SUCCESS IS LIKE TAKING A JOURNEY

You have heard the expression “Success in not a destination, it’s a journey”. This statement presents us with a very useful parallel. "Success is like taking a journey." In the following series of blogs we will look at how we can successfully reach our goals with the simple formula we would use to take a trip. Now don’t confuse simple with easy. Everything worth having in this life has a cost attached to it. The more worth having the more the cost. Simple means it’s not rocket science. Anyone can achieve success if they are willing to pay the price.

Success, in any endeavor, whether personal, social, spiritual or work related, requires motivation. Usually that means self motivation. We all get discouraged and lose our motivation at times. The amount of motivation required is determined by the amount of sacrifice and pain we must endure to reach the goal or goals we have set. With each step I will include some techniques to help you stay motivated so that you can persevere and reach your goals. Enjoy the trip.

1. Before you start your journey you must know your destination. Where is it you want to end up? Be specific. “A nice hotel on the east coast” sounds good but more information is needed. What city, which hotel, what is the address? Try programming “A nice hotel on the east coast” into your GPS and see how fast you get there. “I want to go to New York, NY and stay at the Plaza Hotel by Central Park.” Now that’s something your GPS can work with.

If you are trying to lose weight: what do you want your final weight to be? If you are saving for retirement, how much money will it take to retire? If you want a new car, what car do you want? What options do you want on that car? How much is this dream house going to cost you? If you don’t specifically quantify the goal, you won’t know how to get there and you won’t know it when you make it. A vague dream is not a goal. To be a goal it needs to be much more specific.

FOR MOTIVATION you should specifically visualize the end result. What will I look like when I reach my goal weight? What clothes will I wear? What will I be able to do then that I can’t do now? What color will my new car be? How will it make me feel to drive it. Where will I go in my new car? Who will I take for a ride in my dream car? Close your eyes and visualize it. Cut out pictures that represent your goal and make a collage, a “Dream Board”. Use pictures that invoke positive feelings when you look at them. Place your dream board in a prominent place where you will see it every day. Have several. Put pictures on the bathroom mirror so you start everyday visualizing your dream. Use the picture for a background and a screen saver on your computer, your iPad and your cell phone. Drive a lot? Then put pictures in your car. Put them on the wall or on your desk at work. Carry a couple in your wallet or purse. Get a keychain with a digital slide show on it.  If you visit my house you will have no doubt in your mind what my goal and passion are. I even bought music that invokes visions of my dream. Do whatever it takes to keep the dream, the goal alive and on your mind as often and as much as possible.