Do You See The Big Picture?
“The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
Peter Daniels is an unusual man whose life reads like a Horatio Alger story.
Born in Australia, his parents were third-generation welfare recipients used to being poor. Peter attended elementary school in Adelaide. Because of a learning disability, he found it difficult to understand and assemble words. Consequently he was labeled stupid by teachers who were either too busy or didn’t care enough to find out why he struggled. One teacher in particular, Miss Phillips, would make Peter stand in front of the class where she would berate him with, “Peter Daniels, you’re a bad boy and you’ll never amount to anything.”
Of course this did nothing for his self-esteem. As a result, he failed every grade in school. One of his earliest career choices was to become a bricklayer. A few years later, married with a young family, he decided to go into business for himself. The first venture failed miserably and he was broke within a year. Undaunted, he saw another opportunity and channeled his energy into making it a success. A similar fate awaited him; he was broke within eighteen months. With steely determination to overcome these setbacks, Peter again launched himself into the competitive world of business, only to end up broke for a third time. He now had the unbelievable track record of going broke three times within five years.
Most people would give up at this point. Not Peter Daniels. His attitude was, “I’m learning and I haven’t made the same mistake twice. This is excellent experience.” Asking his wife Robena to support him one more time, he decided to sell residential and commercial real estate. One skill Peter had honed over the years was his ability to persuade. He was a naturally good promoter. Much of this came from the necessity to deal with a constant stream of creditors who wanted payment. During the next ten years the name Peter Daniels became synonymous with residential and commercial real estate. Through careful selection and astute negotiation he accumulated a portfolio worth several million dollars.
Today Peter Daniels is an internationally acclaimed businessman who has created successful ventures in many countries around the world. His friends include royalty, heads of state, and the leading movers and shakers of the commercial world. He is also a philanthropist who is passionate about helping others, and whose wonderful generosity has funded many Christian endeavors.
When asked what turned his life from triple indebtedness to unprecedented success, he replied, “I scheduled time to think. In fact, I reserve one day a week on my calendar just to think. All of my greatest ideas, opportunities and money-making ventures started with the days I took off to think. I used to lock myself away in my den with strict instructions to my family that under no circumstances was I to be disturbed.” The same strategy worked for Einstein who actually did his pondering in a special thinking chair.
And it transformed the life of Peter Daniels from school failure to multimillionaire. By the way, Peter has now written several bestselling books, one of which was titled Miss Phillips, You Were Wrong!, a reminder to his old teacher not to give up too quickly on her students.
Developing Unusual CLARITY
Another reason why Peter Daniels enjoys continuous success is his ability to create exciting pictures of the future. Most people don’t have a clear picture of what they want. At best it’s fuzzy. What about you?
Do you schedule time regularly to think about your better future? You may say, “It’s okay for Peter Daniels, but I could never find a day each week to think. I need an extra day just to keep up with my present commitments.”
Well, could you start with five minutes and gradually build it to an hour? Wouldn’t that be a good use of your time, spending sixty minutes each week creating an exciting picture of your future? Most people spend more time planning a two-week vacation than they do designing their life, especially their financial future.
Here’s a promise: If you make the effort to develop the habit of unusual clarity, the payoff for you down the road will be tremendous. Whether your desire is to be debt-free, enjoy more time off for fun, build wonderful loving relationships, or contribute to a worthy cause, you can achieve all of this, and more, if you have a crystal-clear picture of what you want.
In the next few pages, you’ll discover a comprehensive strategy that will give you a “big screen” picture of the years ahead. In the following chapters you’ll also learn how to strengthen and support this future vision through the use of specific mentors. In fact, you’ll develop a solid fortress of support that will render you impenetrable to negativity and doubt.
So let’s get started.
The Purpose of GOALS
Are you a conscious goal-setter? If you are, great. However, please read the information we are about to share. Chances are you’ll benefit from the reinforcement, plus this expanded vision of setting goals may give you new insights.
If you don’t consciously set goals, that is, you don’t have a written plan, or set targets for the weeks, months and years ahead, then pay very close attention to this information. It can dramatically improve your life.
