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The Major Obstacle to Financial Success

July 1st, 2009

By Brian Tracy

The major mental obstacle to financial success is that some people believe that they don’t really deserve to be rich.

The Biggest Demotivator of All
They have been raised with a steady drumbeat of destructive criticism, as I was, that has led them to conclude, at an unconscious level, that they don’t really deserve to be successful and happy. The worst effect of negative experiences in childhood, which are all too common, is that when people actually do succeed as the result of hard work, they feel guilty. These guilt feelings then cause them to do things to get rid of the money, to throw it away. They spend it or invest it foolishly. They lend it, lose it or give it away. They engage in self-sabotage, in the form of overeating, excessive drinking, drug usage, marital infidelity and often dramatic personality changes. To change your results with money, you have to change your attitude toward it.

Treat Money With Care and Attention
The fact is that money is very much like a lover. It must be courted and coaxed and flattered and treated with care and attention. It gravitates toward people who respect it and value it and are capable of doing worthwhile things with it. It flows through the fingers and flees from people who do not understand it, or who do not take proper care of it.

Become Skilled With Money
Sometimes people say that they are not very good with money. But being good with money is a skill that anyone can learn through practice. Usually, saying that one is not very good with money is merely an excuse or a rationalization for the fact that the person is not very successful or disciplined with money. The person has not learned how to acquire it or to hold on to it.

Be A No-Limit Thinker
The starting point of accumulating money is for you to believe that you have an unlimited capacity to obtain all the money that you will ever need. Look upon yourself as a financial success just waiting for a place to happen. And see yourself as deserving all you can honestly acquire.

Open Any Door
Money is good. Money gives you choices and enables you to live your life the way you want to live it. Money opens doors for you that would have been closed in its absence. But just like anything, an obsession can be hurtful. If a person becomes so preoccupied with money that he loses sight of the fact that money is merely a tool that is to be used to acquire happiness, then money becomes a harmful thing.

Money is Neutral
The Bible says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” It doesn’t say, “money is the root of all evil.” It says, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” It is the preoccupation with money, to the exclusion of the really important things in life that is the problem, not the money itself. Money is essential to our lives in society. It is also neutral. It is neither good nor bad. It is only the way that it is acquired and the uses to which it is put that determines whether it is helpful or hurtful.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, recognize and accept that virtually everyone who has money today at one time was broke and probably broke for a long time. Then they learned the skills of accumulating money and they are now financially independent. Whatever they have done, you can probably do as well.

Second, become a student of money from this day forward. Study it, learn about it and apply the lessons you discover toward your own financial life until you begin to attract more and more money in your direction.

kennethg self improvement, success , , , , , , ,

Get Customers to Sell For You

June 23rd, 2009

By Brian Tracy

Why People Buy
Fully 84 percent of sales in America take place as the result of word-of-mouth advertising. Some of the most important sales promotion and sales activities are those that take place between customers and prospects, between friends and colleagues, in the form of advice and recommendations on what to buy, or not buy, and who to buy from.

Join the Top 10%
The only way that you can be among the top ten percent of salespeople in your industry is by having your existing customers selling for you on every occasion. Because of the importance of mega-credibility in selling, your customers must be happy to open doors to new customers for you wherever they go.

Never Prospect Again
All top salespeople eventually reach the point where they seldom have to prospect because their customers do much of their selling for them. When you live your life consistent with your personal and business mission statements, both fitting together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, your sales career will soar, as will your sales results and your earnings.

Be Clear About Who You Are
One important point with regard to vision, values and mission statements: be gentle with yourself. It has taken you your whole life to become the person you are today. If you are like everyone else, you are not perfect. You have lots of room to grow and improve. There are many changes that you can make in your character and personality in the course of becoming the excellent human being that you aspire to. But change in your personality will not come easily, and it won’t come overnight. You must be patient.

Persist Until You Succeed
The reason that people grow and become better and better over the course of time, is because they persist gently in the direction of their goals and dreams. They don’t expect overnight transformations. When they don’t see results immediately, they don’t get discouraged. They just keep on keeping on. And you must do the same.

