I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; thoughts become things. I’ve been diving into a classic book entitled “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, who takes this even further when he says: “Money is the transmutation of desire into it’s tangible equivalent.” What he’s saying is that whatever you desire must first be conceived in the intangible world of thought before it can be brought into the physical world of form. The act of writing down your thoughts brings this process one step closer to reality as it directly transfers your desires into something you can see, touch and feel.
Through my training in personal coaching there is one technique that I have found to be particularly useful when it comes to getting things done; SMART goals. This powerful acronym requires the creator to not only think about end results, but also about creating a plan to achieve the desired results. Creating goals without analyzing the steps needed to achieve them is nice, but were not interested in nice here. We’re interested in big, powerful and audacious goals and outcomes.
When you write your desires and goals down on a piece of paper they should scare you, they should stretch you, they should make you question your ability to achieve them. Why? Because that’s how you create and manifest big things in your life, that’s how you shift from existing to living. Do not be afraid to fail at reaching for your goals, instead be afraid of not knowing what you are truly capable of.
Creating S.M.A.R.T goals requires that you break your goals down in the following way:
1) Specific: Make your goals specific and clear. Defining exactly what you want to achieve is key. Get clear, get crystal clear on what you want to create. For example; I recently set an intention to have more love in my life. As a result I met an amazing women just weeks later and she is now my girlfriend. Notice, I did not say “I want a girlfriend.” I could have easily found a girlfriend, it was love that I was looking for.
2) Measurable: When setting a goal, it must be measurable. If it isn’t measurable how will you know when you have achieved it, how will you know when to celebrate your successes? Saying “I want to lose weight” isn’t a goal, it’s a wish. Say this instead: “I will lose 10lbs. of body fat”. You can measure this goals and it may even make you a little uncomfortable. Good.
3) Attainable: When setting a goal, be honest with yourself. Is it attainable? Do you have the appropriate resources or knowledge to get it done? If I want to become a brain surgeon this year, it simply isn’t going to happen. Maybe I can achieve this goal in 10 years. So, I would first need to set attainable goals like; researching, preparing for tests, getting accepted into med school and financing my endeavor as immediate goals first.
4) Relevant: I would argue that this is more important when focusing on specific goal areas. Simply put, is your goal in-line with your life and what you want to create? Just give yourself a quick check-in here and be honest with yourself. If you want a buy a red Corvette this year but you are struggling to pay your credit card bills, maybe it’s time to get financially stable first then go after that new ride later.
5) Timed: Your goals must have an end date. Remember when you were in college and had all semester to write your term paper and saved it for the last week? More importantly, do you remember how you then got it done in a few days? The same principle works here when setting goals. The shorter the time frame, the hotter the flame gets and the faster shit gets done, period. Do it now, not tomorrow.
That’s it. Set some big, audacious, scary and life changing goals using the SMART formula. I’ve listed some of my big goals below for 2016, because here is a bonus tip to achieving goals; tell others about your goals. Hopefully people doubt you and question you when you share them too! That’s how you know you are really on to something different.
1) Increase “The Big Yogi” revenue in 2016 by 50%.
2) Take quarterly vacations of at least 10 days. Take off a minimum of three weeks off in December.
3) Complete “Sober January” and get 10 people to do it with me
4) Hire a private coach and work with them a minimum of 1x per month for 12 months.
5) Enroll 10 clients into new Premium Stress Coaching packages by end of year.
6) Write 1 blog per week for for 2016. Each month will have a common theme and focus.
7) 10k Facebook followers by June. (Currently at 6k).
8) Lead 5 yoga/stress management workshops in 2016. (Taught 0 last year).
9) Lead at least 50 hours of yoga teacher training in 2016 (Led 10 in 2015).
10) Complete 500 hour yoga certificate and ACE personal training by 4/1/2016
Let’s hear your SMART goals too! Share and Like this is you found it helpful.
Are you stuck or feeling blocked around your goals or purpose? If so, please email me for more info about my one, three or twelve-month stress and life coaching programs. NICK@THEBIGYOGI.COM