Want to lose weight, start a business, get into shape, go back to school, etc.? You've come to the right place! Here you will find "how to" steps, information, links, and motivation to help you reach your goals! Ready, Set, Goal!
Here are two of the sources we'll be referring to throughout this challenge: A great article and book that are quick reads and very informative. Click Here for the article and Here for the book info!
Check out this awesome video by Dr. Wayne Dyer! We'll have a new one to look at every few days!
For a little more inspiration check out this video from 1974 with Muhammed Ali! Click Here!
8/12/10
Wow! We've made it to the last video of Wayne Dyer's Excuses Be Gone! Pretty amazing informaton isn't it? If you haven't yet watched any of these great videos I hope you take time to do so. It's well worth it! You can check out each one here on this page or just click on one of the links to one of them and view each one in order. Here's the link to the 13th and last video! Enjoy!
8/9/10
We're taking a deeper look at our values with the help of Brian Tracy's book Goals: How to Get Everything You Want. First things first, we've got to trust ourselves. Sounds like a no brainer, but many of us have self doubt and instead of listening to our inner voice we listen to the loud obnoxious negative voice we all have. When that voice rears its ugly head it can be hard to ignore and can cause us to doubt ourselves.
We become better and stronger, and even great when we have a strong core belief in ourselves. Having a strong belief in ourselves helps us to ignore the negative voices inside us and start listening to the inner voice. So how do we get to the point that we do listen to our inner voice and have that belief in ourselves? Stay true to your values and that self trust will get built up.
To figure out our values all we have to do is look at our behavior because we all show our true values in our actions and behavior. How have you behaved in the past under pressure? Think about the choices you've made regarding money and time. How has that impacted your life today? Is there anything you want to change?
One thing we've got to drill into ourselves is that our past is our past; it doesn't have control over our present or future, we do. We can change our current path any time we want by changing our values, making and keeping decisions we've made and staying true to our values. We become what we think about all the time. So if I'm constantly thinking I'm too fat; guess what, eventually I start doing behaviors that make it true.
Believing in ourselves is not a selfish act; it gives us the ability to believe in others and support them on their own journey. By being the best we can be, we then have more to offer to those we love. Being the best we can be will help us figure out what we want out of life and determine our goals. Remember, your goals must be what you want, not what someone wants for you or what you think you should be for someone else.
Below are some questions on our values. Take some time to answer these questions for yourself: Don't forget to write them down so you can refer to your answers later on when we take another look back at how far we've come!
List 3 values that are important to you today
What qualities and values are you known for?
What qualities and values do you want to be known for?
What are your values regarding relationships? Money?
Are you practicing the values that are important to you?
What one change can you make today that can help you be in harmony with your values?
I'll leave you with one last thought today. "It doesn't matter where you're coming from; all that really matters is where you're going". Brian Tracy.
8/5/10 I hope everyone has had a chance to take a look at the Freebie I posted the other day. Its well worth a few minutes of your time. Take what you can from it and leave the rest.
Today I'd like for all of us to take some time to look back at all the notes we've taken so far on this journey and do a comparison with ourselves. Check out some of the questions and your answers and see if you would answer any differently today than you did then. Has your thought process begun to change? Are you feeling more positive in any or all aspects of your life? What areas do you still need to work on?
Are you surprised by some of your responses today from when you first did them? If so congratulations are in order! You're changing your life for the better! If you find that you're in the same frame of mind as when we started please don't beat yourself up for it. It just means you have to dig a little deeper and figure out what's not working and maybe change the way you're doing something. Not one way works for everyone! Figure out what works for you and leave the rest!
If you need some encouragement look to your friends and family or you can always email me at coachcarlam@yahoo.com. Remember we're on this life journey together. For some inspiration here's the twelfth video of Wayne Dyer's Excuses Be Gone series. Enjoy!
8/2/2010 -
This week we're going to take a look at our values. You may be wondering what our values have to do with defining our goals and making plans to get to them. Well, values define who we are as a person so when we have a clear understanding about what our values are, it helps us take more precise steps and actions to get to our goals.
According to Brian Tracy, author of Goals: How to Get Everything You Want there are several layers that make up our personality.
