Musings by John Weir

This B-Alert system is a really helpful guide to your day. Give it a try.

B- is for Blueprint. Plan for the day. Either the night before or in the morning. The night before is more helpful as it is proven that your subconscious aids you to systematically work through your next day’s plan in your sleep. It’s really quick just do it for 10-15 minutes. Your plan should focus on your most important achievements, appointments, purpose and objectives as well as those daily things you need to get done. This really helps me because as I tick each one off I feel a bit accomplished and spurs me on to get the rest of my tasks done and it makes you feel like you are the one in control from the start.
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A- is for Action. The amount of action you put into your day will determine your score. Well-planned action! Luke: All right, I’ll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.

L- is for Learning. A well-planned day is taking time to expand your knowledge. Be curious. Develop the habit of reading something stimulating/ challenging or gives you the edge. It gives you that extra boost of positive energy. Watch documentaries, biographies or learning channels. Also learn from your everyday experiences. How did you overcome your last challenge? Learn from others. What do successful people do? Use other people’s experiences. Keep your eyes and ears open, ask questions. Don’t lose that curiosity about the world and ourselves we seem to be so passionate about when we’re young. Why is it assumed that we have learnt everything we need to when we leave school? We can constantly improve and develop.

E- is for Exercise. Even if it is just fitting in some Wii Fit in your every day or using the stairs instead of the lift or doing some sit ups on your bedroom floor. Exercise improves sleep, increases energy, relieves stress and anxiety, protects against injury, promotes good posture, aids digestion, enhances your self-image and makes you live longer! Eat well and don’t neglect that poor body of yours that is constantly working so hard to keep you going and never stops.

R- is for Relaxing. Relax! Make sure you fit some you time in your day, plan for it. Don’t feel bad about it. When you are well-rested and relaxed you are more productive, more creative,better focused and your energy is boosted. Even take a nap.

T- is for Thinking. Before you go to sleep, close your eyes and take a few snapshots of your day. How did you do? What did you do well? Are there any adjustments you could have made? Focus daily on the progress you have made. Be alert to shortcomings but don’t beat yourself up!! Find some things to be grateful for, I try to at least think of 10 and suddenly I remember so many more things to be thankful for and it really does make you feel good before you go to sleep and makes you realize how many good things happened in the day! Even if its just the fact you just got home safe, you had a nice meal, your family is well etc..

Write (Below) in your daily diary and just tick each off when you have done each. This really helps me and makes me that much more productive and balanced. Hope this helps.

B
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A
L
E
R
T

Thanks to Jack Canfield for the B-Alert concept.

Currently I have 21 goals to achieve in 90 days, divided into seven categories:

• Financial; This covers how much I want to earn and how much I want to save. Also reducing debt and increasing contributions.
• Business; This concentrates on what I want to achieve with my business and where I want it to be when the 90 days are up. Goals for promotions, raises and important tasks.
• Spiritual; Goals in the area of my walk with God, my prayer life, Bible study and church meetings.
• Fun; It is easy to forget the fun side of life. I use this section to note fun things to do and how many days to take off work.
• Health; This makes sure I am thinking about exercise and healthy eating.
• Relationships; Includes family, friends and work relationships.
• Personal; This section contains my goals that don’t quite fit any one of the other areas.

Far too many people spend more time planning their weekends than their lives. Then they suddenly realize that life has passed them by and they weren’t even aware it was happening. When you intently study what you most desire in life, you begin to focus your mind and concentrate your energy upon that which you wish to achieve. One of the great advantages of having a definite goal for your life is that it helps you prioritize your activities. When your major purpose is clear in your mind, it is unnecessary to analyze each individual situation. You know automatically whether your actions will move you toward your goal or away from it. You can then use all of your resources-time, money, and energy-to best advantage. 

Where will you be in ten years from now if you keep on going the way you are going?

Many people fail to realize that big success is the result of little successes achieved, often over a very long period of time. Truly successful people are long-term thinkers. They know that they must build upon each achievement and constantly learn new and better ways of doing things. A regular review of your progress is an essential part of goal-setting. A goal is a little more than a wish unless it has a timetable for completion. Make sure your plan for your life includes short, medium and long term goals. Revise your goals as circumstances dictate, check them off when they are completed, and set new and bigger goals for yourself as you grow. And take time to reflect often to make sure you are on the right course.

Questions to help you delineate your goals…

1. “What’s my vision of the future?”