First, what is the definition of a goal? If you’re not clear on this, you may get derailed before you start. We’ve heard lots of answers over the years. Here’s one of the best:
A goal is the ongoing pursuit of a worthy objective until accomplished.
Consider the individual words that make up this sentence. “Ongoing” means it’s a process, because goals take time. “Pursuit” indicates a chase may be involved. There will likely be some obstacles and hurdles to overcome. “Worthy” shows that the chase will be worthwhile, that there’s a big enough reward at the end to endure the tough times. “Until accomplished” suggests you’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done. This is not always easy, but essential if you want a life full of outstanding accomplishments.
Setting and achieving goals is one of the best ways to measure your life’s progress and create unusual clarity. Consider the alternative—just drifting along aimlessly, hoping that one day good fortune will fall into your lap with little or no effort on your part. Wake up! You’ve got more chance of finding a grain of sugar on a sandy beach.
The Top-10 Goals CHECKLIST
Talk show host David Letterman created wacky top-10 lists that people actually paid money for. Here’s a list that has a lot more value—a checklist to make sure you’re using a successful framework to set goals. It’s like a smorgasbord. So pick out what seems to fit you best and use it.
1. Your most important goals must be yours.
This sounds obvious. However, a common mistake made by thousands of people is to allow their main goals to be designed by someone else. This could be the company you work for, your industry, your boss, your bank or mortgage company, or your friends and neighbors.
In our workshops we teach people to ask themselves the question, “What do I really want?” At the end of one of these sessions a man came up to us and said, “I’m a dentist. I only went into this profession because my mother wanted me to. I hated it. One day I drilled through the side of a patient’s mouth and ended up having to pay him $475,000.”
Here’s the point: When you let other people or society determine your definition of success, you’re sabotaging your future. So put a stop to that right away.
Think about this for a moment. The media has one of the strongest influences on you when it comes to making decisions. And most people buy into it daily. In fact, if you live in a fairly large city you are bombarded with at least twenty-seven hundred advertising messages every day. There are constant radio and TV commercials, plus billboards, newspapers and magazines contributing to this onslaught. Our thinking is consciously and subliminally being influenced non-stop. The media defines success as the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the homes we live in and the vacations we take. Depending on how you measure up in these categories, you’re branded a success or a failure.
Do you want more evidence? What’s on the front of most popular magazines? A cover girl—someone whose glamorous figure and hairstyle are perfect, with not a wrinkle in sight. Or a male hunk whose muscular torso wasn’t formed by merely working out five minutes a day on a miraculous exercise machine. What’s the message? If you don’t look like this you’re a failure. Is it any wonder that many teenagers struggle with eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia, when peer pressure doesn’t tolerate anyone who’s remotely out of shape or who has average looks. This is ridiculous!
Decide now to create your own definition of success and stop worrying about what the rest of the world thinks. For years, Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, one of the largest and most successful retail store chains in history, enjoyed driving an old Ford pickup truck even though he was one of the wealthiest men in the country. When asked why he didn’t drive a vehicle better suited to his position, he’d reply, “Well, I just like my old truck.” So forget about image and set goals that are right for you.
By the way, if you really want to drive a luxury car, or live in a beautiful home, or create an exciting lifestyle, go for it! Just make sure that it’s what you want, and that you’re doing it for the right reasons.
2. Your goals must be meaningful.
Inspirational speaker, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, recalled the early days of his career like this: “I remember when I was struggling to get my business off the ground. There were long nights at the office when I’d take my jacket off, roll it up to make a pillow and grab a few hours sleep on my desk.” Charlie’s goals were so meaningful that he did whatever it took to help his business grow. If that meant spending a few nights sleeping in the office, so be it. That’s total commitment, a crucial ingredient if you want to become the best you can be. In his early thirties, Charlie went on to build an insurance brokerage that produced more than $100 million per year in revenue. And that was back in the day when $100 million was still a lot of money. Now governments talk in trillions!
When you prepare to write down your future goals, ask yourself, “What’s really important to me? What’s the purpose of doing this? What am I prepared to give up to make this happen?” This thinking process will increase your clarity.
