As we go throughout business and life, many of us will set use goals to focus our attention and activities.  This is a highly important activity, because the process of writing our goals down gives them a feeling of tangible reality that is frequently absent when they exist only within our mind.  Of course, goal setting can be a tricky science since setting goals that are too easy will lead to a lack of achievement, and setting goals that are too hard will lead to discouragement as our goals go by without being met.

One of the intellectual godparents of personal success is Dennis Waitley.  His library of books, speeches, and presentations about achieving your goals have become legend among those who seek to scale the heights of great achievement.  The way that Dr. Waitley describes the ideal formation of goals is that they should be “Just out of reach, but not out of sight.”

Just out of Reach, but Not out of Sight

The subtle wit and wisdom of Dennis Waitley demonstrates the dichotomy of goal setting in a highly poetic and beautiful manner.  Goals should be set just beyond our current abilities and achievement to force ourselves to stretch.  The process of growth requires that we push beyond our current limitations to do things that we previously thought to be unachievable.  This phenomenon also plays itself out in the natural world as well.  Body builders know all too well that muscles grow by breaking down the existing fibers so that they grow back larger and stronger.  In this way, training to achieve new heights means that we must constantly break down what has already been achieved so that it can come back even stronger than before.

In keeping with the metaphor of personal training, it is also important to avoid over training.  Many aspiring athletes fall into the trap of attempting to build their strength and endurance too quickly, and incur injuries.  In regard to our goals and ambitions, setting goals that are too ambitious and too difficult will generate injuries to our drive and ambition.  Thus, goal setting is fundamentally about striking a balance that is ‘just right’ between being too easy and too hard.

Now that You Have a Goal, How do You Stick to It?

Once a person has set their goals, the next step is to continue pursuing that goal throughout the difficulties and temporary failure that frequently accompany worthwhile achievement.  The process of growth and development is frequently uncomfortable, since it involves simultaneously stretching beyond our current limits and temporarily failing to reach our desired goals.  This make sit very easy to become discouraged and possibly even give up on achieving our goals.

The answer to this natural tendency is to find a goal that naturally holds our attention, without consistent conscious effort.  This is the motivation behind David Schwartz’s book: The Magic of Thinking Big.  The insight that David Schwartz unfolds in his book is the transformative effect of setting goals that are big and inspiring.  Of course, this philosophy runs the risk of setting a goal that is too ambitious and results in discouraging failure.

So what is a person to do?  Goal setting is supposed to be about something that is both meaningful and achievable, but sticking to a goal is easiest when the goal is big and inspiring.  These two concepts appear to be in conflict with one another.  So how can we possibly set a realistic goal that is simultaneously big and inspiring?  To answer this, we need to think outside of traditional thought patters.  The first idea to wrap our mind around is the notion that there is no limitation to the size and scope of goals that we can set or undertake.  Thus, it is quite possible (and even recommended) that we select a large, inspiring goal and break that big goal into many smaller steps that are each sequentially achievable.

One Big Goal and Many Smaller Goals

The combination of a single big, inspiring objective, and many smaller goals that are sequential, achievable, and all lead to one single motivating objective.  It is likely that these smaller goals will build upon one another until they result in the single large goal that you set out to achieve in the first place.  The big goal serves to motivate our efforts and keeps our mind on the goal when progress slows and prospects become discouraging.  The small goals serve to systematically grow our achievement and abilities with small, achievable steps.

Thus, the ‘secret’ of goal setting is neither to set “realistic” goals, nor to set “big” ones.  The answer is to do both.  Motivation and ambition are deeply personal and individual sentiments.  The first step in keeping your mind on the goal is to find a primary goal that is inspiring enough to hold your attention without conscious effort.  Once this goal has been selected, break it down into small, achievable steps.

Ultimately, keeping our mind on the goals we seek to achieve is really about making sure that the goal we are pursuing is sufficiently inspiring to hold our attention naturally.  Keeping your mind on the goal is really about finding a big goal that is always on your mind, and consistently reminds of of the smaller goals that are a necessary part of its acquisition.

