Students Of Success

Americans are not saving at all reports the Commerce Department. As a nation the savings rate was minus 0.5 percent for the year in 2005; the first time a negative savings rate has been reported for an entire year since the 1930s.

“Adequate savings can save consumers from immediate financial hardships during a job loss, a major illness or other disruption of income,” said Steve Trumble, President of American Consumer Credit Counseling. “We recommend to begin saving today no matter how small the amount.”

ACCC offers five steps to begin saving today:

1.) Set savings goals. This will help motivate you to start saving. Develop both long and short-term goals. Long-term goals might include college tuition or retirement. Use short-term goals to set up a holiday spending account or to save for a quick trip to a fun place you want to visit.

2.) Treat savings like a bill. Once you’ve set your goals, determine the amount you can afford to put away on a regular basis. by building regular savings into your budget, you are able to pay yourself first. When you sit down to pay your bills, make your savings bill the very first one you pay.

3.) Be ready for emergencies. Having an emergency savings fund of three to six months’ bare bones living expenses will prove invaluable if you lose your job or face a medical crisis. This is also the fund you will go to when your car breaks down or the washing machine goes out.

4.) Save new money. When your income increases, through raises or bonuses, commit to saving part of it, if not all, of the increase. Ultimately your goal should be to save ten percent of your income each year.

5.) Take advantage of employee benefit plans. If you company offers 401(k) or similar plans which offer employer-match, be sure that you are saving the maximum amount to receive the full benefit of employer-matched savings.

ABOUT ACCC:


American Consumer Credit Counseling is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering consumers to regain control of their lives through financial education, counseling and debt management. ACCC provides individuals with practical solutions for solving financial problems and recognizes that consumers’ financial problems are often not the result of poor spending habits but more frequently from extenuating circumstances beyond their control. As one of the nation’s leading providers of financial education and credit counseling, ACCC works with consumers to help them with the best plan of action to reduce their debt and regain financial stability. For more information or to access free financial education materials visit www.consumercredit.com.

Tom Palange
Education Programs Specialist
American Consumer Credit Counseling
800-769-3571 Ext. 708
http://www.consumercredit.com

Being new to a lot of the contemporary self-improvement thing, I’m still trying to get used to this word, “manifesting”. It just wasn’t in everyday use for the biggest part of my life. In high school and college, though we may have been trying to “manifest” a party or a member of the opposite sex, we sure weren’t using that word.
How many times did you have to manifest a ride to somewhere? That was my constant mission.

Or how about “blogging”– another example of a new buzz word that many people don’t quite get– or what about “cell” phone? How many of us really know how the word “cell” applies to our wireless mobile telephones?

Anyway, I digress.

So, if like me, you’re still finding the term “manifesting” kinda like a strange pair of shoes, just know that the meaning and practice, if you will, goes back thousands of years. Semantics is the only thing that makes it seem new. Various philosophies and religions throughout history have included faith and disciplines for maintaining faith as part of their teachings.

Now, I’m not going to go off writing an article about religion here. Let’s keep it simple, ok. Most of us can agree that we are exposed to too much bad news and negative drama from the newspapers, television, etc. It can be very depressing and maybe that’s why so many people take anti-depressants. If we simply had more constructive and positive input, people could relax more and gain a brighter view of things. All this negativity causes people to worry about their money, health and relationships. Actually, when you look at it, what all the drama and news stories are pretty much spewing out, has to do with money, health and relationships. So, we watch that and it starts happening to us.

You can believe what you see. Likewise you also see what you believe. In order to counter-act all the negativity, all you can do is create an alternative scene. That’s what manifesting, visualization, law of attraction, faith, etc., are all about.

When you watch a kid in the sandbox playing with his toy trucks, he’s enjoying “pretending” he’s an adult, moving the earth and building real roads with real equipment. We don’t consider the child insane or delusional for this, do we? Anyone ever heard of SBDS - “SandBox Deficiency Syndrome”? So far they’re only drugging kids for fidgeting in class– it hasn’t moved to the sandbox quite yet. When that happens, we may as well pack it up and find another planet to play on. The child is quite aware of reality and at the same time willing to participate in an alternate reality. As we get older, we tend not to pretend and as a result, get stuck in the framework of “the real world”. We accept only one reality because that’s the mature thing to do. It’s merely too silly to consider alternate realitiesI mean… what do you want to do, turn into some kind of Steven Spielberg or something? And what would be wrong with that?