Put Your Ideas Into Action
Once you have a clear idea of the person you want to be and the kind of life and career you want to create, just take the first step. Read your mission statements every day as you go about your activities, think of the different ways that you could practice the virtues and qualities that you are in the process of incorporating into your own personality.

Remember, it is only your actions with regard to other people that really demonstrate the kind of person you have become. And if you persist long enough, you will eventually shape yourself into the exact person that you have imagined.

Action Exercises
First, treat every customer as if he is going to be a great source of word-of-mouth advertising for you. Remember that every person knows about 300 other people.

Second, resolve to become better and better in your dealings with others but be gentle with yourself. Behave every day in every way the best you can be and you will be sure to get results.

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Your Two Financial Choices

June 21st, 2009

By Matt Furey

Let’s play a game. Just for a moment I’d like you to pretend that I’m going to give you some money.

You have two choices in this game:

The first choice, I give you one million dollars right now.

The second choice, I give you one dollar, and I double it every day for 30 days.

If you’re like most people in this country – and the world – you’d take option number one.

And what a foolish mistake that would be.

Why? Because if I give you one dollar today and double it every day for 30 days, at the end of 30 days, you will have been given over $500 million.

In fact, the total after 30 days would be $536,870,912.

And if you could hang on for one more day, you’d have over a billion bucks – $1,073,741,824.

Most people, without thinking, would ask for the million up front. They want INSTANT GRATIFICATION. Yet, as Chinese philosopher and martial artist Deng Ming Dao once inscribed to me in a book, “In discipline lies freedom.”

I was recently reminded of this when I read Joachim de Posada’s sensational book Don’t Eat the Marshmallow… Yet

Don’t Eat the Marshmallow… Yet has already sold over two million copies – and there’s no end in sight, because it teaches the “sweet” secret of success that few have the guts to share.

The book begins with a Stanford University study.

A group of children were put in a room, and each one was given a marshmallow. A researcher told the children that they could eat the marshmallow right away – but if they waited 15 minutes before eating it, they’d get another one as a reward.

Then the researcher left the room.

Most of the kids ate the marshmallow immediately. But when researchers tracked the group over many years, they found that those who held out turned out to be much more successful as adults.

It wasn’t because they were smarter, cuter, had better genes, or were more skilled. It was because they had the ability to delay gratification.

What about you?

Do you “eat the marshmallow”? Or do you do that which will bring greater prosperity your way?

Each month, when you receive payment for work performed, do you pay yourself first and force yourself to save at least 10 percent of it? Or do you do the easy thing and pay everyone else first, so there’s never anything left to invest in your future?

In the evening, do you eat the marshmallow by watching hour after hour of television or gossiping with friends? Or do you save the marshmallow by reading, writing, exercising, or working on a plan to get ahead and stay ahead?

Do you invest in information products that will help you learn how to improve your economic situation? Or do you eat the marshmallow by blowing your money on fancy food and entertainment?

Two choices.

Which will it be?

kennethg Life, self improvement, success , , , , , ,

Leveraging Your Financial Potential

May 29th, 2009

By Brian Tracy

Know the Right People

One of the greatest forms of financial leverage is contacts. Knowing the right people and being known by them can open doors for you that can save you years of hard work. The quality and quantity of your contacts and your relationships will have more to do with your success than perhaps any other factor.

Here are three things you can do to expand your list of contacts. First, make a list of the 25 people you feel it would be most useful for you to get to know. Develop a strategy to get to meet everyone of them over the next 12 months. Then make a list of 25 more.

List the people in charge of the major corporations that would be useful for you to know. List the mayor, list the congressmen, list the senator. List the important people that it would be helpful for you to know and then make a plan to meet them.

Network at Every Opportunity

Second is for you to network at every opportunity. Join business and trade associations. Attend meetings. Get involved. Volunteer for service on a key committee. This action alone can cut years off your career.

Once, when I was working with the Chamber of Commerce, I came to the attention of a senior executive who hired me away from the company I was working for a year later at triple the salary. Meeting people is very important. Network at every opportunity.

