SETTING PERSONAL GOALS — EMBRACE THE NEW YEAR

I hope you are all having a warm, safe, and happy holiday season surrounded by people you love.  Unfortunately, there are far too many people in the world for whom that is just not the case.  And part of our approach to Christmas should be to try to ease the pain of others wherever we can.  Even some of my readers may be living in unfortunate circumstances.  Although there are some people who find that there really is no reasonable way to recover from the tragedies with which they are burdened, many can climb to recovery with the right encouragement and tools to do so.  I assume that if you are reading this blog, you are looking for a hand up.  I sincerely hope I can provide some help in the right direction.  By setting personal goals based on the dreams you have for your life and then finding a financial vehicle and an action plan to reach those goals, you have made a new beginning for your life.   You may have worked hard for many years with very little to show for it.  Using the methods outlined here, combined with the persistence and hard work of which you are capable may be the defining difference that will finally allow you to find success.

MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP

Don’t miss the beauty of the woods, but your dreams require the journey to continue.

In one of my favorite poems Robert Frost wrote “The woods are lovely, dark and deep.  But I have promises to keep.  And miles to go before I sleep.”

I hope you also feel that you have miles to go and can’t wait to get on the road.   We are coming to the end of another year and it is a good time for  reviewing the past and assessing your accomplishments in the past year.  Do so.  Write down your accomplishments, including the obstacles you have overcome.  Think about what you could have done differently.  Learn from your mistakes or even from your successes.  But if you did not accomplish as much as you wanted, do NOT waste any of your time in non-constructive self criticism.  This is a new year!  You have a chance for a fresh start.  There are opportunities all around you.  And any time wasted in grieving over what you did not do in the past is taking away precious time from what you need to be doing in 2014.   Any lack of success you had last year does not reflect on you as person.  You are the same person you were at the beginning of last year.  You may find that your prior conditioning is a bigger obstacle than you expected and you may need to develop a more aggressive action plan to overcome that conditioning, but you are just as capable of success as you were.  No one said setting personal goals and achieving them was going to be easy.  Enter 2014 with a new spirit of determination.  And do the work outlined in this blog.  You will stumble along the way.  Everyone does.  Just keep going in the right direction and never stop moving.  You will have success in the end.

FOUR SCENARIOS FOR 2014

You can enter 2014 from one of four possible approaches.

First if your past has been less than stellar, you may cling to an attitude of pessimism.  And self-fulfilling prophecies work incredibly well.  If your belief system is negative enough, 2014 may truly be a disaster.  Then you can look back at the end of the year and say, “See, I told you so.  I just don’t understand why I never seem to have any luck.  I just knew this was going to happen.”

Or you may be in the second category.  You do want good things to happen.  And you try to keep a positive attitude.  You may even set some New Year’s resolutions.  But you have never really done your five year story to see what you want your life to be like in the next few years.  Therefore, you are not prepared to set annual goals based on your dreams.  Maybe you have occasionally  set some random goals.  Maybe you write them down, maybe you don’t.  But you are not really very consistent at setting personal goals.  You don’t have a  realistic action plan so that you know exactly what you have to do to reach your goals and when you are going to reach them.  You are to be commended for thinking about your future, but this type of approach is more likely than not to end the year with you still clinging to the status quo.  You may find yourself starting 2015 at pretty much the same starting point you have now.

The third and fourth approaches will yield the best results and give you the most satisfaction. Whether you are in category 3 or 4 depends on what your starting point is.  They are both based on reviewing all the articles of larrybuckleyblog.com. If you haven’t done the work yet, do it.  Learn to dream again and do a five year story based on your personal dreams. Then set five year goals, then four, three, two and one year goals and make necessary adjustments so that you know what your goals and your action plans for 2014 need to be.

I know I have not finished the discussion on the various vehicles you could use to achieve your goals.  I will continue to do so over the next few articles.  Then I will help you to break down your annual goals into daily tasks so that you know exactly what you need to be doing every day.  Your action plan will take one of two paths.

You may already have the knowledge, skills, and resources to move forward on

Plan now for success in the new year.

getting your business started during the next year.  If so, that is a truly exciting prospect.  In fact, you may already have a business in place and now want to take it to the next level.  Then your annual goals and game plans will be based on starting and/or growing your business.

However, you may be in the fourth category.  You do not yet have all the skills, knowledge, and resources needed for you to start your business.  If this is your personal situation, setting your personal goals and action plans will be no less important than they would be if you did have those elements in place.  But  your plan for the next year will not be about starting or growing you business.  It will instead be centered around acquiring what you need, whether that be education, experience or financial resources.  Sometimes dreams require preparation.  But that can be just as exciting as actually making the plunge into entrepreneurial waters.  Just always remember to keep your eyes on the prize.  Your focus should constantly be on  the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Your dream defines the gold.  Your goals and action plans along with your determination provide the focus.

DON’T FORGET THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU!

Finally, in this Christmas season, don’t forget who you are doing it all for.  If you have a spouse and children, take time to spend quality time with them.  Perhaps there is an extended family that is important. Moms and dads have sacrificed and been the best parents they could be, given their own backgrounds and conditioning.   Even if you have family who are not entirely supportive of your goals and the direction you are choosing, that’s ok.  In most cases they want what is best for you.   They just don’t have the same dreams you have.  They don’t have the same belief system you have or the vision you have.  But they love you.  Please spend this Christmas season nurturing that love.  It may sound corny but I believe the stronger we build our relationships with those we love, the happier our lives will be. I believe we will then find it easier to approach our goals with

Here’s wishing you a very happy and successful new year.

the positive attitude necessary for success.

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Let me know about your past successes or failures and whether what you have gotten from this blog so far has changed your thinking in any way or set you on a new path.  If you enjoyed “Setting Personal Goals — Embrace the New Year”,  I would like to know.  Please  leave a comment.  I would like to hear from you.  And if you leave your name and email address at the top right corner of this page, I will also send you a notification anytime I update the blog.