How to Prepare to Have an Awesome 2015

Are you ready to make 2015 your best year ever?

Was 2014 all that you had prepared and planned for?

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

How well do you know yourself?

How well does your spouse or significant other know you?

How well do friends and coworkers know you?

Let’s do a little exercise that when you’re both finished, you’ll know a good deal more about one another than when you started, and hopefully a little bit more about yourself.

Pair off with another person, and read aloud the beginning of each sentence below then finishing it in his/her own way.

“I live …”
“I spend most of my time …”
“The thing I enjoy most is …”
“Recently, I go excited about …”
“One person I respect highly is …”
“A hobby I enjoy is …”
“My family is …”
“My best friend …”
“I feel contented when …”
“To me, winning means …”
“The thing I value most is …”
“To me, awareness means …”
“I wish I had more time to …”

WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK

So many people talk about New Year’s resolutions, and setting goals. Yet few talk about why they work for some and not for others. Wouldn’t you like to have more success in 2015 and beyond? Your beliefs may be the very thing that’s holding you back.

Law of Control

This law says that, “You feel happy to the degree to which you feel you are in control of your own life. You feel unhappy to the degree to which you feel you are not in control of your own life.”

Modern psychology calls this “Locus of Control Theory.” Psychologists differentiate between an internal locus of control and an external locus of control. Your locus of control is where you feel the control exists in each area of your life. This location determines your happiness or unhappiness more than any other factor.

If you feel that you are the primary creative force in your own life, that you make your own decisions, and that everything that happens to you is a result of yourself and your own behaviors, you have a solid internal locus of control. As a result, you will feel strong, confident and happy. You will think with greater clarity and perform at higher levels than the average person.

On the other hand, if you feel that your life is controlled by other factors or people, by your job, your boss, your childhood experiences, your bills, your health, your family or anything else, you will have an external locus of control. You will feel like a victim. You will feel like a pawn in the hands of fate.

The Power of Belief

The Law of Belief, this is the basic principle that underlies most religion, psychology, philosophy and metaphysics. The Law of Belief says that, “Whatever you believe, with conviction, becomes your reality.”

The fact is that, “You do not believe what you see, but rather, you see what you already believe.”

The worst of all beliefs are self-limiting beliefs. These are beliefs that you have developed through life, usually false, that cause you to believe that you are limited in some way. Your negative beliefs soon become habitual ways of thinking.

Your beliefs then become your realities. “You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.”

There is good news. It is that all beliefs are learned. And anything that has been learned can be unlearned. You can develop the beliefs of courage, confidence and unstoppable persistence that you need for great success by reprogramming your mind in a specific way.

You Are A Living Magnet

“You are a living magnet; you invariably attract into your life the people, ideas and circumstances that harmonize with your dominant thoughts.”

The law of attraction is neutral. If you think positive thoughts, you attract positive people and circumstances. If you think negative thoughts, you attract negative people and circumstances.

“Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world.”
“You become what you think about – most of the time.”

Just think! You become what you think about most of the time. You always move in the direction of your dominant thoughts. Everything in your outer world is controlled and determined by what you are thinking in your inner world.

Obstacles That People Say Hold them Back

Do any of these feel like they have restricted you or limited you in some way?

___ Not enough education

___ Not enough money

___ Family problems

___ Self Esteem issues

___ Not talented enough

___ Not enough skills

___ Lived in bad neighborhood

___ Limited birthright (i.e. nationality, gender, etc.)

___ Parents didn’t treat me fairly

___ Friends have a bad influence on me

___ Substance abuse

___ Schools didn’t teach me what I need to know

___ Body structure (height, weight, etc.)

___ Looks

___ Too young/old

___ Can’t establish credit with banks or loan companies

___ Never get the right job

___ Economic conditions

___ Boss who doesn’t realize my talents

___ The government

___ Not born under the right sign

___ Too many people dependent on me

___ Too many past mistakes

___ Not assertive enough

___ Too assertive

___ Others

Action Exercises:

1. Look at your field today; identify the three most important reasons why some people are more successful than others.
2. Accept complete responsibility for your life and everything that happens to you; refuse to make excuses or to blame others for anything.
3. What self-limiting beliefs do you have that might be holding you back? What if they weren’t true at all?
4. Expect the best of yourself and others; what would you change if you were absolutely guaranteed of success?
5. In what ways have your dominant thoughts and emotions attracted people, circumstances and situations into your life? How could you change this?
6. Everywhere you look, there you are; what do you need to change in your inner world if you want to see changes in your outer world?
7. Determine the three most important habits of thought, about yourself and others that you could develop to be happier and more successful.