If you’re in a rut with life and have settled for less, it’s time to start manifesting a better reality for yourself. After all, you are the one who manifested where you’re at right now. So, get back in the sandbox and break out the Tonka trucks. It’s ok to pretend! When you do it enough, it becomes real. Everyday is a new chance to create new scenes for yourself and manifest something good. Don’t rely on the TV to do it for you. Has anyone seen that bumpersticker, “KILL YOUR TV!”?

Good grounds for self-defense!!

The author resides in the Pacific Northwest where even though it’s beautiful, we have to make our own sunshine much of the time.

Visit http://www.manifestprofits.com and order your FREE copy of The Manifesting Mindset.

Goals and Challenges and the 10 Step Method.

WRITE Down your Dreams and Goals.

Why would you write down your goals?

People may say, “Well, I don’t have to write down my goals, I know what they are.”

The main reason to write down your Dreams and Goals is that the percentage of accomplishing them soars. When you have your goals in your mind, that’s where they are, stuck in your mind. Actually, your goals and your dreams come from your heart and then to your mind. Science has theories about the heart/mind connection. When your dreams and goals are in your mind, you haven’t made a physical link to achieving those ideas, Dreams or Goals. When you write your goals and dreams down you have made a physical link to the outside world, you are doing something physical by putting them down on paper. You are bringing them from inside of yourself to the outside and into the real world. People refer to this as the inner and the outer.

Scientifically, you are creating neural pathways within your mind. These neural pathways are created and enable channels to form in your mind. The neural synapse fire off and travel faster and faster within your brain making roadways for the ideas to flow. It’s like building muscles. You’re essentially building the muscles or the neurons in your brain to achieve your goals. Once they’re set up, opportunities will be recognized faster by your mind. You can see and grasp them because your mind is ready to accept them.

Challenges

Welcome challenges. Get up every day and look for the gifts that
are going to come to you during the day. That will start your day on an upbeat. Everyday when you wake-up, it is a gift from your Creator. You start your day on a positive note to begin with by opening your eyes. Challenges may come up during the day and I don’t want to minimize those at all. You can make them work for you as well. Here is a method that works.

A 10 Step Method to achieve your Goals

Here is a plan that I’ve used all my life. A world famous minister used this method. When a challenge or a problem would come up, he would think of at least ten ways to solve that problem. Start a brainstorming session with yourself and write down on paper, ten ways to solve that problem. Your answers can be as ridiculous as you want them to be because one of them may be the one that works.

An example of this is when a famous minister needed a million dollars for his church ministry. How could he accomplish this goal? Of course, the first way would be to have someone give him a million dollars. He also wrote down, get a million people to give him one dollar. This preacher wrote down the other 8 options that he thought of that would solve the task.

This plan solved his challenge. Over time, the minister achieved all 10 of his action brainstorming plans for a total of ten million dollars.

Come up with ten ways to solve any problem. Look for the challenges that come up and the ways to solve them. Write them all down. When the challenges come up and they will, it’s such a blessing to have worked through them. You have already been through them on paper with the brainstorming session.

Challenges are doors that open up to new opportunities.

Frank Gasiorowski or as he is known on the Internet as, “Mr.90DayGoals” has been teaching 90 Day Goals techniques as a speaker, workshop and seminar leader and “TodaysGuest” Interview Host with Goals TV and Goals Radio. Get your FR*EE 90 Day Goals ezine at http://www.90DayGoals.com

Send an email to Frank@90DayGoals.com and ask for a FR*EE “Moving Forward Daily Goals setting List” as my gift to you.

When you learned to walk (a very important life skill that you probably now take for granted), you fell down over and over again. Your ability to walk was developed through determination and consistent trial and error. You kept making mistakes until you had a breakthrough and could walk.

Since then, somewhere along the way, most of us learned to label our mistakes as “failures.” But a mistake isn’t a failure unless you quit. The only way a normal child would fail to learn to walk is if they “give up” instead of “get up.”

Here’s a grown up example. If you have a desire to listen to a specific radio station and, in the process, you turn your dial too far, you might end up with static. Does that cause you to give up? Of course not.

If you’re turning the dial, you will have to pass numerous unwanted stations (mistakes) in order to reach your desired target. Each time you pass a station that’s not the one you want, you get clear and valuable feedback that lets you know you have not reached your goal yet.

