So, how do they look so far? Remember – “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time”.

We spent the majority of Saturday ‘De-Christmasing’ the house. As we were packing all the ornaments and lights for another year, we kept thinking about our goals and got more and more excited about the new year. While the Holiday’s have been great, we’re ready to get back to work!

We sent out our Monthly Newsletter on Friday and also posted 76 “Goal Setting Tips” that President and COO of YTB Marketing Andy Cauthen put together. We checked some of our stats late Saturday night and were completely blown away over how many people actually downloaded Andy’s “Guide”.

It’s EMPOWERING isn’t it??!!

Now that your goals are out of your head and onto something you can see like paper our thinking and perspective has changed dramatically. It makes a big difference – and somehow these goals that have been nothing more than passing thoughts have substance and passion behind them.

Believe it or not – the hard part is over – actually taking the time to write these goals down. Now comes the fun part – going after them.

To some, this may seem like a daunting or impossible task.

Jack Canfield, author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul ” and one of the teachers of the hit movie “The Secret” expressed in this same movie that we can drive at night only seeing the next 200 yards in front of us to reach our intended destination. Reaching a Goal is much the same way. You know it’s there, but you find your way a little bit at a time.

Just remember that the impossible can be broken down into possibilities. Napoleon Hill said “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe – the mind can achieve.”

Everything you see and use today was first born as a goal. The computer you’re reading this on – the software used to enable this communication – the house you live in – the warm air from the furnace – all conceived first from thought – as a goal.

So how do we turn our goals from paper into reality?

Andy’s Goal Setting Tips has some great tools attached in helping you. Here are some great tools from the list and a couple of our own that we’ve learned from experience.

• Use a journal to keep track of your goals: Keep daily or weekly records of your progress including affirmations, successes, appreciations for your hard work, rewards, resistances, obstacles, etc. We found that writing at night, just before bed is very effective. Many times we dream about what we’ve written in our journal. What that means is that you’re subconscious is working on your goals – even in your sleep! (How easy is THAT?!)
• Create a collage to support your vision: To make a goals collage, cut out pictures and words that you like from magazines and glue them onto a piece of paper the size of a placemat. (We use a cork board and pin them up – both are hung in our Master Bath.)
• Use your computer to support you in reaching goals: There are many ways you can put your goals on your computer. Scan your collage or a poster/picture that inspires you into your computer, and use it as wallpaper. (You can also use Google Images and search key words) Create a screensaver with your images or just put up a digital “post it” with your goals list.
• Carry your goals with you and read them out loud: We purchased a pack of 3X5 index cards and write down our top ten goals for the day. We write them in the present tense as if you have already achieved them and say them out loud at various times of the day. It’s important NOT to use the same list from the day before. Don’t just copy them, start with a new sheet and write down the most important goals of the day. (Some can remain the same goals from the day before, but don’t use your previous list to remind you.)
• Be grateful for what you have NOW: This is probably the most important aspect of attracting newer, more meaningful aspects (or Goals) into your life. It puts you in a positive frame of mind – what’s going right – not what’s going wrong. Ever notice how people who complain about not feeling well are always sick? People who complain about bills and money are always broke? Likewise, the people who always talk about being lucky are the luckiest people in the world. An attitude of gratitude puts you in a vibration that attracts more things to be grateful for.

These tools work – and while we don’t have the time or space to document the science behind them, there some very compelling studies that prove they work.

It’s a new beginning – a clean slate. Life is meant to be fulfilling and enjoyable – not some chore or filled with excuses to do just enough to get by.

You have no idea the POWER you possess within you. We put men on the moon – communicate with each other from all corners of the world instantly – and sit in the air at 30 thousand feet while surfing the internet at the same time.

Look at your list – what are YOU going to do that makes your life outstanding?!

You’ve taken the first – and probably most important step in achieving your goals. That’s writing them down. Now it’s time to go after them. You may not have any way of knowing just how yet – but until you doing something to move towards them – you’ll never reach your intended destination.

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I promise I’ll get back to our regular scheduled posts starting next week. I’ve been enjoying my time with family the last two weeks, and honestly, don’t want anything to take away from this current experience. We’re having a blast!

I do however, want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Not only is this the beginning of a new year, but a new decade to boot!

That being said, it’s the time of year when just about everybody makes New Years Resolutions.

Problem? Most couldn’t tell you what resolutions they made last year at this time, let alone change anything in their life during the last year.

Those who fail to plan – plan to fail.

Think about it. You don’t take a trek across the country without a road map do you? You don’t build a house without a set of blueprints, right? Heck, as much as it pains me to say this – being a guy and all – my son and I broke out the directions for the gigantic Lego set he got for Christmas.

We couldn’t have created this massive police and fire station without it.

So why don’t most people follow a plan in life? Most I suspect, simply don’t know how. It’s not something that’s really taught in school or by most peers.

Good friend, President and COO of YTB Marketing, Andy Cauthen, has been helping those of us who plug into his GoodDay@ytb.com column with some great tips and ideas on planning and goal setting. It shouldn’t surprise you that each of our Founders and Corporate Executives consider themselves in part “students” and they’re always looking for ways to improve and expand personally and professionally.

The beauty of it is – like everything else in our company, we share what we find in hopes that it can inspire and benefit others. (Another one of those traits found in MLM that Traditional Business should expand on.)

