Hello!
Setting goals is very much about gratitude, as I see it. You’ve set goals for this 21-day journey and by now I trust you are clear about what you are intending to achieve. That clarity will, to a large extent, determine your success.
Part of being clear is not just focusing in on the specifics at hand; it’s also getting the ‘big picture’ of your life lined up with your goal. The ‘big picture’ involves gratitude. I strongly believe we reap what we sow. I believe abundance and success comes from abundantly grateful and successful thinking, from sowing right thoughts and from taking powerful daily action.
In goal-setting, being clear on all those things you are grateful for is imperative.
Today’s exercises: [# 1, 2 and 5 are recurring, to be done daily]
1) Spend at least 30 minutes on specific action steps connected to your goal. If you can invest more time, do so. You are working on the first benchmark – due to be completed by Wednesday May 25th
2) Do daily forgiveness ritual to remain accountable and move on – and as Frankie Williams shared with me this morning on Facebook… “I LOVE today’s action step. I would add that after you forgive yourself, hit your internal “reset” button and start again right there where you are. :-)”
3) Start with a blank page and write your goal for this 21-day program at the top of the page. Then, complete a list headed with this: “With regard to this specific goal, I am grateful for already having the following…” For instance, someone hoping to close 5 new deals in a new area of business might be grateful for and write such things as: the contacts to get me to new prospects; the creative mind required to create this new stream of income; the support staff to make it possible; the financial reality of ‘old business’ that makes nurturing new business possible; my health and ability to seek these new clients out, etc, etc. I’m sure you get the idea of all that we can be grateful for when we set new goals.
4) Share this gratitude with someone
5) Relaxation/imagination exercise – [additional information is here about why this is important]
A) Spend 15 minutes today in a relaxed – super relaxed and comfortable chair or position. Get your mind to be as empty as possible…using deep breathing as your tool.
► Deep diaphragmatic breathing is what you want. Filling your diaphragm as you to breathe in more oxygen will expand your stomach area; so with hand on tummy you should be able to tell instantly whether your breathing is deep enough. If your stomach expands (pushes out against your hand) you’re good, if your chest expands and/or your shoulder rises, you’re breathing shallow and will not gain the relaxing benefits of deep breathing
► Visualize your muscle groups from bottom to top, tightening and releasing a few times and then relaxing into a calm stillness.
B) In this relaxed position, after a few minutes of controlled deep breathing, sit peacefully for as long as you can up to about 15 minutes.
C) Then immediately following this relaxations session, venture into some imagination playtime.
► Allow your imagination to visualize your optimistic state of mind working for you as you see yourself producing more of what you intend to produce more of each day on this journey…writing, helping, sales, studying, researching, coaching, speaking, building, bonding…whatever your goal is, imagine your optimistic self in a state of blissful productivity. Keep this ‘movie’ in your mind going, filling in all the details you can inject and keeping it inspired, light and entertaining. See yourself taking the actual steps needed to achieve the specific daily goal you have for today. See yourself taking these steps again and again. Pause the movie a few times and insert a few deep breaths to be sure you remain relaxed.
Think thoughts of gratitude as often as you can today; when you’re just musing, commuting, sitting still or in between serious work moments. Be deeply grateful and watch your goals become that much more achievable….at the extreme level we are shooting for in this program.
While goal-setting is a powerful habit that helps – a habit that helps you to help others, when coupled with gratitude it takes simple goal-setting to a whole other level of extreme achievement.
Wishing you an abundance of productivity, joy and gratitude,
♥~
P.S. This is a part of the 21 Days of Action & Accountability – a free event. Day 1 was Thursday May 19th and previous preparation exercises can be found here.
