Have you done your goals for 2007 yet? Have you ever written down goals for the upcoming year? I gotta tell you, this is one of those things that I heard for many years from speakers, experts, gurus and millionaires.. and never did. It got to the point where I finally decided to try it, just to prove it doesn’t work. Turned out to be one of those times where I was very pleased to be wrong. The simple act of committing your goals to paper is something that starts a chain reaction to occur in your life, where things start to happen in order to try and bring about those goals to reality. It’s the craziest thing! I’m not particularly “touchy feely” or new-age. I know for some people, the idea of “you write it down and it comes into your life” is a little out there, but I’m living proof of the power of writing down your goals. Some people call this “manifesting”.. in other words, determining exactly what you want in your life and then committing it to paper.. and then the universe conspires to make it happen in your life. One of my goals that I set a year ago was to increase my real estate portfolio by at least 35%, in addition to growing the education business. As it turned out, I more than DOUBLED my real estate holdings this year, which was pretty incredible to me. Would I have done this even without setting the goal last year? Who knows. And really, who cares. The fact is, I set the goal and look what happened. This was similar for most of the goals I set. Did I achieve them all? Nope. A few of them are still on the board for next year. But I have made progress toward them without exception, and that’s the most important thing. The whole thing about isn’t so much achieving them as much as the journey to get there. One of the things I now encourage people in my training programs to do is review their “big” goals on a daily basis – and actually re-write them every day. Why? A few reasons. First, you get to know them so well you memorize them. Second, having the goal in front of you every day has a subtle, yet powerful effect. It keeps your sub-conscious mind focused and engaged on what’s important to you. A great saying I once heard (but can’t give credit to who first said it because I don’t know) is this: “If you don’t set goals for yourself, someone will set them for you.” Very powerful thought. Most people go through life, unknowingly achieving goals for other people.. simply because they never DECIDED to DECIDE what was important to themselves. Most people do not achieve financial freedom because they’re too busy chasing non-important details without regard to what’s important to get done NOW in order to move in the direction they want to go. Ever since I made the choice to start writing my goals down and then reviewing them regularly, my income and net worth has more than doubled every year since. I don’t think is a coincidence. A lot of people don’t set goals because they’re afraid to be wrong, or deep down they don’t believe they can achieve them. As I said, the IMPORTANT thing isn’t so much to achieve them all and check them off your list.. it’s the process you go through moving toward them that matters. And as you move towards your goals, you’ll find that in some cases they need to be refined.. updated.. or changed altogether, if circumstances merit it. For example, another goal I set a year ago was that Raylene and I would own a vacation home in the Bahamas. As it turned out, we didn’t buy a place in the Bahamas. However, we DID buy a beautiful place in the Dominican Republic. The goal wasn’t so much about WHERE we were buying as much as it was WHAT we were buying. We wanted a luxury second home somewhere right on the ocean, in an area we could enjoy and would love to spend weeks at a time. Originally, we thought that would be the Bahamas, but once we travelled to Dominican Republic, we fell in love with the area. All the things we were looking for, we found in Cabarete. In hindsight, it wasn’t about where the condo was. We decided, for a variety of reasons, that the Dominican Republic was where we wanted our place, and we found the perfect property. Again, you can ask whether setting that goal last year was the reason we bought something this year. Was it? Who knows. And again, who cares. The point is that we DID it, and all I can tell you is that there are A LOT of these kinds of coincidences that happen once you start writing your goals down and COMMIT to reviewing them. It only takes a couple of minutes each day. So, if you’re not already in the habit of writing down and reviewing your goals, I highly encourage you to put this to the test. Take an hour in the next couple of days, and think hard about what you want to “manifest” in your life. Be specific, have clarity, and create a vivid image of what it is you want to achieve. Make sure it’s measurable and specific. Write out your list, and then put it somewhere where you can’t miss it every day – your bathroom mirror, beside your bed, wherever it is. DO THIS FOR 90 DAYS. You will be STUNNED at some of the “coincidences” that start occurring. Things that seem to come out of the blue, that guide you towards your goals. It really is amazing. Don’t believe me? TRY IT and prove me wrong! I’m a true believer in goal setting now. I have a wonderful life, a spectacular wife, an incredible group of businesses, an amazing investment portfolio, a fun and talented team, and a great vacation home on the ocean …. among many, many other blessings. I couldn’t ask for anything more than what I already have. That’s all the evidence I need to finish my list today and see what I can manifest in 2007. See you next year!]]>