Goal « Personal Development Plans

January 15, 2010

Why You Must Set Goals to Improve your Self-Esteem

Filed under: Development Plans — Tags: confidence, Goal, Goal Setting, goals, self confidence, Self Esteem, Self Help, Self Improvement — admin @ 10:20 am

What are goals and why do we need them. Goals are targets for you to reach, things for you to aim for, obstacles for you to overcome or a destination for you to reach. Why are they important? Read on and find out.

How can you reach a destination if you don’t know what or where it is. Imagine living in the USA and wanting to get to England but you have no idea where England is, you don’t even know that you need to take a boat or a plane to get there because you’ve never even heard of England before.

How hard would it be to reach this destination? I’d say near to impossible wouldn’t you? You may stumble on it through shear luck. Maybe you wondered into an airport one day and saw the flight information on the screen but the odds on this are slim to none. This is why goals are so important.

To have a real goal you must have a plan. You must know where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and most importantly why you want to reach the goal in the first place. We’ve already dealt with the first one, you can’t reach a destination if you don’t know where you’re going.

The only part we haven’t dealt with is how specific your goals need to be. ‘I want to make lots of money’ isn’t good enough. ‘I want to make 1 million dollars in the next five years’. Now that’s the type of goal you want to be setting. It’s specific, punchy and straight to the point.

Secondly you need a plan. This doesn’t need to be too specific at first as it will constantly change throughout the process of reaching your goal. It’s like a boat cruising across the open water. On it’s way to it’s destination it is off course about 90 percent of the time and it makes minuscule changes all the way to it’s final port. Just like you’ll make changes to your plan on the way to reaching your goal

You may even find that half way to reaching your goal the destination itself will change, either slightly or become an entirely different goal altogether.

Finally the most important part. You must know why you want to reach your goal. If you don’t know this, if you don’t have a strong enough reason for accomplishing your goal then your chances of success are greatly reduced. It needs to be a reason that only the thought of will elicit a strong emotional response.

Ideally you should have two reasons. One must involve all of the great things that will happen once you’ve achieved your goal, list all of these great things and give them a positive emotional strength. The other should involve all of the things that will happen if you don’t achieve your goal, give all of those bad things a negative emotional strength so when you think of what will happen if you fail it instantly motivates you succeed.

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January 3, 2010

Five Principles to Improve Your Leadership Skills

Filed under: Development Plans — Tags: Design, Goal, Guidance Ambition, Intent, Mark, Meaning, Objective, Point, Purpose, Self Help, Target, View — admin @ 1:05 am

This may seem like a great spoiler; but certainly, there is no such thing as a hard and fast rule when it comes to leadership. Every organization, circumstance, and leader calls for different courses of action. What is to be considered as “good” leadership depends on various factors such that what could be “good” leadership in one instance could be “bad” leadership in another.

Nevertheless, you need not fret if you are seeking ways to improve your leadership. There are generally accepted principles that when studied and applied, are believed to be helpful in improving one’s leadership skills. These are given below and it’s all up to you to decide on whether these tips could be appropriately applied to your particular situation – whether you’re running a business, organizing a school play, or governing a country.

Self-Esteem. People become more willing to work if they feel important. Effective leaders help their organization’s members develop their self-esteem. You can do this by paying more attention to them and expressing your genuine interest in their opinions every time you converse. When it is well deserved, give your member a tap on the shoulder to show that his efforts are well appreciated. The key here is in being sincere and in expressing your appreciation through the littlest gestures.

Planning. Members of an organization are more able to adapt to changes if there is a specific plan of action laid out. Planning is crucial in effective leadership because it provides the organization with a concrete direction and identifiable means to achieve its goals. As a leader, you should initiate planning and exert effort in communicating those plans as clearly as possible to your members. This will strengthen your member’s decision-making skills and would allow for effective delegation.

Motivation. A highly motivating work environment is undoubtedly a productive one. The organization benefits the most when its members are continuously motivated to work for and with it. There are many ways by which you, as a leader, can motivate your members. You can provide deserving members with public recognition even through a simple mention of their names and accomplishments. Offering challenges that allows your members to grow, and in a way show-off, is a brilliant to motivate them to be more competitive. You can hand out incentives such as bonuses, free stuff, or promotions to high-performing members so that your members will have something to look forward to in exchange for a job well done. One of the most important ways to motivate, however, is through leading by example. How you work, lead, and carry yourself hugely affects how much people would want to work with you.