Learning to walk and radio station hunting are just two example of how you don’t need to look at mistakes as failures. “Not” achieving your goal yet is just part of the process of getting there. It serves the purpose of giving you feedback as you go from mistake to mistake to mistake to mistake to mistake to breakthrough.

Katie Byrd will take you by the hand and teach you the skills she’s used to journey from a financially strapped, bad credit nightmare to debt free abundant living. To find out more visit: http://abundanceandwealth.bellaonline.com

To be successful you must have a clear and exciting vision of the future. Clarity of vision today will significantly impact your life tomorrow. Olympians in the sporting arena and Olympians in life are people with an incredible personal vision. They wholeheartedly believe in the truthfulness of the old Japanese proverb which states that “vision without action is a daydream and action without vision is a nightmare” so they act on their vision in a very meaningful and significant way. The first step in turning your vision into reality is to set goals. This is such a vast and important subject it is impossible to do it justice in just one issue. My goal is to present to you the most salient points on goal setting and have you setting powerful goals that will catapult you to the life of your dreams.

Goals-The building blocks to your dreams

Goal setting is considered the master skill of life. It is a vital ingredient to living a successful life and your life will always be limited to the extent to which you master this skill. In other words you may be a good, decent hard working person however your level of success will be limited to the extent that you learn to effectively set goals. If you never learn to drive a car or use a computer it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to live a good life; it simply means that you will be limited to the extent that you can do those things. The same way you can learn to drive a car or use a computer and get better at it through repeated practice; you can learn to set goals and attain higher levels of proficiency by doing it over and over again. Goals are the building blocks to the life of your dreams. Each small goal set and achieved serves as a platform and then a launching pad to increasing levels of success. It is impossible to fulfill the entire vision with one massive flurry of activity however by setting smaller short term and medium term goals you would have put in place the building blocks that lead to the life of your dreams. For example, your vision of becoming a college graduate, depending on the degree you chose to pursue will take between two to five years. It is the act of choosing the college and the courses you will do each semester that form the building blocks that will make that dream achievable and ultimately fulfilled. It is inconceivable to eat an elephant with one big gulp but you certainly could get the job done with many tiny bites.. So it is in fulfilling the vision you have for your life. Yard by yard life is hard, inch by inch life’s a cinch!

Goals- Chose your own

A few months ago my seven old son Brandon, came to ask my advice about what he should be when he grows up. Apparently his cousin, who happens to be round about his age his grandmother and think that he should become a doctor. At this age the little fellow has a liking to red fire trucks and sees himself as a fireman. I once asked why he wanted to be a fireman and he told me that it is so that he can save me if there was ever a fire. How can you not just love a son like that! At any rate he was in a quandary as to what he should do. I reassured him that he can do, have or become anything that he chooses but it was important that it was his choice. In the same way we must not allow others to craft our vision and define the limits of our success, we must be careful not to allow someone else to choose our goals.

Subconsciously, many of us are influenced by a dominant personality or someone we simply want to please. When I graduated high school I wanted to enlist in the Officer Corps of the Jamaica Defence and eventually attend the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. My father wanted me to go the local university and study “chemistry or something like that”. I didn’t even like chemistry. I stuck to my guns. I am pretty sure that had I folded and pursued my father’s goals for me I would have missed the opportunity to be a part of Jamaica’s first Olympic bobsled team. So, whatever your goal is be careful that is something that YOU truly want to do. Don’t try to please anyone else because you will spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened f you had pursued your own dreams. There is nothing worse than looking back at your life with regret.

Goals-Steer you in the right direction

Imagine that you are on a cross-country trip to Florida. If you happen to live in Florida, imagine you are coming to visit me in the Big Apple. You would no doubt have a tank full of gas, some of your favorite snacks and of course the exact address of where you were going. However if you have never made the trip before and didn’t have a map, there is no way you could get to your destination in a timely fashion. Undoubtedly you would eventually get there but only after a long exhaustive trip plagued by detours, going around in circles and retracing your steps. Does this sound familiar? Isn’t it true that this is how some people live their lives? This is a true indication of a life lived without goals. They see the vision and take off without planning their route and end up frustrated and dejected, sometimes even giving up on the dreams because the road is just too difficult. Most people spend more time planning a vacation -making the hotel reservation, booking the airline tickets, renting the car, buying the clothes, (the list goes on) than they do planning their life. Which is more important to you?

