Tag Archive for: Circumstance

5 Mistakes Most People Make When Setting Goals

Most of us know that setting goals is critical to achieving what we want in life. But what a lot of us don’t understand is how to set goals…and to stick with them!

Here are the top 5 mistakes most of us make when we set goals…and how to avoid them.

1. The goals are too broad or vague – really big goals are more like “dreams.” Actual goals are much smaller and they are baby steps to be taken to achieve something much bigger (the dream). And that’s where most of us go wrong. We know what we want the end result to be (start a business) but we don’t build each step into our daily lives. So, life goes on and months or years go by and we still haven’t started our business. Once we know the desired end result, we should begin to break that down into actionable steps and then take those actions. Next, we can do something every week (or even every day) to take a little step toward the dream. Momentum comes from taking small, frequent actions.

2. Deadlines are unrealistic – we may have big dreams and want to be really aggressive to achieve them. This might work for some people but, for others, it will just overwhelm them and cause the budding entrepreneur to jump ship. It’s important to set realistic deadlines that can be met under almost any circumstance. We must take into account our other commitments and responsibilities when setting deadlines. We’ll see more achievement with steady (or even slow) progression than if we get overwhelmed and don’t take action at all.

3. We don’t change our thinking – When we’re trying to accomplish goals, we must change our mindset to picture what life will be like when we reach the goal and achieve the dream. If we only look at the way things are now, we aren’t inspired to continue. We’ll get dragged down and give up on the end prize. In order to change our thinking, we must find people and things that inspire us. We must surround ourselves with those people and things that offer us encouragement so we can have enough fuel to endure the trip. Keeping a “dream board” where we have our big goals posted in words or pictures is a great way to keep our eyes looking forward. Building a strong network of like-minded people that can provide support is critical to keep us motivated.

4. We listen to “nay-sayers” – Not everyone will be as enthusiastic about our new ventures as we are. Some people will try to sabotage us and get us to stop thinking big. We must stop listening to these negative people and sometimes this means limiting our interaction with them about our new business plans. This doesn’t mean we can’t love them and spend time with them (they might be good friends or even family members) but it does mean that we not let their negativity cloud our vision. It may not be that they want us to fail, they may just fear change. It’s up to us to shut out the negativity and continue on our path. This is another reason why it is crucial that we surround ourselves with a team of positive supporters that want nothing more than to see us succeed on our journey.

5. We don’t have a plan – Without a plan, we will most certainly never reach our goals or our dreams. We will continue to let life happen rather than making life happen. When we have a solid plan of action, we are way more likely to take the steps toward achievement. Many goal-setting gurus will tell you to write your goals down every single day, by hand. This is a great way for you to start the day thinking about the bigger picture. You can then define the actionable steps you can take TODAY to move toward the goal. Some days that step might be to make a couple of phone calls or listen to a CD program…other days it may mean something much bigger.

Set the goal, make the plan, get to work, stick to it, and you will reach the goal.

Money & You® – Sufficiency is Heavenly

Money heavenly

Money & You® — Sufficiency is Heavenly

Recently, I read Lynne Twist’s book, The Soul of Money. She had kindly sent me the book about a year ago – and I put it in my stack of books to read, thinking that I would read it along with so many other wonderful publications that are sent to me as the head of the Excellerated Business Schools®/Money & You® Program.

I had an opportunity recently to see and hear her speak at our Transformational Leaders’ Council meeting. And while listening to her I had an epiphany – a realization that was so exciting for me because of the way it touched me, opened my heart, validated my life-time work, and took me immediately to another level of “beingness.”

I knew that my Life Purpose and the programs we teach are right on track. And at the same time, I was touched to the core and transformed… one more time.

I came home, got right into the book, and was transported one more time to being with Lynne. She is truly an inspiration – someone who communicates with so much essence this “idea whose time has come.” I love the way she is able to not only distinguish, but to remind us all how to actualize a feeling of “Sufficiency” in a world that is so often based in Scarcity.

While I do not intend this article to be only on Lynne and her fantastic book, my purpose is to share this same type of experience with you. Choosing to come from sufficiency instead of scarcity has been close to my heart ever since I was very young. It was taught to me first by my loving mother who naturally understands sharing and the power of feeling that one has enough, regardless of our circumstance. And every time I forgot it this powerful force in my life, I found myself faced with challenges.

