If Not Now, When? Part II
June 2010
In Part I we asked the question, "Do you have dreams and goals that you want to achieve but have been putting them on the backburner?"
We listed some reasons why people procrastinate about working on achieving their goals and offered three time tested strategies for breaking out of the status quo to help you to achieve what you are capable of achieving.
Over the years I have been very fortunate to work with many wonderful clients in my individual, group and management team coaching practice. They have each taken the risk to reach out to achieve more of what they perceived that they were capable of achieving. And they made great progress. Sometimes it came in flash, other times it took a little longer. Why were they able to achieve at higher levels? What traits did they have in common?
In Part II, we'll conclude with 3 additional strategies and methods to help you to break through.
4. Belief and Positive Outlook
Believe in yourself and in your ability to achieve your dreams and to overcome obstacles and adversities that stand in your way. How can you build belief in yourself?
You must possess a deep belief that you can achieve what you want to achieve and that you are worthy of it. Belief in yourself will help you to bounce back during the hard times and will help propel you forward during the good times. Have the unwavering belief in yourself that you have the courage to persevere in your quest to achieve. Don’t be fooled by thinking just because something is taking longer than you think it should, that you can’t achieve it. Belief in your goals and your ability to achieve them is very powerful. Belief helps you to overcome all obstacles in your path to success. We are surrounded by an invisible belief boundary. We can achieve right up to the edge of that boundary with ease and confidence. But if we set a goal beyond that imaginary boundary, we sometimes freeze or begin to question our ability to go beyond. You are not alone if you feel this emotion. Everyone reaches their own belief boundary. To go beyond that boundary, take one step at a time. Break large goals into small bit-sized action steps. Secure the help and support of others. Celebrate your victories. Develop the capacity to relive your successes. Keep a Success Journal and be proud of your accomplishments whether they are big or small. Don’t be afraid to give yourself credit for what you have already achieved and accomplished in your personal and business life. Don’t dismiss the small accomplishments along the way. They are all important and their accomplishment and your acknowledgment of them will expand your belief boundary of what you can and will be able to accomplish today and in the future.
We become the sum total of our thoughts and we attract into our lives the manifestations of those thoughts. If you hold a positive outlook about your future, your goals, and your circumstances, you will attract more positive results into your life. What “tapes” do you have playing inside your head? Are they positive ones or negative ones? Every now and then, stop and listen in. You may be surprised as to what you hear.
5. Support Systems
One of the best ways to accelerate your forward progress in achieving your goals is to be around others who you respect and who are performing and achieving at the level that you are aspiring to achieve. Surround yourself with nutritious people. Form a master-mind group. Get a coach. Create an environment around you that fosters a positive outlook and hold near to you the people who believe in you and your vision for the future. Ask for help from others who have achieved what you desire to achieve. Do inspirational reading and apply success concepts and principles from others. Have an attitude of gratitude for those who have supported you in the past or who are supporting and believing in you today.
6. Take Action
Here is the good news, you have it in your power to change.
Dr. Napoleon Hill is quoted as saying, “Nothing ever just happens. You have to make things happen, including individual success. Success is the direct result of definite action, carefully planned and persistently carried out by the person who has conditioned his mind for success and believes he will attain it.”
Why should we listen to Napoleon Hill? According to Wikipedia, Napoleon Hill (October 26, 1883-November 8, 1970) was an American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal-success literature. He is perhaps best known for his book, Think and Grow Rich, which is one the best selling books of all time. Hill examined the power of personal beliefs and the role they play in achieving success.
We program ourselves for success of failure by our internal and repeated self-talk. Earl Nightingale, the founder of the audio self-help genre said that, “We become what we think about most of the time.” Unfortunately, we are sometimes unaware of just how many negative and self-defeating thoughts we have floating around in our head.
Any form of negativity that you engage in will have a detrimental impact on your results and success. Perhaps you question your abilities or belief about what is possible for you to achieve. Perhaps you had a bad experience in the past with something you tried to achieve and now blindly just assume that any similar attempt will always turn out that same way now and in the future. This type of negative programming may not be as obvious to detect as you may think. Often times, it is very subtle, yet pervasive. Oddly enough, we seem very well equipped to notice it most often in others.
Unlike a magnet where opposite charges (positive and negative) attract each other, just the reverse happens when it comes to our thoughts-like thoughts attracts like thoughts.
Will just changing your thoughts be enough to get the results you desire? No! But it’s a great start. You must take positive action. According to Dr. Hill the subconscious mind does not take orders from the conscious mind. It acts and responds only to your emotions. The stronger the emotion the stronger the impact it has on you. The subconscious mind will carry out the instructions of negative emotions just as quickly as it will respond to positive emotions.
To Sum Up
Don't put it off any longer. Now is the time to make it happen. Begin by clearly and vividly imagining the results you desire. To do this you must be very precise and very clear about what you want to have happen or achieve. Next, create very specific and measurable action steps to achieve it. Set target dates for the completion of each step. Begin to implement each step. Review your progress often, make adjustments where necessary, but always keep your end goal firmly planted and vividly imagined in your mind.
Decide to take action. The worst thing you can do is to do nothing. By taking action you keep moving toward the accomplishment of your goals. It’s much better to make many small course corrections or adjustments to your game plan than to keep going down a path of action that is not working for you.
To help keep you on track, find someone you can periodically talk to who will act as your sounding board and keep you accountable to implementing the action plan you created to reach your goal(s).
The formula is simple, yet powerful; life purpose, goal clarity, focus, belief, and consistent commitment to action. Following this formula will guarantee your current and future success and will create the life and business you both desire and will proud to claim as your own.
Good luck to you on your journey to success.
Robert A. Arzt , CLU, ChFC, LLIF, is CEO of Polaris One and InsuranceCoachu.com. Bob is coach to professionals who are ready to achieve more. He is available for speaking engagements and consultations. To speak with Bob, you may contact him at 301-610-5624 or by e-mail at bob@insurancecoachu.com. You may also visit his website at www.insurancecoachu.com.
To take advantage of a free coaching session to accelerate your success, click here.
|
Champions
E-Zine |
|
|
 |
|