Those with goals aren’t guaranteed a nice easy road ahead but at least they are always able to take their bearings because they planned their route. Even if they have to take a detour(we all do every now and then) they know how to get back on track because their goals serve as a road map. Someone described goals and dreams as magnets that pull you towards them but I prefer to think of them as a compass that points along the path to success and ultimately to life you have envisioned. Having a sense of direction and ultimately the opportunity to march in the opening ceremony of your dreams and to live the life you have envisioned is one of the great benefit of goal setting.

Goals - The motivation to achieve. Investing the time and energy necessary to do the soul searching to determine your goals will reap handsome rewards in the powerful swell of motivation it produces. This incredibly powerful tool for success flow naturally when you set goals, compelling you to do everything you can to get better, withstanding distractions and temptations and staying focused on the outcome you have envisioned. When you set powerful goals they live and breathe inside of you. You will get up early and work late. Throughout your day you’ll be constantly aware of what you need to do and you will have boundless energy and an envigorating sense of control over your life because you have the motivational energy.

Action Steps

1. Armed with a note pad and pen set aside about 25-30 minutes of quiet time for yourself. No cell phones or other external distractions.

2. Close your eyes and as deeply and clearly as possible picture what you would like your life to look like in the next 5 to 10 years.

3. As quickly as you can begin to list one below the other all the things you would like to have, do or become. Give no thought to whether you think its feasible or not, just list EVERYTHING

4. Repeat the exercise until you think you’ve got it all down on paper

Keep On Pushing!

Copyright (C) 2005 Devon Harris
All rights reserved worldwide
www.devonharrislive.com

The contents of this E-zine may be copied, reproduced, or freely distributed for all nonprofit purposes without the consent of the author as long as the author’s name, copyright notice, and contact information are included.

For you history buffs, New Years Resolutions pre-date the birth of Christ by about 2000 years. The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays, first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago.

So it’s especially meaningful in 2006 that somewhere around Baghdad, Iraq is where New Year celebrations began. There is no truth to the rumor that Dick Clark hosted the first one.

Their celebration lasted for eleven days. But it is safe to say that modern New Year’s Eve festivities don’t even come close.

Most Americans watch it in their pajama’s on TV. Let’s flip the channel and see what our options are. There’s Time’s Square with Regis. Oh, then there’s Time’s Square with Ryan and Dick. And don’t forget Time’s Square with that other network. Thank God and the beer companies for college football bowl games or New Year’s would really be boring.

It’s that time again. So what is it about New Year’s Resolutions that makes people want to make a significant change in their life?

We secretly or not so secretly hope that 2006 will be better than the year we just went through.

Stop smoking, start training, lose some body fat, start eating healthier,.etc. According to a study conducted by GNC, 50% resolved to exercise more, 38% wanted to lose weight, and 55% promised to eat healthier.

From previous experience, there are very few of us who actually follow through with resolutions.

Only 20% of us actually have the perseverance and patience to stick to our new promises we make to ourselves. Most new years resolutions are the same every year, and, tend to fade away by February, if not sooner.

Here are a couple of lists of the most common resolutions people make, and continually break.

Top 10 Most Common New Year Resolutions

Lose weight

Exercise more

Save or make more money

Stop smoking

Find a better job

Become more organized

Stick to a budget

Be more patient with people

Eat better

Become a better person

Or how about this one:

1) Spend more time with family and friends

Recent polls conducted by General Nutrition Centers, Quicken, and others shows that more than 50% of Americans vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year. What about the other 50%? Don’t they care?

2) Take time for fitness

Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else known to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some diseases, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis.

In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better.

Sounds logical enough, yet most people will exercise for a few days to half a month, then quit. Logic alone just doesn’t do the trick for sustaining your motivation.

3) Lose the Flab

At least Fifty-five percent of adults in America are overweight and the alarming rate of child obesity is outrageous! Put down the chips and cheeto’s!

So it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Ever notice the abundance of weight loss commercials in January. It’s their biggest time of the entire year for new sign-ups.

Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program. Yet why does all this goal setting fail year after year for most people?

4) Quit Smoking.

Even if you’ve tried to quit before and failed, that’s okay. Over-the-counter nicotine replacement products now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids.

On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good.

Here’s a good reason to quit smoking. Add up what you are spending on your cig’s and you probably can make a car payment with the money you’ll be saving. But again, will power alone does not help you carry out this resolution.

5) Enjoy Life More

Given the hectic, stress lifestyles of millions of Americans, it is no wonder that “enjoying life more” has become a popular goal. But what does that really mean?