MEANING AND PURPOSE

Victor Frankl, a Viennese psychiatrist who survived three years of horror in the death camps during World War II, observed how, when faced with identical circumstances, some people lost all hope for living and died, while others “attained virtual saintliness.”

In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Frankl tells how those who have a PURPOSE FOR LIVING were able to withstand the trials of starvation and torture. Those who laced a purpose or could see no meaning beyond their predicament died quickly.

Ponder the following and write down your personal thoughts. What does this tell you about the importance of establishing a purpose for living? What do you feel are some purposes for living?
Imagine yourself in your later years of life; you overhear your grandchildren telling their friend about your life and your accomplishments. What would you like them to say about you?
Imagine your life story on the evening news. What would you choose for the headline?
Take a few minutes to reflect individually on your own purpose for living and write down some thoughts.

THE WHEEL OF LIFE

Sometimes in life we get out of balance. Our values change, and sometimes areas of our life suffer. Yet we were designed to lead a balanced life.

Take a few moments to review the wheel of life and rate yourself 10 being the best and 1 being the worst in each of the areas of your life. Place a dot along the line with that rating and when all have been rated, connect the dots. Does it resemble a smooth wheel that roll’s easily along life’s way? Or is it out of balance and needs correction in some areas of your life?

Use the wheel of life to prepare for 2015. What areas need improvement? Then write them down, set a goal and a plan of action. Prepare to win.

Recently USA Today reported on a study of people who had set New Year’s Resolutions the year before. They found of the people who had set New Year’s Resolutions, but not in writing, only 4% had followed through. But of those people who had written down their New Year’s Resolutions, fully 46% had carried them out. This is a difference in success rates of more than 1100%!

THE SEVEN STEP FORMULA FOR GOAL SETTING

“Any plan is better than no plan at all.” Here is one of the best and most effective goal setting plans or formulas you will ever learn:

Step One: Decide exactly what you want in a specific area and write it down clearly, in detail. Make it measurable and specific.

Step Two: Set a deadline for the achievement of the goal. If it is a large goal, break it down into smaller parts and set sub-deadlines.

Step Three: Make a list of everything that you will have to do to achieve this goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list until it is complete.

Step Four: Organize your list of action steps into a plan. A plan is organized on the basis of two elements, priority and sequence.
In organizing by priorities, you determine the most important things that you can possibly do on your list to achieve your goal. The 80/20 Rule applies. 20% of the things that you do will account for 80% of your results. If you do not set clear priorities, you will “major in minors” and spend much of your time doing small and irrelevant tasks that do not help you to achieve the goal.

In organizing by sequence, you determine what has to be done before something else can be done. There are always activities that are dependent upon other activities being completed in advance. What are they, and what is the logical order
or sequence?

Step Five: Identify the obstacles or limitations that might hold you back from achieving your goal, both in the situation and within yourself. Ask yourself, “Why have I not achieved this goal already?”

Identify the most important constraint or limitation that is holding you back and then focus on removing that obstacle. It could be a certain amount of money, or a key resource. It could be an additional skill or habit that you need. It could be additional information you require. It could be the help or assistance of one or more people. Whatever it is, identify it clearly and go to work to eliminate it.

Step Six: Once you have determined your goal, developed your plan, and identified your major obstacle, immediately take action of some kind toward the achievement of your goal. Step out in faith. Do the first thing that comes to mind. But do something immediately to start the process of goal attainment moving forward.

Step Seven: Do something every day that moves you to toward your most important goal. Make a habit of getting up each morning, planning your day and then doing something, anything, that moves you at least one step closer to what is most important to you.
The habit of doing something every single day that moves you toward an important goal develops within you the power of momentum. Daily action deepens your belief that the goal is achievable, and activates the Law of Attraction. As a result, you begin moving faster and faster toward your goal, and your goal begins moving faster and faster toward you.

SUCCESS

How do you measure success?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people

and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics

and endure the betrayal of false friend;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better,

whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,

a redeemed social condition, or a job well done;

To know even one other life has breathed easier

because you have lived –

This is to have succeeded.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source: Dr. Denis Waitley, Brian Tracy

About Blair

Blair Evan Ball is a Social Media Coach and founder of Prepare1, a company that works with businesses, individuals and non-profits. He is a former executive with a Fortune 50 company, and his national division did $1Billion in sales annually.

Blair has written three e-books: Facebook for Business Made Easy, Facebook Pages for Business Made Easy, and WordPress Blog Setup Made Easy.

Blair also educates, trains entrepreneurs and business professionals how to amplify their brand, increase revenues, and raise more funds.

The Race is ON! – Get into the Game and WIN!