Want to know a little secret? One of the most powerful techniques you can use to ensure your immediate and continued success is to stay focused on what you want – and all aspects of that – and not to give in to worry, doubt, or to the temporary circumstances that might be happening right now in your life. I know this sounds simple, but most people find it extremely hard to put into practice.
To start with, while everyone understands the importance of goal setting, and many of you may even have goals now, what usually happens after the excitement wears off is that reality settles in. You may have a goal to earn a certain amount of money, or drive a different type of car, etc, but after you receive a few checks that seem to be about the same, or after you get back into your old car for a few months, have you ever found that you forget about your goal and just start accepting that things are probably going to remain the same?
Or have you ever attended a motivational seminar or read a motivational book and been fired up for a while? Have you even taken some of the advice and written down your new goals or even taken some action on trying a new marketing plan or diet? If you have, then you’ve probably experienced the kind of let down that comes from not making progress fast enough and of laying in bed at night worrying about your income or about your future.
In fact, let me ask you right now: “How much of your thinking is about what you don’t want to have happen or about what might happen if something you’re trying to accomplish doesn’t work out?”
The answer to that one question will always determine your ultimate success. You see, the secret to all success is to be able to stay focused on exactly what you want regardless of how long it takes, or what else is currently happening, or what temporary obstacles might be in your way. It is this single ability to stay focused, committed and always trained on the end result you want – no matter what – that will enable you to ultimately achieve any goal you can set.
So how do you stay focused on what it is you want when so much seems to be to the contrary, or your mind constantly says, “Yes, but….”? Here are some tips that help me, and they might help you as well.
I remember when I wanted to upgrade my Nissan Hatchback to a Mercedes. Well, at first I couldn’t afford the down payment, didn’t know how I was going to make the monthly payments, insurance, etc. Instead of trying to figure all that out, I started with the thought, “If other reps in the office drive nice cars and they seem to be able to write enough business to afford them, why not me?”
That basic belief was the core driving thought that I always went back to when I had a bad sales day, or week. Whenever my mind started to go negative on me with the, “Who are you kidding? You a Mercedes?” And so forth, I would always reaffirm what I could believe in – “If others could do it, I could do it too!”
After that, I strengthened my vision by going to a Mercedes dealership and test driving the car I wanted; I had the sales rep at the dealership take pictures of me next to my ideal car (in fact you can see that exact picture by clicking here and scrolling down a bit), and I brought all the brochures home that I could and kept them on my desk and looked at them often. And then I wrote up an affirmation card and spent three to five times a day slowly visualizing how I felt now that I owned that car.
That combination – always combating any negative thoughts with a thought I could believe in – “If others could do it, I could as well” – along with constantly feeding myself the feelings of having accomplished my goal, enabled me to stay focused on what I wanted, rather than on what I didn’t have.
The result? Four months after writing up my affirmation card and making the commitment to own the car of my dreams, I went back to the same dealership and bought the exact car I had been visualizing about. You see, the manager drove that car and it was still available when I was ready to buy. Coincidence? I don’t think so!
So my question to you is this: What do you want, and what belief can you buy into that can become your default belief that will counteract any negative thinking? And then what kinds of reinforcement tools can you surround yourself with that will keep you dreaming about how you’ll feel once you attain your goal? These, coupled with an affirmation statement that you visualize several times a day, will keep you focused on what you want.
And once you do that, your goal will always become a reality…