It is not possible to consistently focus our minds on everything.  Life is a serious of increasing and decreasing focus.  The wealth of information we live in the midst of creates a deficit of attention.  The power of a big, inspiring goal is that it regularly pulls our attention in the direction of our specific goals, and only requires a small amount of incremental focus.  In the end, holding to your goals requires both the existence of an inspiring end-goal, and many smaller goals that all contribute to the single, larger objective.  By keeping the power of inspiration and achievement in balance, it will allow you to steadily move toward achieving the goals and ambitions of your life.

 

By nature, many entrepreneurs are inventors and good at solving problems. But how easily, or naturally, do these creative and practical processes come to most people? How can we harness the right frame of mind to make money and improve productivity?

The part of the brain that sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is our prefrontal cortex (PFC). It is the “executive” part of the brain — the moneymaker. It regulates emotions, thoughts and ideas and makes success and fulfillment possible.

But the PFC must be coaxed into action. Vanderbilt University management professor Richard Daft says that the average human spends only about 2 percent to 10 percent of their time each day using the executive brain. The vast majority of our time is spent reacting reflexively, just like the other animals on the planet.

When it comes to landing your next big deal, which frame of mind do you think would be your better asset?

The better characteristics fall under the executive mind. Now, imagine what you could produce if you could add just one more percentage point to your own executive category. Consider these five ways to cajole your reluctant PFC into action and harness your brain power to maximize productivity:

1. Lead it. Direct your brain to focus on something. You decide what your PFC will attend to, as opposed to allowing it to scan the environment for something novel and interesting. This is a deliberate, executive-level function that requires your full effort. The more you focus, the more insights you get.
2. Weed it. Avoid messy thinking by moderating what’s on your mind. If you don’t, your brain might take the break it needs without asking your permission. When this happens, it will shut down and go into the reactive animal brain. This can lead to trouble.One way to “weed out” the items on your brain’s plate is to turn off every device that can contact or distract you for one hour each day, close your door and work on just one task. You’ll probably get more work accomplished in that hour of focused time than you would in four hours filled with distractions.

   Also, tell your brain what you deem most important by prioritizing your to-do list. If you don’t prioritize, your brain might go for what’s easy, which may not be ideal.

3. Speed it. Give your memory a break and speed up your thinking. Instead of trying to remember all that you have to do, write it down. By redirecting this energy you will have more to draw upon to be creative and productive. Thinking slows down when you overcrowd your brain with disparate things to recall.
4. Rest it. We all know the virtues of a good night’s sleep. But daytime rest is critical to fueling the brain as well. Taking regular quiet intervals to allow your PFC to do what it wants to in the first place — wander and reflect — helps to prime it for the more critical tasks of thinking and problem solving.Take a walk or distract yourself with something completely off subject throughout your day. Creating deliberate distractions will prepare you for bursts of brilliance.
5. Feed it. Your brain operates on glucose and oxygen. It eats up about 20 percent of your total body glucose. If you’re a hard-charging person who skips meals, or eats foods that are high in fat, you’re not giving your brain a chance to bring in the next really big idea.Try complex carbohydrates and sugars found in potatoes, brown rice, grains, fruit and vegetables. Feed your brain well and it will more than feed you.

Article source: Entrepreneur.com

 

One of the ideas that is very familiar in our current world is the notion of a competition.  Many times, this is most prominently demonstrated in sporting events such as the Super Bowl or the Olympics.  In these types of competitive situations, there is a small number of ‘winners’ and many ‘losers.’  In this environment of a ‘zero sum game’ there is only one championship and there can only be one winner.

Unfortunately, many people equate the ‘zero sum’ competition of sports to the realm of economics and opportunity as well.  Politicians frequently refer to the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of life or the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ in an attempt to embed the notion that one person’s success must necessarily come at the expense of somebody else.  There is most certainly some competition for customers and markets within the economy, but there is a much more powerful creative phenomenon that many people do not fully understand.