Working less does not equate to enjoying life more. A lot of people dream of “retirement” until they retire. Then they’re bored stiff and end up getting a job somewhere just to ease the boredom.

Or they discover that they’re busier than ever after retirement, apparently catching up on all the running around they couldn’t get done when they were working. Nice try, but that resolution just doesn’t cut it either.

6) Quit Drinking

Many heavy drinkers fail to quit cold turkey but do much better when they learn to moderate their drinking. If you have decided that you want to stop drinking, there is help and support available.

7) Get Out of Debt

HELP! American’s are drowning in debt. Paying unending interest on credit cards is literally slavery. But how in the world do we get out of the trap, dig our way out of the huge hole we’ve sunk into with a wallet or purse full of credit cards. Especially since we just maxed out our limit on X Box 360 and other Christmas “must have’s.”

Maybe our real resolution should be to just say NO to more and more “stuff.”

Was money a big source of stress in your life last year?
What’s the answer? Where do you begin? Read on.

Learn Something New

Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Excellent choice.

Maybe you’re considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to use your computer or selling on E-bay.

Whether you take a psychology course or read a book, you’ll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year’s resolutions to keep. Challenge your mind in the coming year.

Take the 30 Day Mental Fast to prepare your mind for this one. Get it free below.

9) Help Others

Many people have experienced a new surge of personal energy and excitement by spending a few days or weeks with the American Red Cross or Habitat For Humanity, for example.

Whether you choose to spend time delivering relief supplies, or building a house, these nonprofit volunteer organizations could really use your help, especially since Hurricane Katrina.

10) Get Organized

Whether you want your home straightened out enough that you can invite someone over, or your office organized enough that you can find the paper clips, begin small so it doesn’t interfere with resolution #5.

Resolutions do not involve luck to be effective.

Traditional New Year foods are thought to bring luck. The Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year’s Day will bring good fortune. Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts heartily agree.

Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by eating black-eyed peas. These are typically eaten with either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas have been considered good luck in many cultures.

So since New Years resolutions and luck don’t bring permanent success, what does? Your change must come from within. What you believe about who you are will determine your success or failure every time. When you change your mind, you can change your future.

About the author: David Henning is the President of the Freshstart Company, LLC and has over thirty years experience as a radio talk show host, radio and television copywriter, newspaper editor and public speaker. He has authored hundreds of articles about helping people get a fresh start in life. For more information go to http://davidhenning.com
For a free CD that includes a copy of the 30 Day Mental Fast, go to http://afreshstartnow.info
Copyright © 2005 David Henning and the Freshstart Co. LLC All right reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced without the express permission of the author. Reprints by permission only.

Every year people make new years resolutions. Many are forgotten by the end of the very month they make them. Why? Well I’m sure there are many reasons but one reason is because they did not sit down and convert that resolution to a well defined and mapped out goal. Why should you set goals from your resolutions this year? Well to put it bluntly… Goal setting works! In every instance of my own personal and professional life I have found that 100% of the time, no exceptions, goal setting gets me closer to my objective.

Studies have shown a direct link between goals and enhanced performance in both sports and business. I will not bore you by re-quoting the ever popular 1953 Yale study. I will however tell you about a more recently conducted study. In the study conducted in 1990 by Edwin A. Locke of the University of Maryland and Gary P. Latham of the University of Toronto, they “found that specific, difficult goals consistently led to higher performance than urging people to do their best.” “This is because do-your-best goals have no external referent and thus are defined idiosyncratically. This allows for a wide range of acceptable performance levels, which is not the case when a goal level is specified.” Put more plainly, if you do not define your goals up front then you will be far more willing to accept whatever outcome you obtain - good or bad.

The authors specifically mention that goals affect performance through four means:

• Goals focus - focusing activities towards goal relevant activities. Deterring activities that do not bring you closer to your goal.

• Goals energize - high goals lead to greater effort than low goals. This energizing effect happens at both the physical and mental level.

• Goals increase persistence - goals increase effort in either length of time or intensity of effort. Firm deadlines lead to a more rapid work pace than do loose ones.

• Goals activate the use of current knowledge as well as the discovery of new goal relevant information and tactics.

Goals activate, goals motivate, goals push, and goals focus your efforts. Goals will also increase your ability to take risk… something you should always do wisely.