Get Involved in the Community

The third way is to get involved in community service organizations. The best people in every community, the people you should know and who should know you, are usually involved in public service in some way. Start with the United Way in your own city, or get involved in any charity that you care about or that you’re interested in. You’ll be amazed at the quality of people that you’ll meet doing voluntary service.

Unlock Your Creativity

Another form of leverage is creativity. Remember, one new idea is all you need to start a fortune. Everyone has the ability to come up with creative ideas and solutions if they look for them. All great fortunes begin with an idea.

Create Good Work Habits

A powerful form of leverage that can help you is good work habits. Good work habits make an extraordinary difference. In a recent study, 104 chief executive officers all agreed that the ability to set priorities and then to get the job done fast were the two qualities that most readily led to promotion and increases in pay. Good work habits will bring you to the attention of the important people in your life as fast or faster than anything else you can do. In the final analysis, you always get paid for your results. If you develop a reputation for being the person who gets the job done fast, that alone can put you onto the fast track in your career.

Your Action Assignment

Now, here are two things you can do to leverage your financial potential:

First, get involved in the business, trade, civic and social organizations in your community. Once you become a member, off er to help and serve on committees. This will bring you to the attention of people who can help you faster than any other way.

Second, develop excellent work habits. Be punctual. Plan your work and work your plan. Always concentrate your conscious energies on high priority tasks and make sure that you are doing things that are important to your boss and to your company.

kennethg Business, money, self improvement, success , , , , , , , ,

Succeeding @ Home

May 26th, 2009

Virtually anybody can succeed with their home business, yet the majority fails. Why? Here’s three main reasons.

Not Really Getting Started

Often people sign up for some programme or another and think that is all there is to it, and that the money will come rolling it – WRONG!

As with anything, getting started is the hardest part, requiring planning and organization. Get this part right and the momentum you create will push your business forward in leaps and bounds. Any reputable programme will have all the information you require to get your home business off to a flying start.

 

Half Hearted Approach

Many people fall into this category. “Oh well, I gave it a try a while ago, but it didn’t not work out for me, did not really expect it to work anyway.” These people are just looking for an excuse to fail. This is an attitude that we acquire as we grow up, as child failure was not part of our vocabulary.

Take learning to ride a bicycle. You probably fell off more than once, and it did hurt, but that did not stop you did it? you’d get back on it until you mastered the skill.

It’s the same with your home business as you will have falls. It is all part of the learnig curve. You will learn a lot more from these slight setbacks.

 

Belief

This is probably the most common category, and also the biggest difference between successful people and the vast majority of people – no matter what walk of life they come from.

Everyone has dreams and ideas.

The differenceis that successful people have the belief and conviction to make thei ideas happen, doing whatever is needed to fulfill their dreams.

If you do not really believe in your home business, you cannot convince anyone else. Believe in your business and other people will believe; and your business will thrive.

 

Getting Started

This can seem a pretty daunting task and this is where most people fail, but dont worry. Even if you know absolutely nothing about home business, all reputable programmes will supply you with help, information and support that you require to ensure that your business is a success

Once you have made the decision to start your own home business, keep focused on what motivated you to start in the first place. This will provide the drive to push your home business forward.

A final thought – What if you were to take the action required today? What might your lfestyle be like in a year?

kennethg Business, Internet Business, self improvement, success , ,

How One Entrepreneur Went from $4 Million to $40 Million in One Year Using the Secret Code of Success

May 26th, 2009

By Noah St. John

I had just gotten off the stage at a major marketing conference when the founder of a nationally known software company (you’ve seen their commercials on TV) came up and said something that stopped me in my tracks:

“Noah, one thing you just said on stage changed my life. I never realized that I’ve been living my life with one foot on the brake. And if I just get my foot off the brake, I’ll be much more successful.”

He told me that his company had been “stuck” at $4 million a year for the previous four years. (My first thought was: “Gee, a lot of people would like to be ‘stuck’ at $4 million!”) He asked if I would coach him on how to stop holding himself back from success. Since I’ve been doing that for companies and individuals since 1997, I said “Sure.”

