Treasure Your Dreams

Wow, there’s just something about listening to a call by Michael Clouse that gets my head spinning. Whether it be a live call, his recorded material or (my personal favorite) at a live event, the information he has to share is always relevant and applicable no matter how many times you’ve heard it before.

Tonight he did a short 30 minute call as a gear-up for our upcoming Texas Event in January. On a side note — man, I can’t WAIT to see everyone again! I guess I will never understand those who grumble and complain about attending live events because  they are one of my FAVORITE things about this business! It was just a little over 2 months ago that I saw everyone last, and already I can’t wait until the next time we meet… just 88 more days!

But back to Michael Clouse… tonight he shared 5 Steps you should take if you are wanting to propel your business forward. While yes, these steps are fabulous for your Network Marketing business, they can be applied to any one’s life in a general sense as well — so here they are:

#1: Decide What You Want

Surprisingly, this one is tougher than it may initially seem. What do YOU want out of your life? What do you want? If you could create your perfect future, what would it look like? Start with something easy… start with 12 months from today. What do you want your life to look like 12 months from now? To make it even easier, don’t even worry about your WHOLE life (yet), focus on one area — if you have your own business (or are in an industry where your income is directly proportional to something you do, rather than a fixed salary) then I suggest you use your income. If you’re not, focus on something that IS in your control.

For me, what came to mind is “What number do I want to see on my check in November of 2010, and what title do I want to have in front of my name?”

#2: WHY do you want it?

Behind every good goal, there is a strong why. Why, you ask? Well, because without the WHY it becomes much to easy to say “Why not.”

As in… “Why not put this off for another day, another week, another month, another…” Yeah, you get the idea.

So — WHY do you want what you said you wanted in #1? Think about it, be honest with yourself… but here’s the trick — as Michael Clouse shared with us on tonight’s call, life WILL get in the way of your goals. If you want to achieve those goals, your WHY must be bigger than anything that could get in the way!

I have a few “whys”…
The first, I have always promised myself that I would start riding again once I reached a certain title. I’m going with the “work hard now, play hard later” mentality and I know that if I dedicate these few years to my business, then I will reach a point where I can ride every day for the rest of my life if I so choose. A little hint… if I reach the title goal I set for next November — I WILL start riding again. After a 4 year hiatus from a passion I pursued everyday for 12 years, I will finally be “back in the saddle” (quite literally, really).
My other whys are more generic… financial security, time freedom, the usual. And then one other that is very personal and close to my heart — a newly developed “why” that just might prove to be the strongest of them all.

SO — what’s your WHY?

#3: Make a Game Plan

Michael Clouse suggests something that I have found to be a gold mine in my life — break your 12 months down into 4, 90 Day chunks. Mother Nature has this one pretty well figured out with the whole seasons thing… reality is, people need “something new” every 3 months or so.

If you focus on an entire 12 months with nothing in between, chances are you will not reach your goal. You will (more than likely) procrastinate, letting the 12-month-mark sneak up on you until all of a sudden BAM! there it is and, well, you’re not much further along than you were a year ago!

3 months though… that’s not very long! So — make a game plan! Set “mini-goals” for how far you want to be along the path to your 12-month goal. For example… where do you want to be on February 1st, May 1st, August 1st, and November 1st (your 12 months)

Get it? Great! Moving on…

#4: Commit!!

Michael Clouse made an interesting point tonight… commitment has become a lost art. I love the definition of commitment he shares — “Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do, long after the feeling you said it in has passed.”

Think about that for a moment — have you ever got really excited about something, promised to do a lot of things and then, 1-2 weeks later realize you over-extended yourself and maybe you just don’t feel up to doing all the things you said you would do anymore?

Of course you have, but unfortunately, that’s too bad. You committed, you must do it anyway! Your ability to stay committed to something long after you have promised to do it says a lot about your integrity and who you are as a person. This is something that I struggle in daily — I’m really good at steps 1-3… but when it comes to sticking with the game plans I set, well… that’s something I work on daily!

This is a good example of why it’s important to have a strong WHY for your goal. A strong why will help keep you motivated and help the “feeling you said it in” to stay with you for longer.

