“How long would you give your average baby to walk?” This was a question that the legendary Jim Rohn would ask his audiences around the world. Most answers to the question include something like “as long as it takes” or “until they are successful.” Isn’t it interesting that we will not give up on an infant’s goal of walking, but we will give up on our own goals!

Babies who begin walking are generally between the ages of 9-18 months, give or take. The parents, the family and even the baby himself has his sights set on achieving this goal. Even if it takes him months to work it all out, he WILL walk. The same thing can be said for talking, learning the alphabet and all of the other functions we expect our babies to learn in infancy and as toddlers.

 When was the last time you showed persistence like that to get the job done? When was the last time you encountered that kind of support from your friends and family for your goals? I think there is a massive lesson to be learned here with persistence and patience. So often we lack the determination and the patience to stick out our goals to the end. We so eagerly put a time limit on our dreams and their accomplishment. I think we should start approaching it like a baby learning to walk. Put in the time, the determination and the effort UNTIL you realize your goal. Do not stop yourself short. Think about if that baby had stopped before reaching his goal…we would have a lot of people crawling around!

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Fleas are pretty impressive creatures. They are capable of jumping 200 times their body length! When placed in a jar with a lid, they will jump and hit the lid of the jar. They will do this a number of times until they learn only to jump as high as the height of the lid. Eventually, even when the lid is removed from the jar, the flea’s jump will never exceed the height of the jar. They have been conditioned for so long that they no longer try to reach their jumping potential.

 Isn’t this true of humans too? Often, when we fail at something or are denied an opportunity, we never decide to try or challenge it again. We become complacent with the walls that have been built up around us. Just like the flea, we once had big dreams, but have been conditioned to accept only what we have. It is so easy for us to just put a lid on our goals or our dreams and only accomplish what is mediocre.

 Think of someone great that you admire, that achieved something extraordinary. I bet this person did not see the lid; they kept jumping higher and higher until they got what they wanted. Do you think Thomas Edison, when drawing up his plans for the light bulb, listened to people when they thought his idea was ludicrous, impossible and crazy!? No, he was clear on his vision and kept jumping. Many of the inventors and entrepreneurs that created much of the conveniences that we use on a daily basis were these types of people. They did not see a lid, a barrier…they only saw possibility.

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I had a look at my goals the other day and was a little taken aback at the mediocrity of them. I was looking to achieve small, insignificant goals that were not pushing me hard enough, nor motivating me! I often do this to myself; I set small, regular goals so that I don’t feel like a failure if I don’t accomplish them. They are not big or exciting, so achieving them doesn’t fill me with any sense of excitement or accomplishment.

 What I have also done in the past is set the bar too high. I set out to achieve these enormous goals that I know will take me way too long to accomplish. They are not measurable. This also, makes me feel like a failure because the goals themselves are so far from achievable that I no longer have confidence in myself or my actions.

 The trick is to set big enough goals to keep you driven and excited, but not too big that they are unreachable. Setting goals is great, but what is also required for them to be achieved is some sort of action plan. Take out a pen or pencil, write out your goals, but also write out the daily or weekly steps you will take in achieving them. It makes no sense to choose a destination and not know which path you will take to get there!

A great acronym to remember when setting your goals is S.M.A.R.T:

S pecific, M easurable, A chievable, R ealistic, T imeframed

 I have a white board in my office and every Sunday evening I write out three weekly goals I would like to accomplish. Beside these goals I write my action steps. Since doing this on a weekly basis, I have been able to cross off many of the goals I have set for myself. In writing out my goals and the required action to make them happen, I am constantly reminded of my purpose and of the path that is required to get me to my destination!

 Happy goal-setting!

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Do you have a vision of yourself ten, twenty or even thirty years down the road? Are you successful or not? Are you living a life of your own design, or following someone else’s rules?

Successful people often say that they knew what their success and their abundance would look like. That is, they had envisioned their future on so many occasions that it became so solidified in their minds. Shane Krider calls this “communicating with your future self.” This means having a clear, strong vision of what it is we would like to accomplish. And when we are in moments of adversity or struggle we can look upon our future self for answers.

My future self is abundant, successful, independent and on purpose. Do you think she ever let those situations of adversity slow her down? No! No matter what obstacles she encountered on her journey, she made it. When I feel unmotivated or uninspired, I look upon my future self for answers. She let nothing get in her way. She surmounted all obstacles and adversities until she reached her destination.

Visualization is such a remarkable tool that many people fail to utilize in their daily lives. The Law of Attraction says that your thoughts are a powerful vehicle to getting what you want. Therefore, if you visualize everyday the type of person you would like to become or the life you would like to lead, chances are you will be attracting those things into your life. This is not to say, however, that you can simply think success and it will find you. Success, while encouraged through positive visualization is also a combination of determination and action. So… get clear on your future self, visualize that life/person and make some bold decisions to take you there.

Recipe for success: Visualization + Future Self = Success

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