Our values determine our beliefs
Our beliefs determine our expectations
Our expectations determine our attitude
Our attitude determines our actions
The common thread here is that if you have positive values such as kindness, love, and generosity your beliefs will guide you to treat people with kindness. love and generosity. If you have positive values you will believe positive things about yourself and others, and will expect good things to happen. Our attitudes are our outward expression of our values, beliefs and expectations so anyone with a positive attitude treats others and themselves in a positive way, has a more positive outlook on life, and is generally more optimistic and successful.
When we live outside our values and our goals go against our values we tend to develop negative attitudes, act out negatively, have uncertainty and unhappiness. When we live in alignment with our values we tend to feel more positive, act in a positive manner, are more certain of ourselves and have a sense of happiness. This is why it's important for us to determine our values so we can structure our goals in alignment with our values.
I think I just heard an "aha" moment from everyone. I know I had one when I first read this.
We've got some homework today. I'd love for each of us to go to http://www.values.com/your_billboards and check out some of the billboards that people have created for themselves. Then create your own billboard! Anything you want! Get inspired by some of the others that people have posted and go for it!
7/28/10 So, what's with all this talk about Positive thinking? Positive thinking is not a cure all, it's simply the first step of many that one must take in order to pull themselves out of the rut they've been stuck in. Positive thinking enables a person to start thinking and seeing the possibilities instead of the impossibilities in life.
When we start thinking in a more positive way it lifts our mood and provides us with the ability to start thinking clearer; outside of a situation and to begin to see that there are choices we can make. From there it's up to us to take the next steps. If all we do is think positively, but take no other actions to make actual changes in our lives, then we're still in the same situation we were in before.
This is why it is so important to start thinking about what we want, our goals, and to start making a plan to get there. Listing our goals and plans makes it more real and gives us a purpose. That's what this challenge is all about.
To continue on this journey let's take a look at the eleventh video of Wayne Dyer's Excuses Be Gone series.
Then when you have a chance take a look at this site. It offers free affirmation cards. Just click on a card to get an affirmation!
7/25/10 Last week we started using the power of imagination to visualize our future and what we want out of life. This can actually be harder than it sounds. Imagination requires us to let go of our inhibitions and take on a childlike way of imagination.
Imagining what we want our future to be without any limitiations creates positive feelings. Positive feelings lead to positive thinking, positive thinking leads to positive attitudes, positive attitudes leads to positive goal planning, positive goal planning leads to positive actions, positive actions leads to the creation of our own future.
In Brian Tracy's book, "Goals: How to Get Everything You Want" he asks us to take a hard look at what we want for our future in our family life, financial situation, and our ideal fitness and health by asking us some great questions. Here are some of those questions to think about. Take some time to write down your answers:
Five years from now where do you want to be:
Financial:
How much money will you be earning?
How much money will you have in the bank?
What type of lifestyle are you leading?
How much are you going to be worth when you retire?
Family:
What type of family life are you living?
Who are you with or who aren't you with?
What type of living standards do you have?
Fitness and Health:
How do you look and feel?
Are you at your ideal weight?
How much do you workout each week?
How are your eating habits?
What is your overall level of health?
What changes do you need to make today to get where you want to be five years from now? What excuses do you need to stop making to start those changes?
There's an old saying, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". If all we do is plan on someday taking action to lose weight, get out of a bad relationship, start a business, write a book, etc, but never start to do it then in five years we will be where we are now. Successful people are action oriented. They think of an idea and start taking action on it to make it come to fruition. We can all be successful! We all have it within us to do the same and start taking action!
Here's a fun and worthwhile exercise: Create Your Perfect Calendar! Think about where you want to be in five years and imagine that you have no limitations on anything:
What do you want to do on the weekends? On vacations?
Where do you want to go?
How often do you want to take time off in a week, month, and year?
Is your work schedule based on work you enjoy doing?
When we can imagine our future in a positve way it helps us to start taking those steps today to create that future for ourselves. We become happier when we have a purpose and set goals for ourselves because we're working towards our future we've imagined. Working towards something we don't really want creates negativity and unhappiness because we are not being true to our core values.
Next time we'll explore more on our core values. For now continue to write down all your thoughts and answers; when you look back in a few months it will help you stay focused on your goals, and also help you see the progress you've made.
Remember, my friends, imagination is a powerful tool that will open up the world to you.