So… BE COMMITTED!

#5: Take Action, Get Better!

Once you’ve decided exactly what it is that you want, figured out why it is that you want it, created a game plan for how to get it and committed yourself to following through (no matter what), the only thing left to do is simply DO IT!

So, what is it that you have to do to reach your goals? If you will apply these 5 steps to any area of your life you wish to improve upon, you will be amazed at what your life will look like 12-months from the time you start. What’s holding you back? Make a goal for yourself today… whether it be a business goal, a financial goal, a fitness goal, a fun goal, a spiritual goal, a relationship goal or a social/cultural goal — set ONE! And then go through the 5 steps and get started achieving it today!

The quote I leave you with is this:
“A goal without a deadline is nothing but a wish.”

You know, that light at the end of the tunnel. The one everyone says is there… but for some reason, you’re just not seeing it! With every turn you make you expect it to be there, and you’re imagining it so vividly that sometimes you actually convince yourself that you DO see it… only to have it disappear again.

So, where’s the light? Does it even exist? Believe me… it’s there.

It’s easy to become discouraged when you work towards something for a long time and don’t seem to be reaping the benefits. It’s easy to say to yourself “This isn’t working.” or, “Maybe it’s time to try something else.” But please, don’t give up!

There is one source I always turn to when I begin to wonder if that light is ever going to appear at the end of the tunnel. It reminds me that the light IS there… it always has been — but the only way I am ever going to reach it is by continuing to do the little things, every day, that take me closer to that light. If you’ve read very many of my blogs you probably already know where I’m heading with this… come on, you know what I’m talking about… “The little things that are easy to do, and also easy not to do”

The source I’m talking about, of course, is “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — what a FANTASTIC book!! So encouraging, so uplifting and yes… so realistic. Sometimes, this concept truly brings me back to reality.

You see, what this book teaches is that life’s journey takes place on a slope — and you are always either moving UP the slope, or going back down it. If you aren’t going up, you are going down… you are NEVER staying in the same place! Now of course it can sometimes appear that you are in the same place… for example if you spend 3 days going UP and the next 3 going down… well, at the end of 6 days you are pretty much where you started. My question to you is, do you want to be constantly climbing or constantly sliding? I can probably guess your answer.

Of course we all want to be constantly climbing up life’s slope of success. We want to be healty, successful, financially secure. We want to have great relationships, friendships, careers. We want to live in a clean house, drive a clean car and stay caught up on our laundry. We want to be physically fit, eat healthy meals and take our vitamins.

But do we? Ha… I can probably guess your answer to that one too

Reality is, you are always going up or sliding down. It’s the little things you do (or don’t do) every day that determine whether you are moving towards that light at the end of the tunnel, or walking away from it. Consistency is the key here! You can go along at a steady pace for a few days, then with just a few days of mess ups you find yourself winding your way back through the tunnel towards the direction you came from.

In his book, Jeff Olson gives several examples of how The Slight Edge is constantly at work in our lives…

If you decide not to go to the gym, you aren’t going to get flabby…. today.
If you decide to eat a couple of donuts, you aren’t going to gain 30 pounds… today.
If you decide to go on a shopping spree, you aren’t going to spiral into debt… today.
If you choose not to complete your “To Do” List, your business isn’t going to fail… today.

Get the point? The little things we decide to do (or not do) aren’t going to have that much affect of our lives… today. BUT, compounded over time, it is these little decisions that will determine whether or not you end up on the UPWARD climb or the downward spiral of life’s slope.

What if you decided not to go to the gym, one day at a time, for 20 years? What if you decided to eat a couple of donuts for breakfast, one morning at a time, for 20 years? What if you decided to go on a major shopping spree, every week, for 5 years? By now, I’m sure you get the point.

All that life is, is a compilation of little decisions compounded over time. Good decisions or bad ones, it doesn’t matter — the Slight Edge works both ways! And the biggest secret is that The Slight Edge does not care about tomorrow, or yesterday. It only cares about today, in this moment. Wherever you are on life’s slope, you can make the decision beginning today that you are going to be climbing UP, not sliding down. You are going to be moving towards that light at the end of the tunnel… not walking away from it.

