How To Achieve Your New Year’s Resolution

 “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” —Leonardo Da Vinci

Have a Vision

Many years ago, the commencement speaker at a prestigious university asked the members of the graduating class, “Who has a definite plan for their lives?” He looked around the room; only three hands were raised. Twenty-five years later, when the class held a reunion, the combined net worth of those three individuals exceeded that of the remainder of the class.

People who know where they are going always achieve far greater levels of success than those who merely drift through life, expecting circumstances to create opportunities for them. Successful people create their own opportunities by focusing on goals with an intensity that borders on obsession. In this way, every action moves them forward, closer to their goal.

“Start with the empowering part—change from the inside out.”

—Dave Razo

Empowerment

Empowerment is defined as giving power or authority. My goal in this section is to give you the power and authority to make changes in your life. It really comes down to the words and images we use about ourselves. Using positive imagination and positive self-talk can transform that self-talk into your identity. It sounds easy, and it is easy. However, it does require some daily action, persistence, resilience, and discipline. You can do it!

How Can You Apply this to Your Life?

Imagine the cumulative effect of choosing more empowering words on a consistent basis. “I can’t” and “I don’t” are statements that seem similar. We often interchange them, but psychologically they can provide very different feedback and, ultimately, result in very different actions. They aren’t just words and phrases. They are affirmations of what you believe, reasons for why you do what you do, and reminders of where you want to go.

To put it simply, you can either be the victim of your words or the architect of them, building your future victory. Victim or victory—the choice is yours. Which would you prefer?

“Dream lofty dreams and as you dream, so shall you become.

Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be;

your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”

—James Allen

Turn your dreams into reality >> setting goals >> defining your destination

Write Your Goals

Goal setting is both an art and a science. There are specific steps to setting goals, but artistic flair and creativity are indispensable to actually implementing the actions necessary to accomplish them. I will provide you with a proven, seven-step process to achieve your dreams, your desires, your goals. If you follow these seven steps, you will be successful.

Goal setting, a process that can be applied to any area of one’s life, starts with taking a realistic appraisal of where you currently are, then determining what you want and where you want to end up—your goal. Then, develop the steps needed to get to your destination. A helpful acronym from Your Best Year Ever, by Michael Hyatt uses the word SMARTER to identify key aspects of goal setting.

S =  Specific—Clearly Defined

M = Measurable—Able to Measure Your Success

A = Actionable—Use a Verb and Do It

R = Risky—Invoke Emotion

T = Time Keyed and Triggered—Sense of Urgency

E = Exciting—Remember Why You Want It

R = Relevant—Reality Check

Writing your SMARTER goals is the first important step in turning your vision into something real.

Now, get a piece of paper and write down your vision, your goal. Think big. Think of the possibilities. What will it be like living your dream: your new lifestyle, your income, your net worth? Write it all down. now—stop reading and start writing.

You have to have a dream to make a dream come true, and writing it down activates your nervous system, the goal-seeking part of your brain. Pause your reading or listening to write about your dream now.

Are you writing? Write! Right now. Write now.

How about other areas of your life—your mind, body, spirit, emotions, relations, income? I include all these areas in my goals, as well as my “living the outstanding life” goals. Write down all the goals you desire—everything that comes to mind.

Okay—that’s great!

Look at your creation and be happy. Celebrate the journey. Take pride in your accomplishment. This step is just the start, and it’s important that you find enjoyment in the journey. These little breaks to enjoy what we are doing have neurological consequences, so take time to enjoy each little step along the path.

Now that you have established your goals and a clear vision of where you are headed, go back and phrase your goals as if they are already accomplished.

Phrase them as “I am” or “I have” statements. I know this sounds weird, but through daily repetition of these “I am” statements, our minds begin the process of believing “you are”—they will become your identity, and your brain will seek ways to maintain your identity. Your own identity is a powerful force in the human psyche.

Making changes to your brain requires repetition and emotion. That is our next step. Specifically, changes to your subconscious will include I-can-tations (your “I am” and “I have” statements) plus visualizations.

Visualization involves imagining yourself having already attained the goal, whether it be financial, relationship, or career/work related or mental, physical, spiritual, or emotional experiences—clearly envision yourself having accomplished the goal. Include the reason behind attaining the goal—the emotional impact—and the result. Make it as vivid as you can. See it, hear it, feel it, smell it, and taste it.