What I coached him in is what I call it The Secret Code of Success. I call it a “Secret Code” because even the people using it don’t know what they’re doing!

It’s like asking Tiger Woods to explain how he got so mentally tough or Bill Gates to tell you how he made so much money. These highly successful people do certain things that they’re totally unaware of, because they are unconsciously competent at allowing themselves to succeed. They might be able to tell you some of the steps they took to get there – but because they’re unconsciously competent at letting themselves succeed, there will always be something missing in their explanation.

Let me explain what I mean by “unconsciously competent.”

To become unconsciously competent at any skill, you go through four levels:

Unconscious incompetence - when you don’t know that you don’t know how to do it

Conscious incompetence – when you know that you don’t know how to do it

Conscious competence – when you know that you know how to do it

Unconscious competence – when you do it without any conscious thought

Happy, wealthy people – whom I call the Naturals – are highly successful for the precise reason that they are unconsciously competent at allowing themselves to succeed.

Which brings us back to our software entrepreneur. When I walked him through what the Naturals are doing (without being consciously aware of it), he began to understand why, even though he’d spent a lot of time and money taking “how to succeed” programs, he couldn’t move forward.

Here are the three essential steps he took to get his foot off the brake:

1. Show appreciation for those who have made a difference in your life.

Human beings are starving for attention, appreciation, and acknowledgement. Research has shown that people will do more for acknowledgement than for money, because appreciation is the true currency of human interaction.

There are dozens of ways to acknowledge the people in your life, but what it really comes down to is your willingness to do so. That’s because everyone is wearing an invisible sign that says “Please make me feel important.” The problem is, you’re wearing that sign too!

If you become that one person in a million who is willing to make others feel important first, you’ll see an amazing turnaround in your relationships… just like our entrepreneur did.

2. Become aware of the ways you’re holding yourself back at the same time as you’re pushing yourself forward.

When I’m on stage and explain that most people are driving down the road of life with one foot on the brake, many in my audience tell me it never occurred to them that they could be stopping themselves at the same time as they’re driving forward.

This happens because the Why-To’s of Success are conscious, but the Why-Not-To’s of Success are subconscious. Everyone has reasons to want to succeed. (Those are the Why-To’s.) At the same time, most of us have hidden reasons for holding ourselves back. (Those are the Why-Not-To’s.) What made this concept truly life-changing for our entrepreneur (and for thousands of others who’ve learned The Code) was understanding that:

Because they’re subconscious, your Why-Not-To’s of Success are hidden even from you. No one gets up in the morning and says, “I think I’ll hold myself back from success today!”

The Naturals of Success have eliminated their Why-Not-To’s of Success. But because they’ve never had their own foot on the brake, they can’t possibly tell someone else how to get it off. That’s why there’s always something missing when they try to explain their “secrets of success.”

3. Realize the benefit of regular mentoring to achieve your goals.

While the rest of us often feel adrift and alone, the Naturals either always had, or unconsciously created, Systems of Support that allowed them to reach their goals faster, easier, and with less effort.

Having that kind of support made all the difference in the Naturals’ lives, and it can make a big difference in your life, too. One way to get the support you need to succeed is to find a mentor or coach who:

Understands and believes in you

Doesn’t make you feel wrong for wanting what you want

Gives you solid, doable action steps to reach your goals

Before our software entrepreneur heard me speak on stage, his company had been “stuck” at $4 million a year for the previous four years. But because he knew he was capable of much more, it was just as frustrating for him as it would be for someone making much less.

With just 90 days of coaching in The Code, he learned how to take his foot off the brake. His company’s revenues exploded from $4 million to $40 million in less than a year.

And now, every time I see his commercials on TV, I smile. Because his success is just one more example of what can happen when you take your foot off the brake.

kennethg Business, self improvement, success , , , ,

Your Date with Destiny

April 29th, 2009

by Chris Widener

Destiny. What a powerful word. And the great thing about it? Everyone has one! You have a destiny! Another great thing about destiny? We have a significant role in shaping our own destiny! In essence, you can choose your date with destiny – powerful!

