By: Robert White Monday December 30, 2013 comments

We often use New Year’s resolutions as a motivator to make needed changes however they often transform into just another source of guilt.   I’ve got a radical proposal: give yourself the gift of renewal and along with that, a new personal toolbox, a set of behaviors that, when practiced, will bring you a level of success most people only dream of. 

It is clear that many people live life somewhat reactively, looking only to past experiences to guide them and waiting for current events and circumstances to dictate their choices.  I’ve heard this mode of operating compared to attempting to drive your car by taking a firm grip with both hands on the rear view mirror and attempting to steer the car (or your life) by looking at the past and and having your possibilities being defined by what you’ve accomplished in the past. 

Knowing what you don’t want is easier for most people and often appears as the only choice available.

We’ve learned from observing highly successful people and how they’ve created lives of meaning and abundance that the first element of human effectiveness is simple and highly powerful: 

DECIDE

Decide clearly, specifically and positively what you want.

The great experts on this subject have spoken loudly and clearly for centuries.  Napolean Hill, Dale Carnegie, Brian Tracy—giants in the field of helping us get what we want—all agree.  You must first decide what you want and write it down because only then can you focus your energies on accomplishment. 

The more vivid the picture you create in your mind, the more specific you are…… the greater the opportunity for success.  Do it now.  Write it down.  Decide clearly, specifically and positively what you want.

Pay attention to those words “clearly, specifically and positively.”  You will amplify your ability to actually manifest what you want by using clear, specific positive and outcome oriented language.  In our seminars, we call it using the Outcome Frame:

What do you want?

When do you want it?

How will you know you are successful?

When you are successful, what else will improve?

What resources are available to you that will help you get what you want?

What are you going to do NOW that will get you what you want?

Our action steps will give you some work to do that I guarantee will further your goals for this year and always.

Read on!

Extraordinary Living Action Steps

Here are some suggestions for “homework” that have helped generate positive results for others.  Cut, paste and print the sentences below and then “do the work” of completing them for yourself.

In the year ______ ….

I want _____________________ for my physical well being.

I want _____________________ for my mental/emotional/spiritual growth.

I want ______________________ for my personal and family financial well being.

I want ______________________ to further my career success.

I want ______________________ to contribute to my community.      

It seems too simple, doesn’t it?  Yet those who develop the habit of writing down their goals know the power of this simple exercise.

Remember, decide clearly, specifically and positively what you want.  Then let me know how it turns out for you.

About the Author: Robert White

Robert White is a Speaker, Author, Leadership Trainer and Executive Mentor who teaches the art and science of mastering executive challenges. He specializes in integrating a heart centered, result-oriented and transformational leadership approach to being effective. His experience includes founding and leading companies doing high-impact experiential learning events with over one million graduates.

Robert’s culture change work has been praised by corporations like JPMorganChase, Progressive Insurance, Duke Energy and The American Cancer Society.

Additionally top business experts and authors Ken Blanchard, Jimmy Calano, Kathy Gardarian, and Robert Wright, plus thousands of training and mentoring clients, have endorsed his professional knowledge and skills.

Robert authored the best-seller “Living an Extraordinary Life” available in English and Mandarin. He is a contributing author to “Being Fuller” a compilation from students of Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller and “One World, One People,” a photo journal of mankind’s journey to oneness.

Today you’ll find him speaking at conferences, hosting masterminds, mentoring today’s emerging business leaders and teaching everything he knows about fostering entrepreneurial success and building an entrepreneurial mindset in established, growth-oriented companies.

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