7/22/10 Hope you all did some serious thinking and dreaming as we discussed in the last post of the Going for Your Goals Challenge!
For today let's focus on the last 3 Positivities we had to say to ourselves. Today thru next week repeat each of them at least once a day. It'll help you feel better, get your head cleared, and de-stress you a little.
Here they are:
I deserve and am worthy of the best in life.
I have the ability to do what is necessary to improve my life.
I have the power to change myself
Those are powerful statements that can help to get us focused on our goals and the steps we need to take to make positive changes in our lives. It's up to you! Feel free to add your own to this as well!
Now that you're in a more positive frame of mind take some time to check out part nine and part ten of Wayne Dyer's Excuses Be Gone series! Click HERE for part nine! Click HERE for part ten!
7/19/10 Welcome to a new day and week! I hope you’re ready to continue on our Going for Your Goals Journey!
This section gives us the opportunity to have some good ol’ child like fun and imagination while helping us zoom in on our goals. Let’s get started!
We’ll be referring to Brian Tracy’s book “Goals – How to Get Everything You Want" chapter 3 for this topic: Our Future
Daily life can often leave us feeling drained and stressed with little time for even thinking about our future. Most of us are just trying to get through the day, which can be counter-productive. We don’t always feel satisfied when we’re just trying to get through the day because we don’t allow ourselves the opportunity to envision what we want and can change and how our future can be more about what we want out of life, not just getting through it.
To help us change that bad habit pattern we need to develop our own “future perspective”. Future perspective means the ability to think about the future while paying attention and taking the necessary action steps in the present to get to the future we want. In other words, the decisions we make today will affect our future, so if we can implement the future perspective today we will start thinking and taking the steps we need to get to where we want to be.
So how do we so this? Start by thinking about a five year plan. This plan is limitless; just like a child’s plans are when they dream about what they want to be when they grow up. Don’t think about your current situation or any obstacles in the way; just think about how you want your life to be in five years if there were no limitations or obstacles. We often limit ourselves with our current beliefs (I don’t have the ability to…, I don’t have any money…, I’m not good enough…, Crazy to think I can do that now…, I don’t have a support system…, etc.). Let your imagination and dreams go wild. By doing this you are releasing those self-doubts and limitations you’ve put on yourself.
That’s it for today, because you’ve got some thinking, imagining, and dreaming to do for homework. I expect you to think, imagine, and dream as big as the universe! Write down everything and have fun!
7/16/10 How have you been doing with the Going for Your Goals Challenge? Are you digging in deep and getting down to the nitty gritty of it all? If so I know you are starting to shed some of those negative feelings and thoughts that have held you back. We've still got a long way to go, but know that you are on the right path for yourself. You can and will do this!
If you're not digging into it, I've got some tough questions for you to ask yourself. Why? Why aren't you actively participating? Why are you allowing old negative thoughts and feelings to drive and set your path? Why aren't you taking the wheel? What are you afraid of? Failure, success?
It's okay to have some fear of the unknown; we all do, but letting the fear control you're thoughts and actions keeps you from being you, discovering new interests, and becoming a more fulfilled person. Realize that you are the only one holding you back. You have a choice to make. You can choose to stay and keep things exactly as they are; living uncomfortably comfortable OR you can choose to start taking the steps you need to change your life for the better. It's all up to you. Seems overwhelming? It is; it's a lot to take in, but you can do this. We're all in this together! Now let's get to it!
7/13/10 Today's Positivity: Say it three times today!
I have the power to change myself
Wow! There's been a lot to take in on the subject of responsibility! It's a big step to take ownership of choices we've made. You're definitely on the right path!
Let's take a moment to recap the keys to responsibility and doing a check on ourselves by going over some great questions/statements Brian Tracy posed in his book Goals: How to Get Everything You Want:
- Determine your biggest problem or negativity in your life. In what ways are you responsible for it?
- Resolve to stop blaming others for anything and take full responsibility for the choices in your life. What steps and actions should you take to do this?
- Time to start taking control of the direction of your life, no time for excuses.
- "You are where you are and what you are because of your own choices and decisions." Brian Tracy. What steps should you take to change?
- Make a resolution with yourself today to forgive anyone that has hurt you; time for discussing it has passed. Now it's time to let it go and move on. Get busy working on the steps and planning of your goals so that you are too busy to have time to dwell on the negative.