Adding I-can-tations will empower the neuropathways. Write a positive first-person statement about the goal having been achieved. For instance, if it is a financial goal, you might write, “I have $1 million in liquid assets in my trading account on June 1, 20XX.”

Now write an I-can-tation for every goal you have. Say it out loud frequently, and add emotion every time you say it. I suggest each morning and night at a minimum. As you state each I-can-tation, picture yourself doing it and succeeding at it—even overcoming potential obstacles along the way.

Visualizing a big goal will activate the parts of the brain (nucleus accumbens and insula) that drive your motivational center to take action on your visualization in reality. Imagination, rehearsal, and practicing the role you plan to play reinforce the new pathway. Over time the role will become more and more familiar to you. When you work with your self-image and add knowledge, skills, and abilities, your goal and your vision become one. It becomes your new “comfort zone”. You will have activated what I believe is the most powerful, the most empowering, part of your brain.

Activate this part of the brain by picturing yourself achieving the goal you desire daily. See it, feel it, speak it, believe it. It all begins in your imagination. Practice this technique morning and night, and continue to practice day after day until your goal becomes a reality.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
 —Albert Einstein

There are two ways to reinforce this new image in your brain: spaced repetition and emotionally charged visualizations. Practice twice a day, early in the morning and then again in the evening. Use this time to relax and enjoy your internal journey into your imagined world. Apply an affirmation, an I-can-tation, along with your visualization. To really boost your change, attach a powerful feeling to the goal attainment.

Make your image bigger, brighter, and more alive. Add an image of yourself enjoying the newfound success. Imagine yourself succeeding at the goal, overcoming the obstacles along the way, celebrating your achievement. Bringing emotions into the picture activates the pain and pleasure circuits that will drive you to action.

Writing your goals down and phrasing them in positive “I am” statements is just the first step—attaching emotions to the goal will turbocharge your desire. One way to attach strong emotions is to determine why you want these goals and we will talk more about this in the next article..

Remember this is just the first step on the journey.  We will provide you with all the steps in coming articles, and if you want to revisit the 1^st article you can go here LINK HERE

The critical steps to keeping your resolutions and obtaining your goals are broken them down into seven master steps to unlock your goal-achieving success. In the coming articles, I will dive deeper into each of these seven master steps to provide you a path to achieving any goal you set your mind to. The seven steps are:

1. Goal Setting — Mindset
2. Purpose Driven – Inspiration
3. Strategies — Education
4. Overcoming Obstacles – Grit
5. Turbo Boost – Flow & Environment
6. Accountability –Forcing Functions
7. Massive Action—Revisions and Celebrations

So stay tuned and we will get there together.

If you have questions, you can contact me at Dave.Razo@WeBuildABetterU.com

I am rooting for you.

Dave

As an example, you might start by setting aside a portion of your income to help others.  In this way, you will be leading both a rich life and a wealthy life. Choose a church, a charity, or a cause that you can enthusiastically support. Then give your money and/or your time to support that cause. The primary beneficiary of such noble actions is always the one who gives. 

For more info on leading a rich and wealthy life check out my book or visit our website—details are below.

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  — Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com

The Secrets to Goal Achievement

Have you noticed? There are a lot more people working out at the gym this week. Not the usual crowd either. I admit, at first I was a bit annoyed. They were invading “my” space, taking up time on “my” equipment, causing a crowd in “my” locker room. Then a better, more graceful “me” emerged, and I told myself,

“Hey, they are just wanting the same thing I am wanting — to obtain better fitness, better health, more energy, maybe even a better shape.”

Funny though. This is the same pattern I see every year. People start going to the gym in the new year, only to be back on the couch eating cookies and drinking a sugary, big-gulp by the middle of January.

• What causes this?
• Why can’t most people obtain their goals?
• Why don’t people follow through?

Many of us start the New Year with a new resolution, a new goal, but don’t stick to it. Studies have shown that approximately 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Failure has become so common that many people have quit trying.

It is easy to just dismiss them and say they just don’t have the willpower, or they just don’t want it bad enough. But willpower and commitment are only a couple of the less functional parts of goal achievement. They are baby steps in the journey toward keeping a resolution or in the art and science of goal achievement.