Your destiny is the dream that lies within you of your desired and preferred future. And the things that we choose each day are what lead us to that destiny: Our actions, our words, our attitudes, and our relationships. They all add up to develop and shape that date on which we will reach our destiny.

Here are some thoughts to think about as you work on shaping your Date with Destiny:

The Mental Question: Do you believe that you can achieve a life of abundance? The frank truth is that many people simply do not believe that they can achieve what lies in their heart. Success is for someone else, a better person, or a smarter person. This is not true and is perhaps the greatest obstacle we face on the journey to our destiny. If we are to achieve the abundance in life we must first believe we can, or face our own continual self-sabotage of what a college professor of mine called “stinkin’-thinkin.’”

Here is the truth:
It doesn’t matter what your intelligence is.
It doesn’t matter what your current resources are.
It doesn’t matter what you currently earn.
It doesn’t matter what family you came from.

Nothing in your current circumstances matters in whether or not you can achieve your destiny! Nothing! Now, your current state may make it a longer or harder journey than someone else, but the possibility is always there no matter what your current circumstances are.

And that is the message we need to continually tell ourselves. “I can do it.” Not “I can’t do it.”

Clear vision. Do you have one of your destiny? Here are some questions to determine whether or not your vision is clear.

Can you describe it in intricate detail?
Can you “see” it?
Can you “feel” it?
Can you “hear” it?

Here are a couple of illustrations.

Perhaps you came from a dysfunctional family and your dream is to have great moments with your family. Let’s start with a Thanksgiving meal. Can you see each person there? What are they wearing? Are they smiling? What is the conversation? Can you hear the laughter? Can you experience the joy? Can you smell the turkey? Can you see people hugging each other and saying “This was wonderful,” as they leave?

Another scenario: Your company. Can you see the large building you are in? Can you see the workers? Can you feel the positive attitude they have as they carry out their work? Can you experience the excitement as you get the quarterly results? Can you see yourself handing out healthy bonuses that bring pleasant surprises to your employees?

This is where it begins. A clear vision of your destiny.

Consider your resources. Are you aware of the resources you will need in order to set your date with destiny? Do you know how you will go about getting them? What are your natural gifts and talents that you have? How can you best utilize them in achieving your destiny?

What is your current level of resources?
Money?
Time?
Emotional health?
Help from others such as friends, family, employees or volunteers?

What will be your needed future level of resources? And have you developed a plan to achieve this level?

The last thing I would encourage you to do is fix a date in the future that you believe you could be living your destiny by. A real date. What this enables you to do is then begin to work backwards in setting goals to move you along the way, providing you with future points to strive for and an evaluation point to reflect upon.

Here are the points again:

Answer the mental question: Do I really believe?

Develop a clear vision.

Consider the resources needed.

Set a date with destiny.

Develop a plan to get there.

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The Keys to Great Wealth

March 31st, 2009

Recently, I led a round-table discussion with people whose net worth ranged from “comfortable” to approaching a billion dollars. All of them have achieved significant financial wealth, and all of them have done it on their own. There was no inherited money in this group! I asked them what they did to accumulate money, and for advice to pass along in TIPS. Here are the results:

1. Save 10% of everything you make, no matter what. The percentage varied slightly, but they were unanimous on the key point: Live within your means and save money every month.

2. Invest for the long haul. They pointed to Warren Buffet and noted that he buys and holds a stock for 20 years or longer. Invest in good stocks or properties that you understand, and hold on!

3. Avoid debt. They talked about raising capital for their businesses (sometimes borrowing from investors), but insisted that personal debt be eliminated. One woman said, “consumer debt is devastating. If you want to achieve financial wealth, kill your credit cards.” Another added, “no car or boat or anything else is worth the cost (financial and emotional) of borrowing money.”