It’s critically important that you do this. Your reasons for charting a new course of action are what give you the drive and energy to get up in the morning, even on the days you don’t feel like it.
Ask yourself, “What are the rewards and benefits for this new discipline?” Focus on the exciting new lifestyle you can enjoy by committing yourself now to consistent action.
If this doesn’t get your adrenaline pumping, visualize the alternative. If you just keep on doing the same things that you’ve always done, what will your lifestyle be like five years from now, ten years from now, twenty years from now? What words will describe your future financial picture if you don’t make any changes? What about your health, relationships and the amount of time you have off for fun? Will you be enjoying a lot more freedom or still be working too many hours a week?
Avoid the “if only” syndrome.
Master philosopher Jim Rohn astutely observed that there are two major pains in life. One is the pain of discipline; the other is the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces, but regret weighs tons when you allow your life to drift along unfulfilled. You don’t want to look back years later, saying, “If only I had taken that business opportunity; if only I had saved and invested regularly; if only I had spent more time with my family; if only I had taken care of my health. . . .” Remember, it’s your choice. Ultimately, you are responsible for every choice you make, so choose wisely. Commit yourself now to creating goals that will guarantee your future success and peace of mind.
3. Your goals must be specific and measurable.
Here’s where most people lose it. It’s one of the main reasons individuals never achieve what they’re capable of. They never accurately define what they want. Vague generalizations and wishy-washy statements aren’t good enough. For example, if someone says, “My goal is to be financially independent,” what does that really mean? For some people financial independence is having fifty million in secure assets. For others it’s earning $100,000 a year. For someone else it’s being debt-free. What is it for you? What’s your number? If this is an important goal for you, take the time now to figure it out.
Your definition of happiness requires the same scrutiny. Just “wanting more time with my family,” doesn’t cut it. How much time, when, how often, what will you do with it, with whom? Here are three words that will help you achieve more clarity: Be more specific.
LES:
One of our clients in The Power of Focus Coaching Program indicated his goal for better health was to start exercising. He was feeling sluggish and wanted more energy. “Start exercising” is a very poor definition of this goal. It’s too general. There’s no way to measure it. So we said, “Be more specific.” He added, “I want to exercise thirty minutes a day, four times a week.”
Guess what we said next? You’re right. “Be more specific.” By repeating this question several times his health goal was redefined as follows: To exercise for thirty minutes a day, four times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 7 am to 7:30 am. His routine consists of ten minutes stretching and twenty minutes on his exercise bike. What a difference! Now we can easily track his progress. If we show up at the scheduled times to observe, he will either be doing what he says, or not. Now he’s accountable for results.
Here’s the point: When you set a goal, challenge yourself with the words, “Be more specific.” Keep repeating this until your goal is crystal-clear and measurable. By doing this, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of achieving the desired result that you want.
Remember, a goal that is not measurable
is just wishful thinking.
4. Your goals must be flexible.
Why is this important? There are a couple of reasons. First, you don’t want to design a system that is so rigid and cast in stone that you feel suffocated by it. For example, if you design an exercise program for better health, you may want to vary the times during the week and the type of exercise, so it doesn’t get boring. An experienced personal fitness coach can help you customize a program that’s fun, has lots of variety and still guarantees the results you want.
Here’s the second reason: A flexible plan allows you the freedom to change course if a genuine opportunity comes along that is so good you’d be crazy not to pursue it. A word of caution here. This doesn’t mean you start chasing after every idea that comes by your door. Entrepreneurs are famous for getting distracted and losing their focus. Remember, you don’t need to be involved with every new idea—just focusing on one or two can make you happy and wealthy.
5. Your goals must be challenging and exciting.
Many business owners seem to “plateau” a few years after the start of a new venture. They lose the early excitement that was originally fueled by uncertainty and the risks involved to get their product or service into the marketplace. They become operators and administrators and much of the work seems repetitive and uninspiring.
When you set goals that are exciting and challenging, you acquire an edge that prevents you from settling into a life of boredom. To do this you must force yourself to jump out of your comfort zone. This might be a little scary because you never know for sure if you’ll land on your feet. Here’s a good reason to push yourself—you will always learn more about life and your capacity to succeed when you are uncomfortable. Often when your back is up against the wall of fear, the greatest breakthroughs occur.