We will be taking major power moves, giant strides on our goal achievement journey, so if you are game, stick around and let’s get ‘er done together.

I believe you can succeed. In this and successive articles, I will provide you with a method that has worked for me. Over the past 45 years, I have been on a quest to find the holy grail. The magic potion, the anointed elixir, the secret formula. Unfortunately, it is just a bit more involved than any one mysterious secret can provide; it takes a few steps to get there. But it isn’t difficult or complicated if you move forward bit by bit. Remember the old saying? Inch by inch, it’s a cinch.

If you are willing to take it inch by inch, I can help you get there. If you are willing to take it one step at a time, I know you can do it. You can have new hope in obtaining your deepest desires.

You see, I have studied the best. Anthony Robbins, John Maxwell, Jim Rohn, John Assaraf, Mark Waldman, and Ben Hardy; all have parts of the puzzle, but I am here to give you the best of all of them, and along the way, we will become better at fulfilling our resolutions. I will provide you with a method to fulfill all your dreams if you are willing to take this journey with me.

It is both an art and a science, and it is one that you can learn. The truth is that most of us have never been taught how to obtain our most important dreams, aspirations, and desires, our goals in this life.

In this short essay, I will provide you with the basics of keeping your New Year’s Resolution, and then in following articles, you will obtain all the details based on ancient wisdom and the most recent neuroscience — both necessary to fulfill your wildest dreams.

First, let’s assume you have a resolution. This might come to you out of the frustration of not obtaining last year’s objective. Or, it might be something new that has inspired you to take action. Or, it could come from an annual, systematic review of your life.

I like dividing my life into significant categories to keep track of the essential areas of my existence. I don’t want too many items, but enough to cover all the major ones I know affect me dearly.

My primary areas can be divided up into internal and external. My interior areas are my mind, body, and spirit. These are all key areas that we are essentially in total control of. While imprisoned for 27 years, even Nelson Mandela controlled his Mind, Body, and Spirit. In fact, he learned to control these three areas so well that he changed South Africa and was an example to the world on how to fight (non-violently) to abolish the injustice of apartheid.

My external areas are my Relationships, my Mission/Finances, and my Richness of life. Relationships are pretty obvious, we are social animals, and one of our significant competitive advantages in nature is that we can act together to accomplish big goals—healthy relationships are vital.

Mission/Finances is an excellent area to spend some time with, as I recently read that 80% of working people don’t like their jobs. Turning your work into something you’re passionate about is crucial toward living a rich life. Implementing a system to make this happen is essential, and there is a way to do it, but again, few people know how and it is even rarer that anyone teaches it. Stick with me, and I can help guide you through it.

Living life with passion, having a passionate mission is vitally important to the final central area–the Richness of Life. I like to think of the Richness of Life as the cherry on top. It can be the celebration at the end of a journey, or it can just be the excursion that makes life worth living. In either case, it is vital to keep everything else in perspective. How do you celebrate your accomplishments—it is vitally important to have this in mind as you start to commit to your resolution or your goals.

With this overview out of the way, let’s take a quick look at the brass tacks—the critical steps to keeping your resolutions and obtaining your goals.

I have broken them down into seven master steps to unlock your goal-achieving success. In the coming articles, I will dive deeper into each of these seven master steps to provide you a path to achieving any goal you set your mind to. The seven steps are:

1. Goal Setting — Mindset
2. Purpose Driven – Inspiration
3. Strategies — Education
4. Overcoming Obstacles – Grit
5. Turbo Boost – Flow & Environment
6. Accountability –Forcing Functions
7. Massive Action—Revisions and Celebrations

So stay tuned and we will get there together.

As an example, you might start by setting aside a portion of your income to help others.  In this way, you will be leading both a rich life and a wealthy life. Choose a church, a charity, or a cause that you can enthusiastically support. Then give your money and/or your time to support that cause. The primary beneficiary of such noble actions is always the one who gives. 

For more info on leading a rich and wealthy life check out my book or visit our website—details are below.

Dave is dedicated to the values of
Integrity First  -- Service Before Self – Excellence in All We Do.
Author: Rich Life, Wealthy Life
From Successful Investing to Happy Empowered Living
RichLifeWealthyLifeBook.com