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Self Improvement > Goal Setting > Dream, Focus, Plan, Do - The Keys To Claiming Your Life
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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Timothy Crawford
Achieve Any Goal With These Four Steps To Greatness
Dream
We must first imagine what it is we wish to accomplish in our businesses, careers relationships and lives in general. It’s through allowing ourselves the freedom to dream that we develop a sense of deep desire to claim our lives from the day-to-day distractions. In my program “Dream, Focus, Plan, Do” the first step is inspiring you to dream again. Dreaming of the possibility is the induction into embracing your true self. Too many of us are on auto-pilot. We do whatever is expected of us. We live our lives under some self-imposed false guidelines. I will challenge you to strip away those guidelines and see yourself 10 years old, with all of the possibilities laid in front of you. Our self-imposed limitations are actually excuses that derail us. Every amazing accomplishment on this planet was dreamt of before it was realized. Dreaming is your first step.
Pull out a sheet of paper and begin to write out your dreams. These dreams or goals must be personal in nature. Everyone has something they long to achieve. List those dreams and goals. Go crazy. It's okay. No one is going to read this list. You must list at least 5 goals. These 5 goals must bring a smile to your face. You must be emotionally connected to the possibility of reaching these goals. Dream on. Have fun.
Focus.
Once we’ve allowed ourselves to dream we must then focus on our newly aligned goal. In this world of distractions we must make a conscious effort to pinpoint our goals. Nothing just happens. We must zoom in until the static around us is minimized and we’re standing face to face with our defined goal. Focus brings clarity and clarity brings us into a call of action. Focus is a pivotal step in claiming your life. You cannot claim what you nonchalantly acknowledge. True focus demands our full attention and what we focus on then becomes our priority. Go back to your list of dreams and number them from 1-5 in order of personal passion.
Return to your list of the fantastic 5 goals, now put a check mark beside the three goals you feel most strongly about. These goals must especially invoke passion in you heart because these three goals now become your "Focused Goals". Read over your list. Do you feel excited about the prospect of achieving those goals? Are these goals in line with the person you would like to become? Remember; you cannot achieve a goal that is contradictory to your sense of self. In order to fuel a goal, follow through and achieve it, you must feel it is a purposeful goal. Purposeful goals not only benefit the person achieving it, but it benefits others as well.
Now that we've defined our goals it's time to move onto step 3.
Plan.
You have your dream narrowed. Your dream is real to you. You have your focus. You've accepted the purposeful importance of birthing your dream into existence. Now we plan. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Begin etching your map complete with defined landmarks which you’ll be able to recognize and gain inspiration from as you reach each small accomplishment. The planning stage is where people have the most difficulty. Smart people tend to believe that being smart means you don’t need a written plan, but in reality, writing down our plans greatly increases our odds of accomplishment. The planning stage is the most important stage of
any achievement, any goal, any mission and it cannot be skipped. If you skip the planning stage it’s as if you’re privately saying “I don’t really want to achieve this goal. I’ll pretend to try because pretending to try makes me feel better”.
Accept that the planning stage is the difference between success and a do over. Return to your "Focus Goals" and choose one goal. Which one of the goals on your paper leaps out at you? Which one of those goals gives you the warmest feelings of excitement? Your list of goals must ignite you. If you do not feel inspired by your list please return to step one. Sorry that's the rules. A goal worth achieving must burn a fire in your heart. There are times when I'm so focused on my goals I can barely sleep. If you feel so passionate about your goals that they keep you up nights with ideas then and only then are you ready to continue to step 4. This is the stage where we take one goal and begin etching our path to achievement. What is one step you must take to fulfilling this goal? How do you begin? You already have begun, but here are some suggestions: Do a search using 5 search engines under the topic of you goal. Save these websites in your browser for future reference. The people who wrote the articles on those websites have something in common with you, make note of their email addresses. Here's another suggestion: Go to Amazon and do a search for book titles on the subject of your goal. These sources of information will get you well on your way to etching your plan for accomplishing this goal. Planning needs to be set-up in small steps. This week you might plan to read two books on your subject, send 5 emails and join one organization. The plan is fluid, meaning the plan can be modified, it's the goal which we must be concrete.
Do.
The last step in our 4 part plan is the doing. Doing is 100 times less complicated if we’ve planned. If we’ve planned effectively we’ve given ourselves several short distance landmarks where we can feel accomplishment along the way to our ultimate destinations. I’ve found that the doing is the easiest step in the 4 part process simply because having a defined dream, focus and a plan gives us a sense of expectation to succeed.
This is the doing stage. Actually all stages are doing stages, but this is the stage where we put our plan into action. Go back and read information from all of those websites you saved earlier. Order at least 2 of the books you were able to locate on the subject of your goal. Search for 3 free newsletters on the subject of your goal and subscribe now. Do not be afraid to revise your plan as new information becomes available, but keep the end result of your plan in stone: Accomplish Goal #1. As you take concrete action other opportunities will materialize, doors will open and when they don't you must stick to your plan. Continue onward despite of perceived obstacles. An obstacle can be overcome, remember there's always more than one path to achieving your goal.
If you follow the steps outlined you will not only accomplish this single defined goal, but you’ll be confident that future goals are not only attainable, but expected. You have the keys to accomplishing your dreams. Claim your life starting today!
Timothy Crawford is Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia's Top Up and Coming Motivational Speaker.(http://www.timothycrawford.com)
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