Delegation. You can’t do everything by yourself. The best leaders can effectively delegate tasks, giving them more time to plan and supervise. Usually, leaders fail to delegate effectively because they fear their subordinates would do badly at a job that they could have done much better. Do not succumb to that pitfall. Your members will definitely make mistakes, but so will you. The thing to remember here is that you should always make sure that you communicate the things that you want done clearly and that you allow your subordinates to be accountable for the consequences of their action.

Empowerment. This actually relates to delegation. Making your members accountable and responsible for their actions empowers them. It makes them feel greater self-respect; and in the long-run, it would allow them, working with accountability, to develop creativity and become better workers.

These five principles – self-esteem, planning, motivation, delegation, and empowerment – are all important in improving your leadership skills. But these are not enough. The success of your leadership will ultimately depend on the way you recognize your organization’s needs and how you can adapt your leadership style to those needs. In the same way that you would evaluate your members’ performance, also evaluate and reflect on yours. Only you can tell what “good” leadership is for your organization. Likewise, it’s only you who can determine how you can become a “good” leader.

12 WINNING LEADERSHIP QUALITIES: Unleash The Leader Instinct Within You!

http://leadership.pan100.net/?e=kevin121554@yahoo.com

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December 26, 2009

The Reason Why Self Hypnosis Never Seems to Work

Filed under: Development Plans — Tags: Goal, Hypnosis, Meditate, Meditation, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Self Help, Self Hypnosis, Self Improvement, Subconscious, Success, Trance, Unconscious — admin @ 1:17 pm

Self hypnosis is an extremely powerful tool when used to help you achieve your goals! Achieving goals, as with anything in life depends on your internal state. You can use the power of self hypnosis to program into your mind a plan for goal achievement and even instil new beliefs and behaviours that will help you reach your objectives. So why doesn’t self hypnosis work for everyone?
Many people fail to get any measurable results from self hypnosis because they are not using it correctly!
The first step you should take when considering using self hypnosis is to know what you want. Although this may sound elementary and a little condescending really consider it. Are you certain, in every deatil, as to how your life will benefit from reaching your goal? Do you know exactly what it is you want to gain from using self hypnosis? Or, do you just listen to a generic self hypnosis session and hope for the best?
For example, listening to a self hypnosis recording for more confidence may be a good goal but how do you quantify confidence? Do you want to be confident around other people or potential mates? Are you seeking to gain more confidence in your job or work-life? Is it really that you want to be more confident about your abilities and therefore it is your self-esteem that you are wishing to build?
For self hypnosis, like any other self improvement technique, to be effective you must use it with a goal in mind! Your goal, for use with self hypnosis, must be precise. You must make it as detailed as possible.
Try writing down a list of things you would like to achieve and then prioritize them. Take your most important desire and turn it into a goal. Write it down. Do it now!
Have you done it?
When you write down a goal you change it from a wish into a statement of intent. With this statement of intent you can program it into your subconscious mind, through self hypnosis, and make it your future reality. This makes your desire real and tangible and no longer a vague wish or dream. By doing this you have just created a powerful self hypnosis goal!
Now that you are clear on what you want and have created your first self hypnosis goal you need to finish this preliminary work before you ever enter a self hypnosis state.
You must now re-write your goal in the present tense as though you already have it. If you have major trouble feeling comfortable writing it in the present tense then write it as though it is in the process of coming true. Do not tate your goal as though it will come to you in the future! Never state what you do not want or include any of the things that you are trying to eliminate!
Your self hypnosis goal must state your intention positively and only include what you want. “I am debt free” is a bad example, for in order to be debt free you must first think of debt! “I am prosperous and wealthy”, is much better as it includes what you do want! “I am no longer uncomfortable in social situations”, is bad as you are focusing on your lack of confidence! “I am a highly confident person who is at ease with others in any situation”, is much more suitable as it states the positive outcome you are seeking!
The subconscious mind works, not in words, but in pictures. This becomes very apparent during self hypnosis. So whatever you do right at this moment don’t think of an elephant! What did you just think of? An elephant! Right?
In order not to think of an elephant your subconscious mind has to produce a picture of an elephant so it knows what you don’t want to think about! This is why it’s very important to never include what you do not want in your self hypnosis goal!
When you use self hypnosis to re-program your subconscious mind with this goal, the mental pictures you form will be automatically positive due to the wording of your goal. So only use positive, goal-affirming statements! Ensure your statements are detailed, positive and to the point. Doing this will force your subconscious mind to create pictures that reinforce your desires and it will use them as as a guide to creating your future!