John Goddard, the famous explorer and adventurer, the man Reader’s Digest called “the real Indiana Jones,” is a wonderful role model for this concept. At the tender age of fifteen he sat down and made a list of 127 challenging lifetime goals he wanted to accomplish. Here are a few of them: Explore eight of the world’s major rivers including the Nile, the Amazon and the Congo; climb sixteen of the highest mountains including Mount Everest, Mount Kenya and the Matterhorn; learn to fly a plane, circumnavigate the globe (he did this four times); visit the North and South Poles; read the Bible from cover to cover; play the flute and violin; and study primitive cultures in twelve countries including Borneo, the Sudan and Brazil. By the time he turned fifty he had successfully completed more than one hundred of the goals on his list.
When asked what caused him to create this fascinating list in the first place, he replied, “Two reasons. First, I was fed up with adults telling me what to do and what not to do with my life. Second, I didn’t want to be fifty years old and realize I hadn’t really accomplished anything.”
You may not want to challenge yourself the way John Goddard did, but don’t settle for mediocrity. Think big. Create goals that get you so excited you can hardly sleep at night. Life has a lot to offer—why shouldn’t you enjoy your fair share?
6. Your goals must be in alignment with your values.
Synergy and flow are two words that describe any process moving effortlessly forward to completion. When your goals are in synch with your core values, the mechanism for this harmony is set in motion. What are your core values? Anything you feel strongly about that resonates at a deeper level of your being. These are fundamental beliefs that are well-developed and have molded your character for years. Honesty and integrity, for example. (You can make your own list on page 90.) When you do something that contradicts these values, your intuition or gut feeling will serve as a reminder that something isn’t right.
Suppose you owed a lot of money and there is incredible pressure on you to repay the loan. In fact, the situation is almost unbearable. One day a friend approaches you and says, “I’ve figured out a way for us to make some easy money. All we need to do is rob the bank! The biggest monthly deposits are being made tomorrow. I’ve got a foolproof plan—we’ll be in and out of there in twenty minutes.” You now have an interesting dilemma. On the one hand, your desire to ease your financial concerns is strong and getting your hands on that much money may be very appealing. However, if your honesty value is stronger than your desire for the money, you won’t rob the bank because you know it’s not the right thing to do.
And even if your “friend” did a super sales job and actually convinced you to go ahead with the heist, afterwards you’d be churning inside. That’s your honesty factor reacting. The guilt would haunt you forever.
When you harness your core values to positive, exciting, purposeful goals, decision-making becomes easy. There is no internal conflict holding you back—this creates an energy surge that will propel you to much higher levels of success.
7. Your goals must be well balanced and integrated.
If you had to live your life over again, what would you do differently? When people in their eighties are asked this question, they never say, “I’d spend more time at the office,” or “I’d go to more board meetings.”
No, instead they clearly indicate they’d travel more, spend more time with their family and have a lot more fun. So when you’re setting goals make sure you include areas that give you time to relax and enjoy the finer things in life. Working yourself to a standstill every week is a surefire way to create burnout and ill health. Life’s too short to miss the good stuff.
8. Your goals must be realistic.
At first this sounds contradictory to the previous comments about thinking big. However, a measure of reality will ensure that you get better results. Where most people are unrealistic about their goals is in determining the amount of time it will take to achieve them. Make a point of remembering this important sentence:
There are no such things
as unrealistic goals, only
unrealistic time frames.
If you’re earning thirty-thousand dollars a year and your goal is to be a millionaire in three months, that’s definitely unrealistic. When it comes to new business ventures, a good rule of thumb is to double the time you think it will take for the initial start-up. Usually there are legal holdups, government red tape, financing challenges and a multitude of other things that tend to slow you down.
Sometimes people set goals that are pure fantasy. If you’re four feet tall, you probably will never play professional basketball. So by all means think big and create an exciting picture of the future. Just make sure your plan isn’t far-fetched and that you allow a realistic amount of time to get there.
