll just lose interest.

Strategize and Plan

Here are the basic strategies you will need to employ to keep your motivation burning and your progress on track:

A)  Paste up your goals where you can see them every day. – Without reminders, you will likely forget about your goals and become easily distracted by other stimuli.  So print them out 10, 20 or 30 times and paste them up in the most prominent, visible areas around your house, office, etc.

B)  Create a visualization board. – For most of us, our mind sees the world in images and we remember images more clearly compared to text and numbers.  A visualization board is basically a large bulletin board filled with clear images of what you want to achieve.  This added visual stimulation can help invoke powerful emotions that will constantly drive your motivation.

If you want to lose weight and get back down a few pants sizes, put an old photo of yourself up on the board.  If you want your blog to start making a thousand dollars a month, find a few success stories online of people that have achieved that goal and stick it up on the board.  You get the idea.  Position the board right next to your work area so you can see it while you work toward your goals.

C)  Form a small mastermind group. – A mastermind group is your support group.  And believe me, this group is a vital entity to your success.  The group can consist of any amount of people (at least 2), but the important thing is that everyone in the group must share similar goals.  It doesn’t help much when you are trying to lose 30 lbs and other members in the group have goals of setting up their own company.

A mastermind group helps to hold all its members accountable.  This will help you maintain consistency in taking action even when laziness gets the best of you.  Be sure to meet with your mastermind group at least once a week.

D)  Create a daily action plan with actionable tasks. – Bullet points A, B and C help you to sustain the desire and motivation to achieve your goals.  This will ensure that you will not give up halfway though and fall backwards on your rear end.  But you also need a real, actionable plan that you can follow every day until you actually do achieve your goals.

Every morning, brainstorm for tasks that will help to bring you closer to your goals and write them down.  Try to create three small actionable tasks each morning and complete them before you go to sleep.  Make them a priority and fit them into your schedule.  Whether you complete them or not makes a big difference in whether or not you will succeed.

If you find it hard to generate the small daily tasks or an actionable plan that will bring you closer to your goals, seek out a mentor, search online, or purchase a book on goal setting.

Here are three books I highly recommend:

• Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
• Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Breaking down your goals will help you avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed.  When you are creating your action plan, keep the short-term tasks in mind instead of obsessing over the long-term end result.  Obsessing over long-term results just creates stress.  It is far easier to think on a short-term task-related basis. And as long as you complete your tasks, the results will take care of themselves.  For instance, if you want to write a book, don’t obsess about completing the book (long-term results oriented), just focus on writing a page or two a day (short-term task-related) and soon you will have your book completed.

E)  Set a deadline. – You will also need to set a deadline for your goal.  A long-term goal without a deadline will not instill any sense of urgency in you.  And defining a deadline also gives you something to look forward to.

Take Action

This step doesn’t need a long explanation.  Just take your daily action plan that we created above and DO IT!  More than anything, successfully achieving any goal hinges on the simple act of making a decision to absorb yourself fully in the process of getting things done – actually taking action.

Review Your Progress Regularly

An airplane goes slightly off its set course 70 to 80 percent of the time during an average flight, but the pilots always manage to land it in the exact location they intended.  How?  It’s quite simple.  Every time they go off course, they make a slight adjustment to correct it.

Reviewing your goals regularly will help you to check your progress to determine if any adjustments are required. In addition, monitoring your progress will also likely motivate you to try even harder.  Whenever we see positive results, we have the tendency to take more action so we can see more positive results.

Parting Words

This article was inspired by one of the comments I recently received over on my blog.  It seems that people are often frustrated that they can’t stick to their goals and achieve the results they want in life.  I hope this article helps.  I would love to hear some feedback from you in the comments section below.  I’ll be sure to follow-up.  Cheers.

Author’s Bio: Vincent writes about personal development over at Health Money Success.  His aim is to help people awaken the sleeping genius within them so they can achieve their desired success in life.  He has also created a free ebook called Unleash Your Maximum Potential.