Our transformational business education and programs have not always been easy to get accepted out in the world, perhaps because, at its core, it is based on the works and distinctions taught to us by R. Buckminster (Bucky) Fuller and several other masters who taught us that we humans are technologically billionaires and it is only our belief in Scarcity that perpetuates the notion that we live in a “YOU or ME” world rather than a”“YOU and ME” world.

It has been a supreme privilege to share these principles since 1979 with so many amazing business people and entrepreneurs throughout the world. It’s interesting that this information is so eagerly received in the Asia Pacific Region because it is so fresh and new to them. And, happily, it is now being re-energized and received wholeheartedly in North America too.

I loved Lynn ‘s book and one of the reasons is because she too was inspired by Bucky. In her work with The Hunger Project and other organizations, she was able to experience first hand the impact that coming from Sufficiency as opposed to Scarcity can have on a village, on society, on the world… It felt like she wrote a book that completely explained what has been my experience, and what Bucky taught us about abundance –that there truly is enough for EVERYONE in this world and that all can have a life with their basic needs (and more) met when we collaborate together.

She reminds us that it is our responsibility for those of us who have more than enough to not only share our knowledge, experience, skills and–“secrets” but also our hearts with those who are “resource poor” and with those that are”“knowledge poor” as many of the rich in this world are.

As some of you may have read some of the other articles that I have written inviting many of you to share your wonderful work world-wide – for you to become a Global Entrepreneur–– now I am inviting you to look a little deeper and take yourself through a self-test of where you stand in relationship to having enough in your life – to being that mega-wealthy human being that not only goes out and makes a difference in the world, but also lives from a place of so much abundance, that those fears of not having enough money, prosperity, that place in your consciousness that can be filled with fear, trepidation and can hold you back from going for your dreams, will disappear because you know deep in your heart that you are an abundant human being that can create anything in his/her life!

I have found in my work as a “Mentor of Nurturing” that many of the mega-wealthy that I meet sometimes have less love and trust even though their “basic personal needs” are met. It’s not about the money – it’s about the experience of abundance, sufficiency and enoughness in their world that really matters.

I remember meeting a friend of mine who had long dreamed of becoming a millionaire. He always had had the habit of spending more than he made – and thus, now that he was making millions, he would still spend more than he had, so he actually had the experience of still being in debt – not having enough! As the money got bigger, so did his worries. He was living completely from scarcity.

What is enough for you? What will make you feel that you have reached success? Do you have a goal, a milestone that will give you the signal that you now have enough? Our society is immersed in the thought of Scarcity – it’s everywhere. Once you begin to see it, it’s like taking a blindfold off and you begin to see clearly.

I have created “firewalls” within my consciousness to remind me of what enough is…

I notice that when I go to that conditioning of scarcity, I feel competitive, I feel that I have to have a better car than others, have a bigger and better home, business, and status… it’s almost a competition with self… it encompasses every area of my life. I seem to want more food, be more beautiful, be more powerful, be more successful – and that I am not enough.–It’s like a bad dream – I almost start “dream walking.” Then out of the grace of the Great Spirit something always brings me back and I am back into my heart again. I start feeling and knowing that I do have more than enough”– and my sharing my wealth, knowledge, resources, tools and wisdom then opens a whole new world of possibilities. I totally resonate with the stories that Lynn shares in her precious book.

What is sufficiency? To quote Lynn: –“When you let go of trying to get more of what you don’t really need, it frees up oceans of energy to make a difference with what you have. When you make a difference with what you have, it expands.”

I am totally inspired by her and feel blessed to have such awesome Masters in my life – Masters who have given me some of the greatest gifts – the gift of their insights and their experiences.

I hope that I inspire you to not only read The Soul of Money, but also read the works of our dear Bucky. His book, Critical Path , is worth the read. It will speak to parts of you that are ready to hear his beautiful information that is just now coming into “vogue.” Bucky would have loved Al Gore with his environmental work – and he would have loved YOU for living a life that includes his greatest message: There is enough for you and me…

May 2009 be your greatest year ever – and that your sharing heart will show up in every area of your life!

By: DC Cordova
DC Cordova is the CEO of the Excellerated Business Schools®/Money & You® Program.

For more information: www.excellerated.com or 619-224-8880.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Lighthelper. Intermittent just now. 🙂