The world of voluntary transactions is vastly different from the world of athletic competition due to one key characteristic.  When transactions are voluntary for both sides, the only way that business takes place is if both people are made better off.  The reason that this conclusion can be made is because people who are not made better off by a particular deal have the option to walk away.

This simple principal holds the ultimate key for creating a life of success.  When you provide something for somebody else that has a value in excess of what they pay for that product or service then you have made their life better.  When they pay you for that product or service, it creates profits that make you better off.  (Note that if either of these cases are not true, either side can simply choose to walk away and seek business elsewhere)

Another highly important aspect of this principal is the notion that you do not need to take anything away from anybody else to become successful.  You only need to provide a product or service to your customers that is sufficiently valuable that they voluntarily part with their money in exchange for what you provide.  Instead of thinking in terms of competing for job opportunities, think in terms of providing a value to your employer that vastly exceeds your compensation.  Instead of thinking in terms of timing investment markets to ‘cash out’ at the opportune time, think in terms of investing in ventures that provide a valuable service to everybody with whom they do business.

The competitive mind is one that thinks in terms of how resources are distributed.  The creative mind is one that thinks in terms of how resources can be increased.  The competitive mind is jealous of what other people achieve.  The creative mind is inspired by what other people achieve.  The competitive mind thinks of ways they can get more.  The creative mind thinks of ways to make more.

Each of us has both the opportunity and responsibility to create our success.  In order to do so, we must develop the maturity to see through the limitations luck and coercive entitlement that grant rewards to some and deny them to others, but do nothing to generate value.  In the end, the only question that remains for each of us to answer is what we are doing today to create success.

 

One of the great mysteries of mankind is that of the human mind and the relationship between its conscious and subconscious elements.  Most of us are well aware of how important conscious decisions are to our lives, since we can see the result of our decisions in a tangible manner.  What remains a great mystery is the effect of our subconscious mind in shaping our thoughts and actions.

One of the great insights made by James Allen in his famous book “As A Man Thinketh” is the fact that thought and character are inextricably linked to one another.  This principal is also reflected in the ‘Law of Attraction,” which outlines how the subject and character of your thoughts attract what you think about toward you.  The thing that remains a mystery to most people is how this effect manifests.

It is important to begin by explaining that the subconscious mind is much less linear than that of conscious decisions.  The subconscious mind works by framing the context in which we perceive situations *before* the conscious mind makes decisions.  The importance of this relationship lies in the fact that consciously acting against your impulses for a prolonged period of time requires a tremendous degree of willpower that is extremely difficult to build and maintain.  The way that we can influence our subconscious mind is by focusing our thoughts on the things we want to achieve.  In a way, our minds are a fertile garden that will grow whatever seeds we choose to plant.  If we are not careful to plant the right seeds, cultivate the soil, and tend the weeds it will result in a tangled nest of thorns & thistles.

The importance of this principal comes from the way that our mind processes and frames each individual situation.  What some people see as a crisis, others see as an opportunity.  The difference comes from the way that our mind has been trained to work.  And in what appears to be a strange twist of destiny, the objects of our concentration will appear to be drawn toward us.  This is not due to some mystical force of the ether . . . it is simply the result of removing the biases that ordinarily impede our vision.  Opportunity is not mystically drawn toward you through occult meditation.  Opportunity is discovered when you train your mind to recognize it.  It is discovered when you remove the mental barriers that have previously stopped your achievement.

Ultimately, the mind of each person truly is a garden.  For those who take the effort to tend the garden of their mind with focused effort, the result will be beautiful achievements and wondrous enlightenment.  For those who leave the garden of their mind to chance, it will undoubtedly be dominated by the weeds of doubt, despair, disappointment, and desolation.  Are you tending the seeds of your future achievement, or are the weeds of disappointment controlling the tenor of your circumstances.