9. Your goals must include contribution.
There’s a well-known Bible phrase that says, “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7). This is a fundamental truth. It seems if you hand out good things and you consistently sow well, your rewards are guaranteed. That’s a pretty good deal, isn’t it?
Unfortunately many people who strive for success—usually defined as money and things—miss the boat. There’s just no time or room in their lives to give something back to society. Simply put, they are takers, not givers. And if you always keep taking, you will most certainly lose out in the long run.
Contribution can take many forms. You can give your time, your expertise and you can, of course, give financially. So make it a part of your ongoing goals program. And do it unconditionally. Don’t expect a payback immediately. That will come in due course, often in the most unexpected ways.
10. Your goals need to be supported.
This last part of your goals checklist is controversial. There are three points of view. Some people advocate telling the whole world about what they are going to do. They rationalize that it makes them more accountable. It’s pretty hard to back down when the world is watching to see if you’ll really do what you said. There’s a lot of pressure when you choose this strategy, and certain individuals thrive on it.
Dr. Robert H. Schuller is a good example. He told the world he was going to build a beautiful Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. At the time the projected cost was more than twenty million dollars. Many observers laughed and scoffed at his idea and said he couldn’t do it. He went ahead and did it anyway—the Crystal Cathedral was dedicated debt-free. The cost? Just under thirty million dollars.
One of Schuller’s comments said it all “I think when you have big dreams you attract other big dreamers.” And he did. In fact, several people donated more than one million dollars each to help the project succeed.
Here’s the second option. Set your own goals, keep them to yourself and get on with the job. Actions speak louder than words, and you’ll surprise a lot of people.
Third, and this may be the wisest strategy. Selectively share your dreams with a few people you trust. These are carefully chosen proactive individuals who will support and encourage you when the going gets tough. And if you have big plans you’ll need their help, because you are bound to run into a few roadblocks along the way.
Note: This cartoon is actually a pretty accurate picture of some people’s marketing plans. They are literally all over the map! The same applies to setting goals. We’ve seen many businesspeople with their goals scribbled illegibly on notepads and scraps of paper. They jot down any idea that comes into their heads. There is no system, no clear definition of what they really want. Then we have the people who love to play with the latest mind-mapping software. Give them an hour and they’ll create a mass of “tentacles” that crawl right off the screen. As the cartoon shows, it’s all a big blur. Designing the life of your dreams deserves a little more attention and planning than that, don’t you agree?
Your Master PLAN
Now that we have laid the groundwork, it’s time to get started on your own master plan. This is the exciting part—actually creating your better future, and the clarity to go with it. This is your big picture. There are six major steps. We suggest you read through all six first and then set time aside to implement each strategy.
1. Review the Top-10 Goals Checklist.
Use this checklist as your frame of reference when you sit down to create your actual goals. It will help you design a crystal-clear picture. It is summarized on page 90.
2. Decide What You Want to Accomplish and Why.
To get your juices flowing, make a list of all the things you want to accomplish in the next five years. Have fun with this, and open your mind to all the possibilities. Create a childlike enthusiasm—do not place any restrictions on your thinking. Be specific and personalize your list by starting each sentence with “I am” or “I will.” For example—“I am taking six weeks vacation every year.” or “I will save or invest 10 percent of my net income every month.” To help you, here are a few important questions to help you focus:
- What do I want to do?
- What do I want to have?
- Where do I want to go?
- What contribution do I want to make?
- What do I want to become?
- What do I want to learn?
- Who do I want to spend my time with?
- How much do I want to earn, save and invest?
- How much time do I want off for fun?
- What will I do to create optimum health?
To ensure that you enjoy a healthy integrated lifestyle, choose some goals in each of the following areas—career and business, financial, fun time, health and fitness, relationships, personal, and contribution, plus any others that are of special significance to you.
Prioritizing your list
Now that you have stretched your imagination, the next step is to prioritize. Take a look at each of your goals and determine a realistic time frame for accomplishment.
Write a number beside each goal—one, three or five years. This will give you a general framework to work from.
In his great book, The On-Purpose Person, author Kevin W. McCarthy describes an excellent technique to help you prioritize. He calls it the tournament draw. This is a format used for all sorts of competitions—from spelling bees to tennis tournaments to the Super Bowl playoffs. Prioritize your choices by making separate draw sheets for your one-year, three-year and five-year goals.