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December 5, 2009

Three Personal Development Power Steps

Filed under: Development Plans — Tags: Achievement, Beliefs, Goal, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Self Help, Self Improvement, Success — admin @ 10:32 pm

Personal Development teachers and Self Improvement gurus have constantly told you that if you want to create joy, abundance and success in your life yu must first change your beliefs. They tell you that in order to achieve the same level of success as the high-achievers you must also be willing to take some form of action no matter how small it is. But how do you motivate yourself to take action when your whole world seems to be telling you that you can never achieve your goals?

There is only one way!

Change your beliefs – This is real Personal Development Power!

The greatest of Self Improvement teachers tell you that in order to achieve success and have the ability to take action you must first alter your beliefs. But why is this and how can you do it?

Well, our beliefs are merely a set of thoughts that you have about a given subject. They do not need to be, and usually aren’t, based of any real hard facts. Did you know that there are many psychological studies that show the views people have about themselves are wrong. Most people tend to be very hard on themselves and rarely give themselves creadit for their achievements or recognize their own strengths. If you are a normal human beiing then you are doing exactly the same thing!

Since thought always precedes action, it is imperative to change your disempowering, self-defeating destructive beliefs to empowering ones that will create drive, confidence, faith and, ultimately, success!

By changing your beliefs your core thoughts will change and thus your actions will be completely different than they have been before and in alignment with your desires. I can give you 3 simple, yet highly effective, steps which you can start to use immediately to change your beliefs and your life. They only require a small amount of effort but you do need a lot of persistence to keep following them! Remember its all about taking action.

Step 1. Learn to recognize your emotional responses and you will learn to control your thoughts.

When you begin to watch your emotions you will learn to control your thoughts. Our emotions are just a by-product of the thoughts we are thinking. When you think a sad thought you get sad and when you think a happy thought you feel happy. Although to many people this sounds overly simply YOU must realize that there is great wisodm and huge rewards that come from watching your feelings.

When you feel bad it means you are thinking about the things you do not want. When you are experiencing joyful happy emotions it is a clear indication that your thoughts are in the same direction as your goals and desires. Feeling good means you are focusing on the things in life that you really want! Teach yourself to be aware of your emotional state. By watching how you feel you can easily regulate your thoughts.

Make the decision now to watch how you are feeling, especially when you are concentrated on your goals and desires. When you feel bad and are experiencing negative emotions it is a sign that your thinking is in the wrong direction. Feeling bad is an indication that you are focused on the things in life that you do not want. If you are feeling good then you are focused on the benefits of actually having what you want. You always get more of what you focus on even quantum physics is now telling us this!

So, use your emotions to gauge how you are feeling and if you are feeling bad then begin immediately to change your thoughts to the opposite. Focus on what you want until you begin to feel good. Through persistence you will thus condition yourself for success.

Step2. Let Go!

Don’t try to force the issue by trying to work out every little detail of how you are going to achieve your desires. Just by focusing on them you set in motion powerful forces that will bring people, situations and circumstances that will open up opportunities for achieve what you want.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a plan of action. In fact this is very desirable. Just don’t get so caught up in the plan that you lose sight of the goal.

Learn to have an optimistic yet detached view. By grabbing and trying to force every situation in your favour you merely cause yourself frustration. This will mean you never enjoy the journey towards success but more than that it means you are focusing on the lack of your desire. You always get more of what you focus on!

Step 3. Take action!

Being flexible and allowing the Universe to show you the way towards your goals and desires is definitely the best way to achieve success.

It is necessary, however, for you to take some action or at least be willing to take some. Take one step forward and the Universe will take ten steps to meet you!

The whole point of changing your beliefs is so that your thoughts change and thus your actions change also. If you take action, even tiny baby steps, towards your desires and goals you have already ensured that you will eventually reach them.

If you want to walk from LA to New York you may feel overwhelmed by the sheer hugeness of the goal. However, if you walk 5 miles every day within a week you will be 35 miles closer to your goal. It may take you almost a year and a half to reach your destination but it is possible when you break the goal down and take some action! When you are willing to take action you will find that strange things begin to happen. You may just find that the Universe sends a Porsche to give you a lift! – “The journey of a thousands miles begins with a single step”, Chinese proverb.

If you diligently follow the 3 steps I have outlined I promise you that your life will be transformed and your dreams will be fulfilled in ways that will amaze you.

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