7/12/10 Today we are continuing to focus on responsibility. We need to understand and accept that we are responsible for where we are at in our lives right now, good or bad. That can be hard to do; up until now many of us have not been taking ownership of our actions. Today’s the day we start to take ownership of our actions and set sail on a new course!
Let’s take a look at our responsibilities:
We are responsible for:
1. Taking steps to change anything you don’t like or are unhappy with in your life
2. Consequences of your actions and behaviors
3. You’re where you’re at today because you made a decision to be
4. Personal planning of your own life and career
5. Overall management of setting your goals, planning, monitoring progress, and your performance
6. Quality and quantity of your performance and results
7. Financial strategy of how much you want to earn, how fast you want to grow your income, how much to save and invest, how much you want to retire with
8. All your relationships with people, personal and professional
That’s a lot to take in, especially if we’ve been playing the avoidance game. However, it is true, that each choice, big and small, has led us to where we are right now. The good news, we can change our current situation starting with taking responsibility of our actions.
Another big step in helping us stay on target with changing our way of thinking is to surround ourselves with people that are responsible, positive, believe in themselves, respectful of others and you, and are supportive of you.
Sounds easy right? How many of us have allowed truly negative people into our lives that try to inflict their own negativity onto us? I’ve done it; I’m sure many of us have. We can change that though. We can stop allowing these types of people into our lives. After all that old saying is true, “misery loves company”. Hard to do? Yes, but doable. I call it “cleaning out the closet”. I have stopped allowing people that are not bringing anything to the relationship except negativity, into my life. You can do that too!
Time for us to take the wheel and control our own lives instead of allowing others to. For me that includes no longer allowing someone else to give me my choices; I make my choices. If someone says you can do this or that, I say to myself, I can do this, that, or do what I want and what's best for me, not what someone wants me to do.
Take a look at the lyrics to the song Drive by Incubus then give a look and listen to the music video for Drive after the lyrics. Hearing the song puts together what we’ve been discussing.
Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear
Take the wheel and steer
It's driven me before and seems to have a vague
Haunting mass appeal
But lately I'm beginning to find that I
Should be the one behind the wheel
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there
So, if I decide to waiver my chance
To be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine
And hold my own and drive?
Aah ah ooo
It's driven me before and it seems to be the way
That everyone else gets around
But lately I'm beginning to find that when
I drive myself my light is found
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there
Would you choose water over wine?
Hold the wheel and drive
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there with open arms and open eyes yea
Whatever tomorrow brings
I'll be there I'll be there
7/9/10 Well, we're deep into figuring out ourselves and what we want out of life. How are you feeling? Maybe a little scared at this point? Completely natural! First time I went through this whole exercise I was nervous and excited; nervous about the unknown and excited at the possibilities.
The excited part didn't come until a little bit into it once I began to accept that my life and the paths it takes are my choice. There are some things that happen in life that we can't control, but what we can, can make your life to a 360 either for the good or bad depending on the choices we make.
I really want you to take in what you've done so far and give yourself a pat on the back. Review your thoughts and notes you've taken to get ready for more because I really want you to step it up and take in all the good that can come of this. If you've just been kind of following along without actively participating, now's the time to step it up.
For a little inspiration to get started or kick it into gear check out this picture of a billboard from values.com and then check out the backstory to it HERE.
I have the ability to do what is necessary to improve my life.
Now for a little inspiration to get us motivated for today's lesson:
Check out this video about a woman with MS that overcame the odds and started working out and taking in healthier nutrition to improve her own circumstances and set her and her family on a new path! In the video she uses P90X and Shakeology to help her through. Watch how she transforms her negative thinking into positive results!
Today's Lesson:
Overcoming negativity and taking responsibility for our own lives and the choices we make. Every choice, both small and large has led us to where we are now.
According to Brian Tracy, author of Goals: How to Get Everything You Want, there are four causes of negativity:
- Justification - When we justify to ourselves our entitlement to have negative emotions it empowers the negative thought process. When we can't justify it, we can't stay in the negative frame of mind.
- Rationalization - Provides us with the ability to socially acceptable explanations for actions that are generally not socially acceptable. We rationalize to stop feeling bad about something we've done or haven't done.