The main draw1
The main draw
List each of your one-year goals on the left-hand side of the sheet. Make the draw sheet big enough to accommodate all of the items on your list—for example, sixteen or thirty-two lines deep. (We are assuming you will have more than eight one-year goals.) This is the preliminary draw. Now you decide which goals are most important; that is, which ones will move on to the next round. Repeat this process until you end up with the final eight. These have now become your Main Draw. Again, you must select which of these eight are more important, all the way through to the final winner. This will be your single most important priority. To help you decide, go with gut feeling. Your intuition is rarely wrong. This simple system forces you to choose what is most meaningful to you and what is less important. You can, of course, complete the less important goals later if you wish. Now repeat this for your three and five year goals. We know that these longer term goals are often more difficult to create. However, it’s well worth the extra effort. Those years will be upon you faster than you think! Make sure you at least have a three year plan.
Here’s one other vital tip: Before you prioritize, write down the most important reason that you want to accomplish each goal, and the biggest benefit you will receive upon completion.
As we mentioned before, big reasons are the driving force that keep you going when the going gets tough. It’s a good use of your time to clearly identify your reasons before you start. This will ensure that your Main Draw goals really are the most important ones on your list.
3. Create Inspiring Pictures.
To improve your focus on the new lifestyle you want, create inspiring pictures of your most important goals. This is an enjoyable process and the whole family can join in.
The internet provides great resources for finding pictures. At websites such as gettyimages.com, you’ll find thousands of photos. Just Google what you are looking for and select the images that suit you best.
For example, if a trip to Australia and New Zealand is one of your “must do” goals, find great pictures of what you want to see and the activities you’d like to enjoy. Create a Power Point display with your PC or use Keynote on Apple, using the various goal categories that are most important to you as a framework. You can also attach positive statements to these to give added emphasis to your pictures, such as “I am enjoying a one-month vacation with my family in Australia and New Zealand.” Include the date you want to go. Look at your pictures often to actively engage your subconscious. Believe, with all the emotion and passion you can muster, that your goals will be achieved.
See it—Believe it—Achieve it!
MARK:
In terms of following through on your vision, I’ve met many people who have done this through one of my most passionate projects called The Richest Kids in America. I’ve interviewed 101 smart, profitable young entrepreneurs who are out there blazing their own trails of success. They are all confident, forward-thinking goal setters who are making a significant impact in the world of entrepreneurship. Here’s one example: Chauncey Cymone Holloman is a poet and lyricist who created her own company, Harlem Lyrics LLC, in 2003, at the age of fifteen. Her business today is worth $1.2 million.
Chauncey says, “The idea for unique greeting cards for teens came to me when I was shopping for a greeting card for my best friend. I wanted a special card for her because she was turning sixteen and I wanted something to say exactly how much she meant to me and how close we were. I went from card to card and they were either way too mature with a very, very adult mind-set or they were very, very immature. So I went to my mom that night and told her about this huge gap in greeting cards. There are no greeting cards specifically for teenagers, and especially urban teenagers. She told me that this sounded like a good idea and a good concept and she told me to submit to her a business plan. I was fifteen at that time, so of course I did not know what a business plan was, but I looked up the definition and later I handed one to her. It is pretty much how Harlem Lyrics got started.”
Harlem Lyrics was created to express exactly how teens view the world. The cards capture the “voice” or vernacular of today’s youth by embedding popular slang in its content. Chauncey says, “It is my dream that through the voices of my characters, we will inspire and empower more young girls to find their voices.” Chauncey created five teen characters whose voices echo the personalities of mainstream urban youth.
She says, “Harlem Lyrics got part of its name from the Harlem Renaissance Era, which put a worldwide spotlight on the ‘voice’ of Black America. Lyrics was derived from the lyrical writings of the hip hop era, which continued in the spirit of highlighting our views about self, others, and relationships. From our content and illustrations, we bring to you the undeniable swagger of hip hop.”