4. Crunch the numbers. They talked about doing their financial statements “every month, no matter what.” Another added, “Only the numbers tell you how you’re really doing; you’ve got to watch them like a hawk and use the information every day.”

5. Have a plan. They expect their investments to grow steadily over the years (not over-night), and they plan accordingly. They emphasized setting 20, 30, even 50-year financial goals.

6. Know that money is one way of keeping score, but it’s not the game itself. Money comes from investing or creating or doing something other people value and will pay for. They emphasized that “it’s fun to have nice things” but noted that the money was secondary to doing “interesting things.”

All of them had stories of starting out with school loans, small children, a “stuffy little apartment,” working for minimum wage or eating “lots of macaroni and cheese,” and yet knowing that they could “achieve some measure of success.” Now, they’ve done it, and so can you. We can learn from the experts!

kennethg budget, Goal Setting, Investment, Life, money, self improvement, success , , , , , , , , ,

Mental Attitude

March 28th, 2009

Success is in the blood. There are men whom fate can never keep down they march forward in a jaunty manner, and take by divine right the best of everything that the earth affords. But their success is not attained by means of the Samuel Smiles-Connecticut policy. They do not lie in wait, nor scheme, nor fawn, nor seek to adapt their sails to catch the breeze of popular favor. Still, they are ever alert and alive to any good that may come their way, and when it comes they simply appropriate it, and tarrying not, move steadily on.

Good health! Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every hand-clasp.

Do not fear being misunderstood; and never waste a moment thinking about your enemies
. Try to fix firmly in your own mind what you would like to do, and then without violence of direction you will move straight to the goal.

Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate the shoal on which many a barque is stranded. When we become fearful, the judgment is as unreliable as the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we have unshipped the rudder; and if ever we stop to meditate on what the gossips say, we have allowed a hawser to foul the screw.

Keep your mind on the great and splendid thing you would like to do; and then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the elements that it needs. Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought that you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual you so admire.

Thought is supreme, and to think is often better than to do.

Preserve a right mental attitude the attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer.

Darwin and Spencer have told us that this is the method of Creation. Each animal has evolved the parts it needed and desired. The horse is fleet because he wishes to be; the bird flies because it desires to; the duck has a web foot because it wants to swim. All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered. We become like that on which our hearts are fixed.

Many people know this, but they do not know it thoroughly enough so that it shapes their lives. We want friends, so we scheme and chase ‘cross lots after strong people, and lie in wait for good folks or alleged good folks hoping to be able to attach ourselves to them. The only way to secure friends is to be one. And before you are fit for friendship you must be able to do without it. That is to say, you must have sufficient self-reliance to take care of yourself, and then out of the surplus of your energy you can do for others.

The individual who craves friendship, and yet desires a self-centered spirit more, will never lack for friends.

If you would have friends, cultivate solitude instead of society. Drink in the ozone; bathe in the sunshine; and out in the silent night, under the stars, say to yourself again and yet again, “I am a part of all my eyes behold!” And the feeling then will come to you that you are no mere interloper between earth and heaven; but you are a necessary part of the whole. No harm can come to you that does not come to all, and if you shall go down it can only be amid a wreck of worlds.

Like old Job, that which we fear will surely come upon us. By a wrong mental attitude we have set in motion a train of events that ends in disaster. People who die in middle life from disease, almost without exception, are those who have been preparing for death. The acute tragic condition is simply the result of a chronic state of mind a culmination of a series of events.

Character is the result of two things, mental attitude, and the way we spend our time. It is what we think and what we do that make us what we are.

By laying hold on the forces of the universe, you are strong with them. And when you realize this, all else is easy, for in your arteries will course red corpuscles, and in your heart the determined resolution is born to do and to be. Carry your chin in and the crown of your head high. We are gods in the chrysalis.

kennethg Life, self improvement, Spirituality, success, Time Management, Tips , , , , , , ,

Impossible is Just a Word

March 25th, 2009

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn’t fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn’t dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can’t do this. It’s too hard. It’s too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Fortunately for the bumble bee, no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

kennethg Goal Setting, Life, self improvement, success , , , , ,