Your Past Success Fuels Your Future

(Part 1 of 5 on Goal Setting) Did you know that all you have to do to set goals is 4 simple steps? And if you do those four simple steps you will absolutely reach your goal? Sometimes the power of goal setting overwhelms me. It's overwhelming for me because sometimes I think that if I choose something too big and do those 4 simple steps, that I actually might achieve it! Imagine setting a goal to speak in front of 4,000 people. Imagine making $40,000 in a month. Imagine meeting the person you've always wanted to meet. Imagine running a marathon. This is how you do it. Goal setting has 4 essential components: (1) Looking at Your Past Successes, (2) Finding Out What Really Juices You, (3) Making Your Goals Specific, and (4) Making them Invincible. I'm going to start with the first step "Looking at Your Past Successes." Your past success can be the framework for your future success. Why? Because with each past success you've had, there have been ups and downs, times you wished you could quit and times you felt great. When you look at what you've done before, you can use that as a reference point for what you are doing now or a present goal. Here's an example... My college graduation was a big deal for me. I label it as one of my big successes. In those four years, there were times I wanted to quit, there were times when I had a blast, and then there were times when I questioned what I was doing in school in the first place. Each one of those things I felt along the way toward graduation were all part of the larger picture or goal, which was the college diploma I received when I finished or accomplished my goal. You see, every path to reach a goal is different because different things and emotions and circumstances come up when you are striving to achieve it. But listen to this... every path to reach a goal is the SAME because the SAME TYPE of things, emotions and circumstances come up when you are striving to achieve it. On the path to reaching any goal, everyone feels doubt, excitement, fear, questioning. It is natural. So when you think about reaching your goals you have to build in the structure--or know that these things will happen and that you can overcome them easily. That's why past successes are important. By taking a past framework or structure of a goal that you achieved you can actually see the times that you wavered and when you waiver while you are attempting this new and present goal, you will not get too discouraged because it is part of the process. I apply my past success in college to many things. When I set a goal to run a race and two months before the race, I don't feel like want to continue training, I'll just think about the time I finished college and that there were plenty of times that I didn't want to go to class anymore. Eventually I got back on track in college, and with the knowledge of that, I know that eventually I'll get back on track with my training schedule and run the race that I set my sights on. It's relieving to know that you can waiver and still achieve your goals. It's part of the process and looking at your past successes makes it even easier.