The company, based in Arkansas, started out as an Afro-centric greeting company. Today, it is a gift, fashion, and entertainment business focused on trendy and urban themed products. From her funky colorful website, (officialharlemlyrics.com), to clear business principles and strategies, Chauncey Holloman is a young woman who knows what she wants and is making it happen. Her motto is: “Be Bold! Express yourself. Find out what your God-given talent is and make it profitable.”
Chauncey was able to see the bigger picture when confronted with this opportunity. She was not finding what she needed or wanted as a consumer. This was a problem to her and she figured to other teenagers as well. Looking at it from the perspective of wanting to solve it, she had her big idea moment. She became the solution.
I have heard many people say, “I had that same idea” when a new problem-solving concept, product, or business is revealed to the public. And I always say, “I am sure you did. But you continued to let it be a problem. Why is that?” Most people will come up with a list of excuses and I just chuckle to myself because I know firsthand what it takes to be an enlightened thinker and problem solver.
Now, here are the three remaining strategies to help you create unusual clarity.
4. Capture your Best Ideas
Create a special file on your laptop, tablet, or smart phone where you can store your best ideas and insights. The founder of The Virgin Group of Companies, Richard Branson, just uses a little notebook to scribble down his thoughts. This is a powerful way to expand your awareness. Did you ever have a big idea in the middle of the night? You sit straight up in bed and your mind is racing. Usually you only have a few seconds to capture that idea before you lose it, or your body says, “Go back to sleep; it’s three o’clock in the morning!” In fact, you may drift back to sleep, wake up hours later and have completely forgotten what your great idea was.
A brilliant idea without action
Is like Roger Federer2 playing
tennis without a racquet!
This is why capturing ideas is so valuable. By recording your best thoughts you never need to rely on your memory. You can review your ideas any time you want. Use this for business ideas, sales tips, presentation skills, money-making projects, quotes you have read, or stories that will help you explain something better. Just keep your ears and eyes open every day and listen to your own intuition.
For example, if you have just finished a great sales presentation where everything went exactly as planned and you closed a big deal, capture your best thoughts. What did you say that worked so well? Maybe you asked a specific question that prompted the buying decision, or gave a better explanation of your benefits and services. Replay the presentation in your mind and capture what worked.
It’s also beneficial to record or video your presentation. Invite someone who you really respect to go over it with you and then you can brainstorm how to improve it. Keep practicing. Movie star Robin Williams averages thirty takes per scene, until both he and the director are satisfied with his performance.
Did you ever screw up an important presentation? That’s also a good time to capture your thoughts on what you did wrong. You might highlight these and add, “Never say this again!” In both examples, by writing down your thoughts while they are fresh in your mind, you reinforce what worked and what didn’t work. This gives you incredible clarity.
Here’s another valuable suggestion to heighten your awareness. First thing in the morning, for five minutes, record your feelings. Words to describe feelings include anxious, sad, happy, excited, bored, angry, enthusiastic, frustrated, energized. Write in the present tense as if you are having a conversation with yourself. Use “I” language: “I am feeling anxious today because my daughter is driving on her own for the first time,” or “I feel excited because I’m starting a new job this morning.” When you consistently get in touch with your feelings you are more connected to everyday situations and more aware of what’s really going on in your life.
5. Visualize, Think, Reflect, and Review.
The power of visualization is often seen in sports. Olympic athletes mentally run the event in their minds several times just before they perform. They totally focus on a positive result.
Olympic gold medalist Mark Tewksbury, the Canadian who won the 200-meter backstroke swim at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, actually stood on the winners’ podium on the eve of the race and visualized a come-from-behind winning performance. He heard the roar of the crowd, could see where his family was sitting in the stands and saw himself triumphantly accepting the gold medal. The next day he swam the race exactly as imagined and won by a fingertip!
Remember, if you copy the techniques of champions you too can become a champion. Use your positive imagination to create these winning pictures.
The sharper these images are and the more intense you feel, the more likely you are to create the desired result. It’s a powerful process. So follow through with this and you’ll find this clarity will give you a distinct edge in the marketplace.