2. “Where do I picture myself three years from today?”

3. “How will others perceive me in the future? My boss, my peers, my family?”

4. “What has to happen in the next two years for me to be happy with my progress?”

5. “What visual image do I have for my team? What visual image do I have for my company?”

6. “How do I want to be perceived by my customers? My employees?”

7. “How would my boss define me in one sentence?”

8. “What excites me most about my job? What do I want to do more of/less of/stop doing altogether, so I can achieve what’s important to me? To my team? To my company?”

9. “Which mountain do I want to climb?”

10. “What’s my definition of success?”

11. “What benchmarks do I need to achieve in order to feel successful?”

12. “What actions do I need to perform on a daily/weekly/monthly basis to achieve my goals?”

13. “What areas of my job should I focus on in order to have the most impact on my staff?”

14. “Where do I need to prioritize to insure my success? My team’s success?”
If your employees goals aren’t aligned with yours, you’ll find yourselves working at cross-purposes.

Think about your own personal and professional goals, then write them down and turn your written words into actions. Once you know what you want, you’ll be better prepared to help your employees figure out what they want, putting all of you on the same page and the fast track to your happy ending of choice.

A short-term dip into one of these emotional ruts is fine, but sometimes we need a boost so we can climb back into the sunshine and resume the pursuit of our goals.  Whether you’re struggling to lose weight, finish a college course, become more socially active, or accomplish some other important goal, review these 10 tips to reclaim  your lost motivation:

1. Process Orientation: Instead of focusing on your goals, try extracting joy from each individual task along the way. In other words, focus on the process instead of the product. You may find that many of your tasks are enjoyable (or can be made that way) if you stop worrying about their overall purpose.

2. Set a Goal: Conversely, it’s also important to have goals so that you know where you’re heading. This tip may seem to be in conflict with the previous one, but it’s not. Goals (like losing weight, graduating college, etc.) are important in the sense that they help lay out what tasks we should pursue.

3. Create an Action Plan: Clarify all the steps required to obtain your objective, the anticipated timeline, and the resources you will need.  

4. Jury of Peers: Once you have an action plan, find a group of people who will hold you accountable and tell them what you intend to do. Tell them to ask you for progress reports on a regular basis, to keep you on track.

5. Write it Down: There is something about the act of writing down a goal that makes it official. On a sheet of paper, make a contract: clearly document your goal, then sign the contract, signaling commitment. Stick the contract onto the walls in your work area, your fridge, or anywhere else where it might serve to keep you motivated.

6. Create a Ritual: We are creatures of habit. The easiest way to climb out of an emotional rut is to establish routines that encourage productivity. When it comes to establishing new rituals, the first 30 days seem to be the most critical; so for the next 30 days, try structuring your days such that you are consistently working toward your goals.

7. Back on the Horse: Instead of allowing a short-term failure to ruin your motivation, make up your mind to jump back on that horse and keep moving forward. We learn from our failures; in this sense, our failures are good, all part of the plan, if only we’ll treat them that way.

8. List the Benefits: If you’ve forgotten why you’re trying to accomplish a particular goal (which is pretty common whenever we lose motivation), try writing down all the benefits you plan to experience once your goal is attained. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, consider your gains in health, vitality, energy, life span, and attractiveness. Focus on the benefits instead of the challenges.

9. Visualize: Close your eyes and visualize the future you anticipate. Make this a part of your routine. The purpose of such visualization is to solidify within your mind the worthiness of the goal, to clarify your path.

10. Change Priorities: Sometimes our lives or opinions change in such a way that renders certain goals obsolete. For example, if you have a goal to increase your income despite feeling financially satisfied, perhaps the answer is to find a new goal that will inspire you more.

There you have it: 10 ways to break through your motivational roadblock so you can resume your forward progress.

Just a few more days and another year is over. Goodbye 2009 and hello to a new 2010. This promises to be a great year as is is the start of a brand new decade. You still have time to work on your plan and goals for the new year. Get busy.

Here is something to try. Get out a sheet of paper and some nice pens, something you like to write with. Now get away from noise and other people and think about the next 90 days. What are some things you would like to do during these three months. How about make a goal to read your Bible each day, or to start everyday with thinking of 10 things you are grateful for. How about trying to exercise a little each day, or to eat more fruit.

90 day goals are short term life changers meant to give your bigger goals a kick start. Use these every 90 days and it will become fun.