Part 1 – Achieving Your Goals – Why Using a Vision Board Can Help You to Achieve Your Goals

Posted in goal setting, life goals on April 7th, 2010

Do you think you can attract what you want? Both skeptics of the “Law of Attraction” and people who believe in it ask themselves this question.

The first step to achieving your goals is to be really clear about what they are. You need to sit down and write a list of all your life goals.

Look into the all the different areas of your life such as health, relationships, wealth, family, and spirituality. Be as specific as possible. For example, if you want to create more spare time so that you can spend time with your family then what would you do with that spare time? Would you go out to the park with your children or would you take them on a trip to Disneyland?

If you want to be wealthy, how do you define wealth? Is it owning a new house, having money in the bank, donating money regularly to your favorite charities or going on an exotic holiday? Write all this down.

But as important as it is to write down your goals, sometimes words aren’t enough to make them seem real in your mind. Sometimes it’s hard to visualize them on your own. This is so important because, if you can visualize yourself accomplishing your goals and you are able to tap into how it will feel to actually achieve them, then you will be motivated to do the necessary hard work to achieve them.

I recommend creating a “Vision Board” or “Attraction Board”, as it’s sometimes called. A “Vision Board” is a collection of images that helps you to see, feel, smell and tastes everything  you would like to achieve. The more vividly you can picture yourself achieving your goals, the more likely it is that you will achieve them. Read the rest of this entry »

To Achieve Your Goals Visualize What Your Goal Will Look, Feel & Sound Like

Posted in goal setting, setting goals on April 1st, 2010

Step 12 in my series, The 12 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

The future belongs to people who see possibilities before they become obvious. – Ted Levitt

Yet a common mistake many people make is not having a crystal clear vision of what success will look.

You will find that visualizing success as vividly as you can (use photos, mental images, detailed descriptions to show you what it will feel like) is a vital step to achieving and exceeding your biggest goals.

I have used as our example my goal to climb Mt Kilimanjaro so as my final step in this process of goal achievement I constantly visualized a picture of myself at the top of the mountain.

I thought about what the wind would feel like on my face and how the bright sunlight would require me to wear sunglasses. I thought about the cold and how my fingers would feel. I even thought about the ache I would feel in my thigh muscles after the exertion of the climb. Not a bad pain but just enough of an ache for my mind to know I had accomplished a monumental physical feat. I heard the sound of the wind whipping past my ear.

In other words I made this visualization as real in my mind as was possible. Then I continued to do this everyday, several time a day until it really happened!

Your next and final step: To achieve your goals visualize what your goal will look like, feel like, and sound like?

Visualize your goal when it is achieved at the end of the time frame you defined in Step 2. Be as descriptive as possible, using words, photographs, and sketches and come back to that visualization often, at least once a day.

My name is Karim Ismail and I developed my system for achieving goals over 20 years while managing multi-million dollar building projects. Let me help you set smart goals so you achieve your long term personal and professional goals with my FREE Life Quiz Click here to get my bestselling book, Keep ANY Promise – a blueprint for designing your future, where you will learn about setting long and short term goals.

To Achieve Your Goals Share Your Goal Widely With Others

Posted in goal setting, life goals, setting goals on March 24th, 2010

Step 11 in my series, The 12 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle can contain it or stand against it. – Jane Smiley

Sharing your goal with others is vital to your success. However, many people are uncomfortable doing this, so they make the mistake of hiding their goal, or only sharing it with one person.

When you don’t share your goals it may be an unconscious attempt at self sabotage. If you don’t tell anyone about your goals they will never become real in your mind. When they don’t feel real it will be hard to be serious about them. You might feel uncomfortable at first, but hiding your goals will not help you.