So, if you have been wondering “Where’s the light” in your life lately… take a look at your Slight Edge decisions. Make the decision to do (or not do) the little things every day that will be moving you forward and not pushing you back!

The Slight Edge is my reality check. It makes me accountable to myself, and to my own progress. When I’m not where I want to be, when my goals are being reached as quickly as I would like them to be, I force myself to become completely honest with myself about my Slight Edge decisions… and in those decisions (always) is the answer!

The quote I leave you with is this, one of my favorites, by Jeff Olson:
“Time will either promote you, or expose you.”

I was sitting in my living room watching the Dallas Cowboys game, and I got to thinking… so, I decided to run in here and write this during halftime — enjoy

So many times we talk about goals in terms of our career or our finances — but I think having some FUN goals in your life is just as important, if not more so.

I hear what you’re saying… “Oh but I have lots of fun goals! Someday I’m going to travel the world, I’m going to own 3 vacation homes, I’m going to… ”

The key word in that phrase is, someday. What about today? What is your fun goal for this next 90 day cycle? Any takers?

Fun goals don’t have to be reserved for “someday” — you can (and should) be setting fun goals now! Short term fun goals help keep you motivated and excited about the path you are on. If all your fun goals are so far into the future that it will take years to realize them, it’s quite possible that you will lose your focus between now and then!

So no, maybe your 90 Day fun goal isn’t going to include a 6-week trip to Europe, but what about a weekend trip to the mountains, or the beach? What about tickets to a concert, or a sporting event?

You see, I’m a BIG football fan! My fun goal for the last 90 Day period was to save enough money to attend each of the Texas Tech home games — and guess what? My season tickets arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago!

I felt SO accomplished the day I ordered those tickets — and I will continue to feel accomplished each time I walk into that stadium on gamedays.

What’s my next 90 Day fun goal? Still football related Except this time, my goal is to attend the out of town games against University of Texas and Baylor.

Fun goals are… well, they’re fun! They make you smile — they are sometimes more motivating in the “now” than a certain income or title goal. You can feel yourself experiencing the reality of that goal, and that becomes your motivation.

For me, I also can imagine how disapointed I would feel if I found myself stuck at home during the weekend of the game against UT, watching it on my living room television. That is motivation, because I know I want to BE THERE!

So have a little fun with your goals today — set a goal to have a massage, or a spa day. Set a goal to go to a concert, or a football game. Set a goal to take the kids to a nearby amusement park for the weekend.

Then, use that fun to keep you motivated, and you will find that the income and career goals will fall into place as well!

The quote I leave you with is this:

“Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it!

We’ve all made them — we wake up on January 1st, determined that “this year will be better!”

This year I will work out consistently.
This year I will save 10% of my income.
This year I will go to church every Sunday.
This year I will…. (you fill in the blank).

And we all know where it goes from there! You stick to your resolution… for a couple of weeks. Maybe a month. If you’re REALLY motivated, you might make it 2 or 3. Then, as all the hype and excitement from the New Year begins to fade, so does your motivation.

THEN 365 days later… you find yourself making the same empty promises to yourself as you did the year before.

So what can we do to end this vicious cycle? What if I told you there was a way to set a “New Year’s Resolution” 4 times a year? Do you think that might be easier? Of course it would!

The method is simple — divide your life into 90 day increments. Set 90 Day goals, a 90 Day Game-plan, and a 90 Day Schedule.

Looking ahead a full year in advance is difficult to do — there is too much time between the act of setting the goal, and the day of accountability. You tell yourself “Oh, it’s only January”… “It’s only March”… “It’s only June, I have half the year left!” Then, you look up and find yourself saying “It’s DECEMBER! How am I ever going to reach this goal now?”

If, however, you set your life up in increments of 90 days, you will find yourself working towards smaller goals that must be completed in a shorter period of time. 12 weeks is all you get — no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

You will be able to look at your calendar and find no logical reason why you could put your goal off for another day, or another week. The day you set your goal is already crunch time — you don’t have the option to procrastinate!

