10 Completely off the Wall Ways to Stay on Track to Reaching Your Personal Goals in 2008

“So much of life, it seems to me, is determined by pure randomness.” –Sidney Poitier

Sometimes you just can’t insist on the order you get your ideas. Sometimes they come in crystal clear, sometimes they arrive in random format.

This is one of those posts.

Although it may seem strange to post them randomly in this way, there is a benefit. Sometimes, the most inspirational ideas come out of left field.

Read with an open mind and an eye for what you are going to do.

So here are 10 Random, yet powerful ways to reach your goals in 2008:

1. Measure your results — Part of knowing where you are going is knowing where you came from. Someone who wants to lose 50 pounds needs to know their starting weight and track the weight loss as they progress.

I recommend using goal steps make these measurements. For example, in the case of losing 50 pounds, you can set a step to lose 5lbs in the next 2 weeks. At the end of those two weeks, measure. If you are 5lbs lighter, it’s reward time baby! If not, measure again, the following week. Get your check mark and reward.

Once you’ve gotten the first step out of the way, start the next one. And then the next…

2. Resist your dependence on tomorrow – Nobody is guaranteed a tomorrow. Death is certain for us all. What would it mean if you died tomorrow knowing you hadn’t done your part today? Would you be content in the idea you did your best? No? I thought not. Don’t count on tomorrow. One day, it won’t come.

3. Schedule work on your goal – To make every day progress in the most efficient way, I recommend you schedule task sessions. Pick a time every day that you can dedicate for goal tasks. Some people work better early in the morning, others better at night. Whichever you do best, schedule the time. Set an alarm reminder for that time in your electronic calendar if you use one. If you don’t, set an alarm clock. Get in the habit of working at the same time every day and they’ll go easier on you. Trust me.

4. Read for 30 minutes each day about your goal — Did you know the more you study a subject the more interesting it becomes? Think about some of your most recent large purchases. Didn’t you spend a lot of time thinking about it, reading reviews, and getting the opinions of others? It’s the same with your goal. You can motivate yourself simply by dedicating 30 minutes or so per day to studying it.

If you are overweight and aren’t interested in exercise, buy a book on exercise and see what happens.

If you would make a good business owner but don’t feel like starting a business, read a book on entrepreneurship and you’ll be inspired to start.

Stressed out all the time but aren’t interested in meditation? Buy a book on relaxation techniques and you’ll learn other ways – if not take up the habit of daily meditation.

5. Journal your progress — working on a goal is a marvelous thing. It is also your life in action. That’s why it is important to Journal or record your progress as you go. Wouldn’t it be nice to hand down to future generations your struggles and victories you experienced while working through the steps on your goal list? It’s a part of your family history — especially if you choose a goal that is big.

Another good reason for journaling is you can go back in history to what you were thinking and what you were doing when you first started. It is great fun and very enlightening to go back into the Journal to see what I was thinking when I first started a particular goal. Sometimes I think “how naïve I was by approaching it this way…”

However, and this might be embarrassing, other times I have found that I actually started out the right way and slowly drifted into the wrong way. This happens to most people who set personal goals eventually. You start down the path and things are going great and so you tweak them and they stop going so great… what do you do? Well if you have a journal you can go back and compare what you are doing now to what you were doing before and then readopt what you were doing back in history. If you don’t have a journal it’s likely to your former success will be lost forever.

6. Gain the support of your family — this tip is especially important for married people. It is important to get the agreement of your spouse or significant other will for you journey off towards a large goal.

Big goals take time. Families take time. If you have a big goal, make sure that it does not conflict with your family. If it does, it may need to be re-targeted so that there is no interference. If your spouse loses support for you during the pursuit of your goal your ability to do it becomes 10 times more difficult.

However, having the support of a spouse will pay off royally in your ability to get it done. Who better knows you and what buttons to push to get you off your butt then your spouse? Who knows what guilt trip is most effective to get you to stop procrastinating?

7. Hire some help — this tip is especially true for entrepreneurs. But it can also work wonders for people who want to free up more time for their family or who want more time for health pursuits. There are plenty of people out there who want to do work do you need done. Be it mow your lawn, or clean your gutters, doing those types of chores pull you away from more important tasks. You always have the option of hiring someone else to do the time consuming no pay jobs do you have to do or are responsible for.

Now you might say “I don’t have enough money to hire anyone, I am barely scraping by.” Well maybe you should consider doing a side business where you are providing that type of service to other people so you can build your income. It’s just an idea…

8. Test new ideas — everyone is unique. Therefore what is good for one person may or may not be good for you.

That’s where testing comes into play. All inventors and innovators are good testers. They like to test to see what will happen. They like to combine formerly incompatible substances and make something new. As you move toward your top goals, you too can test the waters.

Perhaps you’ve read a book on how to achieve the position of CEO. However you are stuck in middle management. You might stumble on an idea such as an anonymous note to the office blabbermouth telling him you are in line for a promotion to CEO.

This is, of course, not an often used idea. But you are sure to draw attention to yourself by doing it. And who knows, it just might work.

9. Hire a mentor — Nobody knows it all. That’s why getting a helping hand from someone who has done what you want to do is so important. Picture a goal you estimate will take you three years to achieve. Maybe you want to finish graduate school. What if you knew someone who finish graduate school in one year. Wouldn’t you be interested to talk to that person? I know I would. I’d like to get it done in get out the door as soon as possible.

But that’s what mentors do. They save you time, they save you energy, and they save you money. What’s cool is in almost all realms of goal setting, you will find someone somewhere who has achieved what you set out to do. It may cost money to speak to them and to get their advice. But they could be knocking years off the time it will take you to succeed.

10. Build your self discipline — Many people first starting out goalsetting feel that they do not have enough self-discipline to get through a major goal. But what you will happily find out he is building self-discipline is easier than you think.

Building self-discipline is similar to how lifting weights will build your muscles. by forcing yourself to do the things you know you should do, you will build your self discipline. Now like lifting weights, building discipline is the same approach. Start with something small like disciplining yourself to wash and put away your dinner dishes every night.

It may seem small, but by forcing yourself to do something small on a repetitive basis, you begin to build that muscle of self-discipline much like doing curls will build the muscles of your biceps. So pick a task and do it every day. Self-discipline will soon follow.

This post covers tips 57-67 of 101 Goal Setting Breakthroughs: A 31 Day Blog Series That Will Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever! Subscribe to my free RSS feed to get the rest of the series and never miss a tip!

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