Instead, you will find that when you have the courage to share your goal, you articulate it more clearly for yourself, and you strengthen your commitment to it. Sharing your goal also allows you to receive objective feedback. By sharing your huge goal, you will undoubtedly inspire friends, family, and colleagues. So please consider doing what we always ask children to do, and share! Read the rest of this entry »

To Achieve Your Life Goals, Set Clear Milestones on Your Path to Success

Posted in goal setting, setting goals on March 15th, 2010

karimmilestonesStep 10 in my series, The 12 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo de Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – H. Jackson Brown

Sometimes reaching a goal feels miraculous, like a quantum leap. But if you look closely, you’ll notice that the goal was attained by moving from one step to the next. To make steady progress, it is critical to define steps and time frames along the way. Time frames allow you to assess your goal, determine your progress, and take corrective action if needed.

Many people make the unfortunate mistake of not setting clear milestones or well-defined steps with clear time frames while trying to achieve their goals.

I have found that it is best to define 90 day milestones. Why 90 days? It’s long enough for you to achieve meaningful progress (rather than a 30 day time frame, which can sometimes be too short). But it’s much shorter than an annual milestone, thus allowing you four times in a year when you can measure progress and take any required corrective action. Read the rest of this entry »

Goal Setting – Enlist All Possible Resources to Help You Attain Your Goal

Posted in goal setting, setting goals on March 3rd, 2010

karimgoalsteamStep 9 in my series, The 12 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

Often when we are faced with a goal to achieve, we assume we have to accomplish the goal on our own. Why do we put this pressure on ourselves? This is surely one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make!

There are many, many resources in the universe that we can tap into. We need only ask. Since your ultimate aim is to achieve your goal, does it matter if you achieve your goal on your own, or if you get help along the way?

Enlisting the help of those around you (and I am deeply convinced that most people want to help) makes it much easier to reach your destination.

So enlist every resource you can in helping you achieve your goals. Especially seek the help of experts who can help accelerate your learning, and soon, you will be well on your way to exceeding your goal.

Resources can be people, tools, financial or spiritual systems, or anything you wish. You might also want to include the resources that you would like to enlist, but feel you cannot for one reason or another. Then watch what happens!

Read the rest of this entry »

Goal Setting – To Achieve Your Goals, Focus on the Solutions to Overcoming Your Obstacles

Posted in goal setting, setting goals on February 22nd, 2010

karimsolutions

Step 8 in my series, The 12 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

The next step in achieving your goals after you define your obstacles is to find solutions. If you have defined the possible obstacles to your goal, your mind will suddenly perceive solutions where none existed before.

This is because as humans are instinctive problem-solvers. Most people make the mistake of not listing their obstacles on paper; maybe because we are afraid to acknowledge they exist. But once you do your perspective usually changes.

Don’t make the mistake of not thinking of solutions. For each obstacle you defined brainstorm one or more possible solutions and write them down. If you find that you are unable to define all your solutions on the first try, don’t worry. Just keep coming back to your list, and eventually solutions will become apparent to you.

Remember, problem solving is ingrained in our nature as human beings!

I have used as an example for outlining the steps to achieve your goals, my audacious goal to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I set a clear time frame to reach this goal in 1.5 years. My measurement of success was to get to the top of the mountain without endangering my life or those in the group. I defined 10 compelling reasons why I was undertaking the climb and printed these out to review whenever my resolve waivered. I defined the key benefits I would gain by reaching my goal. I then defined and listed the consequences of not achieving my goals. I wrote down the many obstacles there were many in my path. Read the rest of this entry »

Goal Setting: To Achieve Your Goals, Define Your Obstacles

Posted in goal setting, life goals on February 16th, 2010

karimobstaclesStep 7 in my series, The 12 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.-William Ellery Channing

Life throws us many challenges, which we often view as obstacles that prevent us from getting to our goals. Instead, you may want to consider embracing these obstacles. For in them lies the solution to achieving your goals.

Why? Well, over thousands of years, as a species, man has learned to out-think obstacles and find solutions. This has been the primary reason for our survival as a species, and for the progress we have made.