Once you have determined your goals, set up a game-plan for reaching those goals. This is called your Daily Action Steps. Do something each day that will take you one step closer to reaching each goal you have set for yourself.

If your goal is to weigh a certain amount… go for a walk, or spend some time at the gym!
If your goal is to reach a certain income level… go prospecting and do a presentation!
If your goal is to spend more time with your family… take your kids to the park after school!

But as you set up your goals, remember this: These are 90 day goals, so don’t be too hard on yourself! Make sure your goal holds up to the “reality check” — is it doable? Can it be accomplished in the amount of time you have allowed? Start out small, and don’t spread yourself too thin. You are much more likely to reach a goal if it is not too overwhelming!

If you are not in the habit of setting and reaching goals, then begin with VERY small goals! Develop the habit of reaching goals! Become accostomed to that feeling you get when you reach the end of the 90 Day Period and you can say to yourself “I did it!” That feeling alone will keep you more motivated during the next 90 Day cycle.

The final important thing I will share with you today is this: Once you have set a 90 Day Goal, become COMMITTED to reaching it!

And with that, the quote I leave you with today is this:
“Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do, long after the feeling you said it in has passed”

Anyone who is a student of goal setting knows that one of the most common methods is to write down your goals, in present tense and first person, on a sheet of paper in list form. You are then to read that list of goals outloud to yourself each at every day at least once, and preferably twice.

For example: I earn $XXXX a month.

This is a fairly common practice when it comes to bringing things into your life that you are wanting; but what if you used it to get rid of the aspects of your life that you DON’T want?

This idea hit me a few days ago when a close friend came to me seeking advice about a personal dilema. The answer came to me instantly, as if I had known it my whole life, although as far as I know the thought had never crossed my mind prior to that exact moment.  It must have been a God thing.

Let’s say for example that you are having a hard time over the loss of a family member. You feel down, depressed, and sad at the thought of this person. Daily actions remind you of them, and it’s making it hard for you to get through your daily routine.

Some positive affirmations you may use in this situation would be:
“When I think of (person’s name), I get a feeling of peace.”
” When I am reminded of (person’s name), the memories make me smile.”

You can use this method in viruatlly any arena of your life!

If you hate your job, but (for whatever reason) are unable to quit at this time… “I enjoy the time I spend at work.”
If you are having trouble making ends meet from paycheck to paycheck… “The money I make is more than enough to pay my bills each month”

Just as positive affirmations can bring things you don’t HAVE into your life, they can also take things you don’t WANT out of your life!

The quote I leave you with is this:

“The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal you enthrone in your heart, this you will build your life by; this is what you will become.”

Just a quick blog to share an AWESOME quote I read today!!

This past weekend we had our 1st Annual Free To Relax Leadership Retreat — and WOW, how incredible it was!! During the retreat we received a book by John Maxwell entitled “Put Your Dream to the Test” — I’m not even through the introduction yet and already it has given me some great insight!

It has reminded me once again that dream building is my favorite topic to read about, teach about and… write about!

Anyways, back to the quote – here it is, by Robert Orben: 
“Always remember there are only two kinds of people in this world — the realists and the dreamers. The realists know where they’re going. The dreamers have already been there.”

WOW — what a great quote! It is so, so true… in order to get somewhere, to achieve any dream you have for yourself, you must first go there in your mind. Just like the quote by James Allen, which was shared by Micahel Clouse in Vegas and is posted on my desk; “The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal you enthrone in your heart, this you will build your life by, this is what you will become.”

What vision are you glorifying in your mind? What are you becoming? Remember that “whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.” — what does your mind believe?

I know the kind of person I am — I’m a dreamer. I have already been to so many places in my dreams, and as John Maxwell says the next step is to go there in reality. So my challenge to you tonight is this: Ask yourself, “Have I been there?” And if the answer is no, then go there today! Close your eyes and imagine yourself living out your biggest dream. Don’t forget to write it down ((VERY IMPORTANT)) — and then watch it become a reality in your life!

The quote I leave you with is this, the last of the three quotes shared with us by Michael Clouse in Vegas, by Paul J Meyer:

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.”