“People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It’s as simple as that.” - Earl Nightingale

So, with all that having been said, the Top Reasons to Set Goals are…

1. Goals give you a target.

As the previous study noted we all perform better when we have a specific target we are aiming at. Some would even say that we have a built in goal seeking “success mechanism.” This success mechanism is constantly looking for ways and information that will help us reach our goal. It seeks answers to our problems and paths through or around our obstacles, but it needs a target to focus on.

However, in order to engage this mechanism we must give it a clearly defined goal. Without one, our success mechanism lies dormant, or worse, pursues targets we didn’t consciously choose. These unconsciously chosen targets can be selected for us by the goals of others; our bosses our companies or even our adversaries for example.

2. Goals can help you concentrate your time and effort.

Having a goal that you truly desire enables you to focus and concentrate your time, your energy and all your resources to bring the goal into your reality. Having a goal will bring the things you desire into your world far faster than wishing or mere hoping ever could.

If you look at all your knowledge, abilities and available resources as sunlight. Then you can, via a magnifying glass, focus all that sunlight into a pinpointed area and generate enough heat to set things aflame. Your well-defined goal will become your magnifying glass. Enabling you to focus your current knowledge, talents and resources. Allowing you to gain new knowledge, abilities and resources. All of which will clearly bring you closer and closer to your goals. Allowing you to cut through the series of obstacles that seem to be in your way today. Crafting a path to your destination - your goal - in less time and with far less effort than if you didn’t have a goal at all!

3. Goals provide motivation, persistence and desire.

Our conscious purposes, plans, and tasks affect our actions. Having a well-defined plan directs your conscious actions; these actions generate motivation, which generates the next action. And so on, and so on, and so no. In addition, your focus on your goal will motivate you to get you around the obstacles and struggles that your worthy goal will put in front of you. By focusing on your goal rather that your obstacle you will be more goaded to continue reaching towards that goal rather than wallowing in your potential or realized failure.

Where does this motivation come from? It comes from your desire and purpose. It comes from all the reasons “why” you want to reach your goal. If you have a goal to have a million-dollar house - that is not enough. You need to know “why” you want to have that million-dollar house. Is it going to be the showcase for all your networking events? Will it be a place for your family to feel ‘at home’ no matter what happens outside those walls? Or is it going to be the house that helps solidify the neighborhood and spur the growth around it? Whatever your reason, once your “why” is big enough - you’ll have to motivation to find out the “how.” You will continue to find the “hows” even past each and every obstacle placed in front of you as long as you focus on the “whys.”

4. Goals can provide with your Success Atlas.

Once you have your “whys” your “hows” will begin to form your road map or Success Atlas. Your Success Atlas will provide you with short-term goals and immediate tasks, all geared towards you reaching your long-term goal(s). What once seemed like an impossible goal become more and more believable, when you break it down into bite-sized goals and nibblet sized tasks. Each of these smaller goals and tasks will give you immediate feedback and motivation to take on the next goal and complete the next task. Each and every one will be moving you closer and closer to your larger goal. This feedback in invaluable in your being able to see that your making progress, or not making process and need to make changes in your direction. Not every one of your actions will give you the results you desire. This immediate feedback will enable to go back to your Success Atlas and re-map your short-term goals and tasks to incorporate this new feedback while still maintaining your long term push towards your big goal. Without a well-defined long-term goal your Success Atlas towards it this feedback would quite probably be the point at which you stop - defeated!

As we move in to the New Year, take your resolutions and turn them into well defined and mapped out goals. Create a Success Atlas out of your goals that will motivate you to become the person you most desire to be come. Goals that will bring into your world all the dreams you have pondered and hoped for.

Allow me to even give you a jump start over everyone else by giving you a copy of the Success Atlas Goal System so you can convert your dreams and resolutions into life enhancing goals. As a subscriber to Success Atlas T.I.P.S. this is my gift to you as we look at the opening of this New Near!

Go to http://www.successatlas.com/Goals/GoalSystem, get your copy today and get started on living your life by design. Make this New Year the year you will look back and say - that was the year it all began for me!

Tracy Brinkmann is an goal setting and success coach. Through his company Success Atlas, he provides goal-setting, motivational & educational material, & training via live presentations as well as digital/audio products.