So if you define your obstacles carefully, you will find that your mind very quickly finds solutions, no matter the circumstances. It’s a remarkable skill we all have.

I have used as an example for outlining the steps to achieve your goals, my audacious goal to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, at 19340 feet, one of the world’s seven peaks. I set a clear time frame to reach this goal in 1.5 years because of a three week school break in January 2005 that my daughter would have to undertake the trek with me. My measurement of success was to get to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro at 19,340 feet without endangering my life or those in the group. I defined 10 compelling reasons why I was undertaking the climb and printed these out and kept them with me to review at all times. I defined the key benefits I would gain by reaching my goal. I then defined the defined the consequences of not achieving my goals. Read the rest of this entry »

Goal Setting – To Achieve Your Life Goals Define the Consequence of Not Reaching Them

Posted in goal setting on January 25th, 2010

karimConsequencesStep 6 in my series, The 12 Steps to Achieving Your Goals

Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising every time we fall.-Confucius

The psychologist Sigmund Freud observed that the human mind is consciously and subconsciously motivated by two forces: the need to avoid pain and the need to gain pleasure. Pain is often more immediate than pleasure, so we may become more concerned with avoiding pain and, in general, develop a preference towards avoidance.

For this reason it is important to define with clarity the consequences of not achieving your goal, something many people forget to do.

Put another way, what is the pain that will result from not achieving your goal? As you define these consequences, you will be motivated to avoid this pain and to focus on your goal, especially if you have also clearly outlined the benefits of achieving it. Read the rest of this entry »

Add the 4 Laws of Action to the Law of Attraction to Achieve Your Goals

Posted in General on January 17th, 2010

karimachievegoals2Do you think you can really just think and grow rich?

If so, you’re in for a rude awakening. I am sure that even Napoleon Hill would agree with me that you cannot merely think and grow rich. The Law of Attraction only works when paired with what I like to call the Laws of Action.

As a former manager of large building projects, I know that you can’t think a building into existence. That would be absurd. Yes, every project begins with a vision and inspiration. But you can only visualize for so long. For the building to take form you first need detailed blueprints. Then you need to assemble the right materials. And finally, you need to hire the right people with the right skill set.

Why would you think that’s any different to your business and life goals? I’ve talked to many people who visualize and use affirmations, waiting for the Law of Attraction to work, but they remain stuck in a rut.  They’re sitting around wondering why they’re not making any progress.

Why Most People Fail to Successfully Achieve Their Goals

They are missing ACTION. They are NOT taking steps to achieve their goals. It’s like they’re waiting for results to come on a silver platter just because they’re visualizing success.  I’m going to tell you right now – you get exactly what you put into it.

If you take action and you increase your speed of implementation, you’ll experience an exciting phenomenon. In fact, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to achieve more in the next 12 months than you did in the previous 12 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Goal Setting – To Achieve Your Life Goals Define the Benefits You Expect to Gain

Posted in goal setting, life goals, setting goals on January 10th, 2010

opportunityStep 5 in my series,

The12 Steps to Achieving your Goals

Opportunities? They are all around us…. There is power living latent everywhere waiting for the observant eye to discover it.-Orison Swett Marden

To achieve your life goals you need to define the key benefits or results you expect to gain. Once you do that, you will be more driven to do what it takes to achieve those goals. Make your list of benefits as detailed as possible: the more benefits to be gained, the greater the focus you will have on the goal.

Getting clear about the benefits of achieving your goals is therefore critical to achieving your goals, which is in turn crucial to keeping your promises to yourself, your family and the rest of the world.

I have used my audacious goal to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, one of the world’s seven tallest peaks, as an example for outlining the steps to achieving your goals. First, I set a clear time frame to reach this goal in 1.5 years because of a three week school break in January 2005 that my daughter would have to undertake the trek with me. Then I decide to measure my success as getting to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, at 19,340 feet, without endangering my life or those in the group. I defined 10 compelling reasons why I was undertaking the climb. Read the rest of this entry »