Photo by: James Jordan

I’ve been racking up quite a few frequent flyer miles on business travel lately.  So today I figured I’d share some of the essential tools and gadgets from my road warrior toolbox.  These are the tools and gadgets I’ve come to absolutely rely on – the ones that make me more productive when I’m sky-riding at 35,000 feet, waiting in an airport lounge, or driving a rental car somewhere between here and there.  And since I’m a bit of a geek, the list certainly has a geeky twist to it.

1. Travelpro Crew 7 Expandable Rollaboard Suitcase – Hey, if it was good enough for George Clooney in the movie ‘Up in the Air,’ it’s good enough for me.  But in all seriousness, I have gone through my fair share of luggage and this is the perfect suitcase for the hardcore road warrior.  It’s big enough to cram a week’s worth of clothing into and small enough to use as a carry-on.
2. Cradlepoint CTR-350 Cellular Travel Router – The CTR-350 is a great mobile Broadband/Wi-Fi router.  It’s designed to use a mobile broadband data device (I’m using Sprint’s 595U) and provide access to it via Wi-Fi.  It works right out of the box in the default configuration, though you probably want to enable wireless security after testing it out, or else everyone will have access to it.
3. Sprint Aircard 595U – Okay, so I figured I couldn’t make my CTR-350 recommendation in bullet #2 without also mentioning the awesome mobile broadband device I use with it.  I been through a few different mobile broadband devices over the last few years and this is by far my favorite.  It’s fast, reliable, and easy to configure.  It gives me endless hours of fast broadband access on the go, which is precisely what I require.  Note: My company also let me try the Sierra Wireless Overdrive Hotspot. And while cool in concept, it just doesn’t work as reliably as the CTR-350 and 595U do in combination.
4. Apple iPad or Amazon Kindle – I know, I know… Why own both, right?  Well, I owned a Kindle for reading books and then I went out and bought an iPad for everything else.  The Kindle is still better for reading books, but the iPad is much more versatile.  I rarely take both with me on the road at the same time, but I always have one or the other.  It just depends on whether I think I’ll be doing more book reading or more online reading, tweeting, etc.
5. MacBook Pro 13.3 Inch Laptop – It’s small, super quick, reliable, versatile… pretty much the best darn laptop I have ever owned.  And it looks sexy too.  If you don’t own a MacBook yet, you should consider giving this one a try.
6. Kensington iPhone Battery Pack and Charger (and my iPhone) – The iPhone is a no-brainer.  But what’s the best accessory I’ve ever purchased for my iPhone?  Well, that would be the Kensington iPhone Battery Pack and Charger.  It’s compatible with the iPhone 3GS/3G/2G, some iPods, and any mobile device with a mini-USB connector.  I have charged my iPhone from empty to full with this life saving road warrior device many times.
7. Dropbox – This online file storage service works flawlessly and is extremely easy to integrate.  It allows me to grab documents, presentations, custom scripts, etc. and view them on my iPad or Macbook on the go.  Dropbox also allows me to create public links to my files (even really large files) so I can share them with others via email or social media.
8. Persol 2720 Sunglasses – Polarized crystal lens guaranteed to protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful rays wherever you are.  Oh, and James Bond wears them too.  So yeah, I feel ten times cooler when I have them on.
9. Multi-Use Car Charger – Because a cell phone with no battery juice is useless when your rental car breaks down on the side of the road during a long road trip.  My multi-use car charger allows me to charge up to four devices at once.  This unit turns one auto cigarette lighter port into two, has two USB charging ports, and provides a heavy-duty 20 amp capacity.
10. Small Moleskine Notebook – These days, almost all of my work is performed digitally on my Macbook or iPad, but when it comes time for a brainstorming session my Moleskine notebook is my tool of choice.  The analog nature of the Moleskine notebook and a ballpoint pen somehow sets my mind free when I need to grind out a few new ideas.  And it’s so ultra portable, I pretty much bring it with me wherever I go.

What are some of the best travel gadgets and tools you’ve used recently?  Do you have any additional recommendations for us geeky business travelers?  Please share them with us in the comments.

Photo by: Victor