 Imagine that the curtain on the stage is down.
What curtain you ask? The curtain of life.
The curtain goes up, and life is full of the thousand tasks and
obligations you have. But it is NOW important to start taking
ACTION.
What action, you say?
I'm talking about achieving personal goals that you have been put off
waaaay too long. These are the goals that wander about in our
heads or we talk about to family and friends but never do anything
about – goals like such as losing weight, meeting or leaving our
partners, or changing our jobs or where we live, or any other major
transformation.
What usually stops people is that old four-letter word 'FEAR' that can
keep you pigeonholed in your old habits, and before you know it,
another year has passed. This happens year after year after year
after year (you get the point). Eventually, you will have plodded
through a lifetime accepting what life has given you, instead of taking
charge and embracing life.
The first step to embracing life is to take responsibility. Some
people who can't count may think this is another four-letter word, but
responsibility is about planning for the future and taking ACTION!
Hoping and dreaming are not taking action, and such behavior
often leads to people saying, "I'm too old to achieve ______" or "I
suppose it wasn't meant to be ______." It's time to make a
choice, accept what you have and what you have been getting back from
life, or take ACTION. I kindly suggest you take action!
Right now, you are saying surrrrrre—easier said than done.
If you are determined and have the desire to be happy and successful,
then read on. This article is intended to get you in the right "Zen"
frame of mind. Before you get scared of the word "Zen," let me
tell you that it is a friendly word that it's synonymous with a lot of
other positive words.
When you are "In the Zone" or in a "Zen frame of mind," you are
focused. We all know what happens when you are not focused when
you drive. The same is true for anything that's important and
anything that's meaningful to you. For example, when I
write, I try to stay focused on my subject. I don't want to be
writing and at the same time thinking about what I'm going to have for
dinner tonight. Likewise, when I'm eating a piece of chocolate
cake, I want to focus, enjoy, and savor every delicious mouthful.
Focus is key for enjoyment in life, as well as success, success,
success.
I want each and every one of you to consider yourself a success, so
let's sit up straight and get down to business. People have
written books on the subject of goal-setting, and needless to say, it
can be complex, but if you want to read the "nuts and bolts" of how to
get what you want, as well as learn how to expand your thinking process
and control your emotions, I suggest you look for my new book, set to
debut next year, called The Victory Dance.
But it's not out yet, so until you buy the book, I'm going to give you
some important tips to get you started for now.
 Go and get a clean sheet of paper. Go ahead. I'll wait for you, so don't be long, because time is a-ticking.
Now, write down some things that you have wanted to do
or have in your life. I'm not talking about a new wardrobe.
No! No! No! I'm not talking about tickets to the
Super Bowl. Keep thinking. Think about something
substantial that is going to give your life more value and
purpose. It could be starting a new business, ending a
relationship, buying a house, stopping smoking, becoming a "Big
Brother" or a "Big Sister"—you get the idea.
Okay, before you fill the page, I want you to stop after the fifth
one. Now rank them according to which one is most important to
you. For those of you who feel stuck, because you keep focusing
on the obligations—STOP IT! Focus your attention on how
these goals will benefit you. Keep in mind that the things you
will most likely succeed at are the goals that best use your talents
and involve doing what you like to do. Whatever your goal is, you
want to feel passionate about it. Now, circle your number one
goal and write down 10 ways in which this goal will benefit you.
Now turn the paper over, and on the back of the paper, write WHO,
WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW. Here are the questions you want to answer.
 WHO can help me with my goal? Think of a support team of people who can help you.
WHAT
resources do I need to achieve my goal? You may need to set a
budget or take on a part-time job to have the money necessary to
achieve your goal. Stay with me—you can do this!
WHEN will I achieve my goal? This date can change. Whatever time you think is realistic now, double it.
WHERE
am I going with my goal? Map out your destination. Every
month, you should achieve a smaller goal that will put you closer to
your larger goal. Your smaller goals are checkpoints to keep you
on track with your optimum goal. Put on your calendar what you
want to accomplish for that month. It also helps to keep a
journal of your daily activities and progress. If it's good enough for
star athletes to do, it's good enough for successful people like you
and me.
HOW
can I make the best use of my time every day to accomplish my
goal? You will be very excited and feel a sense of accomplishment
when you are doing your best and moving forward toward your optimum
goal. Do something, even one little thing, every day toward achieving
your goal. Not only will this keep you focused, but when you see
progress, you will be more motivated to take more ACTION.
Now in your hand you have a small blueprint of the easiest way to reach
your goal. So don't lose it. More importantly, it's
time—time to take ACTION. If you take a baby step every
day, or even several baby steps when you feel inspired or on a roll,
the task will not seem so daunting. Like a baby learning to walk, just
put one step in front of the other. Of course you will fall down
occasionally, and when that happens, you will want to stop and take a
break (and get back up!)
I have found that it always helps to step away from the
situation. No! I'm not talking weeks or months. But
when you feel that you're struggling, don't fight the situation. Walk
away and come back later. Trust me, the problem will be waiting
patiently for you when you return, but when you come back, you will
feel fresh and better able to analyze what went wrong so you won't do
it again or change your course of action.
 Most
importantly, don't get distracted. It's so easy to get caught up
in the mundane chores of life that we forget about what our purpose is
and what is important to us. As I mentioned earlier, I have
devoted an entire chapter to the subject of goal-setting in my new
book The Victory Dance.
There will be an adult version and a teen version that will
explain step-by-step how to Jump-Start an action plan. It
involves my "Think It, Feel It, Do It" workable action plan.
The Victory Dance books
are dedicated to helping adults as well as teens become their best selves to achieve happiness and success.
Contents of this web site are
copyrighted. ©2006-8 Nancy Koran unless
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