- Opinions of others - We've become sensitive and over concerned about what others think of us. For some their self-worth is totally dependent on others views and opinions of themselves.
- Blame game - We have a tendency to blame others for our situations. "I'm overweight because..., It's their fault I feel bad about myself" etc.
I am responsible! Say it until you understand and accept it. Taking responsibility is a great step towards positive thinking, positive outlooks, and positive goals.
To increase your positive thinking, from this point forward: Do not allow yourself to make excuses, rationalize or justify your behaviors. Do not complain about or criticize others.
It's all about choice; choose to improve your positive thinking and decide to take positive steps to improve your life.
Click Here to watch part five and click Here to watch part six of Wayne Dyer's Excuses Be Gone!
Let's get motivated! Remember, I'm doing this right along with you! We will do this together!!!
7/1/10 - Starting today we'll be doing POSITIVITIES (postive activities) to get us on the path to positive thinking! So for today; repeat to yourself at least three times today:
I deserve and am worthy of the best in life.
Then for today's homework: Take a few minutes for yourself to watch parts three and four of Wayne Dyer's Excuses Be Gone and think about how you can apply some of it to your daily life. Click Here for part three and Here for part four!
Make the most of today!
6/29/10 - Have you put aside a little time to start on the first step yet? Great job if you have! If you haven't good thing is you can start RIGHT NOW. All of us have busy schedules, and/or kids to take care of, work, school, etc. If you want what you think, wish and dream about then it's time to take the steps to make change happen. Still hesitating? Think about it like this; where you are right now in your life, is it a place you want to be in six months, a year, five years from now? If you're not, then you're ready to take action!
I completely understand that feeling of being comfortably uncomfortable. Sometimes it seems easier to stay as we are because change can be scary, but it doesn't have to be, at least not to the point that we're frozen and feel stuck. Right now we're just doing some exercises to figure out what we want to do and the direction we want our lives to go. So look at it as small baby steps instead of one big picture. It's easier to think in a smaller scope when you feel overwhelmed.
We're in this together! If you need a little help email me at coachcarlam@yahoo.com or post comments to this page and I'll get back to you and we'll work through it together. YOU CAN DO THIS, WE CAN DO THIS, WE ARE DOING IT! Now let me hear a "whoop, whoop!"
6/29/10 - I think it be good for us all to take time to watch tonights episode of Losing it with Jillian. The show is not just about losing weight, it's about changing mindsets and overcoming the obstacles we put in front of ourselves. Tonight's episode was particularly good in that there were many life lessons in it. Watch as a 14 year old boy Elijah struggles with pain he carries in him and how Jillian helps him discover himself. There are some great lessons we can all take from it. Take out of it what applies to you and leave the rest, but please take time to watch. Here it is: http://www.nbc.com/losing-it-with-jillian/video/the-vivio-family/1235468/
6/28/10 - 1st Day of Going for Your Goals! Let's Do It!
What you'll need: YOU and a positive attitude!
To get you in the mood for our first step check out this great motivational quote by Zig Ziglar: "The elevator to success is out of service, but the stairs are always open."
- What does that quote mean to you?
- To me it saying that there's no quick way to success or happiness, at least none that is sustaining and that the only true way is through our own hard work and taking it step by step. So with that let's get started!
Below is our first step towards reaching our goals! Take your time, give it some serious thought. Grab a pen/paper, or online journal, review the following questions, and answer with what you want/believe/wish, not what anyone else wants you to do or be.
- First step:
- Realize Your Potential!
- Think about the following questions and write down your thoughts on them:
- What is it you really want to do, have, and be?
- What activities do you do that give you the greatest sense of purpose, meaning, and satisfaction?
- What do you want to, can or should change about your work and personal life?
- Do you think and talk about what you do or don't want?
- Positive talk or negative talk?
- What will you have to do to obtain your goals? Any sacrifices you have to make?
- What information do I have? What information do I need? Where can I get it?
- What resources do I need?
- What are the first actions you should do now based on your answers?
Here's a wonderful short article on Believing In Yourself! Click Here!
Take a moment to watch a short inspirational video on Breaking Away! Click Here!
Check out Brian Tracy's Book Goals! How to Get Everything You Want - Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible! This is our main source of study along with several other articles, etc. Click Here for more info. on it!