6. Develop Mentors.
Another wonderful way to ensure major improvements in your productivity and vision is to enlist the aid of people who have vast experience in areas where you need the most help. When you surround yourself with a carefully chosen team of experts, your learning curve increases rapidly. Very few people do this consistently. Again, if you dare to be different you’ll reap the rewards down the road. The alternative is to figure everything out yourself using trial and error. It’s a slow way to move forward because you run into many roadblocks and distractions. On the other hand, cultivating advice and wisdom from specific mentors propels you to faster results. You’ll learn all about this in Chapter 5, Building Excellent Relationships.
Insights
We are still amazed at the number of people from all walks of life who spend little or no time designing their future. More accurately, many people don’t know how. They don’t have a process or a system to guide them. And they allow their busyness to become an excuse for not taking the time to learn how to plan ahead. If anything is backward, that line of thinking certainly is!
What we’ve observed more recently, however, is the fact that those who do set clear goals often don’t have enough desire, drive and persistence, when it comes to following through.
The truth is, we need to be inspired for those important attributes to kick in. As Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “Inspiration is when an idea takes hold of you and moves you to a place you were meant to be. Motivation is when you have an idea and your Ego is what’s pushing you to achieve the goal.” This is a very important, yet subtle, distinction.
When you are truly inspired, your energy flows almost effortlessly. You will experience joy in the challenge and the doing. Roadblocks often melt away. The right people will show up to guide you and help you along.
One of the critical aspects of gaining inspiration is to create a quiet time. As author Fran Hewitt says in her gift book for women, The Ego and the Spirit, “Our inner guidance sits in the silence waiting for us to turn down the noise. Follow what your Spirit says, instead of listening to your perfectionist Ego.”
Whether you need inspiration to reach another level in your career or business, or become a better spouse, friend, or parent, we know from our own experiences that the most valuable source of ideas comes from inside, when we are tuned in, receptive, and alert. Turning off the noise and being still, accelerates this process.
When this new state of awareness is practiced you will start receiving “flashes” or “insights” that are important. These need to be acted on immediately because they are usually a vital step in helping you get what you want. For example, you may have a strong feeling to call your best friend and you do, only to learn that she was in a serious car accident and the sound of your voice was really comforting. Or, you have this urge to contact a client you haven’t heard from in six months and they are ready to place a large order with your company. Don’t hesitate when you receive those insights. They are unusual moments of clarity and can disappear as fast as they first surfaced.
To make this easier, develop the habit of turning down the pervasive noise of life every week. Schedule some quiet time to meditate, reflect, or just be still in the silence.
“If you go to work on your goals,
your goals will go to work on you.
If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build, end up building us.”
—Jim Rohn
Action Steps
The Top-10 Goals Checklist
To maximize your results, remember your goals must be:
1. Yours. 6. In alignment with your core values.
2. Meaningful. 7. Well balanced and integrated
3. Specific and measurable. 8. Contributing to society.
4. Flexible. 9. Realistic.
5. Challenging and exciting. 10. Supported.
LIST YOUR CORE VALUES BELOW:
e.g., Honesty, integrity, strong family, faith, creativity, independence.
As much as possible, align your goals with your core values.
Know what you want and why
Use the questions below to help you clarify and prioritize your goals.
- What do I want to do?
- What do I want to have?
- Where do I want to go?
- What contribution do I want to make?
- What do I want to become?
- What do I want to learn?
- Who do I want to spend my time with?
- How much do I want to earn, save and invest?
- How much time do I want off for fun?
- What will I do to create optimum health?
To ensure that you enjoy a healthy integrated lifestyle, choose some goals in each of the following areas—career/business, financial, fun time, health/fitness, relationships, personal and contribution, plus any others that are of special significance.
We strongly recommend that you schedule at least one full day to complete this critically important Action Step.
Capture your Best Ideas
Review step four. To do this, use your PDA, laptop, notebook, or an elaborate engraved journal. Develop the habit of capturing your best ideas, thoughts and insights. This is not a “Dear Diary.” Use it for business strategies, money-making ideas, stories that illustrate a point, marketing concepts and whatever else you think is important. If you enjoy structure, create tabs for specific topics. The most important thing, however, is to train yourself to start writing. Start this week.