Get your copy of the Success Atlas Goals System - his gift to you so you can start living your life by design.
http://www.successatlas.com/Goals/GoalSystem

Also sign up for his free bi-weekly e-zine: http://www.successatlas.com/ezinesubscribe.htm

As a writer/author/editor/web designer, et al, I find that in order to make a “go” of my business, I must periodically refocus or reshape the direction in which my business is moving in order to remain relevant and profitable. If you, too, run your own business you probably have learned to do the same. If not, you may be missing some important trends that can impact your bottom line. Please continue to read on for some helpful advice on how you can set attainable goals for your enterprise.

My business is always in a state of flux. At times, web design is the hot item while at other times article writing surges to the top of my list of tasks. Several other competing responsibilities including advertising, resume design, and special projects also weigh in. My job isn’t boring, but if I don’t keep a firm grasp on my myriad duties, I can find myself going in the wrong direction without warning. This can be both a career killer and a financial disaster.

Some goals I make for myself are specific, such as, write more personal finance articles, while others are general, such as, the following goals I recently made to provide even better service to my clients:

1. I will do the best job possible for you and at a competitive price.

2. I will work for you as if it matters to me. That’s because it does.

3. Your success is my success. If you do well, I do well. If your project fails, I have failed too.

Of course, more generalized goals give you more room to move [and breathe!] while specific, set-in-stone goals are just that: immovable. You will either reach your goals or you willfail; there is no middle ground!

So, why not do both? Have specific goals which you know you must reach and generalized goals which you can meet, but can also be reshaped on the fly. Divide up your goals into those that must be kept a specific way for one category, while placing the remaining goals in the second, more fluid category.

You will likely attain your goals if you give yourself some wiggle room. If you don’t, you will soon grow disinterested, forget your goals, and your business and your customers will suffer the consequences.

Copyright 2006 — Matthew Keegan is The Article Writer who writes on a variety of topics including: advocacy, automobiles, aviation, business, Christian themes, family, news, product reviews, travel, writing, and more. Please visit Matt’s blog for absolutely stunning and humorous writings from the master himself!

Are you aware of what a powerful creator you are? Do you know that everything that is happening to you or has ever happened to you is, without exception, in full response to your thoughts - and more importantly - the emotions behind those thoughts? Take a look at your life. There are probably some areas you’re really happy with and some areas you’re not so happy with. You may even believe you are a victim of your circumstances. I’m here to tell you, you are not a victim! It’s simply a matter of understanding how to play the Game (of Life) by understanding the rules…the Laws that define the Game.

Would you agree that whether you believe in the law of gravity or not, it exists? It is the same with Universal Laws. They exist and affect you whether you are aware of them or not. However, Universal Laws are far more powerful than gravity. Gravity affects earth. Universal Laws are infinite and beyond all boundaries.

Of all the Laws, the single most powerful law is the Law of Attraction which says: “That which is likened unto itself is drawn” or more simply put, “Like attracts like”. This means that what you are focused on, you draw to you. Here’s how it works. When you are focused on what you want, you are attracting to you what you want. When you are focused on what you do not want, you are attracting to you what you do not want.

Okay, I can sense you rumbling out there and your thoughts are probably going something like “So if it’s that simple and clear, why haven’t we known this before?” Or, “I’ve been focused on wanting more money for years, so why hasn’t it come to me?”

The Law is that simple. However, our thoughts are usually very unfocused and running in many directions at once. For example, you may say “I want a sleek new sports car.” In that moment, the Universe is orchestrating circumstances and events to bring it to you. And yet, usually, in the same sentence, we sabotage ourselves by saying something like, “but I can’t afford it.” So, in essence, the Universal forces say, “Wait a minute. Now he says he can’t afford it.” And you stop the energy flow.

So, take it a step further. When you are thinking about wanting a new sports car, but feeling you can’t afford it, where are your emotions vibrating? In most cases, they are vibrating in feelings of lack; feelings that you want something you really cannot have. Can you see how, by not understanding this Law - that our thoughts and emotions are our attraction base - we hold things away from us we could otherwise have?

Let’s take the example of money. You say you’ve wanted more money for as long as you’ve been alive. When you think of wanting more money, how do you feel about it? Happy? Elated? Or frustrated? Angry? Sad? Maybe, jealous of those who do have money? In my experience, this particular subject has more people on an emotional roller-coaster than all other subjects combined. The good news is that it doesn’t matter how long you’ve felt this way or how deeply…you can literally turn it around and begin flowing money to you by consciously and deliberately practicing the Law of Attraction through your thoughts and feelings.