So here it is…76 tips on goal setting. Not only the WHY – but the HOW in turning your goals into something measurable and tangible.

The reason I like this short piece so much? It’s a real time saver. What Andy has done is take the best of the best from the literally thousands of books, programs and seminars out there dedicated to goal setting and condensed it into one concise and instructive article. It’s one of his key attributes and why the company values him the way they do. (Well, that and an outrageous sense of humor.)

So what do you say? Are you going to create a plan for 2010 – or are you just going to keep driving because you’re to proud to ask for directions? (By the way – guilty as charged when it comes asking for directions.)

But when it comes to a plan in life…since I found most of these tips years ago, I expand on my list and my plan each and every year.

I can tell you from personal experience…when done right, it truly works.

Happy New Year!

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And yes, there is a very good reason why I picked “Big Ben” to welcome in the New Year. ;-P

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I’ve done considerable study and research, learning and personal development over the last few years. It’s one of the reasons why I have the type of attitude I do and why my belief in not only myself, but YTB is so strong. I’m a completely different person today than when I first joined YTB some three years ago. Many of us want to change, and New Years resolutions are always a good start to forming new habits and projects.

First, most don’t even take the time to write down these resolutions to begin with. We’re too lazy to even take the time to put it down on paper, but somehow fully expect to keep them? (Rrrrrrright.) I not only had mine written down, but just replaced it on my bathroom mirror this morning. I saw mine every single day. While I didn’t read it aloud every day, I did at least look at it and it triggered the reminder of what my goals and aspiration were for 2007.

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The tradition of taking a resolution at New Year and fulfill it in the coming year, dates back to the early Babylonians.

The Babylonians believed that what a person does on the first day of the New Year will affect him or her throughout the year. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment. New Year’s Resolutions offer the first of many important tools for remaking ourselves.

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called “Opportunity” and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
~ Edith Lovejoy Piercre

In December or early January, almost everyone is minted up by the desire to plan a wonderful New Year! We plan vacations, and we imagine that any goal can be achieved. We eagerly make New Year’s Resolutions and set our biggest goals ever! It’s a perfect time to reflect on the changes we want to or need to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

Resolutions if carried out successfully not only act as short-term goals to success but also help in improving life and overcoming those habits, which we ourselves do not like.

The unfortunate reality, of course, is that for most people the year goes by with little or no change. We do our jobs and live our lives, but our dreams don’t come true. Some things do change, but life doesn’t seem all that different. Not really. Not like we hoped.

The New Year is a good time to make resolutions but what is the point of resolutions if we can’t keep them? Do you also want to have a resolution for the year 2007?

Tips for New Year Resolution

1. Go Public: Those who say one thing and do another are labeled unreliable, hypocritical and even inconsistent. Tell everyone at home, work, gym, church, etc about your goal. The fear of being ill labeled or looked at as inconsistent by those who think highly of you will psychologically pressure you to follow through. Daily tell 3 different people about your goal.
2. Don’t Wait: Never wait for the right time, the right motivation, or the right intuition. For they will only come AFTER you have taken the initial step. Whether you are motivated or not, take one action daily towards attaining the goal you wish to put off. Then motivation will follow.
3. Make Your Resolution “Quit-Proof”: The more you invest into something, the harder it’s to give up on it. Invest more time, more energy, and if necessary, more capital towards the realization of that which you are pursuing. The less you have to lose, the easier it’s to quit. Invest daily towards the attainment of your goal.
4. Locate the Opportunities: Though you cannot see them, opportunities are all around you. It’s only when you are ready for them that they will be ready for you. Remember, when the musician is ready, the tune will appear. So get ready.
5. Get Ready: True readiness comes from acting on that which you are not ready for. As Aristotle once said, “The things you have to learn before you can do them, you learn by doing them.” Plunge into it, and then you’ll be ready.
6. Develop Momentum: One small action can build the excitement and the urge to continue or even finish what before you didn’t feel like doing. That’s how momentum is created. Just take one small step even if you don’t feel like it and momentum will eventually emerge.
7. Start Every Day With the Next Step: Every morning, ask yourself, “What action would I take towards accomplishing my goal if success was guaranteed?” Then take that very action in spite of any reluctance.
8. Overcome Reluctance: Keep in mind that easy things when done with reluctance become difficult, and difficult things when done with cynicism become impossible. Move beyond reluctance with the right anticipation.
9. Anticipate Success: This is probably the simplest, but most overlooked item of the list. Pure and simple “belief” that you CAN do this! I love what Earl Nightingale says: “You become what you think about most of the time.”

Here’s to making this years Resolutions stick!

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Why do so many people talk of, and even admit to, making New Year’s resolutions when almost none of them will be kept?

A resolution is defined as:

“the state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. Resolving to do something…”

Is it a self-defeating prophesy or just an empty wish? It’s a mystery. Or at the very least, a paradox. It’s not a resolute or firm determination, as much as a leftover list for Santa just in case he might want to bring us something before next Christmas.

Each year, many people set resolutions for the new year. It’s often a giddy declaration of lost weight, better jobs, more wealth, controlled spending, and healthier habits. Many are broken and forgotten before the ink dries, if they are recorded in writing at all. This is often because the goals are set without full consideration and without any planning for their achievement. These resolutions are important to those who made them, but without a clear path old patters quickly resume. Knowing how to set effective goals for the new year can help create more lasting results and lead to the self-improvement and greater wealth so many seek.

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