2 September 2008 175 views One Comment

“Purpose is stronger than outcome.” ~ Tony Robbins

Now, it’s time to take your three lists of goals. First, look at the “Personal Development Goals“. Of the ones you would like to accomplish within the coming year which inspires and motivates you the most. What leaps out of the page yelling, “Pick me! Pick me!!!”

Select your three primary Personal Development Goals, adding a star next to them on your page. These are your top priority goals; the areas you most desire change; the goals that motivate you to the greatest degree.

On a fresh page write the first goal in bold print. Immerse yourself in that goal and delve into what makes that goal important to you. Write a paragraph or two about why that goal is vital to your happiness. Why are you absolutely committed to this goal. Why are you motivated to take action on this goal? What will it mean in your life? Write how accomplishing that goal will make you feel and the difference it will create in your life. Write about that goals influence on you as a person and why it is absolutely a must-have goal for you. Why does this goal motivate you?

Repeat this process for your three Personal Development Goals and then again for your Things Goals and your Economic Goals.

The Rocking Chair Experiment!

When you are writing focus on your emotional connection to gain leverage. Let yourself experience the emotions attached to these goals. Imagine yourself in your elderly years, sitting in your rocking chair, reflecting on the life you’ve lived. Let your mind wander over your goals then take the journey with your emotions.

Imagine that you’re in your old age having never accomplished one of these goals. Examine how you feel knowing that the goal is out of reach. Feel that sense of emptiness and waste, regret and failure. Allow yourself to feel the pain associated with not accomplishing the goal. Does it hurt? Consider all you may have missed out on in life, the directions and options denied to you. If you can shrug your shoulders and feel only a bare tingle of regret then you should cast aside the goal and choose another, or return your focus to your motivation and your reasons for accomplishing this goal. You need to feel a desperate need for these goals because that desire, that yearning and the pain associated with not getting the goal will push you through to its achievement.

Once you’ve discovered the depths of pain associated with not accomplishing that goal bring yourself back to that aged person, sitting in his or her rocking chair nearing the end of life. This time, reflect on the life you’ve lead as if you accomplished the goal. How has accomplishing this goal enriched your life? What options opened up to you? What opportunity to rejoice did it bring? How do you feel knowing you’ve accomplished this goal? Are you excited, empowered, filled with love and thrilled with joy?

The pleasure and the pain associated with your goals are a motivational force that will help you stay focused on their accomplishment. You can repeat this exercise whenever you feel yourself struggling to remember why you want to make these things happen in your life. Review your reasons, add to them, and remind yourself exactly why you set out on these goals to begin with.

“The purpose of goals is not so you get things, the real reason to set goals is what they will make you as a person.” ~ Tony Robbins

Would you like to share one or two of your Top Three’s? Why do they top your timeline? What are your motivations? What benefits do you think will come from having what you’re setting out to achieve?