Anything in your life you want to change, you can - simply by understanding the Law of Attraction, and choosing to deliberately change your thoughts and constantly reach for the thought that feels better. The way you predominantly feel about any given subject is your barometer for knowing what your balance of thought is on that subject. The circumstances of your life is another indicator. If you’re ever wondering which end of the barometer your thoughts are on, check in with your emotions. Your emotions never lie about the way you are flowing your energy.

Eva Gregory is the author of The Feel Good Guide to Prosperity.
All rights reserved.

You’re probably familiar with the idea of setting priorities. You look at your list of goals or projects or tasks and sort them in order of most important to least important. Then you focus your attention on the most important ones before you tackle the less important ones. Nothing too surprising there…

But let’s say you have a new priority come into your life, and it’s one that requires a nontrivial time investment. Maybe you want to start an exercise program, and you want to devote a few hours a week to it. You don’t feel like you have any free time where you can just insert your exercise routine. The whole idea of free time is a bit silly anyway. You’re always using time for something, even if it’s purely for leisure activities or rest.

So the only way you can insert something new into your life is to delete something old. You’re already filling each 24-hour day with 24 hours of habitual actions, whether this be sleep or work or rest or even just being lazy. You can’t just stuff an extra hour in there and create a 25-hour day. (Well… I suppose you could if you have a very flexible schedule, but then you’ll lose about 2 weeks at the end of the year.)

A problem happens when you try to do this 25-hours-into-24-hours shove. That hour will have to be stolen from somewhere else. Most of the time people don’t choose where this hour will actually come from. They may assign it a time, but they won’t consciously think about what’s going to be displaced from that time slot. This can result in feeling stressed or overwhelmed for no apparent reason, which often leads to procrastination. Maybe the displaced activities were more important than you realized.

The idea of setting posteriorities means that you consciously and deliberately choose what to delete whenever you start doing something new. So if you want to add 30 minutes of exercise to each day, where will this 30 minutes come from? Will it be stolen from sleep time, family time, lazy time, fun time, thinking and reflecting time, etc.?

Ideally whenever you add a new priority to your life, you want to delete a posteriority. Just as you make a list of what’s most important to you in life, you can also make a list of what’s least important to you. Take note of what you do each day that just isn’t that important. Where can you steal time from unimportant activities to be reassigned to more important ones? Can you delete watching some TV to add some extra reading? Can you delete superfluous web surfing to add more thinking time?

Sometimes setting posteriorities is very challenging. Once you’ve achieved a nicely balanced life, and then you want to start a big new project, you may find it difficult to steal time from other activities because now everything seems important. I had this problem when I started writing my book. This is a big project, and I’m presently investing about 40 hours/week on it. That’s 40 hours I have to displace every week in order to complete this project a huge amount of time. In the beginning I naively just tried to squeeze it into my already busy schedule without consciously deciding what 40 hours I would delete. I dropped maybe 10 hours consciously, so I was trying to squeeze 70 hours of activity into those 40 hours. Obviously that didn’t work too well. I had to consciously pick out another 30 hours to drop, and that required making some hard sacrifices. Some of it came from sleep, some from family time, but most of it came from other work activities. I had to start passing up a lot of business opportunities that I would normally have taken advantage of. I had to start saying no a lot more often. Now virtually every week I have to say no to at least two or three tempting business offers. In the short run most would be successful, but in the long run I’d never finish my book if I said yes too many times. And ultimately the book project is much more important than the sum total of all these smaller projects, as tempting as they seem.

It can take a bit of careful reflection to know what’s important to you and what isn’t. For example, suppose you’re currently working a full-time job and decide to start your own business. Many people will try to do this by starting the business in their… ahem… spare time while keeping their full-time job. And this certainly works for some people. Spare time doesn’t really exist though, so what’s being displaced? Often it’s family time, leisure time, or exercise time. So if you work on your new business an extra 2 hours a day, you’ve not only increased your total work time by 2 hours, but you’ve also reduced your recovery time by 2 hours. And this often throws life out of balance and can lead to physical and emotional overwhelm. I confess to being rather intimately familiar with this situation at times.

An alternative way of handling this situation is to steal that extra time for your new business from your existing work time. Depending on what options are available to you, you may be able to scale back your hours, switch to a part-time job, quit completely and work on your new business full-time, use accrued vacation time and sick days to take off one day each week, steal small blocks of time during your regular workday for your new business, etc. Obvious some of these options will displace some income, but for many people that is a better choice than displacing too much leisure time.

Copyright © Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
http://www.stevepavlina.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)

Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.